Methodology exploration and reproducibility evaluation of TAI and TSI for quantitative ultrasound assessment of hepatic steatosis.

Background And Aim: New quantitative ultrasound techniques can be used to quantify hepatic steatosis, including tissue attenuation imaging (TAI), tissue scatter -distribution imaging (TSI), and the hepatorenal index (HRI). However, the measurement norms and the effects of fasting on these measurements remain unclear. The present study performed a methodological exploration and investigated the reliability of these measurements.

Ultrasonographic study of female perineal body and its supportive function on pelvic floor.

Objectives: The study aimed to observe, measure the size and elastic value of perineal body (PB) and assess its association with levator hiatus.

Methods: Datasets were acquired in 45 nulliparous, 66 POP women and 70 postpartum women using ultrasound. The PB was measured in depth, height, and Young's modulus.

Transiently impaired endothelial function during thyroid hormone withdrawal in differentiated thyroid cancer patients.

Purpose: Endothelial dysfunction, which was associated with chronic hypothyroidism, was an early event in atherosclerosis. Whether short-term hypothyroidism following thyroxine withdrawal during radioiodine (RAI) therapy was associated with endothelial dysfunction in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) was unclear. Aim of the study was to assess whether short-term hypothyroidism could impair endothelial function and the accompanied metabolic changes in the whole process of RAI therapy.

Efficacy of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for the treatment of viral pneumonia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Viral pneumonia has always been a problem faced by clinicians because of its insidious onset, strong infectivity, and lack of effective drugs. Patients with advanced age or underlying diseases may experience more severe symptoms and are prone to severe ventilation dysfunction. Reducing pulmonary inflammation and improving clinical symptoms is the focus of current treatment.

Three-dimensional pelvic ultrasound is a practical tool for the assessment of anal fistula.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the diagnostic value of three-dimensional pelvic ultrasound in the preoperative assessment of anal fistula compared with findings of MRI and surgery.

Methods: A total of 67 patients (62 males) with suspected anal fistula were analyzed retrospectively. Preoperative three-dimensional pelvic ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging were performed in all patients.

Joint effects of carotid plaques and renal impairment on the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause death in a community-based population: The Kailuan cohort study.

Objective: It is unknown whether renal impairment and atherosclerosis increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death. Atherosclerosis already raises the risk of CVD and all-cause death. This study investigated the joint effects of carotid plaques and renal impairment on CVD and all-cause death in community-based populations.

Obesity-Induced Hepatic Steatosis Is Partly Mediated by Visceral Fat Accumulation in Subjects with Overweight/Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: We explored whether visceral fat accumulation mediates the development of hepatic steatosis in individuals living with overweight and obesity.

Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 769 outpatients with overweight and obesity aged 18-65 years. The controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) was used to quantify the degree of hepatic steatosis.

Nomogram based on preoperative conventional ultrasound and shear wave velocity for predicting central lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To establish a nomogram for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) based on the preoperative conventional ultrasound (US) and shear wave velocity (SWV) features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Methods: A total of 101 patients with pathologically confirmed thyroid nodules were enrolled. These patients were divided into the CLNM-positive (n = 40) and CLNM-negative groups (n = 61).

Analysis of diastolic left ventricular wall shear stress in normal people of different age groups.

Background: Diastolic wall shear stress (WSS), assessed by using vector flow mapping (VFM), is the result of the interaction between the blood flow and the ventricular wall. This study aimed to evaluate the trend of left ventricular (LV) WSS in normal subjects.

Methods And Results: A total of 371 healthy volunteers were recruited and divided into four age groups (group I: 18-30 years; group II: 31-43 years; group III: 44-56 years; group IV: 57-70 years).

Long noncoding RNA DLEU2 promotes growth and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating miR-30a-5p/PTP4A1 axis.

Increasing data indicate that long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) DLEU2 is implicated in carcinogenesis in multiple malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role and molecular mechanism by which lncRNA DLEU2 contributes to HCC remain unknown. The association of lncRNA DLEU2 with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in patients with HCC was analyzed by qRT-PCR, and public TCGA dataset.

Simple surrogate equations to predict controlled attenuation parameter values for screening non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a Chinese population.

Objective: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease. The controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) obtained by FibroScan reflects the level of liver steatosis in patients with obesity. Our study aimed to construct a simple equation to predict the CAP, to facilitate the screening and monitoring of patients at high risk for NAFLD.

A Prediction Equation to Estimate Vascular Endothelial Function in Different Body Mass Index Populations.

Objective: Vascular endothelial dysfunction is considered an early predictor of endothelial injury and the initiating factor of atherosclerosis (AS). Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) can detect endothelial injury early and provide important prognostic information beyond traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. This study aimed to find the influencing factors of FMD and develop a simple prediction model in populations with different body mass indices (BMIs).

Marriage of Virus-Mimic Surface Topology and Microbubble-Assisted Ultrasound for Enhanced Intratumor Accumulation and Improved Cancer Theranostics.

The low delivery efficiency of nanoparticles to solid tumors greatly reduces the therapeutic efficacy and safety which is closely related to low permeability and poor distribution at tumor sites. In this work, an "intrinsic plus extrinsic superiority" administration strategy is proposed to dramatically enhance the mean delivery efficiency of nanoparticles in prostate cancer to 6.84% of injected dose, compared to 1.

