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Diabetic complications can be divided into macrovascular complications such as cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease and microvascular complications such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy and diabetic neuropathy. Among them, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important cause of death in diabetic patients. Diabetes retinopathy (DR) is one of the main reasons for the increasing disability rate of diabetes. In recent years, some studies have found that because DR and CVD have a common pathophysiological basis, the occurrence of DR and CVD are inseparable, and to a certain extent, DR can predict the occurrence of CVD. With the development of technology, the fundus parameters of DR can be quantitatively analyzed as an independent risk factor of CVD. In addition, the cytokines related to DR can also be used for early screening of DR. Although many advances have been made in the treatment of CVD, its situation of prevention and treatment is still not optimistic. This review hopes to discuss the feasibility of DR in predicting CVD from the common pathophysiological mechanism of DR and CVD, the new progress of diagnostic techniques for DR, and the biomarkers for early screening of DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Three‐dimensional (3D) contrast‐enhanced T1‐weighted flow‐sensitive black‐blood (CE‐T1WI FSBB) is a newly developed black blood sequence by adding motion probing gradient pulses to gradient echo (GRE) sequences, which has important value for the preoperative assessment of tumor brain blood supply vessels and intratumoral microbleeds. Purpose: To compare 3D CE‐T1WI FSBB and 3D contrast‐enhanced fast spin echo (FSE) sequence for T1WI for preoperative assessment of blood vessels and microbleeds in brain tumors and to investigate the correlation between visible vessels and microbleeds. Study type: Prospective. Subjects: One hundred and seventy‐five patients with brain tumors, 65 were male, 110 were female. Including histologically confirmed 73 meningiomas, 23 schwannomas, 20 gliomas, 7 hemangioblastomas, 5 metastases, 2 lymphomas, 2 hemangiopericytomas, 2 germ cell tumors, 1 craniopharyngioma, and 1 cholesteatoma. Field Strength/Sequence: A 3‐T, CE‐T1WI FSBB, GRE; 3‐T, CE‐T1WI, FSE. Assessment: Three neuroradiologists counted the number of intratumoral vessels on CE‐T1WI and CE‐T1WI FSBB images separately, and they counted the number of intratumoral microbleeds on CE‐T1WI FSBB images. Brain tumors were classified into grade I, grade II, and grade IV according to the World Health Organization (WHO) grading. Differences in the ability of CE‐T1WI FSBB and CE‐T1WI to display intratumoral vessels were compared. The mean counts of three observers were used to study the correlation between vessels and microbleeds. Statistical Tests: Two‐way random intraclass correlation coeficient (ICC) was used for inter‐reader agreement regarding intratumoral vessel and microbleed counts, and the linear regression analysis (with F‐test) was used to study the correlation between intratumoral vessels and microbleeds based on CE‐T1WI FSBB (α = 0.05). Results: Inter‐reader agreements for intratumoral vessel count on CE‐T1WI (ICC = 0.93) and CE‐T1WI FSBB (ICC = 0.92), and the agreement for intratumoral microbleed count on CE‐T1WI FSBB (ICC = 0.99) were excellent. There were statistically significant differences in intratumoral vessel counts between CE‐T1WI and CE‐T1WI FSBB using Mann–Whitney U ‐test: image readers could identify more intratumoral vessels on CE‐T1WI FSBB images, particularly for meningiomas, schwannomas, gliomas, and WHO grade I tumors. The number of intratumoral vessels had a significant positive effect on the number of intratumoral microbleeds (microbleeds = 5.024 + 1.665 × vessels; F = 11.51). Data Conclusion: More intratumoral vessels could potentially be identified using a 3D CE‐T1WI FSBB sequence compared to a CE‐T1WI sequence, and the number of intratumoral vessels showed a positive linear relationship with the number of intratumoral microbleeds, which might suggest that brain tumors with rich blood supply were more prone to intratumoral microbleeds. Evidence Level: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate multiple biological processes and participate in various cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to investigate the role of miR‐339‐5p in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and the involved mechanism. