The liver of the embryo chick during the first two weeks of development contains an abundance of isotropic fatty globules which represent a mixture of lipoids in which phosphorized fats predominate. During the third week of incubation the fatty globules in the liver change their physical and chemical characters. They become anisotropic and exhibit the reactions and properties of esters of chole...

Over the past decade, we have witnessed an explosion of fundamental research aimed at understanding mechanisms contributing to cardiovascular calcification. As highlighted in recent reviews, numerous animal models and patient group studies have lent key insights into mechanisms and processes underlying pathological remodeling of soft tissues, including activation of signaling cascades related t...

Vascular calcification is a frequent component of atherosclerosis, yet the pathological mechanisms that regulate its formation are poorly understood. Calcification of the vessel wall may represent a process by which cells that normally exhibit a smooth muscle phenotype differentiate into cells that exhibit an osteoblast-like phenotype. One of the determinants of cellular phenotype is extracellu...

Calcium phosphate (CaP) crystals are formed in pathological calcification as well as during stone formation. Although there are several theories as to how these crystals can develop through the combined interactions of biochemical and biophysical factors, the exact mechanism of such mineralization is largely unknown. Based on the published scientific literature, we found that common factors can...

There is increasing evidence for activation of developmental transcriptional regulatory pathways in heart valve disease. Here, we review molecular regulatory mechanisms involved in heart valve progenitor development, leaflet morphogenesis, and extracellular matrix organization that also are active in diseased aortic valves. These include regulators of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transitions, suc...

Vascular calcification is a risk predictor and common pathological change in cardiovascular diseases that are associated with elastin degradation and phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells via gelatinase matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2). However, the mechanisms involved in this process remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the relationships between miR-29b-3p and MM...

Introduction : Tonsillar calcification or tonsil stones (tonsilloliths) are foul smelling lumps of whitish or yellowish color. They are usually asymptomatic but can be associated with halitosis and bad taste, foreign body sensation, dysphagia and odynophagia, otalgia, and neck pain. They are a common incidental imaging finding in adults, especially in computed tomography (CT). Aim of the Work :...

INTRODUCTION The cardiac bioprostheses are related to thromboembolic events, infectious and degenerative diseases. Wear is mainly attributed to the denaturation of collagen. Glutaraldehyde, the predominant method of preservation of bioprostheses, favors the calcification process and limits their durability. Several techniques try to contain the degenerative process of bioprostheses. OBJECTIVE...

BACKGROUND Arterial calcification is an important pathological change of diabetic vascular complication. Osteoblastic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays an important cytopathologic role in arterial calcification. The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), a novel type of antidiabetic drugs, exert cardioprotective effects through the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1...

The use of roentgenograms of post mortem fixed brain tissue slices for demonstrating the extent, density, and distribution of radio-opaque material is not new. As early as 1909 Frankel (3) demonstrated the distribution of cerebral calcification by means of roentgen films of tissue slices. Although he apparently presented these films while reading his paper, no reproductions were ever printed, a...