Vascular and neurosensory evaluation in relation to lingual canal anatomy after mandibular midline implant installation in edentulous patients

Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate vascular and neurosensory complications in edentulous patients following the installation of mandibular midline single implants in relation to lingual canals. Materials and methods After performing a cone beam computed tomography scan for the 50 recruited patients, the relationship between the potential implant site and the lingual canals was assessed, and all vascular and neurosensory complications were recorded. Results Six patients (12%) reported profuse bleeding during implant placement, and 13 (26%) reported transient neurosensory changes, which were resolved after 3 months. According to the virtual implant planning, 44 patients (88%) would have their implants touching the lingual canals, six of them reported vascular changes (14%), and 12 out of 44 patients reported neurosensory changes (27%). For the six patients who would have their implants not touching the lingual canals, one patient reported transient neurosensory changes. Conclusions The mandibular lingual canals are constant anatomic landmarks. Injury to the supra-spinosum lingual canals may occur during midline implant placement, depending on the implant length and the bone height. Clinical relevance Despite that injury to the supra-spinosum lingual canals during implant insertion does not result in permanent vascular or neurosensory complications, caution is required to avoid the perforation of the lingual cortices.

Pinocembrin relieves hip fracture-induced pain by repressing spinal substance P signaling in aged rats

Whether pinocembrin (PCN) could be utilized to alleviate hip fracture-induced pain is investigated in this research. Aged rats with hip fractures were treated with vehicle or 80 mg/kg/day PCN from week 3 to week 4. Then hind paw mechanical allodynia, unweighting, warmth, and thickness were measured. The microglia and astrocytes activation and proliferation markers in the spinal dorsal horn were detected with real-time PCR and immunofluorescence staining. The relative expression of substance P and its receptor, tachykinin receptor 1 (Tacr1), were detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blots. The antinociceptive effect of Tacr1 inhibitor LY303870 was also testified. PCN alleviated hip fracture-induced hind paw nociceptive (allodynia and unweighting) and vascular changes (warmth and thickness) in aged rats with diminished microglia and astrocytes activation and proliferation in the spinal dorsal horn. Up-regulated substance P and Tacr1 were induced after hip fracture, which could be reversed by PCN treatment. Furthermore, LY303870 treatment partially reversed both spinal nociceptive sensitization and vascular changes after hip fracture. Substance P signaling contributes to the nociceptive and vascular changes observed in the hip fracture, which could be alleviated by PCN.

Ocular Vascular Changes: Choroidal Thickness as an Early Biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative and progressive disorder representing the most common form of dementia among the elderly [...]

Psoriasis and pathological angiogenesis: pathogenetic signifcance and therapeutic perspectives

The literature review presents data on the role of pathological angiogenesis in the development of psoriasis. Several recent studies have shown, in addition to cytokine imbalance and activation of the T-cell link of immunity, an important pathogenetic link is pathological vascularization. Vascular changes in the dermis appear before clinically visible skin manifestations and can persist for a long time after treatment, as well as the phenomena of neoangigenesis in the synovial membrane and enthesises contribute to the chronicization of inflammatory process in psoriatic arthritis. The article presents an overview of the modern literature on the main regulator of angiogenesis – vascular endothelial growth factor, its role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and possible therapeutic prospects.

Distinctive Mediating Effects of Subcortical Structure Changes on the Relationships Between Amyloid or Vascular Changes and Cognitive Decline

Objective: We investigated the mediation effects of subcortical volume change in the relationship of amyloid beta (Aβ) and lacune with cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).Methods: We prospectively recruited 101 patients with MCI who were followed up with neuropsychological tests, MRI, or Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) PET for 3 years. The mediation effect of subcortical structure on the association of PiB or lacunes with cognitive function was analyzed using mixed effects models.Results: Volume changes in the amygdala and hippocampus partially mediated the effect of PiB changes on memory function (direct effect = −0.168/−0.175, indirect effect = −0.081/−0.077 for amygdala/hippocampus) and completely mediated the effect of PiB changes on clinical dementia rating scale sum of the box (CDR-SOB) (indirect effect = 0.082/0.116 for amygdala/hippocampus). Volume changes in the thalamus completely mediated the effect of lacune on memory, frontal executive functions, and CDR-SOB (indirect effect = −0.037, −0.056, and 0.047, respectively).Conclusions: Our findings provide a better understanding of the distinct role of subcortical structures in the mediation of the relationships of amyloid or vascular changes with a decline in specific cognitive domains.

The Deleterious Effects of Impaired Fibrinolysis on Skeletal Development Are Dependent on Fibrin(ogen), but Independent of Interlukin-6

Chronic diseases in growing children, such as autoimmune disorders, obesity, and cancer, are hallmarked by musculoskeletal growth disturbances and osteoporosis. Many of the skeletal changes in these children are thought to be secondary to chronic inflammation. Recent studies have likewise suggested that changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis may contribute to musculoskeletal growth disturbances. In prior work, we demonstrated that mice deficient in plasminogen, the principal protease of degrading and clearing fibrin matrices, suffer from inflammation-driven systemic osteoporosis and that elimination of fibrinogen resulted in normalization of IL-6 levels and complete rescue of the skeletal phenotype. Given the intimate link between coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammation, here we determined if persistent fibrin deposition, elevated IL-6, or both contribute to early skeletal aging and physeal disruption in chronic inflammatory conditions. Skeletal growth as well as bone quality, physeal development, and vascularity were analyzed in C57BL6/J mice with plasminogen deficiency with and without deficiencies of either fibrinogen or IL-6. Elimination of fibrinogen, but not IL-6, rescued the skeletal phenotype and growth disturbances in this model of chronic disease. Furthermore, the skeletal phenotypes directly correlated with both systemic and local vascular changes in the skeletal environment. In conclusion, these results suggest that fibrinolysis through plasmin is essential for skeletal growth and maintenance, and is multifactorial by limiting inflammation and preserving vasculature.

Relationship between the Somatosensory Cortex Morphology, Cutaneous Allodynia, and Clinical Features of Patients with Migraine

Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of brain alterations in patients with migraine. Functional and vascular changes in the brain are related to the presence and severity of cutaneous allodynia. However, the association between brain structural changes and cutaneous allodynia has not been yet investigated in patients with migraine. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the severity of cutaneous allodynia, migraine features, and the thickness and volume of the somatosensory cortex. Forty-five patients with migraine, with and without aura and chronic migraine, were included. Volunteers filled out the Allodynia Symptom Questionnaire (ASC-12/Brazil) and were evaluated via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The images were inspected by a blinded neuroradiologist and analyzed with Freesurfer software. Correlation tests and a linear regression model were used to evaluate the relationship among the outcomes. The somatosensory cortex thickness and volume were not different among migraine subgroups (p > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the somatosensory thickness and volume with the ASC-12/Brazil, migraine frequency, intensity, migraine onset or aura frequency. The ASC-12/Brazil score variability cannot be predicted by the somatosensory cortex thickness or volume. The results show that the somatosensory cortex morphology is neither associated with cutaneous allodynia nor with migraine features among migraineurs.

miRNAs as Therapeutic Tools in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), an age-dependent, progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 50–70% of all dementia cases. Due to the increasing incidence and corresponding socioeconomic burden of dementia, it has rapidly emerged as a challenge to public health worldwide. The characteristics of AD include the development of extracellular amyloid-beta plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, vascular changes, neuronal inflammation, and progressive brain atrophy. However, the complexity of the biology of AD has hindered progress in elucidating the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of AD, and the development of effective treatments. MicroRNAs (miRNAs, which are endogenous, noncoding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides that function as posttranscriptional regulators of various genes) are attracting attention as powerful tools for studying the mechanisms of diseases, as they are involved in several biological processes and diseases, including AD. AD is a multifactorial disease, and several reports have suggested that miRNAs play an important role in the pathological processes of AD. In this review, the basic biology of miRNAs is described, and the function and physiology of miRNAs in the pathological processes of AD are highlighted. In addition, the limitations of current pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of AD and the development of miRNA-based next-generation therapies are discussed.

Improving U-Net architecture and graph cuts optimization to classify arterioles and venules in retina fundus images

The central retinal artery and its branches supply blood to the inner retina. Vascular manifestations in the retina indirectly reflect the vascular changes and damage in organs such as the heart, kidneys, and brain because of the similar vascular structure of these organs. The diabetic retinopathy and risk of stroke are caused by increased venular caliber. The degrees of these diseases depend on the changes of arterioles and venules. The ratio between the calibers of arterioles and venules (AVR) is various. AVR is considered as the useful diagnostic indicator of different associated health problems. However, the task is not easy because of the lack of information of the features being used to classify the retinal vessels as arterioles and venules. This paper proposed a method to classify the retinal vessels into the arterioles and venules based on improving U-Net architecture and graph cuts. The accuracy of the proposed method is about 97.6%. The results of the proposed method are better than the other methods in RITE dataset and AVRDB dataset.