Combination treatment with cilostazol and isosorbide mononitrate attenuates microemboli-mediated vascular cognitive impairment and improves imaging and plasma biomarkers in diabetic rats.

Diabetes is a major risk factor for all types of dementia. The underlying reasons are not fully understood, and preventive therapeutic strategies are lacking. Previously we have shown that diabetic but not control rats developed a progressive cognitive decline in a microemboli (ME) model of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment & dementia (VCID).

Nanowarming and ice-free cryopreservation of large sized, intact porcine articular cartilage.

Successful organ or tissue long-term preservation would revolutionize biomedicine. Cartilage cryopreservation enables prolonged shelf life of articular cartilage, posing the prospect to broaden the implementation of promising osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation for cartilage repair. However, cryopreserved large sized cartilage cannot be successfully warmed with the conventional convection warming approach due to its limited warming rate, blocking its clinical potential.

Brain microstructure abnormalities in the 3xTg-AD mouse - A diffusion MRI and morphology correlation study.

The widely studied triple transgenic (3xTg-AD) mouse provides a robust model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with region dependent patterns of progressive amyloid-β (Aß) and tau pathology. Using diffusion MRI (dMRI), we investigated the sensitivity of dMRI measures in capturing AD pathology associated microstructure alterations in older 3xTg-AD mice, and the degree to which dMRI changes correlate with measurements of Aβ and tau pathology. 3xTg-AD and normal control (NC) mice, 15 to 21 months of age, were used in this study.

Comparison of two types of microscopic diffusion anisotropy in mouse brain.

Two distinct types of microscopic diffusion anisotropy (MA) are compared in brain for both normal control and transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice, which develop Alzheimer's disease pathology. The first type of MA is the commonly used microscopic fractional anisotropy (μFA), and the second is a new MA measure referred to as μFA'. These two MA parameters have different symmetry properties that are central to their physical interpretations.

Diffusion MRI detects basal forebrain cholinergic abnormalities in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Degeneration of the basal forebrain (BF) is detected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Reduction in the number of BF cholinergic (ChAT) neurons associated with age-related hippocampal cholinergic neuritic dystrophy is described in the 3xTg-AD mouse model; however, no prior diffusion MRI (dMRI) study has explored the presence of BF alterations in this model. Here we investigated the ability of diffusion MRI (dMRI) to detect abnormalities in BF microstructure for the 3xTg-AD mouse model, along with related pathology in the hippocampus (HP) and white matter (WM) tracks comprising the septo-hippocampal pathway.

Diffusion MRI detects early brain microstructure abnormalities in 2-month-old 3×Tg-AD mice.

The 3×Tg-AD mouse is one of the most studied animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and develops both amyloid beta deposits and neurofibrillary tangles in a temporal and spatial pattern that is similar to human AD pathology. Additionally, abnormal myelination patterns with changes in oligodendrocyte and myelin marker expression are reported to be an early pathological feature in this model. Only few diffusion MRI (dMRI) studies have investigated white matter abnormalities in 3×Tg-AD mice, with inconsistent results.

Diffusion MRI detects longitudinal white matter changes in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

The sensitivity of multiple diffusion MRI (dMRI) parameters to longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure was investigated for the 3xTg-AD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, which manifests both amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. By employing a specific dMRI method known as diffusional kurtosis imaging, eight different diffusion parameters were quantified to characterize distinct aspects of water diffusion. Four female 3xTg-AD mice were imaged at five time points, ranging from 4.

Effect of Measurement Technique on TMJ Mandibular Condyle and Articular Disc Morphometry: CBCT, MRI, and Physical Measurements.

Purpose: Accurate description of the temporomandibular size and shape (morphometry) is critical for clinical diagnosis and surgical planning and the design and development of regenerative scaffolds and prosthetic devices and to model the temporomandibular loading environment. The study objective was to determine the 3-dimensional morphometry of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) condyle and articular disc using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and physical measurements of the same joints using a repeated measures design and to determine the effect of the measurement technique on temporomandibular size and shape.

Materials And Methods: Human cadaveric heads underwent a multistep protocol to acquire physiologically meaningful measurements of the condyle and disc.

Vitamin D improves functional outcomes in neonatal hypoxic ischemic male rats treated with N-acetylcysteine and hypothermia.

Hypothermia treatment neuroprotects approximately 50% of neonates who present with moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a potent antioxidant, is neuroprotective in combination with hypothermia in neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) female rats, but less protective in males. Vitamin D is a neurosteroid, which may provide immunomodulation and improve outcomes for both sexes.

Sensitivity of diffusion MRI to perilesional reactive astrogliosis in focal ischemia.

Reactive astrogliosis is a response to injury in the central nervous system that plays an essential role in inflammation and tissue repair. It is characterized by hypertrophy of astrocytes, alterations in astrocyte gene expression and astrocyte proliferation. Reactive astrogliosis occurs in multiple neuropathologies, including stroke, traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease, and it has been proposed as a possible source of the changes in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) metrics observed with these diseases.

