Hepatic function and the cardiometabolic syndrome.

Despite skeletal muscle being considered by many as the source of insulin resistance, physiology tells us that the liver is a central and cardinal regulator of glucose homeostasis. This is sometimes underestimated because, in contrast with muscle, investigations of liver function are technically very difficult. Nevertheless, recent experimental and clinical research has demonstrated clearly that, due in part to its anatomic position, the liver is exquisitely sensitive to insulin and other hormonal and neural factors, either by direct intrahepatic mechanisms or indirectly by organ cross-talk with muscle or adipose tissue.

Can assisted reproduction technology compensate for the natural decline in fertility with age? A model assessment.

Background: Maternal age is an important factor in reproduction. Can assisted reproduction technologies (ART) fully compensate for the decline in fertility with age?

Methods: We used a computer simulation (Monte Carlo) model of reproduction, combining the monthly probabilities of conceiving, the risk of miscarriage and the probability of becoming age-dependently permanently sterile.

Results: Under natural conditions, 75% of women starting to try to conceive at age 30 years will have a conception ending in a live birth within 1 year, 66% at age 35 years and 44% at age 40 years.

Fluorescence properties and metabolic features of indocyanine green (ICG) as related to angiography.

Indocyanine green (ICG) is a fluorescent dye that has been used for the imaging of retinal and choroidal vasculatures for more than 30 years. Its high molecular weight, specific metabolic features, and its infrared spectra make the specificity of the images obtained with this dye in ophthalmology. The focus of this paper is to review the basic properties of ICG and to show how some clinical features related to basic properties also depend on the instrumentation used to perform ICG angiography.