The current study was designed to examine the relationship between body fat distribution, as evaluated by anthropometry and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and circulating insulin, sex hormone and SHBG levels in obese adolescent girls. Twenty-nine obese adolescent girls, aged 12.6-16.9 years with a mean BMI of 30.51+/-1.86 participated in this study. All girls had breast stage B4-5 and pubic hair stage P4-5. Percent obesity and BMI as indices of being overweight were calculated; the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and the waist-to-thigh ratio (WTR) were calculated to obtain two anthropometric indices for the pattern of body fat distribution. The areas of visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were evaluated by MRI at the L4-L5 level. Serum concentrations of total T, DHEAS, 17beta-estradiol, progesterone and SHBG were measured. Plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were evaluated during an oral glucose tolerance test. WHR was the only anthropometric parameter that was significantly associated with the area of VAT. Insulin level showed correlation with both WHR and the area of VAT; no correlation was found between insulin levels and WTR. Both WHR and VAT were negatively correlated with serum DHEAS level and positively correlated with T level. There were strong negative correlations between serum SHBG level and the area of VAT and WHR. Inverse correlation was found between serum SHBG level and insulin. Serum 17beta-estradiol and progesterone levels showed no significant correlation with all the patterns of body fat distribution. SAT was not significantly correlated with both anthropometric parameters and any of the sex hormones evaluated. We can draw two main conclusions. Firstly, in massively obese adolescent girls, the WHR seems to be a good indicator for the accumulation of VAT, and abdominal obesity, rather than adiposity per se, appears to be related to biochemical complications. Secondly, increased upper body adiposity and, in particular, the intra-abdominal fat area are associated with increased insulin levels in massively obese adolescent girls. The associated reductions in SHBG and DHEAS levels represent an early general risk factor for the development of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases in this population, as previously described for obese adult women.

AMACR is a good pharmacological target for treatment of PCa and TFIP is a suitable anticancer compound with parenteral administration being the preferred route.

The popliteal artery entrapment (PAE) syndrome has been recognized as a cause of arterial occlusion in young people. It is the result of an anomaly of the relationship between the popliteal artery and the gastrocnemius muscle. Eight young health volunteers (16 legs) and six patients (10 legs) with suspected PAE underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Gradient-echo images were obtained in axial planes with the leg at rest and during active plantar flexion against resistance. Imaging at rest allowed identification of PAE signs in only one leg, which had an anomalous medial course of the popliteal artery. In the other cases, only the stress technique was able to show signal loss in the popliteal artery due to muscular compression (two legs) or the presence of accessory muscle slip around the vessel (two legs), as confirmed at surgery. MR imaging is therefore a useful technique for the diagnosis of PAE because of its capability of combining information obtainable with other modalities.

In the last decades, nanotechnology has been used in a wide range of biomedical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic. In this scenario, imaging techniques represent a fundamental tool to obtain information about the properties of nanoconstructs and their interactions with the biological environment in preclinical and clinical settings. This paper reviews the state of the art of the application of magnetic resonance imaging in the field of nanomedicine, as well as the use of nanoparticles as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, especially in cancer, including the characteristics that hinder the use of nanoparticles in clinical practice.

The presence of axillary lymph nodes metastases in breast cancer is the most significant prognostic factor, with a great impact on morbidity, disease-related survival and management of oncological therapies; for this reason, adequate imaging evaluation is strictly necessary. Physical examination is not enough sensitive to assess breast cancer nodal status; axillary ultrasonography (US) is commonly used to detect suspected or occult nodal metastasis, providing exclusively morphological evaluation, with low sensitivity and positive predictive value. Currently, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and/or axillary dissection are the milestone for the diagnostic assessment of axillary lymph node metastases, although its related morbidity. The impact of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of nodal metastases has been widely investigated, as it continues to represent the most promising imaging modality in the breast cancer management. In particular, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values represent additional reliable non-contrast sequences, able to improve the diagnostic accuracy of breast cancer MRI evaluation. Several studies largely demonstrated the usefulness of implementing DWI/ADC MRI in the characterization of breast lesions. Herein, in the light of our clinical experience, we perform a review of the literature regarding the diagnostic performance and accuracy of ADC value as potential pre-operative tool to define metastatic involvement of nodal structures in breast cancer patients.