Menthol cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence

Since tobacco use is driven by dependence on nicotine, the primary addictive substance in tobacco, much research has focused on nicotine dependence. Less well understood, however, is the role that menthol plays in nicotine dependence. This review seeks to examine what role, if any, menthol plays in nicotine addiction in adults and youth. Based on research examining several indicators of heaviness of nicotine addiction, including time to first cigarette upon waking, night waking to smoke, as well as some other indications of dependence, it is suggested that menthol cigarette smokers are more heavily dependent on nicotine. Although other indicators of nicotine dependence, including number of cigarettes per day and the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence, failed to consistently differentiate menthol and non-menthol smokers, these indicators are thought to be less robust than time to first cigarette. Therefore, though limited, the existing literature suggests that menthol smokers may be more dependence on nicotine

Nanomedical Theranostics in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. New diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are needed to mitigate this public health issue. Advances in nanotechnology have generated innovative strategies for diagnosis and therapy in a variety of diseases, foremost in cancer. Based on these studies, a novel concept referred to as nanomedical theranostics, or the combinatory application of nanoparticulate agents to allow diagnostic therapy, is being explored to enable image-guided, personalized, or targeted treatment. Preclinically, theranostics have been gradually applied to CVD with several interesting and encouraging findings. This article summarizes studies and challenges of nanotheranostic strategies in CVD. It also evaluates nanotheranostic strategies that may potentially be utilized to benefit patients

Apolipoprotein E Deficiency Increases Remnant Lipoproteins and Accelerates Progressive Atherosclerosis, But Not Xanthoma Formation, in Gene-Modified Minipigs

Deficiency of apolipoprotein E (APOE) causes familial dysbetalipoproteinemia in humans resulting in a higher risk of atherosclerotic disease. In mice, APOE deficiency results in a severe atherosclerosis phenotype, but it is unknown to what extent this is unique to mice. In this study, APOE was targeted in Yucatan minipigs. APOE−/− minipigs displayed increased plasma cholesterol and accumulation of apolipoprotein B-48–containing chylomicron remnants on low-fat diet, which was significantly accentuated upon feeding a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet. APOE−/− minipigs displayed accelerated progressive atherosclerosis but not xanthoma formation. This indicates that remnant lipoproteinemia does not induce early lesions but is atherogenic in pre-existing atherosclerosis

Magnetic Self-Assembling of spherical Co nanoparticles used as building blocks: Syntheses, properties and theory

International audienceIn this chapter, we show that thanks to the use of micellar and organometallic approaches, one can favor the growth of uniform spherical Co NPs with controlled surface passivation (dodecanoic acid or oleylamine), tunable size (from around 4 to 9 nm) and tunable nanocrystallinity (from fcc to hcp structure). As a result of the balance between van der Waals attractions between the metallic NPs, magnetic interactions between the magnetic NPs and solvent-mediated interactions between ligands, these uniform colloidal NPs can be used as building units to form a full set of assemblies which morphology depends on the deposition strategy, involving solvent evaporation. In the case of spontaneous self-assembling of magnetic NPs, compact hexagonal 2D arrays and 3D superlattices called supercrystals can form. In the latter case, either face-centered cubic supercrystalline films or single colloidal crystals can be obtained. Mesostructures of hexagonally ordered columns, labyrinths and void structures can result from assisted self-assembling, induced by the application of an external magnetic field. In highly ordered superlattices, individual NPs act as “artificial atoms” and occupy the lattice sites to form repetitive, periodic “artificial planes". From a fundamental point of view, these artificial solids constitute good models for investigating crystallization behavior. Resulting from collective interactions between neighboring NPs, they exhibit novel magnetic properties. The magnitude of these interactions, and then, the magnetic properties, can be tuned by various parameters including (1) the (crystallographic) nature of the magnetic NP, (2) the NP size, (3) the nature of the coating agent, (4) the nature of the solvent, (5) the evaporation rate and (6) if appropriate, the application of an external field during the solvent evaporation. On the one hand, simulations based on a flory-type solvation theory using Hansen solubility colloidal parameters allow to predict the cobalt NP size. On the other hand, Monte Carlo simulations and free energy theories are able to predict the size and type of patterns appearing during the evaporation of a solution of magnetic NPs under a magnetic fiel

High-Sensitivity Troponin Assays in Clinical Diagnostics of Acute Coronary Syndrome

Nowadays, measurement of cardiac troponins (cTn) in patient plasma is central for diagnosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). High-sensitivity (hs) immunoassays have been developed that can very precisely record slightly elevated and rising plasma concentrations of cTn very early after onset of clinical symptoms. Algorithms integrate measurements of hs-cTn at onset of clinical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and 1 or 3 h after onset, to rule-in and rule-out AMI patients. More and more point-of-care (POC) cTn assays conquer the diagnostic market, but thorough clinical validation studies are required before potential implementation of such POC tests into hospital settings. This review provides an overview of the technical aspects, as well as diagnostic and prognostic use of cardiac troponins in AMI patients and in the healthy population