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) were cultured and stimulated with isoproterenol (ISO). The hypertrophic responses were monitored by measuring the cell surface area and expression of hypertrophic markers including β‐myosin heavy chain (β‐MHC) and atrial natriuretic factor (ANF). Bioinformatic prediction tools and dual‐luciferase reporter assay were performed to identify the target gene of miR‐339‐5p. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were used to determine the levels of miR‐339‐5p and its downstream effectors. Our data showed that miR‐339‐5p was upregulated during cardiomyocyte hypertrophy triggered by ISO. MiR‐339‐5p overexpression resulted in enlargement of cell size and increased the levels of hypertrophic markers. In contrast, inhibition of miR‐339‐5p significantly attenuated ISO‐induced hypertrophic responses of NRCMs. Valosin‐containing protein (VCP), a suppressor of cardiac hypertrophy via inhibiting mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, was validated as a target of miR‐339‐5p. MiR‐339‐5p suppressed VCP protein expression, leading to elevated phosphorylation of mTOR and ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K). VCP depletion activated the mTOR/S6K cascade and could compromise the anti‐hypertrophic effects of miR‐339‐5p inhibitor. Additionally, the hypertrophic responses caused by miR‐339‐5p was alleviated in the presence of mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. In conclusion, our research revealed that miR‐339‐5p promoted ISO‐induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by targeting VCP to activate the mTOR signaling, suggesting a promising therapeutic intervention by interfering miR‐339‐5p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reprogramming of lipid metabolism serves an important role in occurrence and development of liver cancer. Fatty acid hydroxylase domain containing 2 (FAXDC2) is a hydroxylase involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and sphingomyelin and downregulated in various types of cancer. There are no reports on the relationship between FAXDC2 and liver carcinogenesis. The present study used multiple portals and publicly available tools to explore its correlation with liver cancer. The results showed that the expression of FAXDC2 decreased in liver cancer and the methylation level near the promoter increased. Patients with liver cancer and with low expression of FAXDC2 had a poor prognosis. Gain of function and loss of function strategies were performed to evaluate its roles in liver cancer cells. CCK-8 assay showed that overexpression of FAXDC2 inhibited the viability of liver cancer cells (HepG2). Flow cytometry analysis indicated that HepG2 cells with overexpressing FAXDC2 showed an S phase arrest, associated with cyclin-dependent kinase 2 decreased. Transwell experiments showed that increasing FAXDC2 inhibited HepG2 cell invasion ability, accompanied by the upregulation of E-cadherin. Notably, knockdown of FAXDC2 had no significant effect on cell cycle and invasion functions. Based on the cBioPortal platform, FAXDC2 was predicted to closely correlate to the ERK signal in tumorigenesis. Western blotting results showed that overexpression of FAXDC2 decreased the phosphorylation level of ERK in liver cancer cells. The present study first identified FAXDC2 as a liver cancer suppressor, which might inhibit the proliferation and invasion of liver cancer cells through the mechanism associated with ERK signaling. The present study provided a possible new target for the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Three-dimensional (3D) contrast-enhanced T 1 -weighted flow-sensitive black-blood (CE-T 1 WI FSBB) is a newly developed black blood sequence by adding motion probing gradient pulses to gradient echo (GRE) sequences, which has important value for the preoperative assessment of tumor brain blood supply vessels and intratumoral microbleeds., Purpose: To compare 3D CE-T 1 WI FSBB and 3D contrast-enhanced fast spin echo (FSE) sequence for T 1 WI for preoperative assessment of blood vessels and microbleeds in brain tumors and to investigate the correlation between visible vessels and microbleeds., Study Type: Prospective., Subjects: One hundred and seventy-five patients with brain tumors, 65 were male, 110 were female. Including histologically confirmed 73 meningiomas, 23 schwannomas, 20 gliomas, 7 hemangioblastomas, 5 metastases, 2 lymphomas, 2 