Many previous studies have shown that auditory cortical neurons are sensitive to sound spatial information, however, the mechanism of sound spatial coding is still not fully understood. Until now, detail studies on sound spatial coding have not been reported in the rat primary auditory cortex. Using electrophysiological technique, spatial response areas of 151 neurons in the rat primary auditory cortex were investigated. The relationships between spike counts and average first-spike latencies in the spatial response areas were analyzed. The results showed that, the majority (52.32%) of cortical neurons exhibited contralateral preference in the frontal auditory space whereas other neurons exhibited ipsilateral preference (18.54%) and midline preference (18.54%), and only a few neurons were included in the category of omnidirection (3.31%) and complex (7.28%). For the majority of cortical neurons, the arithmetic center of the preferred spatial area were distributed in the up and middle portion of the contralateral space relative to the recording side. Most neurons responded strongly to stimuli from their preferred space with shorter average first-spike latencies, and responded weakly to stimuli from non-preferred space with longer average latencies. In the spatial response area, the spike counts were negatively correlated with average first-spike latencies. The auditory cortex might use the information of both spike counts and average response time to code sound spatial information.

Objective To study the therapeutic efficacy of dopaminergic agonists,? dihydroergocriptin(Cripar) by multiple center opened trial Methods Sixty cases of Parkinson's disease were divided into two groups: monotherapy group(27 cases) and combined therapy group(33 cases) The improvement in both groups after therapy was observed Results Patients undergone monotherapy were treated with ? dihydroergocriptin and those undergone combined therapy were treated with combined use of ? dihydroergocriptin and L doparmine All patients after treatment showed improvement of clinical symptoms There were 7 patients (28 0%) in the monotherapy group and 13 patients (39 4%) in the combined therapy group markedly improved Evaluation of therapeutic improvement by modified UPDRS revealed that the average scores was 5 01 in monotherapy group and was 6 39( P

AIM: To study the efficacy and safety of dispersible formulation of levodopa-benserazide on the parkinson disease.　METHODS: The multicenter, open-label, self-controlled trial was conducted at 23 hospitals in 15 cities. Two hundred and four patients with idiopathic parkinson who had received standard levodopa-benserazide previously participated in this study. Dispersible levodopa-benserazide instead of standard levodopa-benserazide for 8 wk as a course. The Webster rating scale and patient diary were applied to assess the efficacy and safety of dispersible levodopa-benserazide.　RESULTS： The medication with dispersible levodopa-benserazide increased “on” time by 47 min, decreased “off” time by 11 min, and speeded the onset of “on” time by 37 min. The Webster score was improved by 25 %. Statistical significant difference was calculated (P<0.01). Slight and few adverse reactions were found.　CONCLUSION: Dispersible formulation of levodopa-benserazide is a powerful anti-parkinsonian drug characterized by oral easy use and rapid reach to therapeutic action after ingestion. This drug is particularly used in the parkinsonian patients with morning akinesia, delayed onset of “on” time, afternoon “off” status and dysphagia.

Objective To study the efficacy and safety of entacapone as an adjunct to levodopa treatment in pakinsonian patients with wearing-off motor fluctuations. Methods A total 209 pakinsonian patients with end-of-dose deterioration participated in a multi-center,12-weeks randomized,placebo-controlled,double blind,parallel-group trial.The efficacy of entacapone was assessed using the patient’s diary card,the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UODRS) score,the daily levodopa dosage,and the global assessment of changes.Results 96.2% of the entacapone and 92.4% of the placebo-treated patients completed the study.In 209 cases of the ITT population,in comparison to the placebo-treated patients,entacapone had increased the mean “on” time (h/d) from 7.4?1.8 in base-line to 9.1?2.5 in week 12,decreased the “fof” time (from 6.8?2.2 in base-line to 5.2?2.8 in week 12),improved the motor scores (from 36.7?11.3 in base-line to 30.0?14.4 in week 12),and reduced the levodopa dose (from 589.2?264.3 in base-line to 561.5?248.1 in week 4). The improvement was also evident on impression of successful treatment for 69.9% of neurologists through global change assessment.There was no significant difference in the frequency of dopaminergic adverse events and serious laboratory abnormalities between entacapone and placebo groups.Conclusion The results of this study demonstrate that entacapone,the COMT inhibitor is a safe and effective extender of levodopa treatment for Parkinson’s disease patients with motor flucturations.

