Scientific reports
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Diffuse atrophy including the insula was previously demonstrated in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients but little is known about the prodromal stage of DLB (pro-DLB). In this prospective study, we used SPM8-DARTEL to measure gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) atrophy in pro-DLB patients (n = 54), prodromal Alzheimer's disease (pro-AD) patients (n = 16), DLB patients at the stage of dementia (mild-DLB) (n = 15), and Alzheimer's disease patients at the stage of dementia (mild-AD) (n = 28), and compared them with healthy elderly controls (HC, n = 22). Diminished GM volumes were found in bilateral insula in pro-DLB patients, a trend to significance in right hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus in pro-AD patients, in left insula in mild-DLB patients, and in medial temporal lobes and insula in mild-AD patients. ⋯ Reduced WM volume was observed in mild-DLB in the pons. The insula seems to be a key region in DLB as early as the prodromal stage. MRI studies looking at perfusion, and functional and anatomical connectivity are now needed to better understand the role of this region in DLB.
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Grape-seed Polyphenols Play a Protective Role in Elastase-induced Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Mice.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a kind of disease characterized by aortic dilation, whose pathogenesis is linked to inflammation. This study aimed to determine whether grape-seed polyphenols (GSP) has anti-AAA effects and what mechanism is involved, thus to find a way to prevent occurrence and inhibit expansion of small AAA. In our study, AAA was induced by incubating the abdominal aorta of the mice with elastase, and GSP was administrated to the mice by gavage at different doses beginning on the day of the AAA inducement. ⋯ Meanwhile, 400 mg/kg GSP could also but not completely inhibit the occurrence and development of AAA. In in vitro experiments, GSP dose-dependently inhibited mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and significantly inhibited expression and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9, thus prevented elastin from degradation. In conclusion, GSP showed great anti-AAA effects and its mechanisms were related to inhibition of inflammation.
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Cognitive impairment (CI) is reported in 29-57% of patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). However, the pathophysiology underlying CI in NMOSD is poorly understood. The present study aims to investigate the predictive values of various conventional and quantitative MRI parameters for cognitive performance in patients with NMOSD. ⋯ Compared to cognitively preserved (CP) individuals, patients with CI had atrophy in the WM, thalamus, and caudate, decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity in their WM. A multivariate model indicated that mean FA values in the WM and volume in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) were associated with overall cognition (p = 0.002 and p = 0.008, respectively). Diffuse microstructural damage in the WM and DGM atrophy in the NAc are the strongest predictors of cognitive impairment in patients with NMOSD.
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Our understanding of the neural correlates of auditory-verbal-hallucinations (AVH) has substantially increased during the last few years, but is far from sufficient. One current hypothesis, the interhemispheric miscommunication theory, is based on findings from fMRI, DTI and EEG, but there is only limited evidence so far concerning underlying functional coupling mechanisms. Here we report a 64-channel EEG study using lagged phase synchronization analysis and eLORETA source estimation to examine the functional connectivity between bilateral auditory cortices in the gamma-band in 26 schizophrenia patients (13 with and 13 without AVH) and 26 matched healthy controls (HC) while performing a dichotic listening task. ⋯ The major finding was significantly stronger gamma-band connectivity between bilateral auditory cortices during conscious perception of left (versus right) ear syllables in patients with AVH compared to HC and patients without AVH. A significant positive correlation was found between this connectivity alteration and the AVH symptom score in schizophrenia patients. These findings provide further support for the interhemispheric miscommunication hypothesis of AVH pathophysiology by indicating that aberrant gamma-band coupling between auditory cortices is related to the emergence of AVH in schizophrenia.
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Current biomarkers for sepsis are limited by their non-specificity, short half-life, and insensitive response to therapy. Recently, we have demonstrated that citrullinated histone H3(CitH3) is released into the blood from neutrophil extracellular traps(NETs) in response to severe infection, and CitH3 may be a potential biomarker for sepsis. In the present study, we found that NET components were released in mouse models of both lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced shock (LPSS) and hemorrhagic shock (HS). ⋯ Procalcitonin reacted to LPS insult late. Compared to CitH3, these biomarkers were non-specifically induced in LPSS and HS. Collectively, our results demonstrate that YW3-56 protects animals from LPSS, and CitH3 is a reliable biomarker due to its early appearance, specificity, duration, and response to therapeutic intervention.