Purpose 18F-FDG PET/CT,pathological and immunohistochemical analysis are adopted to explore the value of PET/CT in the early-stage calcification examination of atherosclerosis in rabbits and effects of Pioglitazone in treating early-stage calcification.Material and Methods Sixteen New Zealand male rabbits were randomly divided into two groups:Pioglitazone group and control group,witheight rabbits in each group.Atherosclerosis model was established.Rabbits in Pioglitazone group received gavage with Pioglitazone and were raised with high-fat diet for 20 weeks.Blood was drawn to exam high sensitivity C-reactive protein and matrix metalloproteinase-9.PET/CT was used to measure mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax).Rabbit aorta received immunohistochemical,the plaque area,density of macrophage,percentage of calcification area and apoptosis index between the two groups were determined and compared.Results On 20 week,high sensitivity C-reactive protein in Pioglitazone group (4.27±0.43 vs.6.51 ±0.91,P＜0.01),matrix metalloproteinase-9 (41.52± 1.99 vs.62.21 ±3.60,P＜0.05),SUVmean (0.55±0.18 vs.0.68±0.21,P＜0.01)and SUVmax (0.70±0.19 vs.0.82±0.30,P＜0.05) were obviously lower than those in control group.Plaque area,density of macrophage,percentage of calcification area and apoptosis index in control group were obviously higher than those in Pioglitazone group.Plaque area of related artery section was positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.28,P＜0.01) and SUVmax (r=0.25,P＜0.05).Density of macrophage was positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.50,P＜0.01) and SUVmax (r=0.46,P＜0.01).Percentage of calcification area was positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.50,P＜0.01) and SUVmax (r=0.47,P＜0.01).Apoptosis index was positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.61,P＜0.01)and SUVmax (r=0.60,P＜0.01).Conclusion Inflammation and macrophage apoptosis are of great importance in the early-stage of atherosclerosis.18F-FDG PET/CT imaging can be used to assess minor calcification.Pioglitazone can reduce inflammatory level of atherosclerosis of the experimented animals,inhibiting early-stage calcification.

The objective was to investigate the hypoglycemic action of catalpol in spontaneous diabetes db/db mice. 40 db/db mice were randomly divided into fi ve groups: model control gourp; db/db plus catalpol 40, 80, 120 mg/kg body wt. groups and db/db plus metformin 250 mg/kg group. Age-matched db/m mice were selected as normal control group. The mice were administered with corresponding drugs or solvent by gavage for 4 weeks. The oral glucose tolerance test was carried out at the end of 3rd week. After 4 weeks of treatment, the concentrations of fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated serum protein (GSP), insulin (INS), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and adiponection (APN) in serum were detected. The protein expressions of phosphorylation-AMPKalpha1/2 in liver, phosphorylation-AMPKalpha1/2 and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT-4) in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues were detected by western blot. Real time RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expressions of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and Hydroxymethyl glutaric acid acyl CoA reductase (HMGCR) in liver. Our results showed that catalpol could significantly improve the insulin resistance, decrease the serum concentrations of INS, GSP, TG, and TC. The concentrations of APN in serum, the protein expression of phosphorylation-AMPKalpha1/2 in liver, phosphorylation-AMPKalpha1/2 and GLUT-4 in peripheral tissue were increased. Catalpol could also down regulate the mRNA expressions of ACC and HMGCR in liver. In conclusion, catalpol ameliorates diabetes in db/db mice. It has benefi t eff ects against lipid/glucose metabolism disorder and insulin resistance. The mechanism may be related to up-regulating the expression of phosphorylation-AMPKalpha1/2.
Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase ; Acyl Coenzyme A ; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Blotting, Western ; Cholesterol ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance ; Liver ; Metabolism ; Metformin ; Mice* ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Oxidoreductases ; RNA, Messenger ; Triglycerides

Objective: Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) has been used to quantify inflammatory response in the body. The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility of using this method to evaluate the stability of atherosclerotic plaques and the efficacy of atorvastatin in stabilizing atherosclerotic plaques. Methods: Twenty New Zealand male white rabbits were included and divided into the atorvastatin intervention group and the control group, with 10 rabbits in each group. Rabbits in both groups were fed with a high fat diet for 20 weeks, and treated with thoracoabdominal aortic balloon-pulling to establish atherosclerosis model at the end of the 2nd week. Rabbits in atorvastatin intervention group was given atorvastatin intragastrically once a day. At the 8th week, thoracoabdominal aortic ultrasound was used to detect plaques in all rabbits. Blood was drawn at the 3rd and the 20th week, respectively, to measure blood lipids, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). At the end of experiment, survival animals were scanned by ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT, and the average and maximum standard uptake values (SUVmean, SUVmax) of aortic segments were measured. Thereafter, the animals were sacrificed and aortic specimens of rabbits were taken and examined by immunohistochemistry. The pathological indexes were measured and compared. Results: At the end of experiment, the total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), hs-CRP [ (4.58±0.51) ng/ml vs.(5.87±0.66) ng/ml, P<0.01], MMP-9[ (43.93±2.16) ng/ml vs. (50.77±2.32) ng/ml, P<0.01], SUVmean (0.59±0.15 vs. 0.68±0.20, P<0.05) , SUVmax (0.68±0.20 vs. 0.81±0.27, P<0.05) , plaque area [ (0.36±0.24) mm² vs. (0.50±0.34) mm², P<0.05) ] and density of macrophage[ (4.34±1.54) % vs. (5.65±1.89) %, P<0.01] in the atorvastatin intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group. In contrast, fiber cap thickness of the plaque[ (4.12±0.66) μm vs. (2.96±0.37) μm, P<0.01] in the atorvastatin intervention group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. The arterial plaque areas were positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.27, P<0.05) and SUVmax (r=0.43, P<0.01) . Fiber cap thickness was negatively correlated with SUVmean (r=-0.38, P<0.05) and SUVmax (r=-0.47, P<0.01) . The density of macrophage were positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.52, P<0.01) and SUVmax (r=0.51, P<0.01) . Conclusion ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can be used to evaluate the efficacy of atorvastatin by the stability of atherosclerotic plaques.