Ultrasound Strain Imaging for Characterizing Atherosclerotic Plaque in the Carotid Arteries of Asymptomatic Subjects.

Objective: The rupture of vulnerable plaques in the carotid artery is a leading cause of strokes. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the standard for quantifying plaque composition, its high costs and lengthy procedure times limit large-scale use. Compound ultrasound strain imaging (CUSI) ultrasound offers a non-invasively alternative by assessing tissue deformation/strain within the arterial wall.

Sex-specific association of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue volumes with systemic inflammation and innate immune cells in people living with obesity.

Background And Aims: Obesity predisposes to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Adipose tissue inflammation and systemic inflammation contribute to these complications. There are strong sex differences in adipose tissue distribution and in systemic inflammation.

MRI in patients with a cerebral aneurysm clip; review of the literature and incident databases and recommendations for the Netherlands.

Background: In the past ferromagnetic cerebral aneurysm clips that are contraindicated for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been implanted. However, the specific clip model is often unknown for older clips, which poses a problem for individual patient management in clinical care.

Methods: Literature and incident databases were searched, and a survey was performed in the Netherlands that identified time periods at which ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic clip models were implanted.

Monitoring β-Cell Survival After Intrahepatic Islet Transplantation Using Dynamic Exendin PET Imaging: A Proof-of-Concept Study in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes.

Unlabelled: Intrahepatic transplantation of islets of Langerhans (ITx) is a treatment option for individuals with complicated type 1 diabetes and profoundly unstable glycemic control, but its therapeutic success is hampered by deterioration of graft function over time. To improve ITx strategies, technologies to noninvasively monitor the fate and survival of transplanted islets over time are of great potential value. We used [68Ga]Ga-NODAGA-exendin-4 (68Ga-exendin) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging to demonstrate the feasibility of quantifying β-cell mass in intrahepatic islet grafts in 13 individuals with type 1 diabetes, nine after ITx with functional islet grafts and four control patients not treated with ITx.

Sex-specific Association Between Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Vascular and Metabolic Complications of Obesity.

Context: Adipose tissue (AT) inflammation predisposes to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in obesity.

Objective: To investigate the association between adipocyte size, AT inflammation, systemic inflammation, and metabolic and atherosclerotic complications of obesity in a sex-specific manner.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Effect of lactate administration on cerebral blood flow during hypoglycemia in people with type 1 diabetes.

Introduction: Impaired awareness of hypoglycemia, clinically reflected by the inability to timely detect hypoglycemia, affects approximately 25% of the people with type 1 diabetes. Both altered brain lactate handling and increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) during hypoglycemia appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of impaired awareness of hypoglycemia. Here we examine the effect of lactate on CBF during hypoglycemia.

Superficial vs Deep Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue: Sex-Specific Associations With Hepatic Steatosis and Metabolic Traits.

Context: Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) is not homogeneous, as the fascia scarpa separates the deep SAT (dSAT) from the superficial SAT (sSAT).

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the sex-specific associations of sSAT and dSAT with hepatic steatosis and metabolic syndrome in overweight individuals.

Methods: We recruited 285 individuals with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 27 and aged 55 to 81 years.

Disturbed brain ether lipid metabolism and histology in Sjögren-Larsson syndrome.

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS) is a rare neurometabolic syndrome caused by deficient fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase. Patients exhibit intellectual disability, spastic paraplegia, and ichthyosis. The accumulation of fatty alcohols and fatty aldehydes has been demonstrated in plasma and skin but never in brain.

Increased proteinase 3 and neutrophil elastase plasma concentrations are associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming a major health problem worldwide. Inflammation plays an important role in disease pathogenesis and recent studies have shown a potential role for the neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs) proteinase-3 (PR3) and neutrophil elastase (NE) in NAFLD as well as an imbalance between NSPs and their natural inhibitor alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). The aim of this study was to investigate whether PR3 and NE plasma concentrations are associated with NAFLD and/or type 2 diabetes.

