Objective To explore the differences of macrostructural and microstructural and their correlations in brain white matter (WM) between left-and right-handed adults.Methods Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed on twenty-three left-handed (LH) and thirty-two right-handed (RH) healthy subjects.The WM volume,fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were mearsured and compared between the two groups by using the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis (VBA) methods.Results (1) LH adults showed lower WM volume than RH adults in bilateral splenium of corpus callosum (SC) (Left:x=-15,y=-57,z =13.5,t=-5.160;Right:x=18,y=-42,z=12,t=-3.654;P＜0.001).Compared with the RH adults,the FA values in WM of the left postcentral gyrus (PoCG) (x =-24,y =-46,z =54) and the above left insula (INS) (x =-36,y =-12,z =20) increased (P＜ 0.001),as well as the average FA values,the average length and number of streamlines in WM tracts increased (P＜0.05) in LH adults.Compared with the RH adults,the MD values in the right HIP (x=24,y=-34,z=-2) decreased(P＜0.001),as well as the average MD values decreased,and the average length in WM tracts increased (P＜0.05) in LH adults.(2)There was positive correlation between FA and the volume of right splenium of corpus callosum in LH and RH adults (LH:r=0.716,RH:r=0.471,P＜0.05).There was negative correlation between FA and MD in the left PoCG (LH:r=-0.769,RH:r=-0.841),left INS (LH:r=-0.775,RH:r=-0.744) and right HIP (LH:r=-0.842,RH:r=-0.742) in LH and RH adults (all P＜0.05).Conclusion There are differences in both macrostructure and microstructure of white matter in several brain regions and WM tracts between left-handed and right-handed people,and correlations between these measures were also observed.

The protective effects of in vitro cultivated calculus bovis (ICCB) on the cerebral and myocardial cells in hypoxic mice and the mechanism were examined. In one group, mice were intra-gastrically (i.g.) given ICCB for 15 days and then they were subjected to acute cerebral ischemia by decapitation, and then the panting time was recorded. In the other group, 12 min after exposure to hypoxia, mice was administered the ICCB i.g. for 5 days, and then the blood serum and tissues of brain,heart, liver were harvested and examined for SOD, GSH-px and T-AOC activity and content of MDA. The tissues of brain and heart were observed electron-microscopically for ultrastructural changes. The corpus striatum and hippocampus of brain were collected and examined for content of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE). The ultrastrural examination showed that the pathological change in brain and heart in the ICCB group was very slight, while abnormal changes in the control group were obviously more serious. ICCB significantly prolonged the panting time of the hypoxic mice (P<0.001), increased the activity of SOD, GSH-px, T-AOC in serum and tissues of brain, liver,heart and elevated the content of DA and NE. ICCB also pronouncedly reduced content of MDA in serum and tissues of brain, heart and liver. Significant differences in these parameters were noted between ICCB group and controls. It is concluded that ICCB can exert protective effect on the cells of brain and myocardium by enhancing the tolerance of the tissues to hypoxia and the body's ability to remove free radicals and regulating the neurotransmitters.