Abstract
Chronic inflammation can stimulate the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques and increase the vulnerability of plaques. However, there are few studies on the changes of carotid inflammatory plaques during treatment. Our study attempted to investigate the use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) ultrasound imaging to detect the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in patients with carotid plaques and analyze the effects of SPION ultrasound imaging in inflammatory plaque visualization effect. SPION microbubble contrast agents have good imaging effects both in vivo and in vitro. We conjugated the VCAM-1 protein to the microbubbles wrapped in SPIONs to form SPIONs carrying VCAM-1 antibodies. Observe the signal intensity of SPIONs carrying VCAM-1 antibody to arteritis plaque. The results showed that the SPION contrast agent carrying VCAM-1 antibody had higher peak gray-scale video intensity than the other two groups of contrast agents not carrying VCAM-1 antibody. It shows that SPIONs have excellent imaging effects in ultrasound imaging, can evaluate the inflammatory response of arterial plaque lesions, and are of great significance for the study of carotid inflammatory plaque changes.
Highlights
Carotid artery plaque (CAP) is the deposition of fat and calcium on the inner wall of the carotid artery, which is an important manifestation of carotid atherosclerosis
We observed the signal intensity of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) carrying vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) antibody to model rats
The results showed that the SPION contrast agent carrying VCAM-1 antibody had higher peak gray-scale video intensity and longer duration than the other two groups of contrast agents that did not carry VCAM-1 antibody contrast agent
Summary
Carotid artery plaque (CAP) is the deposition of fat and calcium on the inner wall of the carotid artery, which is an important manifestation of carotid atherosclerosis. DSA is the “gold standard” for detecting CAP, but DSA is an invasive examination and of high cost and has complications. It can only judge the degree of stenosis of the arterial vessel lumen and cannot show the composition of the arterial vessel wall and atherosclerotic plaque. CTA and MRA can determine the degree of carotid artery stenosis and can evaluate vulnerable plaques, but due to the complicated inspection process and high cost, they have not been widely used in clinical practice. The advantages of ultrasound imaging are real-time, no trauma, no radioactivity, etc It is currently the first choice for imaging diagnosis
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