This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of serum inflammatory factor levels in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing revascularization therapy.

To investigate the conventional ultrasound (US), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) manifestations and the corresponding histopathological characteristics of patients diagnosed with breast encapsulated papillary carcinoma (EPC) and to explore the value of CEUS in diagnosis of EPC.

This study aimed to construct an effective Nomogram for the differential diagnosis of cervical tuberculosis lymphadenitis (CTBL) and cervical metastatic lymph node (CMLN) based on ultrasound (US).

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury is accompanied by ferroptosis mediated by reactive oxygen species and iron ions, which aggravates myocardial tissue damage. The present study aims to explore the molecular mechanism underlying the mitigating effects f PCSK9 on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. MI/R rat model and OGD/R induced H9c2 model were established. The interaction between PCSK9 inhibitor and LRP8 was predicted by STRING database and verified by Immunoprecipitation assay experiment. CCK-8 kit results confirmed that PCSK9 inhibitor effectively protected against cardiomyocyte damage induced by OGD/R. TTC and histological examination via H&E staining revealed a significant alleviation of myocardial infarction and pathological alterations upon treatment with the PCSK9 inhibitor. Besides, DCFH-DA staining and biochemical kit results showed that PCSK9 inhibitor could regulate the changes of ferroptosis related indicators [ROS, iron level, MDA, SOD] and inhibit ferroptosis. Rescue experiments showed that PCSK9 inhibitors targeted LRP8 expression and inhibited GPX4/ROS-mediated ferroptosis in I/R-induced rats. Our study suggested that PCSK9 inhibitors could attenuate myocardial I/R injury, with the underlying mechanism intimately tied to the targeted modulation of LRP8/GPX4-mediated ferroptosis.

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between the hemoglobin-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio (HRR) and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality in people who have diabetes.

This article reviews the latest research results of the use of ultrasound technology in the perioperative period of carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting and discusses the role of ultrasound technology in accurately evaluating carotid stenosis and plaque stability, assisting in selecting the most suitable surgical method, and providing optimal perioperative imaging to guide carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) to reduce the occurrence and progression of stroke.

Regulated cell death, including pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis, is vital for the body's defense system. Recent research suggests that these three types of cell death are interconnected, giving rise to a new concept called PANoptosis. PANoptosis has been linked to various diseases, making it crucial to comprehend its mechanism for effective treatments. PANoptosis is controlled by upstream receptors and molecular signals, which form polymeric complexes known as PANoptosomes. Cell death combines necroptosis, apoptosis, and pyroptosis and cannot be fully explained by any of these processes alone. Understanding pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis is essential for understanding PANoptosis. Physical exercise has been shown to suppress pyroptotic, apoptotic, and necroptotic signaling pathways by reducing inflammatory factors, proapoptotic factors, and necroptotic factors such as caspases and TNF-alpha. This ultimately leads to a decrease in cardiac structural remodeling. The beneficial effects of exercise on cardiovascular health may be attributed to its ability to inhibit these cell death pathways.

This study intends to explore the effects of Rosuvastatin on ox-LDL induced platelet activation and its molecular mechanism.

Longitudinal Displacement (LD) is the relative motion of the intima-media upon adventitia of the arterial wall during the cardiac cycle, probably linked to atherosclerosis. It has a direction, physiologically first backward in its main components with respect to the arterial flow. Here, LD was investigated in various disease and in presence of a unilateral carotid stent.

Our prior research has established that X-ray exposure induces pyroptosis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), with Cx43 playing a regulatory role in this process. However, the precise mechanism by which Cx43 regulates pyroptosis remains unclear. The objective of this study is to assess the involvement of the calcium signaling pathway in Cx43-mediated regulation of X-ray-induced pyroptosis in HUVECs.

Ultrasound is the most used interdisciplinary non-ionizing imaging technique in clinical pathologies of the testis. The testis may be affected by a plethora of different disorders such as vasculopathies, trauma, infections and manifestations of primary and secondary malignant masses. Conventional ultrasound represents the basic imaging modality of choice to assess scrotal disorders. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can provide further information to distinguish between benign and malignant testicular mass lesions. The recent introduction of Super Resolution CEUS Micro-Vascular Imaging (MVI SR) and Time of Arrival (TOA SR) parametric mapping compliments the information provided by conventional CEUS, since these two new post-processing techniques improve the visualization of microvascular structures with slow blood flow and provide high-resolution images of the peak contrast enhancement and temporal perfusion patterns. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of differential diagnoses of the testicular disorder and their corresponding sono-morphologic correlates based on representative cases of the Interdisciplinary Ultrasound Center of the University Hospital Munich.

In uterine artery embolization (UAE) for the treatment of fibroids, nondegradable particles permanently occlude the uterine artery (UA). These particles remain in the vessels and can cause secondary undesirable effects, such as severe pain after embolization and fertility issues. In this prospective experimental study, we aimed to evaluate the angiographic recanalization, local and systemic reactions, and uterine damage occurring after performing UAE with newly developed degradable starch microspheres (DSMs) in sheep.

Ultrasound is the most used interdisciplinary imaging technique in clinical routine for assessment of renal pathologies. This includes the monitoring of cystic renal lesions, which can be classified as non-complicated or complicated and by means of occurrence as solitary or multifocal lesions. The Bosniak-classification (I-IV) classifies renal cysts in 5 different categories and is used for decisions of further clinical treatment. This classification was developed for computed tomography and has been adopted for magnetic resonance imaging as well as contrast-enhanced ultrasound. In the following review article, cystic kidney lesions and their differentiation using contrast-enhanced ultrasound are presented and an overview of the therapy options is given. In interventional procedures, CEUS can make a valuable contribution in histological sampling, reduce radiation exposure and, under certain circumstances, the number of interventions for the patient.

