Multi-Scale Imaging of Vascular Pathologies in Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease entails systemic changes in the vasculature. The endothelial cells lining the blood vessels are crucial in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Healthy endothelial cells direct the blood flow to tissues as vasodilators and act as the systemic interface between the blood and tissues, supplying nutrients for vital organs, and regulating the smooth traffic of leukocytes into tissues. In cardiovascular diseases, when inflammation is sensed, endothelial cells adjust to the local or systemic inflammatory state. As the inflamed vasculature adjusts, changes in the endothelial cells lead to endothelial dysfunction, altered blood flow and permeability, expression of adhesion molecules, vessel wall inflammation, thrombosis, angiogenic processes, and extracellular matrix production at the endothelial cell level. Preclinical multi-scale imaging of these endothelial changes using optical, acoustic, nuclear, MRI, and multimodal techniques has progressed, due to technical advances and enhanced biological understanding on the interaction between immune and endothelial cells. While this review highlights biological processes that are related to changes in the cardiac vasculature during cardiovascular diseases, it also summarizes state-of-the-art vascular imaging techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the different imaging techniques are highlighted, as well as their principles, methodologies, and preclinical and clinical applications with potential future directions. These multi-scale approaches of vascular imaging carry great potential to further expand our understanding of basic vascular biology, to enable early diagnosis of vascular changes and to provide sensitive diagnostic imaging techniques in the management of cardiovascular disease.

Optoacoustic Imaging Offers New Insights into In Vivo Human Skin Vascular Physiology

“…Vascular functional imaging has generated a considerable amount of interest in the last years in preclinical and clinical research. Knowledge of vascular physiology and pathophysiology is critical to the understanding of disease mechanisms [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ], and recent developments in non-invasive combined sound- and light-based technologies have provided new directions of exploration [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) depicts acoustic waves generated by the thermoelastic expansion of structures, typically endogenous chromophores such as hemoglobin and melanin, due to the absorption of light [ 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…With the (specific) thermoelastic expansion measured, PAT enables a vessel-by-vessel quantification of perfusion-related chromophores, supplying functional information in different (spatial) planes that may allow researchers and physicians to map each circulatory region. By extension, multiple wavelengths of light in multi-spectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) enable the separation of different chromophores, reportedly with higher spatial resolution and penetration capacities, and wavelength unmixing and detailed image reconstruction is made with powerful post-acquisition processing [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 16 ].…”

Influence of 5-hydroxymethyluracil on the dynamics of angiogenic growth factors in the perioperative period of surgical myocardial revascularization: results of a randomized trial

“…Так, в эксперименте на 112 кроликах-самцах породы шиншилла на фоне необратимой ишемии миокарда авторы продемонстрировали, что 5-ОМУ способствует достоверному увеличению уровня экспрессии гена FGF2 на 26%, гена HGF на 60% и гена VEGFa на 131% [8], а также приводит к увеличению плотности сосудистой сети в миокарде [28] на границе ишемизированной зоны, что в целом согласуется с результатами настоящего клинического исследования и, в известной степени, позволяет предполагать наличие подобной взаимо связи и у пациентов с ИБС на фоне периоперационного применения препарата. Вместе с тем, понимая необходимость получения не косвенных, а прямых доказательств эффективности 5-ОМУ в части стимуляции процессов ангиогенеза в миокарде, и учитывая объективные сложности выполнения гистологических исследований, связанных с необходимостью прижизненной биопсии миокарда, перспективными задачами нашей научной группы будут проведение современных неинвазивных методов визуализации, таких как однофотонная эмиссионная компьютерная томография с Tc 99 [29] и позитронно-эмиссионная томография с радиотрейсерами ангиогенеза [30] у пациентов данной группы.…”

Microvascular Leakage as Therapeutic Target for Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury

“…It plays an important role in a significant number of physiological functions, including vascular tone, permeability for fluid, macromolecules and cells between the vascular lumen and tissue, as well as coagulation and angiogenesis. The disturbance of the endothelial function contributes significantly to many cardiovascular diseases [46,47].…”