Functional deficits induced by cortical microinfarcts.

Clinical studies have revealed a strong link between increased burden of cerebral microinfarcts and risk for cognitive impairment. Since the sum of tissue damage incurred by microinfarcts is a miniscule percentage of total brain volume, we hypothesized that microinfarcts disrupt brain function beyond the injury site visible to histological or radiological examination. We tested this idea using a mouse model of microinfarcts, where single penetrating vessels that supply mouse cortex were occluded by targeted photothrombosis.

Del1 Knockout Mice Developed More Severe Osteoarthritis Associated with Increased Susceptibility of Chondrocytes to Apoptosis.

Objective: We identified significant expression of the matricellular protein, DEL1, in hypertrophic and mature cartilage during development. We hypothesized that this tissue-specific expression indicated a biological role for DEL1 in cartilage biology.

Methods: Del1 KO and WT mice had cartilage thickness evaluated by histomorphometry.

Memory and hippocampal architecture following short-term midazolam in western diet-treated rats.

The impact of short-term benzodiazepine exposure on cognition in middle-aged or older patients is a highly debated topic among anesthesiologists, critical care physicians and public media. "Western diet" (WD) consumption is linked to impaired cognition as well. The combination of benzodiazepines with substantial exposure to WD might set the stage for increased hippocampal vulnerability for benzodiazepines leading to exaggerated cognitive impairment in the postoperative period.

Sex-specific effects of N-acetylcysteine in neonatal rats treated with hypothermia after severe hypoxia-ischemia.

Approximately half of moderate to severely hypoxic-ischemic (HI) newborns do not respond to hypothermia, the only proven neuroprotective treatment. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant and glutathione precursor, shows promise for neuroprotection in combination with hypothermia, mitigating post-HI neuroinflammation due to oxidative stress. As mechanisms of HI injury and cell death differ in males and females, sex differences must be considered in translational research of neuroprotection.

Microvascular basis for growth of small infarcts following occlusion of single penetrating arterioles in mouse cortex.

Small cerebral infarcts, i.e. microinfarcts, are common in the aging brain and linked to vascular cognitive impairment.

Mutations in DCHS1 cause mitral valve prolapse.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common cardiac valve disease that affects nearly 1 in 40 individuals. It can manifest as mitral regurgitation and is the leading indication for mitral valve surgery. Despite a clear heritable component, the genetic aetiology leading to non-syndromic MVP has remained elusive.

A comprehensive method for predicting fatal liver failure of patients with liver cancer resection.

There are many methods to assess liver function, but none of them has been verified as fully effective. The purpose of this study is to establish a comprehensive method evaluating perioperative liver reserve function (LRF) in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC).In this study, 310 PLC patients who underwent liver resection were included.

Diffusional kurtosis and diffusion tensor imaging reveal different time-sensitive stroke-induced microstructural changes.

Background And Purpose: Diffusion MRI is a promising, clinically feasible imaging technique commonly used to describe white matter changes after stroke. We investigated the sensitivity of diffusion MRI to detect microstructural alterations in gray matter after sensorimotor cortex stroke in adult male rats.

Methods: The mean diffusivity (MD) and mean kurtosis of perilesional motor cortex were compared with measures in the contralesional forelimb area of sensorimotor cortex at 2 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, or 25 days after surgery.

Evidence of altered age-related brain cytoarchitecture in mouse models of down syndrome: a diffusional kurtosis imaging study.

Mouse models of Down syndrome (DS) exhibit abnormal brain developmental and neurodegenerative changes similar to those seen in individuals with DS. Although DS mice have been well characterized cognitively and morphologically there are no prior reports utilizing diffusion MRI. In this study we investigated the ability of diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) to detect the progressive developmental and neurodegenerative changes in the Ts65Dn (TS) DS mouse model.

Histological correlation of diffusional kurtosis and white matter modeling metrics in cuprizone-induced corpus callosum demyelination.

The cuprizone mouse model is well established for studying the processes of both demyelination and remyelination in the corpus callosum, and it has been utilized together with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate myelin and axonal pathology. Although some underlying morphological mechanisms contributing to the changes in diffusion tensor (DT) metrics have been identified, the understanding of specific associations between histology and diffusion measures remains limited. Diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) is an extension of DTI that provides metrics of diffusional non-Gaussianity, for which an associated white matter modeling (WMM) method has been developed.

[Effects of oxymatrine on the expressions of pro-collagen and fibronectin of fibroblasts derived from human hyperplastic scars].

Objective: To study the effects of oxymatrine (OM) on the expressions of pro-collagen I (PC I), pro-collagen II (PC III), fibronectin (FN), matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) mRNA of fibroblasts from keloid (KFb), hyperplastic scar (HFb), and normal skin (NFb), and to compare with hydrocortisone (HC).

Methods: The primary KFb, HFb and NFb were derived from patients and cultured in vitro using tissue block culture method. The fibroblasts were treated with 500 microg/mL OM, 2 microg/mL HC, or without any medicine (as the control).