Both 18F-FDG PET and MRI provided high sensitivity for diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis in patients with suspected cardiac involvement, but the specificity of (18)F-FDG PET was not as high as previously reported. The different distributions of the findings in the two modalities suggest the potential of 18F-FDG PET and MRI in detecting different pathological processes in the heart.

Objective-To investigate whether and how the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-homologous protein (CHOP)-mediated pathway regulates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Methods and Results-Wild-type and chop-deficient mice underwent 50 minutes of left coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion. Expression of chop and spliced x-box binding protein-1 (sxbp1) mRNA was rapidly and significantly increased in reperfused myocardium of wild-type mice. chop-deficient mice exhibited markedly reduced injury size after reperfusion compared with wild-type mice, accompanied by a decreasing number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling-positive cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, myocardial inflammation, as assessed by expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and numbers of infiltrated inflammatory cells, was also attenuated in chop-deficient mice. Moreover, expression of interleukin-6 mRNA in response to lipopolysaccharide was enhanced by simultaneous stimulation with thapsigargin, a potent ER stressor, in wild-type cardiomyocytes but not in chop-deficient cardiomyocytes. Finally, we found that superoxide was produced in reperfused myocardium and that intravenous administration of edaravone, a free radical scavenger, immediately before reperfusion significantly suppressed the superoxide overproduction and subsequent expression of sxbp1 and chop mRNA, followed by reduced injury size in wild-type mice. Conclusion-The ER stress-induced, CHOP-mediated pathway, which is activated in part by superoxide overproduction after reperfusion, exacerbates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury by inducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis and myocardial inflammation. Key Words: ischemic heart disease Ⅲ reactive oxygen species Ⅲ reperfusion injury Ⅲ CHOP Ⅲ ER stress T he endoplasmic reticulum (ER), one of the largest cellular organelles, is recognized as the principal site of synthesis, folding, assembly, and modification of numerous proteins. Various pathophysiological stimuli, which increase the demand for protein folding or disrupt folding capacity, cause accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins within the ER, a condition collectively known as ER stress. To overcome ER stress, cells activate specific signaling pathways in what is termed the ER stress response, the initial intent of which is to restore ER homeostasis and promote cell survival through alteration of cellular transcriptional and translational programs. However, if restoration fails, ER stress triggers a final response, namely, apoptosis, to protect the organism by eliminating damaged cells. Induction of C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP), a member of the C/EBP transcription factor family, is a signaling event underlying ER stress-induced apoptosis, 1-3 and the involvement of CHOPmediated apoptosis has been demonstrated in various diseases, including diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, brain ischemia, and even some cardiovascular diseases. [3][4][5] In the setting of acute myocardial infarction, early...

To study the functional role of the predisposed preference for Johansson's biological motion (BM) at an early stage of life, newly hatched domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, were exposed to a variety of motion pictures composed of light points (in red or yellow), and then tested for their learned colour preference. Point-light animations depicting the BM of a walking hen successfully facilitated both the approach activity during imprinting and the learned preference in the test, although significant positive correlations did not appear between these at the individual level. Furthermore, scrambling the light points did not significantly reduce the effects, whereas linear motion of a hen-shaped set of points had no effect. If pretreated with the linear motion, those chicks primed with a high BM preference score showed a high learning score in subsequent imprinting. We conclude that the local movement feature of the BM animation is critical in making chicks approach and learn the associated colour. We propose a scenario wherein naïve chicks have an innate preference for BM, which arises prior to imprinting through nonspecific visual experience in the early posthatch period. The induced BM preference then allows chicks to form a learned colour preference for the associated colour more effectively, leading to the development of tighter social attachment

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To examine the effects of early visual experience on preference for biological motion, newly-hatched chicks were exposed to a point-light animation (a visual stimulus composed of identical light-points) depicting features of a hen; a walking hen (a biological motion stimulus), a rotating hen (a non-biological motion stimulus), a pendulum stimulus, a random motion stimulus and a stationary pattern. Chicks were then tested in a binary choice task, choosing between walking-hen and rotating-hen stimuli. Males exhibited a preference for biological motion if they had been trained with any animation except the stationary pattern stimulus, suggesting that the biological motion preference was not learned, but induced by motion stimuli. We found a significant positive correlation between the number of approaches in training and the preference in the test, but locomotion alone did not cause preference to biological motion. In contrast, females exhibited a particularly strong preference for walking-hen stimuli, but only when they had been trained with it. Furthermore, females (but not males) trained with random motion showed a preference for walking-hen over walking-cat (a biological-motion animation depicting a cat), possibly suggesting that females are choosier than males. Chicks trained with a stationary pattern and untrained controls did not show a significant preference. The induction of biological motion preference is discussed in terms of possible ecological background of the sex differences.3

Objective-Whole-body periodic acceleration (WBPA) has been developed as a passive exercise technique to improve endothelial function by increasing shear stress through repetitive movements in spinal axis direction. We investigated the effects of WBPA on blood flow recovery in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia and in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Methods and Results-After unilateral femoral artery excision, mice were assigned to either the WBPA (nϭ15) or the control (nϭ13) group. WBPA was applied at 150 cpm for 45 minutes under anesthesia once a day. WBPA significantly increased blood flow recovery after ischemic surgery, as determined by laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Sections of ischemic adductor muscle stained with anti-CD31 antibody showed a significant increase in capillary density in WBPA mice compared with control mice. WBPA increased the phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in skeletal muscle. The proangiogenic effect of WBPA on ischemic limb was blunted in eNOS-deficient mice, suggesting that the stimulatory effects of WBPA on revascularization are eNOS dependent. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed significant increases in angiogenic growth factor expression in ischemic hindlimb by WBPA. Facilitated blood flow recovery was observed in a mouse model of diabetes despite there being no changes in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, both a single session and 7-day repeated sessions of WBPA significantly improved blood flow in the lower extremity of patients with peripheral arterial disease. Conclusion-WBPA increased blood supply to ischemic lower extremities through activation of eNOS signaling and upregulation of proangiogenic growth factor in ischemic skeletal muscle. WBPA is a potentially suitable noninvasive intervention to facilitate therapeutic angiogenesis. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2011;31:2872-2880.)Key Words: angiogenesis Ⅲ endothelial function Ⅲ exercise Ⅲ peripheral arterial disease Ⅲ vascular biology P atients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are at risk of limb loss and impairment of quality of life. 1 Exercise therapy is an effective primary nonpharmacologic treatment for patients with PAD. 2,3 The proposed mechanisms for the beneficial effects of exercise training on PAD include the formation of collateral vessels, improvement in endotheliumdependent vasodilatation and skeletal muscle metabolism, and increased secretion of proangiogenic growth factors. 2,4 -6 Based on this evidence, the current guidelines recommend supervised exercise for patients with PAD. However, it is sometimes difficult to provide appropriate exercise therapy for PAD patients who are incapable of performing active exercise, such as those with neurodegenerative and rheumatologic diseases or age-related skeletal muscle wasting referred to as sarcopenia.Whole-body periodic acceleration (WBPA) is a noninvasive, passive exercise that produces repetitive head-to-footdirection movements of the body. 7,8 Matsumoto et al 9 demon...

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A case of intracranial arterial vasospasm caused by pituitary apoplexy after head trauma is reported. In this case, pituitary apoplexy was secondary to head trauma, and the vasospasm was thought to be due to subarachnoid hemorrhage from a pituitary tumor. No such case has previously been reported in the literature.