Objective To investigate the molecular mechanism for change in permeability in brain microvascular endothelial cells (bEnd.3) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods Monolayers of bEnd.3 were exposed to LPS,in the presence or absence of exoenzyme C3 transferase. We monitored the monolayer barrier integrity by transendothelial electrical resistance assay (TEER),activity of RhoA by pull down assay,NF-κB by luciferase reporter assay,and F-actin dynamic structure by Rhodamine-phalloidin staining. Results Incubation of monolayers with LPS caused substantial barrier hyperpermeability. Under the had been treated for 3 and 12 h with LPS (P＜0.05). Such effects could be inhibited partly by pretreatment of RhoA inhibitor exoenzyme C3 transferase. LPS activated RhoA and NF-κB at 0.5 h. The C3 transferase could significantly reverse the NF-κB activation (P＜0.05). The F-actin rearrangments displayed in a time-dependent manner and occurred originally after the stimulation of LPS for 3 h,which could be diluted by the pretreatment of C3 transferase as well. Conclusion LPS induces the disruption of F-actin cytoskeleton and brain microvascular endothelial barrier integrity,in part,through RhoA and NF-κB activation. The mechanism underlying this pathophysiological effect of RhoA is to influence the disruption of the F-actin cytoskeleton by regulating NF-κB activites.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES). Methods: The clinical data of 12 children with FIRES admitted to Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from 2015 to 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The basic information, clinical manifestations, electroencephalogram, imaging examination, treatment and prognosis were analyzed. Results: Of the 12 patients, 7 were male and 5 were female. The age of onset was (7.0±3.7)years (1.3 year to 13 years). The average hospitalization time (34-86 days, median 52 days). Twelve patients were healthy before the disease, and had fever before convulsion. The interval between fever and seizure was (3.5±1.7)days (1-7 days). The status epilepticus and consciousness deficit were the main clinical manifestations. The electrogram of 8 patients showed status epilepticus when admitted. 12 patients had disturbance of consciousness; the acute episodes were focal seizures (100%, 12/12) and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (41.7%, 5/12). All patients used 3-5 antiepileptic drugs (median 4), all treated with hormones and gamma globulin. 4 patients with ketogenic diet (KD) were treated within 2 weeks of onset, and the average duration from onset to electroencephalogram (EEG) improvement was (19.2±5.0)days. In 8 patients who did not use KD within 2 weeks of onset, the average duration from onset to EEG improvement was (29.9±9.6)days. Conclusions FIRES is more common in normal children with school age. The main manifestation is refractory status epilepticus in the days after acute fever, focal episodes of seizures, anti-epileptic drug resistance. Early initiation of KD produces a favorable prognosis.

Objective: To explore clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of a family with childhood-onset rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism (RDP) caused by ATP1A3 gene mutation and review literatures. Method: The clinical data of a RDP child, his brother and mother had been analyzed retrospectively. This family was admitted to Xiangya Hospital in January 2016. DNA samples were analyzed by the next-generation sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Related literature from PubMed, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), CNKI and Wanfang databases to date (up to October 2016) with"Rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism""RDP""DYT12" as key words was reviewed. Result: The proband boy was three years and four months old (April 2015) when he had the first attack of the disease. After a febricity, he suddenly acquired acute aphasia and limb movement disorder. Rehabilitation therapy and supportive treatment made his speech gradually recovered but still slurred. However, his abnormal walking posture still existed. Nine months later (January 2016, 4 years and one months old), symptoms including aphasia, dysphagia, and weakness with rostrocaudal gradient reoccured after fever. The disease progressed to the critical condition within 24 hours. He"seizured" four times with tonic spasms of limbs but without loss of consciousness. Family history showed his grandparents were consanguineous marriage. His mother and brother also developed abnormal gait and dysarthria after an infection before primary school age. Their symptoms improved gradually without relapsing. However, they did not recover entirely with mild intellectual disability. His mother had a healthy brother and sister. This proband had no other siblings but the brother. Heterozygous missense mutation p. R756H in ATP1A3 gene was detected in this proband, his mother and his brother. This mutation had been reported pathogenically related to RDP, and it located in highly conserved gene region. Benzodiazepine was used for the proband and his brother, with the proband being improved better although not completely. Meanwhile, benzodiazepine had no significant effect on his mother because of poor compliance. This is the first case report of RDP in China. The mutations of ATP1A3 have been previously reported in 51 patients including 6 large families and 16 other unrelated patients. A total of 14 different mutations in ATP1A3 gene with RDP have been reported to date, including 12 missense mutations, a 3-bp in-frame deletion, and a 3-bp in-frame insertion. The sporadic cases all had the typical clinical phenotypes of RDP, such as the abrupt onset of dysarthria, dysphagia, limb dystonia with bradykinesia, and postural instability. The symptoms of bulbar and arms were much more obvious. It was hard to diagnose RDP in a family because some patients had typical symptoms of RDP, while the others might experience from mild symptoms to no symptoms, which might be related to incomplete penetrance of RDP. Two cases carrying the same mutation as our patients also presented some overlapping phenotypes. Conclusion The p. R756H heterozygous mutation in ATP1A3 gene is the pathogenic mutation of RDP, analysis of genotype-phenotype correlations of RDP will be very important and meaningful.

Autoimmune encephalitis(AE) is one of the most rapidly developing research fields in pediatric neurology.Previous studies have indicated that delayed-use or non-use of immunotherapy will lead to poor prognosis.Therefore, this article summarizes the current opinion of immunotherapy and prognostic factors for AE in order to provide treatment guidance for clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the changes of morphology and differentially expressed proteins in hippocampus at the latent stage of chronic mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) in immature rats, and to explore the global mechanism of chronic MTLE at a new point. METHODS: MTLE models of immature rats were induced by lithium-pilocarpine. The rats were divided into 2 groups randomly: a control group (n=20) and an MTLE model group (n=20). At the latent stage, nissl and Timm staining were performed to evaluate the cell loss and mossy fiber sprouting. The differentially expressed proteins were separated by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) technology. Western blot was used to determine the differentially expression levels of partial proteins. RESULTS: Neuron loss and abnormal mossy fiber sprouting were obviously observed in the hippocampus in the MTLE model group; 2-DE patterns of hippocampus of the MTLE model group in latent stage and the control group were established. Thirty-one differential proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS, which were categorized into several groups by biological functions: synaptic and neurotransmitter release related proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, cell junctions proteins, energy metabolism and mitochondrial proteins, biological enzymes, cellular structure related proteins, signal regulating molecular and others. The expression levels of partial proteins determined by Western blot were similar to the changes of proteomics. CONCLUSION The differentially expressed proteins of synapse-related proteins such as dynamin-1, neurogranin and ubiquitin, which cause the synapse reorganization and mossy fiber terminal sprouting related to the formation of abnormal excitatory network, probably play critic roles in the mechanism of MTLE.
Animals ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Pilocarpine ; Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; methods ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley