Objective To observe the value of two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) in assessing regional myocardial viability of rats after acute myocardial infarction. Methods Twenty Wistar rats were randomly divided into acute myocardial infarction group and sham-operation group (each n=10). Echocardiography was performed at baseline and 24 h after reperfusion. High frame rate two-dimensional images were recorded from the left ventricular short-axis views at the papillary muscle level. Peak radial strain (PRS) and peak circumferential strain (PCS) of each segment were measured at systolic period. Left ventricular internal diameter at diastole (LVID_d) and systole (LVID_s), fractional shortening (FS), ejection fraction (EF), wall thickening rate (TR) were measured with anatomical M-model echocardiography. Area of necrosis (AN) of each segment was measured after triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Based on TTC staining, ROC curve was used to analyze the accuracy of two-dimensional strain and TR index in identifying infarcted segment. Results ①Compared with acute myocardial infarction group at baseline and sham-operation group after operation, LVID_d and LVID_s of acute myocardial infarction group after operation increased significantly respectively (P<0.05), FS, EF and anteroseptal wall TR reduced significantly (P<0.05). ②Compared with acute myocardial infarction group at baseline and sham-operation group after operation, PRS and PCS decreased significantly in anteroseptal, anterior, anterolateral, inferolateral and inferoseptal segments of myocardial infarction group after operation (P<0.05), especially in anterosepetal, anterior and anterolateral segments (P<0.05). ③ROC analysis showed PCS had the best ability to identify infarcted myocardium as defined by AN>50%. Using a cut-off of -6.14%, PCS had a sensitivity of 93.75% and specificity of 90.91% for distinguishing infarcted from viable myocardium. Conclusion 2D-STI can accurately quantify regional myocardial function, providing a sensitive and noninvasive means to assess regional myocardial viability.

Objective To evaluate the collateral circulation after canine acute coronary artery occlusion with contrast real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). Methods Left anterior descending coronary artery was ligated in 12 healthy mongrel dogs. All dogs underwent myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) before ligation, immediately after ligation, at 30 min and 180 min after ligation respectively, and myocardial mass with collateral supply was calculated. Results Different degrees of collateral circulation were established in all dogs after left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. At 30 min after ligation, the myocardial mass with collateral supply was (9.65±2.90) g, while at 180 min after ligation were (12.58±3.98) g (P<0.01). Conclusion The coronary collateral circulation can be observed clearly and myocardial mass with collateral supply can be quantified accurately with contrast RT-3DE.

0.05 ). The average enhancement rate of LV endocardial border was 96.6 %. The myocardial contrast agent perfusions of left ventricular walls were clearly visualized in 30 patients. CONCLUSION: Clinical application of intravenous left heart contrast echocardiagraphy with perfluoropropane-albumin microsphere is feasibility and effective.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of MR angiogrphy(MRA) for detecting cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrage(SAH) and compare it with spiral CT angiography(CTA).Methods Ten patients with SAH under MRA and CTA studies were performed within 24 hours after MRA,which was performed 5 to 10 days after SAH.Maximum intensity projection(MIP) images were produced for MRA and CTA studies.Five arterial locations were examined for spasm:the suprasellar internal carotid artery(ICA),the M1 and M2 segments of the middle cerebral artery(MCA),the A1 and A2 segments of the anterior cerebral artery(ACA).Vasospasm was cate- gorized as none,mild(50 % reduction).Results The overall correlation between MRA and CTA was 82 %(r=0.76),but it was better for proximal than distal lo- cations vessels.Agreement between MRA and CTA was greater for no spasm(89%) and severe spasm(100%)(r= 0.85～0.91)than for mild(56%)or moderate(67%)spasm(r=0.21～0.51).Conclusion MRA is highly accu- rate in the detecting no spasm or severe cerebral vasospasm in proximal arterial locations vessels;it is less accurate in detecting mild and moderate spasm in distal locations vessels.

A new algorithm of adaptive super-resolution (SR) reconstruction based on the regularization parameter is proposed to reconstruct a high-resolution (HR) image from the low-resolution (LR) image sequence, which takes into full account the inaccurate estimates of motion error, point spread function (PSF) and the additive Gaussian noise in the LR image sequence. We established a novel nonlinear adaptive regularization function and analyzed experimentally its convexity to obtain the adaptive step size. This novel algorithm can effectively improve the spatial resolution of the image and the rate of convergence, which is verified by the experiment on optical images.
Algorithms ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Motion ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate antagonism effects of total flavonoids from Chrysanthemum morifolium. (TFCM) against lead induced oxidative injury.

METHODNinety male mice were randomly divided into 9 groups. Mice except normal control group inject lead acetate every other day for 20 days. In the next 10 d, drugs were orally administrated to mice once a day. After the last aministration, mice were sacrificed and immediately subjected to necropsy. The concentration of lead, zinc and copper in blood, brain, liver and kidney were determined. The body weight, relative organ weight, antioxidant enzyme levels (GSH, GSH-Px, SOD and CAT) and lipid peroxidation products (MDA) were performed.

