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Introduction: Astaxanthin (ASX) is carotenoid with the highest antioxidant activity in various cell types and reverse atherosclerosis. However, the roles and detailed mechanisms of ASX in atherosclerosis associated endothelial injury remains unclear. Methods: In vitro atherosclerosis model was established in HUVECs by incubation with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). Cell viability and oxidative stress were measured. The mRNA and protein expressions of lectin-like ox-LDL receptor (LOX-1) and other related genes were determined. Results: ox-LDL reduced cell viability of HUVECs, and induced oxidative stress, as evidenced by elevated cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD). Pretreatment with ASX (50, 100, 200, and 400 µM) markedly reversed the reduction in cell viability and an increase in migration of HUVECs induced by ox-LDL (50 µg/mL). ASX attenuated the increase in the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) process, as evidenced by increased CD31 and decreased a-SMA and vimentin proteins by ASX treatment in HUVECs. Furthermore, ASX attenuated the increase in MDA and decrease in SOD induced by ox-LDL, increased supernatant NO production, attenuated the increase in iNOS and decrease in eNOS in HUVECs with ox-LDL. ASX enhanced mRNA and protein expressions of the lectin-like ox-LDL receptor (LOX-1), which was dependent on ASX's antioxidant activity. The inhibitory effect of ASX on EndMT could be abolished by overexpression of LOX-1 in HUVECs induced by ox-LDL. Conclusions: Our data speculate that ASX prevents ox-LDL-induced endothelial cell injury and EndMT by inducing antioxidant property (SOD and NO) and decreasing LOX-1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value is an important quantitative parameter in the research of cervical cancer, affected by some factors. Purpose: To investigate the effect of pathological type and menstrual status on the ADC value of cervical cancer. Material and Methods: A total of 352 individuals with pathologically confirmed cervical cancer between January 2015 to December 2017 were retrospectively enrolled in this study, including 317 cases with squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 35 cases with adenocarcinomas (AC); 177 patients were non-menopausal and 175 were menopausal. All patients underwent a routine 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) examination using b-values of 0, 800, and 1000 s/mm². Three parameters including mean ADC (ADCmean), maximum ADC (ADCmax), and minimum ADC (ADCmin) of cervical cancer lesions were measured and retrospectively analyzed. Independent samples t-test was used to compare the difference of ADC values in different menstrual status and pathological types. Results: In all menopausal and non-menopausal patients, the ADCmean and ADCmin values of SCC were lower than those of AC (P<0.05), the ADCmax of two pathological types showed no statistical difference (P > 0.05). In menopausal patients, the ADCmean, ADCmax, and ADCmin values of SCC were not statistically different compared with those of AC (P > 0.05). The ADCmean, ADCmax, and ADCmin values of different pathological types cervical cancers in non-menopausal patients were all higher than those in menopausal patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: The ADC values of the cervical cancers were different in different pathological types and were also affected by menstrual status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Calcium (water) density (DCa(Wa)) of gemstone spectral imaging by spectral computed tomography (CT) is a new method of evaluating bone structures.Purpose: To investigate age-related change of DCa(Wa) of a chosen lumbar vertebra in adult women with spectral CT and the correlation between the DCa(Wa) and bone mineral density (BMD) of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).Material and Methods: A total of 305 adult women underwent spectral CT, 127 of whom simultaneously underwent DXA. All the patients were divided into 11 subgroups based on age. DCa(Wa) and BMD were measured at the second lumbar vertebra on the calcium (water)-based material decomposition images of spectral CT and DXA, respectively. