Spatial Reorganization of Liquid Crystalline Domains of Red Blood Cells in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease

In this work, we will investigate if red blood cell (RBC) membrane fluidity, influenced by several hyperglycemia-induced pathways, could provide a complementary index of HbA1c to monitor the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related macroangiopathic complications such as Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). The contextual liquid crystalline (LC) domain spatial organization in the membrane was analysed to investigate the phase dynamics of the transition. Twenty-seven patients with long-duration T2DM were recruited and classified in DM, including 12 non-PAD patients, and DM + PAD, including 15 patients in any stage of PAD. Mean values of RBC generalized polarization (GP), representative of membrane fluidity, together with spatial organization of LC domains were compared between the two groups; p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Although comparable for anthropometric characteristics, duration of diabetes, and HbA1c, RBC membranes of PAD patients were found to be significantly more fluid (GP: 0.501 +/- 0.026) than non-PAD patients (GP: 0.519 +/- 0.007). These alterations were shown to be triggered by changes in both LC microdomain composition and distribution. We found a decrease in Feret diameter from 0.245 +/- 0.281 mu m in DM to 0.183 +/- 0.124 mu m in DM + PAD, and an increase in circularity. Altered RBC membrane fluidity is correlated to a spatial reconfiguration of LC domains, which, by possibly altering metabolic function, are associated with the development of T2DM-related macroangiopathic complications

Low-fat angiomyolipoma of the liver studied with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and multidetector computed tomography.

We report the case of a 30-year-old woman with persistent pain at the right hypochondrium, relapsing fever, and normal serum tests. Ultrasound showed a hyperechoic inhomogeneous mass; following sulfur hexafluoride injection, uniform enhancement at 14-16s and rapid wash-out at 26s was found. Multidetector computed tomography showed an inhomogeneously hypodense mass, with no detectable negative density values, characterized by inhomogeneous enhancement at the arterial phase and wash-out at the portal phase. Histopathology demonstrated a hepithelioid angiomyolipoma with a poor fatty component. This diagnosis should always be considered in the presence of a very rapid wash-out after intravenous contrast injection. However, a hepatocellular carcinoma cannot be excluded and the final diagnosis of low-fat angiomyolipoma must be pathologically proved based on immunohistochemistry