RESULTTFCM might antagonize the decrease of body weight and the increase of organ weight/body weight ratio. The combined treatment with TFCM and DMSA can significantly lower the lead levels in blood, brain, liver and kidney. In contrast, lead concentration in mice treated with TFCM alone did not show significant change in these organs. The other trace elements such as zinc and copper had no significant decrease after TFCM or DMSA treatment. Middle and high-dose TFCM was more effective than DMSA in increasing the activity of GSH, GSH-Px, SOD, CAT and decreasing the concentration of MDA in mice brain. In addition, high-dose TFCM was more effective than DMSA in increasing the activity of GSH-Px, CAT and decreasing the concentration of MDA in mice liver and kidney. The combined treatment with TFCM and DMSA also can reverse lipid peroxidation and increase antioxidant enzyme levels in lead poisoning mice dose-dependently, and it had more beneficial effects than treatment with DMSA alone.

CONCLUSIONTFCM might improve antioxidant defense system, reverse lipid peroxidation and protect brain, liver and kidney against lead induced oxidative damage in mice significantly.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Chrysanthemum ; chemistry ; Copper ; blood ; metabolism ; Drug Antagonism ; Flavonoids ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Lead ; blood ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Succimer ; administration & dosage ; Zinc ; blood ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo prepare baicalin nanocrystal (BC-NC) and evaluate its pharmacokinetics in rats.

METHODBaicalin nanosuspensions (BC-NS) were prepared by the high pressure homogenization technology combined with ultrasonic, and then BC-NS were solidificated into BC-NC pellets by removing the water through fluid-bed drying. Its morphology, mean diameter and Zeta-potential were determined. An HPLC method was employed to determine the concentration of baicalin in plasma, and the bioavailability of the nanocrystal was compared with the reference group by oral administration in Wistar rats.

RESULTThe nanocrystals observed by scanning electron microscopy were irregular granulated, and the mean particle sizes of BC-NC were (248 +/- 6) nm. Its polydispersity index (PI) and zeta-potential were (0.181 +/- 0.065), (-32.3 +/- 1.8) mV, respectively. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that the C(max) was (16.54 +/- 1.73) mg x L(-1) and the AUC(0-24 h) was (206.96 +/- 21.23) mg x L(-1) x h, which were significantly enhanced compared with the baicalin bulk and baicalin physical mixture (BC-PM) formulation, respectively (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONBaicalin nanocrystal can significantly improve the bioavailability of baicalin.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Biological Availability ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Flavonoids ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Nanoparticles ; chemistry ; ultrastructure ; Particle Size ; Rats

The application of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) has improved the clinical management of PCa patients.However,the PSA assay has been faced with criticism due to its potential association with over-diagnosis and subsequent overtreatment of indolent patients.Matrix metalloproteinase-26 (MMP26) is a member of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and has been reported to be highly expressed in many cancers.This investigation evaluated the potential of serum MMP26 as a biomarker for PCa.The level of serum MMP26 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 160 subjects including PCa group (n=80),benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) group (n=40) and control group (n=40).Furthermore,we evaluated the expression of MMP26 in tissues by immunohistochemistry.The results showed the serum MMP26 levels were significantly higher in PCa group than in BPH group and control group.Similarly,the MMP26 protein was positive in PCa tissues and negative in BPH tissues and control tissues.In conclusion,these results suggested MMP26 could be used as a potential serum biomarker in the diagnosis of PCa.

Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; immunology ; Atrazine ; analysis ; immunology ; Chromatography, Gas ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Food Contamination ; analysis ; Herbicides ; analysis ; immunology ; Mass Spectrometry

AIM:To observe the expression of microRNA-126-5p during myocardial injury and its role in myo-cardial cell injury induced by adriamycin(also called doxorubicin, DOX).METHODS: The BALB/c mouse model of DOX-induced acute and chronic myocardial injury was established via intraperitoneal injection of DOX.HE staining was applied to observe the morphological changes of myocardial tissues.Lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)in serum was detected and PowerLab system was used to detect the influence of DOX on the changes of ±dp/dtmax.The expression of microRNA-126-5p in injured myocardial tissues and the H 9c2 cells exposed to DOX was detected by real-time PCR.Gain-and loss-of-function experiments were conducted to detect the role of microRNA-126-5p in H9c2 cells treated with DOX on LDH release and caspase-3 activation.RESULTS:In acute and chronic DOX myocardial damage models in mice,HE staining showed disarranged myocardial fibers, dissolved myofibril and inflammatory cell infiltration.Higher serum LDH level and lower ±dp/dtmaxin DOX-treated mice than those in normal mice were found.Compared with the normal mice, the expression level of microRNA-126-5p was significant increased in the myocardium with DOX-induced injury.Similarly,the expression level of microRNA-126-5p was significant increased in the H9c2 cells treated with DOX.In addition, over-expression of microRNA-126-5p decreased cell viability and promoted apoptosis,while microRNA-126-5p ablation promoted the viability and inhibited the apoptosis of H9c2 cells.CONCLUSION:The microRNA-126-5p expression is up-regulated in myocar-dial injury induced by DOX,and microRNA-126-5p inhibits cell viability and promotes apoptosis induced by DOX.