Elevated brain glutamate levels in type 1 diabetes: correlations with glycaemic control and age of disease onset but not with hypoglycaemia awareness status.

Aims/hypothesis: Chronic hyperglycaemia in type 1 diabetes affects the structure and functioning of the brain, but the impact of recurrent hypoglycaemia is unclear. Changes in the neurochemical profile have been linked to loss of neuronal function. We therefore aimed to investigate the impact of type 1 diabetes and burden of hypoglycaemia on brain metabolite levels, in which we assumed the burden to be high in individuals with impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia (IAH) and low in those with normal awareness of hypoglycaemia (NAH).

Gut Microbial Associations to Plasma Metabolites Linked to Cardiovascular Phenotypes and Risk.

Rationale: Altered gut microbial composition has been linked to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but its functional links to host metabolism and immunity in relation to CVD development remain unclear.

Objectives: To systematically assess functional links between the microbiome and the plasma metabolome, cardiometabolic phenotypes, and CVD risk and to identify diet-microbe-metabolism-immune interactions in well-documented cohorts.

Methods And Results: We assessed metagenomics-based microbial associations between 231 plasma metabolites and microbial species and pathways in the population-based LLD (Lifelines DEEP) cohort (n=978) and a clinical obesity cohort (n=297).

Altered brain high-energy phosphate metabolism in mild Alzheimer's disease: A 3-dimensional P MR spectroscopic imaging study.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), defects in essential metabolic processes for energy supply and phospholipid membrane function have been implicated in the pathological process. However, post-mortem investigations are generally limited to late stage disease and prone to tissue decay artifacts. In vivo assessments of high energy phosphates, tissue pH and phospholipid metabolites are possible by phosphorus MR spectroscopy (P-MRS), but so far only small studies, mostly focusing on single brain regions, have been performed.

Effect of lactate administration on brain lactate levels during hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Administration of lactate during hypoglycemia suppresses symptoms and counterregulatory responses, as seen in patients with type 1 diabetes and impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH), presumably because lactate can substitute for glucose as a brain fuel. Here, we examined whether lactate administration, in a dose sufficient to impair awareness of hypoglycemia, affects brain lactate levels in patients with normal awareness of hypoglycemia (NAH). Patients with NAH ( = 6) underwent two euglycemic-hypoglycemic clamps (2.

Effect of Exercise-Induced Lactate Elevation on Brain Lactate Levels During Hypoglycemia in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycemia.

Since altered brain lactate handling has been implicated in the development of impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH) in type 1 diabetes, the capacity to transport lactate into the brain during hypoglycemia may be relevant in its pathogenesis. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases plasma lactate levels. We compared the effect of HIIT-induced hyperlacticacidemia on brain lactate during hypoglycemia between ) patients with type 1 diabetes and IAH, ) patients with type 1 diabetes and normal awareness of hypoglycemia, and ) healthy participants without diabetes ( = 6 per group).

The medical food Souvenaid affects brain phospholipid metabolism in mild Alzheimer's disease: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Synaptic dysfunction contributes to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease and may be countered by increased intake of nutrients that target brain phospholipid metabolism. In this study, we explored whether the medical food Souvenaid affects brain phospholipid metabolism in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: Thirty-four drug-naive patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (Mini Mental State Examination score ≥20) were enrolled in this exploratory, double-blind, randomized controlled study.

Noninvasive Quantitative Assessment of Hepatic Steatosis by Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Among Adult Patients Receiving Home Parenteral Nutrition.

Background: Intestinal failure-associated liver disease is a frequent complication in patients with chronic intestinal failure (CIF), with steatosis as a dominant feature in adults. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a noninvasive method to quantify liver fat content (LFC). In this study, LFC was assessed with 1H-MRS, taking into account the possible accumulation of paramagnetic components of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) that may disturb these measurements.

