The acute effect of dark chocolate on blood pressure and renal hemodynamics as assessed with doppler ultrasound in healthy volunteers.

Objective: Dark chocolate (DC) is rich in cocoa, a substance with anti-oxidative and antihypertensive properties. The effect of DC on renal hemodynamics is poorly understood. The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled study was to investigate whether DC induces changes in blood pressure and renal perfusion as assessed with Doppler ultrasound - both at rest and during sympathetic stimulation - compared to cocoa-free white chocolate (WC).

In Patients With Hypertension, the Cortical Perfusion Index Measured by Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Reveals a Sexual Dimorphism.

Background: Arterial hypertension is characterized by microvasculature changes and reduced tissue perfusion. It is unknown whether a sexual dimorphism of renal microcirculation is present in patients with arterial hypertension. We aimed to compare the cortical microcirculation in women and men with hypertension and to evaluate their response to sympathetic stimulation with a cold pressor test (CPT).

A new, deep learning-based method for the analysis of autopsy kidney samples used to study sex differences in glomerular density and size in a forensic population.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in forensic anthropology and genetics to identify the victim and the cause of death. The large autopsy samples from persons with traumatic causes of death but without comorbidities also offer possibilities to analyze normal histology with AI. We propose a new deep learning-based method to rapidly count glomerular number and measure glomerular density (GD) and volume in post-mortem kidney samples obtained in a forensic population.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography reveals a lower cortical perfusion and a decreased renal flow reserve in hypertensive patients.

Background: Microvascular structural alteration and dysfunction is a hallmark of arterial hypertension. So far, the visualization and the quantification of renal microcirculation in humans has been hampered by the lack of non-nephrotoxic and non-invasive radiologic techniques. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is an appealing method to investigate renal microcirculation and has not been investigated in this setting.

Determinants of Renal Micro-Perfusion as Assessed with Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Healthy Males and Females.

(1) Background: The renal microcirculation is essential to maintain the renal function, but its determinants in humans have been poorly studied. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) allows the non-invasive quantification of the cortical micro-perfusion at the bedside using the perfusion index (PI). The aims of this study were to assess whether differences exist in PI between healthy males and females and to identify clinical determinants associated with cortical micro-perfusion.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and Protein Shakes Are No Alternatives for Inulin Clearance and Meat to Assess Renal Functional Reserve in Humans.

Introduction: The measurement of renal functional reserve (RFR) can unmask glomerular hyperfiltration in residual nephrons, but its determination is time-consuming. In this study, we assessed whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a valuable alternative to the gold standard inulin clearance and whether L-arginine or protein shakes lead to similar changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) as animal proteins in men and women.

Methods: Changes in GFR and renal microperfusion were studied in 25 healthy subjects (8 men, 17 women) by simultaneously performing inulin clearance and CEUS (perfusion index, PI) before and 1 and 2 h after different protein loads (L-arginine, protein shake or meat).

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography Enables the Detection of a Cold Pressor Test-Induced Increase in Renal Microcirculation in Healthy Participants.

Background: Renal microcirculation is essential for regulation of the glomerular filtration rate, the reabsorption of salt and water from the interstitium, and hence the blood pressure. Renal ultrasonography coupled to Doppler analysis and contrast-enhanced ultrasound enables the study of renal perfusion. So far, physiologic interventions have rarely been performed to assess the renal perfusion.

Cortical perfusion as assessed with contrast-enhanced ultrasound is lower in patients with chronic kidney disease than in healthy subjects but increases under low salt conditions.

Background: Disturbances in renal microcirculation play an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the lack of easy accessible techniques hampers our understanding of the regulation of the renal microcirculation in humans. We assessed whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can identify differences in cortical perfusion and alterations induced by different dietary salt intakes in CKD patients and controls.

Methods: Participants underwent CEUS twice: once after 5 days of high-salt (HS) intake, and again after 5 days of low salt (LS) diet.

Prevalence of malignant neoplastic oral lesions among children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Malignant neoplasms that affect children and adolescents are predominantly embryonic and generally affect blood system cells and supporting tissues.

Aim: This study aimed to summarize the scientific evidence about the prevalence of malignant lesions in the oral cavity of children and adolescents.

Design: In this systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42020158338), data were obtained from seven databases and the gray literature.

Short-term changes in dietary sodium intake influence sweat sodium concentration and muscle sodium content in healthy individuals.

Objective: There is increasing evidence that sodium can be stored in the skin and muscles without being osmotically active, yet whether acute changes in dietary sodium intake alter sweat and muscle sodium content has not been investigated previously.

Methods: In a cross-over design, we assessed muscle sodium content by Na-MRI in 38 healthy normotensive volunteers (aged 33.5 ± 11.

Constituents of Acacia cedilloi and Acacia gaumeri. Revised structure and complete NMR assignments of resinone.

The rare lupene derivative named resinone has only been isolated before from Fluorensia resinosa. We now report the isolation of this compound from the bark of the new recently described Acacia cedilloi (Fabaceae), and the revision of its structure to 16beta-hydroxylup-20(29)-en-3-one, based on NMR and MS spectral data. The detailed 1H and 13C NMR assignments of resinone and its acetate achieved by 1D and 2D NMR experiments (including DEPT, COSY, HMQC and HMBC) are reported.