Global and Regional Sex-Related Differences, Asymmetry, and Peak Age of Brain Myelination in Healthy Adults.

The fundamental question of normal brain myelination in human is still poorly understood. : Age-dependent global, regional, and interhemispheric sex-related differences in brain myelination of 42 (19 men, 23 women) healthy adults (19-67 years) were explored using the MRI method of fast macromolecular fraction (MPF) mapping. : Higher brain myelination in males compared to females was found in global white matter (WM), most WM tracts, juxtacortical WM regions, and putamen.

Demyelination in Patients with POST-COVID Depression.

Depression is one of the most severe sequelae of COVID-19, with major depressive disorder often characterized by disruption in white matter (WM) connectivity stemming from changes in brain myelination. This study aimed to quantitatively assess brain myelination in clinically diagnosed post-COVID depression (PCD) using the recently proposed MRI method, macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) mapping. The study involved 63 recovered COVID-19 patients (52 mild, 11 moderate, and 2 severe) at 13.

Dapagliflozin reduces systemic inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes without known heart failure.

Objective: Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors significantly improve cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic patients; however, the mechanism is unclear. We hypothesized that dapagliflozin improves cardiac outcomes via beneficial effects on systemic and cardiac inflammation and cardiac fibrosis.

Research And Design Methods: This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial enrolled 62 adult patients (mean age 62, 17% female) with type 2 diabetes (T2D) without known heart failure.

Neurocognitive Changes in Patients with Post-COVID Depression.

: Depression and cognitive impairment are recognized complications of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess cognitive performance in clinically diagnosed post-COVID depression (PCD, n = 25) patients using neuropsychological testing. : The study involved 71 post-COVID patients with matched control groups: recovered COVID-19 individuals without complications (n = 18) and individuals without prior COVID-19 history (n = 19).

Dapagliflozin Reduces Systemic Inflammation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Without Known Heart Failure.

Objective: Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors significantly improve cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic patients; however, the mechanism is unclear. We hypothesized that dapagliflozin improves cardiac outcomes via beneficial effects on systemic and cardiac inflammation and cardiac fibrosis.

Research And Design Methods: This randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial enrolled 62 adult patients (mean age 62, 17% female) with type 2 diabetes (T2D) without known heart failure.

Age-Related Decline in Brain Myelination: Quantitative Macromolecular Proton Fraction Mapping, T2-FLAIR Hyperintensity Volume, and Anti-Myelin Antibodies Seven Years Apart.

Age-related myelination decrease is considered one of the likely mechanisms of cognitive decline. The present preliminary study is based on the longitudinal assessment of global and regional myelination of the normal adult human brain using fast macromolecular fraction (MPF) mapping. Additional markers were age-related changes in white matter (WM) hyperintensities on FLAIR-MRI and the levels of anti-myelin autoantibodies in serum.

MRI Quantification of Cardiac Structure and Function in Cardiomyopathy Patients.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMRI) is a quantitative technique that enables non-invasive assessment of heart structure and contractile function as well as the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease. Here we provide step-by-step instructions and imaging protocols for conducting cardiac MRI exam on the patients with cardiomyopathies. Our imaging protocols are specific to the 3 Tesla magnetic field strength.

Genetic variation in the Y chromosome and sex-biased DNA methylation in somatic cells in the mouse.

Several lines of evidence suggest that the presence of the Y chromosome influences DNA methylation of autosomal loci. To better understand the impact of the Y chromosome on autosomal DNA methylation patterns and its contribution to sex bias in methylation, we identified Y chromosome dependent differentially methylated regions (yDMRs) using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing methylation data from livers of mice with different combinations of sex-chromosome complement and gonadal sex. Nearly 90% of the autosomal yDMRs mapped to transposable elements (TEs) and most of them had lower methylation in XY compared to XX or XO mice.

Role of Demyelination in the Persistence of Neurological and Mental Impairments after COVID-19.

Long-term neurological and mental complications of COVID-19, the so-called post-COVID syndrome or long COVID, affect the quality of life. The most persistent manifestations of long COVID include fatigue, anosmia/hyposmia, insomnia, depression/anxiety, and memory/attention deficits. The physiological basis of neurological and psychiatric disorders is still poorly understood.

Challenges and Practical Solutions to MRI and Histology Matching and Measurements Using Available ImageJ Software Tools.

Traditionally histology is the gold standard for the validation of imaging experiments. Matching imaging slices and histological sections and the precise outlining of corresponding tissue structures are difficult. Challenges are based on differences in imaging and histological slice thickness as well as tissue shrinkage and alterations after processing.

Macromolecular Proton Fraction as a Myelin Biomarker: Principles, Validation, and Applications.

Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) is a quantitative MRI parameter describing the magnetization transfer (MT) effect and defined as a relative amount of protons bound to biological macromolecules with restricted molecular motion, which participate in magnetic cross-relaxation with water protons. MPF attracted significant interest during past decade as a biomarker of myelin. The purpose of this mini review is to provide a brief but comprehensive summary of MPF mapping methods, histological validation studies, and MPF applications in neuroscience.

New Data on Variously Directed Dose-Response Relationships and the Combined Action Types for Different Outcomes of Nanoparticle Cytotoxicity.

Spherical selenium-oxide and copper-oxide nanoparticles (SeO-NP with mean diameter 51 ± 14 nm and CuO-NP with mean diameter 21 ± 4 nm) were found to be cytotoxic for human fibroblast-like cells as judged by decreased ATP-dependent luminescence. Compared with SeO-NP, CuO-NP produced a somewhat stronger effect of this kind. Along with cell hypertrophy developing in response to certain doses of SeO-NP and CuO-NP, our experiment also revealed doses causing a decrease in cell and cell-nucleus sizes.

