Search results for "HERO"
showing 10 items of 1331 documents
Coronary CT angiography: a guide to examination, interpretation, and clinical indications
2021
Introduction: The introduction of Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) has changed the paradigm in the field of diagnostic cardiovascular medicine. CCT is the primary tool in the assessment of suspected Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and should be followed by functional assessment when needed to stratify disease and to plan potential interventional or surgical therapy. Areas Covered: We provided the current state of the knowledge on the main aspects of technique of examination, image interpretation and clinical indications. We have focused our attention on the basic routine applications and activities. Expert Opinion: The primary role of CCT in suspected CAD will progressively become the standa…
Long-Term Effects of Mind-Body Exercises on the Physical Fitness and Quality of Life of Individuals With Substance Use Disorder—A Randomized Trial
2020
Background: Mind-body exercises (MBE) are sequences of low to medium-intensity activities that benefit healthy performers physically and mentally. In contrast to the unmodified application of traditional tai chi, qi gong, or yoga in the healthy population, MBEs are typically tailored for individuals with substance abuse disorder (SUD). Despite numerous applications in practice, the detailed effects of tailor-made MBEs for SUD are unclear.Objectives: This study aimed to analyze and compare changes in the physical fitness and quality of life of individuals with SUD that underwent conventional or tailor-made MBEs.Methods: A total of 100 subjects obtained from the Shanghai Mandatory Detoxificat…
Advances in detection and characterization of atherosclerosis using contrast agents targeting the macrophage
2006
With advances in imaging technology and our understanding of the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis, the macrophage appears to be an excellent target for imaging the progression of disease. In addition to imaging the macrophage with only 1 modality, contrast agents can be created that can be imaged with multiple modalities. This seems extremely attractive, as lesion morphology and characteristics can be determined with modalities that provide high picture resolution, such as CT or MRI, whereas macrophage quantity can be accurately determined through the creation of a radiolabeled contrast agent such as FDG via PET. Although this combination of imaging technologies may yield clinically …
Left Renal Vein Anatomical Anomalies: Radiological and Surgical Implications
1998
Objective: To emphasize the incidence and clinical, diagnostic and surgical implications of left renal vein developmental anomalies. Design: Retrospective analysis of case notes. Setting: Clinical Anatomy Department and Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Spain. Patients, participants: Standard radiological examinations (CT scan) performed on 745 patients; surgical findings at operation in 128 patients with aorto-iliac atherosclerotic disease, and 72 donor cadavers for transplantation. Main outcome measures: Incidence of left renal vein anomalies (retro-aortic left renal vein and peri-aortic renal venous collar), based on radiological (CT scan) and surgical obse…
Coronary plaque imaging with multislice computed tomography: technique and clinical applications.
2006
The composition of an atherosclerotic lesion, rather than solely the degree of stenosis, is considered to be an important determinant of acute coronary events. Whereas until recently only invasive techniques have been able to provide clues about plaque composition with consistent reproducibility, several recent studies have revealed the potential of multislice computed tomography (MSCT) for noninvasive plaque imaging. Coronary MSCT has the potential to detect coronary plaques and to characterize their composition based on the X-ray attenuating features of each structure. MSCT may also reveal the total plaque burden (calcified and noncalcified components) for individual patients with coronar…
Protrhombotic Effects of Contraceptives
2010
The use of oral contraceptives first became widespread some 40 years ago, and reports of an excess risk of cardiovascular disease among women who used these agents soon followed. Few drugs have been the object of such intensive epidemiological research, the outcome of which has provided clinicians with detailed information about risks not only of specific thrombotic diseases but also important non-contraceptive benefits from the pill. Recently, oral contraceptives have been classified by some according to "generation" (first, second, third, and most recently, fourth generation): first-generation formulations containing lynestrenol or norethindrone, second-generation formulations containing …
Constitutive androstane receptor activation stimulates faecal bile acid excretion and reverse cholesterol transport in mice.
2010
The constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) is a nuclear receptor expressed in the liver and involved in xenobiotic metabolism. The aim of this study was to assess whether pharmacological CAR activation could affect neutral sterol and bile acid elimination under conditions of cholesterol overload.Wild type, Car-/-, ApoE-/-, and low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr)-/- mice fed a western-type diet were treated with the CAR agonist TCPOBOP.CAR activation was associated with a decrease in faecal cholesterol output related to the repression of the Abcg5/g8 cholesterol transporters. In contrast, TCPOBOP treatment induced a marked increase (up to three fold, p0.01) in the elimination of faecal b…
Cholesterol accumulation is increased in macrophages of phospholipid transfer protein-deficient mice: normalization by dietary alpha-tocopherol suppl…
2007
Objective— Phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) is a multifunctional, extracellular lipid transport protein that plays a major role in lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis. Recent in vivo studies suggested that unlike systemic PLTP, macrophage-derived PLTP would be antiatherogenic. The present study aimed at characterizing the atheroprotective properties of macrophage-derived PLTP. Methods and Results— Peritoneal macrophages were isolated from PLTP-deficient and wild-type mice and their biochemical characteristics were compared. It is shown that macrophages isolated from PLTP-deficient mice have increased basal cholesterol content and accumulate more cholesterol in the presence of LD…
POLYPHENOLS FROM RED WINE MODULATE IMMUNE RESPONSIVENESS: BIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE.
2008
Many studies have been conducted on the effects of red wine polyphenols on certain diseases, primarily, coronary heart disease (CHD) and, in this respect, evidence has been demonstrated that intake of red wine is associated with a reduction of CHD symptomatology. In this framework, the purpose of this review is to illustrate the effects of polyphenols on immune cells from human healthy peripheral blood. Data will show that polyphenols are able to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. In particular, the release of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-12, interferon (IFN)-gamma, and IL-10 as well as immunoglobulins may be important for host protection in different immune related …
Cytotoxicity of natural products and derivatives toward MCF-7 cell monolayers and cancer stem-like mammospheres
2015
Abstract Although cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are rare, they can enter a non-proliferative or dormant state and resist therapy. Furthermore, quiescent CSCs are responsible for metastases that can appear after curative surgical treatment of a primary tumor. Because of drug resistance of CSCs, the development of novel therapies is urgently required that specifically target CSCs. Purpose The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of a panel of natural products and derivatives to inhibit CSC-enriched mammospheres of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods CD44high/CD24low cells were identified by flow cytometry and maintained as mammospheres. As a control, we used two clinically…