Assessing radiation-induced carotid artery injury using ultrasound in patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiotherapy (RT) can damage neck vessels in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). This study investigated the early effects of RT on carotid artery, including the internal media thickness (IMT) and carotid plaques of the common carotid artery (CCA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 69 patients with HNC who underwent RT at the First Hospital of Jilin University from March 2017 to September 2022, and 69 healthy participants as controls. Color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) of the carotid artery was used to measure the CCA IMT and plaques. RESULTS: Left CCA IMT increased from 0.60 mm (0.60, 0.70) before RT to 0.70 mm (0.60, 1.20) after RT (P < 0.0001). Right CCA IMT changed from 0.60 mm (0.60, 0.71) before RT to 0.60 mm (0.60, 1.10) after RT (P = 0.0002). CCA IMT was 0.60 mm (0.60, 0.70) and 0.80 mm (0.60, 1.20) in the ≤40 Gy and >40 Gy groups (P = 0.0004). The CCA plaques number increased significantly after RT on both the left and right sides (Pleft < 0.0001; Pright <0.0001). The CCA plaques volume increased from 0 mm3 (0, 11.35) and 0 mm3 (0, 8.55) before RT to 8.8 mm3 (0, 21.5) and 5.8 mm3 (0, 16.1) on the left and right sides. Correlation analysis revealed a correlation between CCA IMT and age (r = 0.283, P = 0.001), smoking status (r = 0.179, P = 0.020), and radiation dose (r = 0.188, P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: RT significantly increased CCA IMT, and the growth was related to the radiation dose. The number and volume of the CCA plaques also increased after RT.

Conformational and functional changes from deamidation of wheat gluten with electrochemical treatment.

BACKGROUND: In this paper, wheat gluten (WG) was modified by electrochemical deamidation. The effects of electrochemical treatment time on the conformation and functional properties of WG and its mechanism were studied. RESULTS: Wheat gluten demonstrated a maximum deamidation of 50.94%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed a decrease in α-helix and ß-sheets and an increase in ß-turns and random coils, indicating that the secondary structure of WG became looser and more disordered with increased molecular flexibility. Electrochemical deamidation significantly increased the net charge and solubility of WG, the emulsifying activity index (EAI) increased from 8.53 to 15.66 m2 g-1 , the foaming capacity (FC) increased from 4.55 to 13.72 cm3 , and the water-holding capacity (WHC) and oil-holding capacity (OHC) reached maximum levels of 8.42 g g-1 and 7.45 g g-1 , respectively, at 90 min. CONCLUSION: Electrochemical deamidation appears to be a useful technique to improve the processing characteristics of WG. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of high-intensity ultrasound on the physicochemical properties, microstructure, and stability of soy protein isolate-pectin emulsion.

In this study, an emulsion stabilized by soy protein isolate (SPI)-pectin (PC) complexes was prepared to investigate the effects of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) treatment (150-600 W) on the physicochemical properties, microstructure, and stability of emulsions. The results found that the emulsion treated at 450 W showed the best emulsion stability index (ESI) (25.18 ± 1.24 min), the lowest particle size (559.82 ± 3.17 nm), the largest ζ-potential absolute value (16.39 ± 0.18 mV), and the highest adsorbed protein content (27.31%). Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that the emulsion aggregation was significantly improved by ultrasound treatment, and the average roughness value (Rq) was the smallest (10.3 nm) at 450 W. Additionally, HIU treatment reduced the interfacial tension and apparent viscosity of the emulsion. Thermal stability was best when the emulsion was treated at 450 W, D43 was minimal (907.95 ± 31.72 nm), and emulsion separation also improved. Consequently, the creaming index (CI) was significantly decreased compared to the untreated sample, indicating that the storage stability of the emulsion was enhanced.

Eye-Neck Integrated Ultrasound in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis.

Background: The clinical presentation of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) overlaps with that of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), but no screening tool exists. We investigated the role of eye-neck integrated ultrasound in the diagnosis and differentiation of IIH and CVST. Methods: Twenty IIH patients, 30 CVST patients, and 40 healthy controls were retrospectively analyzed. The ultrasonographic optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and hemodynamic characteristics of the internal jugular veins (IJVs) were recorded. The cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure was measured after ultrasonic examination. Results: The ONSD was significantly larger in IIH patients than in controls (4.71 ± 0.41 vs. 3.93 ± 0.24 mm, p < 0.001). The ONSD cut-off for IIH diagnosis was 4.25 mm (AUC = 0.978; 95% CI: 0.95-1.0, p < 0.001, sensitivity: 90%, specificity: 93%). In the CVST group, 22 (73.3%) patients had elevated intracranial pressure (ICP); the mean ONSD was significantly higher in patients with increased ICP than in those without (4.43 ± 0.33 vs. 3.95 ± 0.17 mm, p < 0.001). The mean blood flow volume (BFV) was significantly reduced in CVST patients (425.17 ± 349.83 mL/min) compared to that in controls (680.37 ± 233.03 mL/min, p < 0.001) and IIH patients (617.67 ± 282.96 mL/min, p = 0.008). The optimal BFV cut-off for predicting CVST was 527.28 mL/min (AUC = 0.804, 95% CI: 0.68-0.93, p < 0.001, sensitivity: 80%, specificity: 78%). The velocity of the unilateral IJVs-J3 segment decreased or remained constant during deep inspiration (abnormal respiratory modulate blood flow test, ARMT) in 32.5% of controls, with no bilateral ARMT. The prevalence of bilateral ARMT was 25% in IIH patients (χ2 = 12.9, p = 0.005) and 27% in CVST patients (χ2 = 17.6, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Eye-neck integrated ultrasound is an easily available bedside technique to assess ICP and hemodynamic characteristics of IJVs. ONSD measurement can identify patients with increased ICP, and reduced IJV BFV may aid the differentiation of CVST and IIH.