Polymer Networks for Enrichment of Calcium Ions.

In this study, solvogels containing (2-((2-(ethoxycarbonyl)prop-2-en-1-yl)oxy)-ethyl) phosphonic acid (ECPA) and ,'-diethyl-1,3-bis-(acrylamido)propane (BNEAA) as the crosslinker are synthesized by UV induced crosslinking photopolymerization in various solvents. The polymerization of the ECPA monomer is monitored by the conversion of double bonds with attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The morphology of the networks is characterized by photorheology, solid state NMR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the dried gels.

Distinct roles of androgen receptor, estrogen receptor alpha, and BCL6 in the establishment of sex-biased DNA methylation in mouse liver.

Sexual dimorphism in gene regulation, including DNA methylation, is the main driver of sexual dimorphism in phenotypes. However, the questions of how and when sex shapes DNA methylation remain unresolved. Recently, using mice with different combinations of genetic and phenotypic sex, we identified sex-associated differentially methylated regions (sDMRs) that depended on the sex phenotype.

Quantitative Analyses of the Left Ventricle Volume and Cardiac Function in Normal and Infarcted Yucatan Minipigs.

(1) Background: The accuracy of the left ventricular volume (LVV) and contractility measurements with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is decreased if the papillary muscles are abnormally enlarged, such as in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in human patients or in pig models of human diseases. The purpose of this work was to establish the best method of LVV quantification with CMRI in pigs. (2) Methods: The LVV in 29 Yucatan minipig hearts was measured using two different techniques: the "standard method", which uses smooth contouring along the endocardial surface and adds the papillary volume to the ventricular cavity volume, and the "detailed method", which traces the papillary muscles and trabeculations and adds them to the ventricular mass.

Comparative and Combined Vasotoxicity of Nanoparticles Containing Lead and Cadmium.

toxicological experiments were performed on an endothelial cell line exposed to different doses of spherical nanoparticles of cadmium and/or of lead sulfides with mean diameter 37 ± 5 nm and 24 ± 4 nm, respectively. Toxic effects were estimated by Luminescent Cell Viability Assay, endothelin-1 concentration and cell size determination. Some dose-response relationships were typically monotonic (well approximated with hyperbolic function) while others were bi- or even 3-phasic and could be described within the expanded hormesis paradigm.

A novel exomal ATRX mutation with preferential transmission to offspring: A case report and review of the literature for transmission ratio distortion in ATRX families.

The present case report describes an Italian family with three affected probands, who exhibited serious mental disability, which has not been associated with other anomalies, except with slight facial dysmorphism. Molecular multigenic analysis for intellectual disability identified a previously unreported variant, p.Ile1765Met (c.

Sex Chromosomes and Sex Phenotype Contribute to Biased DNA Methylation in Mouse Liver.

Sex biases in the genome-wide distribution of DNA methylation and gene expression levels are some of the manifestations of sexual dimorphism in mammals. To advance our understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to sex biases in DNA methylation and gene expression, we conducted whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) as well as RNA-seq on liver samples from mice with different combinations of sex phenotype and sex-chromosome complement. We compared groups of animals with different sex phenotypes, but the same genetic sexes, and vice versa, same sex phenotypes, but different sex-chromosome complements.

Treatment of Allergic Asthma with Fenretinide Formulation (LAU-7b) Downregulates ORMDL Sphingolipid Biosynthesis Regulator 3 () Expression and Normalizes Ceramide Imbalance.

Zona pellucida binding protein 2 () and ORMDL sphingolipid biosynthesis regulator 3 (), mapped downstream of , were identified as two genes associated with airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR). gene product has been shown to regulate the biosynthesis of ceramides. Allergic asthma was shown to be associated with an imbalance between very-long-chain ceramides (VLCCs) and long-chain ceramides (LCCs).

Regulatory interaction between the ZPBP2-ORMDL3/Zpbp2-Ormdl3 region and the circadian clock.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci for several immunity-mediated diseases (early onset asthma, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), primary biliary cholangitis, and rheumatoid arthritis) map to chromosomal region 17q12-q21. The predominant view is that association between 17q12-q21 alleles and increased risk of developing asthma or IBD is due to regulatory variants. ORM sphingolipid biosynthesis regulator (ORMDL3) residing in this region is the most promising gene candidate for explaining association with disease.

Mechanical zona pellucida removal of vitrified-warmed human blastocysts does not affect the clinical outcome.

Research Question: Does complete mechanical removal of the zona pellucida modify the outcome of transfer of vitrified-warmed human blastocysts?

Design: In a prospective randomized controlled study, 419 couples were allocated to either zona pellucida-free (n = 209) or zona intact (n = 210) vitrified-warmed embryo transfer. Main outcome measures included clinical pregnancy, implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates.

Results: Transfer of zona pellucida-free blastocysts resulted in clinical pregnancy, implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates (35,9%, 33,9% and 32,1%, respectively), similar to those achieved with zona intact control embryos (39%, 36,4% and 33,1%, respectively).

More data on in vitro assessment of comparative and combined toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles.

Isolated and combined damaging effects of PbO and CuO nanoparticles were estimated on an established line of human fibroblasts by a decrease in: (a) the cellular dehydrogenase activity (MTT Assay), (b) the ATP content (Luminescent Cell Viability Assay), (c) the cellular proliferation, viability, spreading, and attachment to substrate evaluated integrally by continuous impedance-based measurement of the Normalized Cell Index. Using all these indices, we demonstrate an explicit dependence of cell damage on the concentrations of both metal oxide nanoparticle (MeO-NP) species. This dependence is adequately approximated with a hyperbolic function.