BACKGROUND Calcifying nanoparticles (NPs) have been proven to be associated with a variety of pathological calcification and previously detected in semen samples from patients with testicular microlithiasis (TM). The present study was designed to test the hypothesis if human-derived NPs could invade the seminiferous tubules and induce TM phenotype. METHODS The animals were divided into three ...

BACKGROUND Immune checkpoint blockade targeting PD-1/PD-L1 has shown efficacy in several types of cancers. However, the correlation between PD-L1/PD-1 expression and the specific clinicopathological features in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has not been investigated. METHODS We examined the immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1, PD-1, and BRAF V600E on whole-tissue sections from 126 cas...

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a key regulator in bone metabolism, that also has effect in vascular system. Studies suggest that osteoprotegerin is a critical arterial calcification inhibitor, and is released by endothelial cells as a protective mechanism for their survival in certain pathological conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and other metabolic disorders. That has b...

Calcification is a detrimental process in vascular ageing and in diseases such as atherosclerosis and arthritis. In particular, small calcium phosphate (CaP) crystal deposits are associated with inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque de-stabilisation. We previously reported that CaP particles caused human vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) death and that serum reduced the toxic effects of the ...

Calcification and mineralization are fundamental physiological processes, yet the mechanisms of calcification, in trabecular bone and in calcified lesions in atherosclerotic calcification, are unclear. Recently, it was shown in in vitro experiments that vascular-derived mesenchymal stem cells can display self-organized calcified patterns. These patterns were attributed to activator/inhibitor dy...

OBJECTIVE Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) sometimes occurs with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). It is often difficult to differentiate between benign and malignant nodules in HT because HT varies greatly on ultrasonography. We aimed to characterize the ultrasonographic features of PTC with HT. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this retrospective study, 2167 patient records (1897 women and 270 men) were...

Atherosclerotic and medial vascular calcifications are frequent in chronic renal failure patiens and predict their increased cardiovascular mortality. Experimental models for mice have been recently developed in order to study these disorders. The aim of this paper is to present the morphological image processing algorithms developed for the semi-automated measurement of calcification from sect...

Objectives: To explore the diagnostic value of 99mTc-Sestamibi multiple-phase static planar imaging and SPECT/CT in secondary hyperparathyroidism. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 40 cases of clinically diagnosed secondary hyperparathyroidism with multiple-phase static planar imaging, 15 min SPECT/CT fusion imaging, and ultrasonography. All cases were confirmed by pathological exam...

BACKGROUND Although small calcifications of the dura and the transverse sinus occur frequently, large, single intracranial calcifications originating from the transverse sinus and the neighbouring dura are rare. CASE PRESENTATION A 47-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for a right occipital headache that had persisted for two weeks. There was no neurological deficit. Normal skull X-ray...

Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque in carotid arteries is a major cause of cerebrovascular events, such as transient ischemia attack and ischemic stroke. Previous studies have shown that compositional characteristics, particularly intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) and lipid-rich necrotic core, in carotid artery plaques play a key role in plaque vulnerability. In particular, it is increasingly evidenc...