Monitoring inflammation injuries in the progression of atherosclerosis with contrast enhanced ultrasound molecular imaging

The upregulation of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1) on vascular endothelium plays a great role in the progression of atherosclerosis (AS). In this study, ultrasound molecular imaging was performed to monitor the inflammation injuries in the onset and progression of atherosclerosis with microbubbles targeted to VCAM-1.Mice deficient for the apolipoprotein E (ApoE-/-mice) with high-cholesterol diet were studied as an age-dependent model...