Serum cystatin C (Cys-C) is a cysteine protease inhibitor and has been used as an indicator of early renal function damage.The recent studies have found that Cys-C is closely related to the occurrence,development and prognosis of heart failure.This article reviews the recent research progress on the association between Cys-C and heart failure.

Objective To study the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and correlated factors in patients with hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD).Methods The rCBF of lentiform nucleus,thalamus and other sites in 14 patients with HLD of cerebral type (cerebral type group) and 10 patients with HLD of non-cerebral type (non-cerebral type group) were determined by magnetic resonance-perfusion imaging technology,meanwhile 13 healthy volunteers were selected as control group,and calculated the relative regional cerebral blood flow (rrCBF) for avoiding perfusion time lag.The correlation between the clinical symptom scores,the content of urinary copper,duration and rrCBF in HLD patients were evaluated.Results The rrCBF of cerebral type group in the left and right frontal lobe,temporal lobe,lentiform nucleus,caudate nucleus,thalamus,midbrain,pons and the left hippocampus,cerebellar cortex,dentate nucleus were lower than those of control group (1.91 ±0.35 vs.2.44 ±0.64,1.80 ±0.30 vs.2.37 ±0.65,1.37 ±0.35 vs.2.14 ±0.91,1.58 ±0.52 vs.2.39 ±0.99,1.61 ±0.38 vs.2.59 ±0.74,1.52 ±0.64 vs.2.63 ±0.73,1.88 ±0.32 vs.2.61 ±0.67,1.70 ±0.40 vs.2.35 ±0.50,1.48 ±0.13 vs.2.01 ±0.59,1.46 ±0.38 vs.2.38 ±0.99,1.47 ±0.55 vs.2.02 ±0.72,1.27 ±0.48 vs.1.91 ±0.51,1.24 ±0.38 vs.1.47 ±0.29,1.25 ±0.39 vs.1.53 ±0.37,1.74 ±0.27 vs.2.40 ±0.89,1.79 ±0.50 vs.2.22 ±0.66,2.15 ±0.41 vs.2.64 ± 0.61),and there were significant differences (P ＜ 0.05 or ＜ 0.01).There were no significant differences in the rrCBF of the parietal and occipital lobe,etc between cerebral type group and control group (P ＞ 0.05).The rrCBF of cerebral type group in the left and right lentiform nucleus were lower than those of non-cerebral type group (1.61 ± 0.38 vs.1.94 ± 0.58,1.52 ± 0.64 vs.1.99 ± 0.59),and there were significant differences (P ＜ 0.05).The clinical symptom scores were positively correlated with the rrCBF of the left and right lentiform nucleus in 24 patients with HLD (r =-0.792 and-0.764,P ＜ 0.01),the content of urinary copper and duration had no correlation with the rrCBF of the left and right lentiform nucleus(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The rCBF of cerebral type and non-cerebral type HLD is significantly reduced,cerebral type patients have lower rCBF than non-cerebral type patients.The rCBF is correlated with the clinical symptom scores.

Objective To examine the brain metabolic changes in WD patients receiving copper chelation by us?ing 1H-MRS. Method Thirty-nine patients with WD was randomly divided into four groups: non-brain type group (18 cases), brain type prior-treatment group and short-term treatment group (21 cases), long-term treatment group (20 cases) from short-term treatment group, and 20 healthy volunteers served as a control group. 1H-MRS and MRI were performed on patients on 1.5/MR/MRS system to detect these above-mentioned items before and after treatment. Result The mean of NAA/Cr was significantly lower in the left putamen and head of the caudate nucleus than in the left basal ganglion in the 39 patients with WD. The mean of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr in the left putamen and basal ganglion was significantly lower in non-brain type group than in control group(P<0.01). The mean of NAA/Cr Cho/Cr and NAA/Cho in the left putamen,head of the caudate nucleus and basal ganglion were significantly lower in brain type group than in control group(P<0.01 or P<0.05). The mean of NAA/Cr in the left putamen was much lower in brain type group than in non-brain type group (P<0.01). The mean of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and NAA/Cho of short-term treatment group in the left putamen, head of the caudate nucleus and basal ganglion was not significantly different between brain type group and short-term treatment group(P>0.05). The mean of NAA/Cr and NAA/Cho in the left putamen and basal ganglion was much higher in long-term treatment group than in brain type group(P<0.01 or P<0.05). The mean of Cho/Cr in the left head of caudate nucleus were much higher after treatment compared with prior-treatment group(P<0.05). The mean of NAA/Cr in the left putamen, head of the left caudate nucleus and basal ganglion in all groups was negatively correlated with course of the disease. Conclusion There are significant differences in brain metabolism among different type of WD. The long-term but not short-term copper chelation significantly improves brain metabolism. NAA/Cr may be used as a non-invasive indicator to examine the efficacy of treatment.

Chronic insomnia is a common sleep disorder in clinic. It is a frequent and persistent difficulty in sleep initiation, maintenance and termination, leading to different degrees of functional impairment during daytime awakening. Although its pathogenesis is still not completely clear, some people have proposed neurobiological and psychological models, and more and more people begin to pay attention to the study of immune factors and genetic factors. The immune system mainly includes immune organs, immune cells and immune molecules, which help organisms maintain their homeostasis and normal life activities. There are intricate relations between sleep and immune system. Chronic insomnia can affect the function of immune system, and immune disorder may in turn lead to chronic insomnia. This paper discusses the changes of immune system in patients with chronic insomnia, and the influence of immune system changes on patients with chronic insomnia, as well as the research progress of the correlation between chronic insomnia and immune function.