ABSTRACT
Objective@#Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) has been used to quantify inflammatory response in the body. The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility of using this method to evaluate the stability of atherosclerotic plaques and the efficacy of atorvastatin in stabilizing atherosclerotic plaques.@*Methods@#Twenty New Zealand male white rabbits were included and divided into the atorvastatin intervention group and the control group, with 10 rabbits in each group. Rabbits in both groups were fed with a high fat diet for 20 weeks, and treated with thoracoabdominal aortic balloon-pulling to establish atherosclerosis model at the end of the 2nd week. Rabbits in atorvastatin intervention group was given atorvastatin intragastrically once a day. At the 8th week, thoracoabdominal aortic ultrasound was used to detect plaques in all rabbits. Blood was drawn at the 3rd and the 20th week, respectively, to measure blood lipids, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). At the end of experiment, survival animals were scanned by 18F-FDG PET-CT, and the average and maximum standard uptake values (SUVmean, SUVmax) of aortic segments were measured. Thereafter, the animals were sacrificed and aortic specimens of rabbits were taken and examined by immunohistochemistry. The pathological indexes were measured and compared.@*Results@#At the end of experiment, the total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), hs-CRP [ (4.58±0.51) ng/ml vs.(5.87±0.66) ng/ml, P<0.01], MMP-9[ (43.93±2.16) ng/ml vs. (50.77±2.32) ng/ml, P<0.01], SUVmean (0.59±0.15 vs. 0.68±0.20, P<0.05) , SUVmax (0.68±0.20 vs. 0.81±0.27, P<0.05) , plaque area [ (0.36±0.24) mm2 vs. (0.50±0.34) mm2, P<0.05) ] and density of macrophage[ (4.34±1.54) % vs. (5.65±1.89) %, P<0.01] in the atorvastatin intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group. In contrast, fiber cap thickness of the plaque[ (4.12±0.66) μm vs. (2.96±0.37) μm, P<0.01] in the atorvastatin intervention group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. The arterial plaque areas were positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.27, P<0.05) and SUVmax (r=0.43, P<0.01) . Fiber cap thickness was negatively correlated with SUVmean (r=-0.38, P<0.05) and SUVmax (r=-0.47, P<0.01) . The density of macrophage were positively correlated with SUVmean (r=0.52, P<0.01) and SUVmax (r=0.51, P<0.01) .@*Conclusion@#18F-FDG PET/CT can be used to evaluate the efficacy of atorvastatin by the stability of atherosclerotic plaques.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relationship between the C825T polymorphism of G protein β3 subunit (GNB3) and essential hypertension and cerebral infarction patients with a history of hypertension. Methods The C825T polymorphism of GNB3 was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 110 healthy subjects aged over 40 years, 92 patients with essential hypertension, and 80 cerebral infarction patients with a history of hypertension. Sex, age, family histories of diabetics, smoking and alcoholic consumption were documented, and body mass index, waist-hip ratio, total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and fasting blood glucose concentration were measured. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen the factors associated with the occurrence of cerebral infarction in patients with hypertension.Results The distribution of the C825T polymorphism of GNB3 in the 3 groups all met the Hardy-Weinberg Law of genetic equilibrium. The genotype frequencies of CC, CT and TT in cerebral infarction patients with a history of hypertension were 33％, 57％, and 20％, respectively; those in patients with essential hypertension were 33％, 42％, and 25％ ; respectively;and those in the control group were 26％, 54％, and 20％, respectively. There were no significant differences (x2 =4. 030, P =0. 402). The allele frequencies of 825T in the 3 groups were 39％, 40％, and 47％, respectively. There were no significant differences (x2 =0. 832). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that TC (odds ratio [ OR] 10. 810, 95％ confidence interval [ CI] 2. 64544. 136, P =0. 000), TG (OR 5. 453, 95％ CI 1.662-17. 881, P =0. 005),HDL-C (OR, 0. 181, 95％ CI 0. 041-0. 795, P = 0. 027), blood glucose (OR 2. 386, 95％ CI1.062-5. 363, P =0. 035), and diabetes (OR 7. 156, 95％ CI 1.271-40. 291, P =0. 026) were the independent risk factors for cerebral infarction, and the GNB3 genotype and allele did not enter the model. Conclusions The C825T polymorphism of GNB3 may not be associated with cerebral infarction and essential hypertension.