These findings indicate a highly fortified diet during pregnancy continues to have postnatal benefits for the growing infant. However, for those interested in iron deficiency, lower Selleck AZD5363 iron diets provide a reliable way to generate anemic infant monkeys for research. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Purpose: To use magnetic resonance (MR)
imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) dual detection of cardiac-grafted embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to examine (a) survival and proliferation of ESCs in normal and infarcted myocardium, (b) host macrophage versus grafted ESC contribution to serial MR imaging signal over time, and (c) cardiac function associated with the formation of grafts and whether improvement in cardiac function is related to cardiac differentiation of ESCs.
Materials and Methods: All animal procedures were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Murine ESCs were stably transfected with a mutant version of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase, HSV1-sr39tk, and also were labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)
particles. Cells were injected directly in the border zone of the infarcted heart or in corresponding regions of normal hearts in athymic rats. PET and MR imaging were performed longitudinally for 4 weeks in the same animals.
Results: ESCs survived and underwent selleck kinase inhibitor proliferation in the infarcted and normal hearts, as demonstrated by BTSA1 concentration serial increases in 9-(4-[(18)F]fluoro-3-hydroxymethylbutyl) guanine PET signals. In parallel, the hypointense areas on MR images at the injection sites decreased over time. Double staining for host macrophages and SPIO particles revealed that the majority of SPIO-containing cells were macrophages at week 4 after injection. Left ventricular ejection fraction increased
in the ESC-treated rats but decreased in culture media-treated rats, and border-zone function was preserved in ESC-treated animals; however, cardiac differentiation of ESCs was less than 0.5%.
Conclusion: Dual-modality imaging permits complementary information in regard to cell survival and proliferation, graft formation, and effects on cardiac function. (c) RSNA, 2009″
“BACKGROUND: There is an increasing recognition of the potential value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Key CPX characteristics in these patients include: (1) a diminished aerobic capacity: (2) an abnormally elevated minute ventilation-carbon dioxide. production relationship; and (3) an abnormally diminished partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide. Given the burgeoning number of original research investigations utilizing CPX in patients with PH, a summation of the presently available body of literature seems timely.
METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PUBMFD using “”cardiopulmonary exercise testing”" and “”pulmonary arterial hypertension”" as key phrases.