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for the difference of the measurements among adjacent age subgroups. Pearson correlation was used to assess the association between age and DCa(Wa), age and BMD, as well as DCa(Wa) and BMD.Results: There was a significant negative correlation between DCa(Wa) and age (r = -0.719) as well as BMD and age(r = -0.851). The mean DCa(Wa) of L2 vertebral body was significantly different between the 40-44- and 45-49-, 45-49- and 50-54-, 55-59- and 60-64-, 65-69- and 70-74-year-old age subgroups. BMD was significantly different between the 35-39- and 40-44-, 45-49- and 50-54-, and 65-69- and 70-74-year-old age subgroups. There was a significant positive correlation between DCa(Wa) and BMD.Conclusions: The DCa(Wa) of lumbar vertebra by spectral CT demonstrated similar age distribution as BMD of DXA and could be used as a method of measuring the vertebral bone mineral density in adult women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) can provide information on blood perfusion as a reliable marker of tumor response to therapy. Purpose: To assess the role of volume CTP (vCTP) parameters in predicting treatment response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for cervical cancer. Material and Methods: Thirty-three patients with cervical cancer underwent vCTP. Three CTP parameters of cervical cancer--including arterial flow (AF), blood volume (BV), and permeability surface (PS)--were measured in two different ways: the region of interest incorporating the "local hot" with the highest enhancement and "cold spot" with the lowest enhancement; and "whole-tumor" measurements. The patients were divided into non-residual and residual tumor groups according to the short-term response to treatment. The clinical and perfusion parameters were compared between the two groups. Results: There was no significant difference in age, body mass index, FIGO stage, pathological grade, or pretreatment tumor size between the two groups (P > 0.05). The non-residual tumor group had higher pretreatment AF in high-perfusion and low-perfusion subregions than the residual tumor group (P <0.05), but the AF in whole-tumor regions was not different between the two groups (P > 0.05). There were no differences in BV and PS between the two groups (P > 0.05). The diagnostic potency of AF in the low-perfusion subregion was higher than that in the high-perfusion subregion. Conclusion: vCTP parameters are valuable for the prediction of short-term effects. The AF in the low-perfusion subregion was a more effective index for predicting treatment response to CCRT of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently we found the ethanolic extract and iridoid-rich fraction from Valeriana jatamansi Jones, which is a traditional Chinese medicine exhibited anxiolytic properties. Objective: This study aims to the substance dependence effect of the ethanolic extract and iridoid-rich fraction. Materials and Methods: The study included two experiments: Mice were given orally with ethanolic extract for 12 weeks or iridoid-rich fraction for 16 weeks in experiment I and experiment II, respectively. Diazepam was used as a control drug and the normal mice groups were administered with 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose Na in both experiments. All groups were administered twice daily. Natural withdrawal symptoms, withdrawal-induced body weight change, audiogenic tail-erection test (in experiment I), and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced convulsion test (in experiment II) were measured. Results: (1) Compared to normal group in both experiments, the diazepam-treated group exhibited obvious withdrawal symptoms of tail-erection, irritability, teeth chattering, etc; the body weight of them after withdrawal had a period of significant loss (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); and the ratios of tail-erection and seizure in two experiments were improved significantly when mice were induced by mixer noise ringtone (experiment I) or PTZ (experiment II) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).(2) In experiment I and II, there were no significant differences between mice that received ethanolic extract or iridoid-rich fraction and normal group in terms of natural withdrawal symptoms and withdrawal-induced body weight change (P > 0.05); in audiogenic tail-erection test, it found that the significant difference compared with normal group was just in ethanolic extract 900 mg/kg dose group on week 8 (P < 0.05); in PTZ-induced convulsion test, mice in iridoid-rich fraction groups had a slightly tail-erection and seizure, all results of them were with no significant difference compare to normal mice (P > 0.05), while significant lower than diazepam group (P < 0.01). Conclusion: (1) The two experiments successfully established the physical dependence of diazepam by gradually increasing the dose. (2)There were just a few mice received with ethanolic extract for 12 weeks or iridoid-rich fraction for 16 weeks appearing some slight withdrawal symptoms after precipitated withdrawal, but it didn't show significant difference compared to normal mice. Therefore, these indicated that the risks of potential drug dependence about ethanolic extract and iridoid-rich fraction were far lower than that of diazepam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]