Automatic frequency and phase alignment of in vivo J-difference-edited MR spectra by frequency domain correlation.

Objective: J-difference editing is often used to select resonances of compounds with coupled spins in H-MR spectra. Accurate phase and frequency alignment prior to subtracting J-difference-edited MR spectra is important to avoid artefactual contributions to the edited resonance.

Materials And Methods: In-vivo J-difference-edited MR spectra were aligned by maximizing the normalized scalar product between two spectra (i.

A Single Bout of High-Intensity Interval Training Reduces Awareness of Subsequent Hypoglycemia in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has gained increasing popularity in patients with diabetes. HIIT acutely increases plasma lactate levels. This may be important, since the administration of lactate during hypoglycemia suppresses symptoms and counterregulation while preserving cognitive function.

Cerebral blood flow response to hypoglycemia is altered in patients with type 1 diabetes and impaired awareness of hypoglycemia.

It is unclear whether cerebral blood flow responses to hypoglycemia are altered in people with type 1 diabetes and impaired awareness of hypoglycemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hypoglycemia on both global and regional cerebral blood flow in type 1 diabetes patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia, type 1 diabetes patients with normal awareness of hypoglycemia and healthy controls ( n = 7 per group). The subjects underwent a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic-hypoglycemic glucose clamp in a 3 T MR system.

Brain Lactate Concentration Falls in Response to Hypoglycemia in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycemia.

Brain lactate may be involved in the development of impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH), a condition that affects approximately 25% of patients with type 1 diabetes and increases the risk of severe hypoglycemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acute hypoglycemia on brain lactate concentration in patients with IAH as compared with those with normal awareness of hypoglycemia (NAH) and healthy control subjects (n = 7 per group). After an overnight fast, all subjects underwent a two-step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic (5.

Quantitative Ultrasound for Staging of Hepatic Steatosis in Patients on Home Parenteral Nutrition Validated with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: A Feasibility Study.

Patients on home parenteral nutrition are at risk for developing liver dysfunction, which is due partly to the accumulation of lipids in the liver (steatosis) and may progress to end-stage liver disease with overt liver failure. Therefore, a timely diagnosis with easy access to repeated assessment of the degree of liver steatosis is of great importance. A pilot study was performed in 14 patients on long-term home parenteral nutrition using the computer-aided ultrasound method.

Brain glucose metabolism during hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes: insights from functional and metabolic neuroimaging studies.

Hypoglycemia is the most frequent complication of insulin therapy in patients with type 1 diabetes. Since the brain is reliant on circulating glucose as its main source of energy, hypoglycemia poses a threat for normal brain function. Paradoxically, although hypoglycemia commonly induces immediate decline in cognitive function, long-lasting changes in brain structure and cognitive function are uncommon in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Cerebral lipid accumulation in Chanarin-Dorfman Syndrome.

Chanarin-Dorfman Syndrome (CDS) is caused by a defect in the CGI-58/ABHD5 gene resulting in a deficiency of CGI-58 and in intracellular accumulation of triacylglycerol in skin and liver. Patients are mainly characterized by congenital ichthyosis, but the clinical phenotype is very heterogeneous. Distinct brain involvement has never been described.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and volumetric measurements of the brain in patients with postcancer fatigue: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Postcancer fatigue is a frequently occurring problem, impairing quality of life. Until now, little is known about (neuro) physiological factors determining postcancer fatigue. For non-cancer patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, certain characteristics of brain morphology and metabolism have been identified in previous studies.

Patients with type 1 diabetes exhibit altered cerebral metabolism during hypoglycemia.

Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) experience, on average, 2 to 3 hypoglycemic episodes per week. This study investigated the effect of hypoglycemia on cerebral glucose metabolism in patients with uncomplicated T1DM. For this purpose, hyperinsulinemic euglycemic and hypoglycemic glucose clamps were performed on separate days, using [1-13C]glucose infusion to increase plasma 13C enrichment.