Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma activation attenuates diabetic cardiomyopathy via regulation of the TGF-ß/ERK pathway and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a kind of disease caused by metabolic disorders and microangiopathy. The main pathophysiological changes of DCM include fibrosis, myocardial cell apoptosis and autonomic neuropathy. Therefore, treatment aimed at these processes may benefit patients with DCM. We designed an experiment with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) agonist GW 1929 to detect whether the activation of PPARγ could alleviate the degree of DCM. To further detect the mechanism of PPARγ in DCM, we used the PPARγ antagonist GW 9662 and ERK antagonist PD 098059 both in vitro and in vivo and found that PPARγ functioned by inhibiting ERK. We also performed Western blot, PCR, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, TUNEL assay, Sirius red staining and gelatin zymography to investigate inflammation, apoptosis, MMP activity and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The results showed that the activation of PPARγ inhibited these reactions and inhibiting ERK also simulated this phenomenon. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that PPARγ activation in the diabetic myocardium of mice reduces myocardial fibrosis via regulation of the TGF-ß/ERK pathway and EMT.

Cross-modality PET/CT and contrast-enhanced CT imaging for pancreatic cancer.

AIM: To explore the diagnostic value of the cross-modality fusion images provided by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) for pancreatic cancer (PC). METHODS: Data from 70 patients with pancreatic lesions who underwent CECT and PET/CT examinations at our hospital from August 2010 to October 2012 were analyzed. PET/CECT for the cross-modality image fusion was obtained using TureD software. The diagnostic efficiencies of PET/CT, CECT and PET/CECT were calculated and compared with each other using a χ(2) test. P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: Of the total 70 patients, 50 had PC and 20 had benign lesions. The differences in the sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy between CECT and PET/CECT in detecting PC were statistically significant (P < 0.05 for each). In 15 of the 31 patients with PC who underwent a surgical operation, peripancreatic vessel invasion was verified. The differences in the sensitivity, positive predictive value, NPV, and accuracy of CECT vs PET/CT and PET/CECT vs PET/CT in diagnosing peripancreatic vessel invasion were statistically significant (P < 0.05 for each). In 19 of the 31 patients with PC who underwent a surgical operation, regional lymph node metastasis was verified by postsurgical histology. There was no statistically significant difference among the three methods in detecting regional lymph node metastasis (P > 0.05 for each). In 17 of the 50 patients with PC confirmed by histology or clinical follow-up, distant metastasis was confirmed. The differences in the sensitivity and NPV between CECT and PET/CECT in detecting distant metastasis were statistically significant (P < 0.05 for each). CONCLUSION: Cross-modality image fusion of PET/CT and CECT is a convenient and effective method that can be used to diagnose and stage PC, compensating for the defects of PET/CT and CECT when they are conducted individually.