Dual-Channel in Spatial-Frequency Domain CycleGAN for perceptual enhancement of transcranial cortical vascular structure and function.

Observing cortical vascular structures and functions using laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) at high resolution plays a crucial role in understanding cerebral pathologies. Usually, open-skull window techniques have been applied to reduce scattering of skull and enhance image quality. However, craniotomy surgeries inevitably induce inflammation, which may obstruct observations in certain scenarios. In contrast, image enhancement algorithms provide popular tools for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of LSCI. The current methods were less than satisfactory through intact skulls because the transcranial cortical images were of poor quality. Moreover, existing algorithms do not guarantee the accuracy of dynamic blood flow mappings. In this study, we develop an unsupervised deep learning method, named Dual-Channel in Spatial-Frequency Domain CycleGAN (SF-CycleGAN), to enhance the perceptual quality of cortical blood flow imaging by LSCI. SF-CycleGAN enabled convenient, non-invasive, and effective cortical vascular structure observation and accurate dynamic blood flow mappings without craniotomy surgeries to visualize biodynamics in an undisturbed biological environment. Our experimental results showed that SF-CycleGAN achieved a SNR at least 4.13 dB higher than that of other unsupervised methods, imaged the complete vascular morphology, and enabled the functional observation of small cortical vessels. Additionally, the proposed method showed remarkable robustness and could be generalized to various imaging configurations and image modalities, including fluorescence images, without retraining.

Photostimulation of brain lymphatics in male newborn and adult rodents for therapy of intraventricular hemorrhage.

Intraventricular hemorrhage is one of the most fatal forms of brain injury that is a common complication of premature infants. However, the therapy of this type of hemorrhage is limited, and new strategies are needed to reduce hematoma expansion. Here we show that the meningeal lymphatics is a pathway to remove red blood cells from the brain's ventricular system of male human, adult and newborn rodents and is a target for non-invasive transcranial near infrared photobiomodulation. Our results uncover the clinical significance of phototherapy of intraventricular hemorrhage in 4-day old male rat pups that have the brain similar to a preterm human brain. The course of phototherapy in newborn rats provides fast recovery after intraventricular hemorrhage due to photo-improvements of lymphatic drainage and clearing functions. These findings shed light on the mechanisms of phototherapy of intraventricular hemorrhage that can be a clinically relevant technology for treatment of neonatal intracerebral bleedings.

In vivo tissue optical clearing assisted through-skull targeted photothrombotic ischemic stroke model in mice.

SIGNIFICANCE: Photothrombotic stroke is an important and widely used model for ischemic stroke research. However, the significant scattering of the skull during the procedure limits the light's ability to penetrate and focus on its target. Targeted photothrombosis uses surgery-based skull windows to obtain optical access to the brain, but it renders the brain's environment unnatural even before a stroke is established. AIM: To establish a targeted, controllable ischemic stroke model in mice through an intact skull. APPROACH: The in vivo skull optical clearing technique provides a craniotomy-free "optical window" that allows light to penetrate. Alongside the local photodynamic effect, we have established targeted photothrombosis without skull removal, effectively controlling the degree of thrombotic occlusion by changing the light dose. RESULTS: Ex vivo and in vivo results demonstrated that skull optical clearing treatment significantly enhanced light's ability to penetrate the skull and focus on its target, contributing to thrombotic occlusion. The skull optical clearing window was also used for continuous blood flow mapping, and the relationship between light dose and injury degree was evaluated over 14 days of monitoring. Per our findings, increasing the light dose was accompanied by more severe infarction, indicating that the model was easily controllable. CONCLUSIONS: Herein, a targeted, controllable ischemic stroke model was established by combinedly running an in vivo skull optical clearing technique and a photothrombotic procedure, avoiding unnecessary damage or environmental changes to the brain caused by surgery on the skull. Our established model should offer significant value to research on ischemic stroke.

Optical clearing imaging assisted evaluation of urokinase thrombolytic therapy on cerebral vessels with different sizes.

Ischemic stroke is caused by occlusion of the blood vessels in the brain, where intravenous thrombolytic therapy is the most effective treatment. Urokinase is a commonly used drug for intravenous thrombolytic therapy, while the effect of vessel size has not been thoroughly studied on urokinase. In this work, using the thrombin-combined photothrombosis model and craniotomy-free skull optical clearing window, we studied the recanalization of different cortical vessels after urokinase treatment. The results demonstrated that, compared to small vessels in distal middle cerebral artery (MCA) and large MCA, urokinase has the best therapeutic effect on secondary branches of MCA. This study holds potential to provide references for the clinical applications of urokinase.

Astragaloside IV attenuates Toll-like receptor 4 expression via NF-κB pathway under high glucose condition in mesenchymal stem cells.

Diabetic hyperglycemia causes a variety of pathological changes. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) was widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in China. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of AS-IV on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and the underlying mechanism in diabetes. We used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting to determine the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and NF-κB p65 in MSCs under high glucose (HG) with or without pretreatment with AS-IV. The surface expression of TLR4 was checked by flow cytometry and the expression of TNF-α and MCP-1 were detected by ELISA in diabetes patients treated with AS-IV. AS-IV promoted the proliferation of MSCs and attenuated the increased expression of TLR4 induced by HG. In addition, AS-IV decreased the HG-induced translocation of NF-κB p65 and increased the MMP-2 expression in MSCs. AS-IV decreased the TLR4, TNF-α and MCP-1 expression in patients. Collectively,our data revealed that AS-IV attenuated TLR4 expression through the NF-κB signaling pathway in MSCs.