[Fibroblast growth factor 21 plays a protective role in cardiovascular diseases by inducing autophagy].

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a growth factor with endocrine function in the fibroblast growth factor family. Previous reports have shown that FGF21 is involved in the regulation of energy metabolism and plays a protective role in cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and so on. Recent studies have found that FGF21 can induce autophagy in a variety of tissues and organs, and autophagy is involved in many pathological processes of cardiovascular diseases, including vascular calcification, atherosclerosis, and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The effects of venlafaxine on cortical motor area activity in healthy subjects: a pilot study.

In the study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging associated with behavioral assessment to observe the effects of venlafaxine on the modulation of human motor cortex activation and to provide preliminary data for further assessing its influence on motor functional reorganization after stroke injury. In a randomized, double-blind, crossover study, 8 right-handed subjects received 75 mg of either venlafaxine or a placebo daily over a period of 7 days separated by 3 washout days. The volunteers were asked to execute motor tasks, which included the dynamometer and finger-tapping test.

Estimating the delivery efficiency of drug-loaded microbubbles in cancer cells with ultrasound and bioluminescence imaging.

The application of drug-loaded microbubbles (MBs) in combination with ultrasound (US), which results in an increase in capillary permeability at the site of US-sonication-induced MB destruction, may be an efficient method of localized drug delivery. This study investigated the mechanism underlying the US-mediated release of luciferin-loaded MBs through the blood vessels to targeted cells using an in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) system. The luciferin-loaded MBs comprised an albumin shell with a diameter of 1234 ± 394 nm (mean ± SD) and contained 2.