Objective:To explore the risk factors for hypogonadism in male patients with hyperuricemia(HUA).Methods:A total of 245 male patients with HUA were enrolled. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, serum uric acid(SUA), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, glutamyltranspeptidase, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, fasting blood glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS)and sex hormones were measured in all patients. And then body mass index (BMI), free testosterone(FT), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR)were calculated. Male androgen deficiency questionnaire (ADAM)and male aging symptom questionnaire (AMS)were conducted. The patients were divided into hypogonadism group ( n=102)and normal gonadal function group ( n=143) according to FT level as well as ADAM and AMS questionnaires. The differences in different metabolic indicators between the two groups and the correlation with hypogonadism were analyzed. Results:Compared with the normal gonadal function group, WC, SUA, BMI, FPG, FINS, HOMA-IR, TG, and ALT were significantly increased, while estradiol level was significantly reduced in the hypogonadism group (all P<0.05). The proportions of nonalcoholic fatty liver, hyperlipidemia, and obesity were significantly increased in the hypogonadism group (all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that SUA, BMI, WC, HOMA-IR, and TG were independent risk factors for hypogonadism in male HUA patients. Multivariate regression analysis showed that SUA still was a risk factor after adjusting for other factors. Conclusion:Male patients with HUA were often accompanied by hypogonadism. SUA, BMI, WC, HOMA-IR, and TG were risk factors for hypogonadism in male patients with HUA.

OBJECTIVE To assess the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of susceptibility genes of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with liability to gout among ethnic Han Chinese males from coastal region of Shandong province. METHODS Seven SNPs within the susceptibility genes of T2DM, including rs10773971(G/C) and rs4766398(G/C) of WNT5B gene, rs10225163(G/C) of JAZF1 gene, rs2069590(T/A) of BDKRB2 gene, rs5745709(G/A) of HGF gene, rs1991914(C/A) of OTOP1 gene and rs2236479(G/A) of COL18A1 gene, were typed with a custom-made Illumina GoldenGate Genotyping assay in 480 male patients with gout and 480 male controls. Potential association was assessed with the chi-square test. RESULTS No significant difference was detected for the 7 selected SNPs in terms of genotypic and allelic frequencies (P > 0.05). When age and body mass index (BMI) were adjusted, the 7 genetic variants still showed no significant association with gout. CONCLUSION The genotypes of the 7 selected SNPs are not associated with gout in ethnic Han Chinese male patients from the coastal region of Shandong province. However, the results need to be replicated in larger sets of patients collected from other regions and populations.
Adult ; Aged ; China ; ethnology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; genetics ; Ethnic Groups ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Gout ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of cytochrome P450 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with susceptibility to gout in ethnic Han males from coastal regions of Shandong province.

METHODSFour hundred and eighty male patients with gout and 480 healthy male controls were included. Genotyping was carried out with a custom Illumina GoldenGate Genotyping assay to detect SNP rs2275620 of CYP2C8 gene, SNP rs2070676 of CYP2E1 gene, SNP rs837395 of CYP4B1 gene, and SNP rs194150 of TBXAS1 gene. The association was assessed with chi-square test.

RESULTSNo significant difference has been found between the two groups in regard to the genotypic and allelic frequencies of the TT, AT, AA genotypes and A, T alleles of the SNP rs2275620 of the CYP2C8 gene (P=0.88; P=0.97), the CC, CG, GG genotypes and C,G alleles of SNP rs2070676 of the CYP2E1 gene (P=0.24; P=0.09), the TT, AT, AA genotypes and A, T alleles of SNP rs837395 of the CYP4B1 (P=0.88; P=0.97), and TT, AT, AA genotypes and the A,T alleles of SNP rs194150 of TBXAS1 gene (P=0.15; P=0.06).

CONCLUSIONThis study has identified no association of SNP loci rs2275620(A/T) of CYP2C8, rs2070676(C/G) of CYP2E1, rs837395(A/T) of CYP4B1 and rs194150(A/T) of TBXAS1 with gout in ethnic Han males from coastal regions in Shandong province. However, our result needs to be replicated in larger sets of patients collected from other regions and populations.

Adult ; Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; ethnology ; genetics ; China ; ethnology ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C8 ; genetics ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; genetics ; Disease Susceptibility ; Female ; Gout ; enzymology ; ethnology ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Thromboxane-A Synthase ; genetics