Search

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common medical problem that remains a great cause of morbidity and mortality. Based on clinical manifestation, CAD span from chronic stable angina to acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which encompasses (1) unstable angina (UA), (2) non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and (3) ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Objective: This study was conducted to describe the risk stratification and prognosis of CAD in Yemeni patients undergoing an exercise stress test. Method: A retrospective descriptive study involved the records of 302 patients who undergoing exercise stress testing by the Bruce protocol of Treadmill (TMT). Results: Out of 302 patients, the mean age was 43.29 years, (range, 22–70 years), and 79.80% were males. The majority of patients (86.75%) were normal. Most of the affected patients (82.50%) were males. All of the affected peoples were more than 30 years old with predominance in more than 50 years old. Results showed that 45% of the positive (+ve) patients were in high-risk group, and 55% were in intermediate and low-risk groups. Conclusions: CAD affects males more than females. It affects patients older than 30 years and predominates in elderly patients. Most of the affected patients were in the high, intermediate, and low-risk groups and rarely were in the very high-risk group.

Worldwide, two million two hundred thousand new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in 2020. Traditional breast cancer treatments have several side effects, such as poisoning of the heart and lung during chemotherapy and cardiovascular disease during radiotherapy. Moreover, many patients suffer from acute and chronic pain, loss of breast shape, and limited arm mobility after surgery. Researchers strive to reduce adverse effects by finding more effective strategies. Sonodynamic therapy is a newly developed cancer treatment that offers safety, high penetration depth into soft tissues, accessibility, affordability, etc. In addition to these benefits, sonodynamic therapy also enhances chemotherapy effectiveness. Therefore, the combination of sonodynamic therapy and chemotherapy along with a multifunctional sensitizer can enhance treatment effectiveness while minimizing side effects. In this study, PEGylated gold nanoparticles (PEG-GNPs) were synthesized and loaded with an anticancer agent, Gemcitabine (Gem-PEG-GNPs). The synthesized Gem-PEG-GNPs act as sonosensitizers and nanocarriers, which improve the efficacy of sonodynamic therapy and chemotherapy as well as reduce harmful effects. Ultrasound waves combined with Gem-PEG-GNPs increased apoptosis and decreased survival rates in MCF-7 cells. When Gem-PEG-GNPs and ultrasound waves were combined, a significant synergistic effect was observed compared to ultrasound waves alone. In conclusion, Gem-PEG-GNPs have the potential to be effective sonosensitizers and drug delivery agents in treatment of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multifaceted health benefits of curcumin (Curcuma longa), attributed to its antioxidant, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory activities, have drawn significant scientific attention. Curcumin shows promise as a potential modulator of macrophage polarization, offering a natural strategy for managing inflammation and promoting tissue repair. However, a limiting factor for this beneficial molecule is its limited bioavailability due to its low solubility in water. This study aimed to quantify the effect of curcumin gold nanoparticle (CurAuNP)-mediated ultrasound irradiation on THP-1-derived macrophages as potential therapeutic targets. The photoreduction method was applied to synthesize the gold nanoparticles with curcumin as a ligand (CurAu). The effect of adding polyethylene glycol in the synthesis process was studied (CurAuPEG). CurAuNP characterization included UV/Vis, Zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy, and FTIR. The amount of singlet oxygen released by curcumin and CurAuNPs was quantified by observing 1.3-diphenylisobenzofuran quenching upon ultrasound irradiation (1 MHz and 1 W/cm2). The results indicated that ultrasound therapy for 4 min with CurAuNPs significantly enhanced singlet oxygen generation and reduced macrophage viability compared to curcumin alone. The increased sonoluminescence and curcumin delivery facilitated by CurAuNPs led to greater curcumin activation. Consequently, CurAuNPs could offer promising therapeutic options for modulating macrophage polarization in pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has attracted great interest in the field of cancer therapy because of its non-invasiveness, deep penetration, and spatiotemporal controllability. However, the sonodynamic effect is severely hindered by hypoxia and a high glutathione (GSH) level in tumor microenvironment. In this work, a new type of nanohybrid sonosensitizer is designed, which incorporates several prominent advantages of organic, inorganic, and natural sonosensitizers for imaging-guided SDT and ferroptosis induction. As an endogenous transporter, hemoglobin (Hb) has dual functions of oxygen and iron supplement. Apparently, Hb can transport iron to the tumor site for Fe-dependent ferroptosis, yet this oxygen carrier is able to enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to oxygen-driven SDT. We innovatively hybridized Hb, sinoporphyrin sodium (DVDMS), and titanium dioxide (TiO2) to prepare an integrated nano-oxygen carrier (designated as HDT) for multifarious cancer theranostics, which not only attained satisfactory sonosensitization of DVDMS/TiO2 but also achieved oxygen-boosted SDT and potent ferroptosis via Hb. Under ultrasound irradiation, the oxygenation of HDT markedly amplified the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in hypoxic tumors, promoted the valence transition of Hb to accelerate Fenton reaction, and led to ferroptosis. This strategy virtually eradicated tumors in situ and exhibited immunoregulatory potential for augmenting anti-tumor effects in vivo and in vitro through ROS formation, O2 self-supplement, GSH depletion, and lipid peroxidation. Collectively, HDT demonstrated excellent dual-modal imaging performance, providing a valuable platform for photoacoustic/fluorescence-guided SDT and ferroptosis induction in tumor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the bystander effect, non-irradiated cells receive biological signals from adjacent irradiated cells and undergo a variety of alterations, considered recently in non-ionizing irradiation like ultrasound waves. This study was conducted to assess this effect on simultaneous administration of ultrasound and gold nanoparticles as a sonodynamic therapy which is an important newly stimuli-responsive method in cancer treatment. Materials and Methods: Firstly, the appropriate concentration of Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) and ultrasound intensity for sonodynamic therapy on melanoma cancer cells (A375) were evaluated. After treatments, the target cell culture was transferred to the bystander cells and the induced bystander effects including cell viability, apoptosis, expression of P53 (a promoter of apoptosis gene) and HO-1 (an inhibitor of apoptosis gene) were examined. Results: According to the MTT results, 50 µg/ml concentration of GNPs and 1.5 W/cm2 intensity of ultrasound wave were selected. Our results revealed that sonodynamic therapy induced bystander effect can alter the cell viability and apoptosis up to 20% and 51.61%, respectively. Moreover, a 2.9-fold increase in P53 gene expression and a decrease in OH-1 gene expression to 0.181-fold in comparison to the control groups were observed. Conclusion: These results confirmed that bystander effect of sonodynamic can reduce the cancerous cell viability. Our finding showed that this treatment can potentially be an alternative to traditional treatment modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As a non-invasive method of tumor hyperthermia, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been widely used in the treatment of various solid tumors in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of HIFU combined with ethanol on biological tissue lesions. Material and Methods: Firstly, 0.5ml 95% ethanol was injected into the porcine liver tissue in vitro, then HIFU was used to irradiate the porcine liver. The B-mode ultrasound and needle hydrophone were used to monitor the cavitation. A thermocouple was also used to measure the real-time focal temperature. The ultrasonic signal scattered at the focal point of HIFU irradiation was collected by the fiber hydrophone, and the attenuation coefficient was calculated. Finally, the attenuation coefficient was input into the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetov (KZK) equation and combined with the Pennes equation. The thermal lesion of the porcine liver was simulated by MATLAB software. Results: The length of the long axis of the lesion area simulated by the attenuation coefficient of cavitation was closer to the length of the long axis of the actual measured lesion area with ethanol injection, but the length of the short axis of the simulated lesion area was smaller than that of the measured lesion area. However, the length of the long axis of the lesion area simulated by the attenuation coefficient of cavitation was larger than the length of the long axis of the lesion area simulated by the attenuation coefficient of liver at room temperature. The same results were obtained for the length of short axis. Conclusion: HIFU combined with ethanol can produce larger lesions to biological tissues and improve the therapeutic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic cavitation which occurs at high intensities of ultrasound waves can be fatal for tumor cells. The existence of dissolved gases and also the presence of nanoparticles (NPs) in a liquid, irradiated by ultrasound, decrease the acoustic cavitation onset threshold and the resulting bubbles collapse. On the other hand, due to unique capabilities and optical properties of gold nanoparticles (GNPs), they have been emphasized as effective NPs in the field of tumor therapy. Absorption of the laser light by GNPs causes the water molecules around the NPs to evaporate and produces vapor cavities. In this paper, we have reviewed published studies in the fields of ultrasound therapy, sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and synergism of low-level ultrasound and also laser radiation in the presence of GNPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging concept is that cancers strongly depend on both internal and external signals for growth and invasion. In this review, we will discuss pathological and physical changes in the tumor microenvironment and how these changes can be exploited to design gold nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and therapy. These intrinsic changes include extracellular and intracellular pH, extracellular matrix enzymes, and glutathione concentration. External stimuli include the application of laser, ultrasound and X-ray. The biology behind these changes and the chemistry behind the responding mechanisms to these changes are reviewed. Examples of recent in vitro and in vivo studies are also presented, and the clinical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]