AIM To examine whether the transport of nimodipine (NMD) from the circulating blood into the brain is restricted by P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in rat brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC). METHODS When cells reached confluence, a time course of NMD uptake was recorded by incubation with a medium containing NMD 10 mg/L at 37 degrees C. Effects of various agents in the steady-state uptake of NMD ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are sentinels of the immune system for antigen recognition and uptake, as well as presentation to naïve T cells for stimulation or priming. Internalization and endocytic degradation of allergens by DCs are important steps required for T cell priming. In the current study we investigated binding and internalization of purified recombinant non-glycosylated grass pollen aller...

Crop diversification has been identified as a tool to improve both productive and environmental performances of organic horticulture. We tested the introduction faba beans in tomato cropping system—both preceding crop strip (SC)—under different fertilization strategies—faba residues, animal manure, vegetable compost. studied: (i) nutrient uptake yield quality; (ii) soil-N P, N-budget, mycorrhiz...

(99m)Tc-Tetrofosmin ((99m)Tc-TF) and (99m)Tc-Sestamibi ((99m)Tc-MIBI) are SPECT tracers that have been used for brain tumor imaging. Tumor's multidrug resistance phenotype, namely, P-glycoprotein (p-gp), and the multidrug resistance related proteins (MRPs) expression have been suggested to influence both tracers' uptake. In the present study we set out to compare (99m)Tc-TF and (99m)Tc-MIBI upt...

Heart failure is the leading cause of mortality in patients with transfusional iron (Fe) overload in which myocardial iron uptake ensues via a transferrin-independent process. We examined the ability of L-type Ca channel modifiers to alter Fe uptake by isolated rat hearts and ventricular myocytes. Perfusion of rat hearts with 100 nmol/L Fe and 5 mmol/L ascorbate resulted in specific Fe uptake o...

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) following hospitalisations for acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) is associated with improved exercise capacity and quality life, reduced readmissions. However, referral for, uptake of, post-hospitalisation PR are low. In this prospective cohort study 291 consecutive AECOPD, discharge bundles delivered by practitioners compared non-PR were increased (60% vs 12%, p...

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with tumor differentiation and expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a drug efflux pump that plays an important role in chemoresistance. The aim of the study was to clarify the factors that affects FDG uptake in HCC in vivo and in vitro. The standardized uptake value (SUV) and the tumor to non-tumor SUV ratio (TN...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the feasibility of noninvasive detection of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in experimental atherosclerosis using technetium-99m-labeled broad matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor (MPI) and to determine the effect of dietary modification and statin treatment on MMP activity. BACKGROUND The MMP activity in atherosclerotic lesions contributes to th...

Heart failure is the leading cause of mortality in patients with transfusional iron (Fe) overload in which myocardial iron uptake ensues via a transferrin-independent process. We examined the ability of L-type Ca2+ channel modifiers to alter Fe2+ uptake by isolated rat hearts and ventricular myocytes. Perfusion of rat hearts with 100 nmol/L 59Fe2+ and 5 mmol/L ascorbate resulted in specific 59F...

BACKGROUND The purposes of this study were to assess the usefulness of myocardial 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for evaluating myocardial metabolic status in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and the therapeutic efficacy of alcohol septal ablation (ASA) in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). METHODS Thirty HCM patients...