Monitoring liver changes is crucial in the management of liver fibrosis. Current diagnostic methods include liver function tests such as the Liver Maximum Capacity (LiMAx) test and measurements of liver stiffness. While the LiMAx test quantifies liver function through 13C-methacetin metabolism, ultrasound (US) elastography noninvasively assesses liver stiffness. The relationship between the findings of these methods in patients with liver fibrosis is not fullyunderstood.

The microalgae Arthrospira platensis (AP), commonly known as Spirulina, has gained widespread popularity as a food supplement in recent years. AP is particularly abundant in protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, and various antioxidants. In this study we aimed to evaluate the effect of nitrate limitation in the AP culture medium on AP growth and composition. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the respective aqueous AP extracts on three different mammalian cell-lines (HepG2, Caco2, L929) was tested. AP was cultivated over a 10-day period under nitrogen-rich (Nrich: 1.8 g/L) and nitrogen-deficient (Nlimited: 0.2-0.4 g/L) conditions in two separate experiments, each with three biological replicates (three bioreactors). Throughout the cultivation, the kinetic progress of dry biomass, pH, pigment content, the levels of essential elements (sulphur, phosphate, and nitrate) and the composition of elements in the harvested biomass was determined. While the biomass slightly but significantly differed, the phycocyanin concentration differed considerably (around 10-fold higher in the Nrich medium, p < 0.05). Aqueous extracts of the Nrich medium had significantly stronger effects on the cell membrane integrity and the metabolic activity of the cells than extracts of the Nlimited medium. Particularly was the finding that AP had a significantly stronger toxic effect on the two tumour cell types (HepG2, Caco2) than on the non-tumour cells (L929). This study underscores the significance of nitrate content in the cultivation media of AP.

Endothelial dysfunction, the earliest manifestation of atherosclerosis, can be initiated by both biochemicals and biomechanical forces. Atherosclerosis occurs predominantly at arterial branch points, arterial bifurcations and the curved segments of great arteries. These are the regions that blood flows turbulently. Turbulence promotes endothelial dysfunction by reducing shear stress upon endothelial cells. The endothelial glycocalyx mediates the effect of shear stress upon the endothelium. A mathematical analysis of cardiovascular hemodynamics demonstrates that fluid retention increases turbulence of blood flow. While there is no empirical data confirming this relationship, fluid retention is associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Every medical condition that causes fluid retention is associated with increased risk of both atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and venous thromboembolic disease. In addition, most medications that cause fluid retention are associated with increased adverse cardiovascular effects. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and pioglitazone are exceptions to this generalization. Even though data regarding CCBs and pioglitazone contradict the hypothesis that fluid retention is a cardiovascular risk factor, these medications have favorable cardiovascular properties which may outweigh the negative effect of fluid retention. Determining whether or not fluid retention is a cardiovascular risk factor would require empirical data demonstrating a relationship between fluid retention and turbulence of blood flow. While this issue should be relevant to cardiovascular researchers, clinicians and patients, it is especially pertinent to the pharmaceutical industry. Four-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging and vector flow Doppler ultrasound have the capability to quantify turbulence of blood flow. These technologies could be utilized to settle the matter.

Tissue engineering enables the production of three-dimensional microtissues which mimic naturally occurring conditions in special tissues. These 3D culture systems are particularly suitable for application in regenerative medicine or experimental pharmacology and toxicology. Therefore, it is important to analyse the cells in their 3D microenvironment with regard to viability and differentiation. Tetrazolium assays (WST-8 and MTS) are still the methods of choice for estimating the number of living, metabolically active cells, with WST-8 being cell-impermeable compared to MTS. In contrast to these methods, the ATP assay is an endpoint method based on the luciferase-induced reaction of ATP with luciferin after cell lysis.

 The pig (Sus scrofa) is the most widely used large animal model in Europe, with cardiovascular research being one of the main areas of application. Adequate refinement of interventional studies in this field, meeting the requirements of Russell and Burch's 3 R concept, can only be performed if blood-contacting medical devices are hemocompatible. Because most medical devices for cardiovascular interventional procedures are developed for humans, they are tested only for compatibility with human blood. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether there are differences in behavior of human and porcine platelets from commercial hybrid pigs when they come into contact with borosilicate glass, which was used as an exemplary thrombogenic material. For this purpose, changes in platelet count, platelet volume and platelet expression of the activation markers CD61, CD62P and CD63 were measured using a modified chandler loop-system simulating the fluidic effects of the bloodflow. Commercial hybrid pig and human platelets showed significant adhesions to borosilicate glass but the commercial hybrid pigs platelets showed a significantly higher tendency to adhere to borosilicate glass. In contrast to human platelets the platelets of commercial hybrid pigs showed significant activation after 4 to 8 minutes exposure to borosilicate glass and there were differences among the ratios of surface and activation markers in between the platelets of both species.

Ultrasound-guided interventions (such as biopsies) of unclear lesions are indicated if microcirculatory changes indicate possible malignant lesions. These place high demands on the ultrasound device used. In order to potentially reduce the often associated high technical effort, the wireless ultrasound device Vscan AirTM was examined as a possible ultrasound device for the intervention biopsy.

To assess diagnostic capabilities of a modern handheld ultrasound device (HUD) for portal vein (PV) evaluation in pediatric patients and to verify if age, body mass index (BMI) and object depth correlate to imagequality.