Hemin enhances the 5-aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy effect through the changes of cellular iron homeostasis.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been utilized as a promising alternative cancer treatment due to its minimum invasiveness over the years. Exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) triggers protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) accumulation, which happens in cancer cells. However, certain types of cancer exhibit reduced effectiveness in the PpIX accumulation mechanism.

Repeated Inhalation of Peppermint Essential Oil Improves Exercise Performance in Endurance-Trained Rats.

Peppermint essential oil, being natural and safe, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has long been a research interest in relieving fatigue and improving exercise performance. However, the related studies report controversial results, and the mechanisms remain unclear. Here we found that inhalation of peppermint essential oil significantly extended the exhaustion time in rats subjected to 2-week weight-bearing swimming training.

[Inhibition of glutaminolysis alleviates myocardial fibrosis induced by angiotensin II].

The present study was aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of glutaminolysis of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) in hypertension-induced myocardial fibrosis. C57BL/6J mice were administered with a chronic infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II, 1.6 mg/kg per d) with a micro-osmotic pump to induce myocardial fibrosis.

[Ketogenic diet improves low temperature tolerance in mice by up-regulating PPARα in the liver and brown adipose tissue].

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of short-term ketogenic diet on the low temperature tolerance of mice and the involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα). C57BL/6J mice were divided into two groups: normal diet (WT+ND) group and ketogenic diet (WT+KD) group. After being fed with normal or ketogenic diet at room temperature for 2 d, the mice were exposed to 4 °C low temperature for 12 h.

Exercise Enhances Branched-Chain Amino Acid Catabolism and Decreases Cardiac Vulnerability to Myocardial Ischemic Injury.

Long-term exercise-induced metabolic adaptations occupy a central position in exercise-afforded cardiac benefits. Emerging evidence suggests that branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolic defect contributes to cardiac dysfunction in multiple cardiometabolic diseases. However, the role of BCAA catabolism in exercise-afforded cardiac benefits remains unknown.

The obesity paradox in patients with colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Context: Obesity is widely regarded as an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, recent studies have shown that lower mortality and better cancer-specific survival were observed in CRC patients with elevated body mass index (BMI), an example of the obesity paradox, which is the inverse correlation between obesity and mortality in some populations.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the association between BMI and CRC outcomes.

Noninvasive tumor imaging with high-frequency ultrasound and microPET in small animals.

In this study, we used a micro-ultrasound (microUS) system that we developed in-house as an alternative method for tumor growth calipers. In addition, microUS was combined with small-animal positron-emission tomography (microPET) for tumor metastatic assessment. MicroUS provides anatomical information that can be used for tumor volume measurements while microPET is a functional imaging method with positron-emitting radiophamaceuticals, such as 18F-labeled deoxyglucose, [18F]FDG.

Non-Invasive imaging of small-animal tumors: high-frequency ultrasound vs. MicroPET.

Tumor volume measurement on small animals is important but currently invasive. We employ ultrasonic micro-imaging (UMI) in this study and demonstrate its feasibility. In addition, we use small animal positron emission tomography (microPET) as a preliminary effort to develop multi-modality small animal imaging techniques.