Serum Creatinine-to-Cystatin C Ratio in the Progression Monitoring of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background: The simultaneous assessment of visceral adiposity and muscle mass might be useful to monitor the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression in large population. We aimed to investigate the value of serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio (CCR) in evaluating these two parameters and predicting liver steatosis and fibrosis.

Methods: 154 overweight/obese inpatients (49 males, 105 females) scheduled for bariatric surgery and 49 non-overweight/obese volunteers (18 males, 31 females) responded to the hospital advertisement were involved in the cross-sectional study.

CircANKRD52 Promotes the Tumorigenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Sponging miR-497-5p and Upregulating BIRC5 Expression.

CircRNAs participate in the pathogenesis of a variety of cancers. Previous studies showed that baculoviral IAP repeat containing 5 (BIRC5) can promote tumor progression. But, the mechanisms by which circRNAs regulate BIRC5 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown.

Low-frequency ultrasound combined with microbubbles improves gene transfection in prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore whether low-frequency ultrasound combined with microbubbles improves pEGFP genes transfection into human prostate cancer cells.

Methods: Ultrasound with frequency of 80 kHz and duty cycle of 50% was adopted in the study; in in vitro experiments, cell lysis, and membrane damage were evaluated after ultrasound exposure; and the membrane continuity and transfection efficiency were observed by transmission electron microscope and laser scanner, respectively. Human prostate cancer xenograft models were exposed to ultrasound and transfection efficiency and histological examination were analyzed.

Relationship Between Morphologic Characteristics of Ultrasonic Calcification in Thyroid Nodules and Thyroid Carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between morphologic characteristics of the calcifications detected by ultrasound in thyroid nodules and thyroid carcinoma. Morphologic characteristics of the calcifications on pre-operative ultrasound examinations of thyroids were compared with post-operative pathologic diagnoses in 543 patients undergoing thyroid surgery. Calcifications were divided into microcalcifications (≤2 mm) and macrocalcifications (>2 mm), and the latter were divided into eggshell calcifications in a row, eggshell discontinuous calcifications, irregular calcifications and multilayer-like calcifications, labeled types I-V.

Vascular endothelial growth factor suppresses dendritic cells function of human prostate cancer.

Purpose: Prostate cancer (PCa) patients often have dendritic cell (DC) function defects, but the mechanism is not clear. The aim of this study was to detect the effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in mature DCs.

Patients And Methods: In this study, we chose 30 PCa patients, 10 prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) patients and 30 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients, and compared the composition of peripheral blood T cells, the composition and function of local dendritic cells in prostate tissue, and the density of local VEGF.

Low-frequency ultrasound-induced VEGF suppression and synergy with dendritic cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity in murine prostate cancer cells in vitro.

High tumor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels are associated with poor treatment outcomes in prostate cancer (PCa), and immune deficiency in the PCa microenvironment, especially suppression of dendritic cell (DC) proliferation, has been confirmed. In this study, we (1) investigated whether VEGF participates in DC suppression in murine PCa cells (RM-1), (2) down-regulated VEGF expression using low-frequency ultrasound and microbubbles (UM), and (3) further explored any synergistic effect on immunological activation. DCs from the bone marrow of BALB/c mice were stimulated by the addition of cytokines (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4)), and we analyzed their proliferation status via flow cytometric recognition of the surface antigen markers CD11c and CD83.

Low-frequency ultrasound-mediated microvessel disruption combined with docetaxel to treat prostate carcinoma xenografts in nude mice: A novel type of chemoembolization.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether low-frequency ultrasound (US)-mediated microvessel disruption combined with docetaxel (DTX) can be used as a novel type of chemoembolization. Mice were assigned to four groups: i) The USMB group, treated with low-frequency US combined with microbubbles (USMB); ii) the DTX group, treated with DTX; iii) the USMB + DTX group, treated with combined therapy; and iv) the control group, which was untreated. Immediately after the first treatment, the average peak intensity (API) on contrast-enhanced US was calculated, and tumors were excised for hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining.

Liposome-mediated transfection of wild-type P53 DNA into human prostate cancer cells is improved by low-frequency ultrasound combined with microbubbles.

Prostate cancer is a common type of cancer in elderly men. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of ultrasound exposure in combination with SonoVue microbubbles on liposome-mediated transfection of wild-type P53 genes into human prostate cancer cells. PC-3 human prostate cancer cells were exposed to ultrasound; duty cycle was controlled at 20% (2 sec on, 8 sec off) for 5 min with and without SonoVue microbubble echo-contrast agent using a digital sonifier (frequency, 21 kHz; intensity, 46 mW/cm).

Upregulation of ULK1 expression in PC-3 cells following tumor protein P53 transfection by sonoporation.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether ultrasound combined with microbubbles was able to enhance liposome-mediated transfection of genes into human prostate cancer cells, and to examine the association between autophagy and tumor protein P53 (P53). An MTT assay was used to evaluate cell viability, while flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy were used to measure gene transfection efficiency. Autophagy was observed using transmission electron microscopy.