Thus our study shows that knowledge and disclosure of the values of physiological parameters of laboratory animals is necessary, and emphasises the importance of considering variations influenced by gender, lineage and genotype in the choice of the best experimental model.
 Thus our study shows that knowledge and disclosure of the values of physiological parameters of laboratory animals is necessary, and emphasises the importance of considering variations influenced by gender, lineage and genotype in the choice of the best experimental model.
  Drug-induced cardiomyopathy is a significant medical problem. Clinical diagnosis of myocardial injury is based on initial electrocardiogram, levels of circulating biomarkers, and perfusion imaging with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Positron emission tomography (PET) is an alternative imaging modality that provides better resolution and sensitivity than SPECT, improves diagnostic accuracy, and allows therapeutic monitoring. The objective of this study was to assess the detection of drug-induced cardiomyopathy by PET using 2-deoxy-2-[
  F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) and compare it with the conventional SPECT technique with [
  Tc]-Sestamibi (MIBI).
 
  Cardiomyopathy was induced in Sprague Dawley rats using high-dose isoproterenol. Nuclear [
  F]FDG/PET and [
  Tc]MIBI/SPECT were performed before and after isoproterenol administration. [
  F]FDG (0.1mCi, 200-400µL) and [
  Tc]MIBI (2mCi, 200-600µL) were administered via the tail vein and imaging was performed 1hour postinjection. Isoproterenol-induceced cardiomyopathy impacts cellular metabolism more than perfusion, which results in more substantial changes in [18F]FDG uptake than in [99mTc]MIBI accumulation in cardiac tissue.
  This is an exploratory study using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to interrogate the brain of rats with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) as compared to controls. It was hypothesized there would be changes in brain structure and function that reflected the human disorder, thus providing a model system by which to follow disease progression with noninvasive MRI.
 
  The transgenic BBZDR/Wor rat, an animal model of T2MD, and age-matched controls were studied for changes in brain structure using voxel-based morphometry, alteration in white and gray matter microarchitecture using diffusion weighted imaging with indices of anisotropy, and functional coupling using resting-state BOLD functional connectivity. Images from each modality were registered to, and analyzed, using a 3D MRI rat atlas providing site-specific data on over 168 different brain areas.
 
  There was an overall reduction in brain volume focused primarily on the somatosensory cortex, cerebellum, and white matter tracts. The putative changes in white and gray matter microarchitecture were pervasive affecting much of the brain and not localized to any region. There was a general increase in connectivity in T2DM rats as compared to controls. The cerebellum presented with strong functional coupling to pons and brainstem in T2DM rats but negative connectivity to hippocampus.
 
  The neuroradiological measures collected in BBBKZ/Wor rats using multimodal imaging methods did not reflect those reported for T2DB patients in the clinic. The data would suggest the BBBKZ/Wor rat is not an appropriate imaging model for T2DM.
 The neuroradiological measures collected in BBBKZ/Wor rats using multimodal imaging methods did not reflect those reported for T2DB patients in the clinic. The data would suggest the BBBKZ/Wor rat is not an appropriate imaging model for T2DM.Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-triggered mortality is significantly higher in older than in younger populations worldwide. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is related to aging and was recently reported to be among the major risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in older people. The symptomatology of COVID-19 indicates that lethal outcomes of infection rely on neurogenic mechanisms. The present review compiles the available knowledge pointing to the convergence of COVID-19 complications with the mechanisms of autonomic dysfunctions in AD and aging. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is prone to neuroinvasion from the lung along the vagus nerve up to the brainstem autonomic nervous centers involved in the coupling of cardiovascular and respiratory rhythms.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Pomalidomide(CC-4047).html  The brainstem autonomic network allows SARS-CoV-2 to trigger a neurogenic switch to hypertension and hypoventilation, which may act in synergy with aging- and AD-induced dysautonomias, along with an inflammatory "storm". The lethal outcomes of COVID-19, like in AD and unhealthy aging, likely rely on a critical hypoactivity of the efferent vagus nerve cholinergic pathway, which is involved in lowering cardiovascular pressure and systemic inflammation tone. We further discuss the emerging evidence supporting the use of 1) the non-invasive stimulation of vagus nerve as an additional therapeutic approach for severe COVID-19, and 2) the demonstrated vagal tone index, i.e., heart rate variability, via smartphone-based applications as a non-serological low-cost diagnostic of COVID-19. These two well-known medical approaches are already available and now deserve large-scale testing on human cohorts in the context of both AD and COVID-19.
  Recent evidence suggests that the accumulation of iron, specifically ferrous Fe
  , may play a role in the development and progression of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) through the production of oxidative stress.
 
  To localize and characterize iron deposition and oxidation state in AD, we analyzed human hippocampal autopsy samples from four subjects with advanced AD that have been previously characterized with correlative MRI-histology.
 
  We perform scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the higher resolution transmission electron microscope on the surface and cross-sections of specific iron-rich regions of interest.
 
  Specific previously analyzed regions were visualized using SEM and confirmed to be iron-rich deposits using EDS. Subsequent analysis using focused ion beam cross-sectioning and SEM characterized the iron deposition throughout the 3-D volumes, confirming the presence of iron throughout the deposits, and in two out of four specimens demonstrating colocalization with zinc.