hemangiopericytomas, 2 germ cell tumors, 1 craniopharyngioma, and 1 cholesteatoma., Field Strength/sequence: A 3-T, CE-T 1 WI FSBB, GRE; 3-T, CE-T 1 WI, FSE., Assessment: Three neuroradiologists counted the number of intratumoral vessels on CE-T 1 WI and CE-T 1 WI FSBB images separately, and they counted the number of intratumoral microbleeds on CE-T 1 WI FSBB images. Brain tumors were classified into grade I, grade II, and grade IV according to the World Health Organization (WHO) grading. Differences in the ability of CE-T 1 WI FSBB and CE-T 1 WI to display intratumoral vessels were compared. The mean counts of three observers were used to study the correlation between vessels and microbleeds., Statistical Tests: Two-way random intraclass correlation coeficient (ICC) was used for inter-reader agreement regarding intratumoral vessel and microbleed counts, and the linear regression analysis (with F-test) was used to study the correlation between intratumoral vessels and microbleeds based on CE-T 1 WI FSBB (α = 0.05)., Results: Inter-reader agreements for intratumoral vessel count on CE-T 1 WI (ICC = 0.93) and CE-T 1 WI FSBB (ICC = 0.92), and the agreement for intratumoral microbleed count on CE-T 1 WI FSBB (ICC = 0.99) were excellent. There were statistically significant differences in intratumoral vessel counts between CE-T 1 WI and CE-T 1 WI FSBB using Mann-Whitney U -test: image readers could identify more intratumoral vessels on CE-T 1 WI FSBB images, particularly for meningiomas, schwannomas, gliomas, and WHO grade I tumors. The number of intratumoral vessels had a significant positive effect on the number of intratumoral microbleeds (microbleeds = 5.024 + 1.665 × vessels; F = 11.51)., Data Conclusion: More intratumoral vessels could potentially be identified using a 3D CE-T 1 WI FSBB sequence compared to a CE-T 1 WI sequence, and the number of intratumoral vessels showed a positive linear relationship with the number of intratumoral microbleeds, which might suggest that brain tumors with rich blood supply were more prone to intratumoral microbleeds., Evidence Level: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3., (© 2022 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Introduction: Contrast-enhanced T 1 WI flow-sensitive black-blood (CE-T1WI FSBB) is a newly developed sequence which had not been widely used for differential diagnosis of brain tumors., Methods: To quantify the pre-operative imaging features of intratumoral microbleeds and intratumoral vessels using CE-T 1 WI FSBB scan and study the differences in biological behavior of meningiomas and schwannomas underlying the imaging features. Seventy-three cases of meningiomas and 24 cases of schwannomas confirmed by postoperative pathology were included. Two neuroradiologists independently counted intratumoral vessels and intratumoral microbleeds based on CE-T 1 WI FSBB images. The vessel density index (VDI) and microbleed density index (MDI) were the number of intratumoral vessels and the number of intratumoral microbleeds divided by the tumor volume, respectively. The consistency test of intratumoral vessel count and intratumoral microbleed count based on CE-T 1 WI FSBB were summarized using 2-way random intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square test were used to determine significant differences between meningiomas and schwannomas, and fibrous meningiomas and epithelial meningiomas. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: The ICC of intratumoral vessels count and intratumoral microbleeds count were 0.89 and 0.99, respectively. There were significant differences in the number of intratumoral microbleeds ( P <0.01) and MDI values ( P <0.01) between meningiomas and schwannomas. There were no differences in the number of intratumoral vessels ( P =0.64), VDI ( P =0.17), or tumor volume ( P =0.33). There were also differences in the number of intratumoral microbleeds ( P <0.01), the MDI value ( P <0.01), and the sex of patients ( P <0.05) between fibrous meningiomas and epithelial meningiomas., Discussion: CE-T 1 WI FSBB can be a new technique for differentiating schwannomas from meningiomas, and even different types of meningiomas. Schwannomas have a higher incidence of intratumoral hemorrhage, more intratumoral microbleeds, and higher MDI values than meningiomas, which provides a new basis for preoperative differential diagnosis and treatment decisions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Cao, Lv, Xu, Feng, Yin, Pan, Geng and Zhang.)