Objective:To evaluate alterations in dopaminergic neurons, cortical metabolism, and functional connectivity networks in patients with early-onset Parkinson′s disease (EOPD) using multimodal neuroimaging.Methods:In this prospective cross-sectional study, 26 patients with EOPD and 16 healthy controls (HC group) were recruited from the PLA General Hospital between April and November 2023. All participants underwent integrated 11C-β-CFT PET/MR, 18F-FDG PET/CT brain imaging and resting-state functional MRI. Clinical assessments were conducted using the Unified Parkinson′s Disease Rating Scale and Hoehn-Yahr staging. Cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Standardized uptake value ratios for both 11C-β-CFT and 18F-FDG PET images were calculated using cerebellar gray matter as the reference region. Voxel-wise two-sample t-tests were performed to identify regions with significant group differences in tracer uptake. Seed regions showing altered 11C-β-CFT or 18F-FDG uptake were used to compute seed-based functional connectivity (FC) with all other brain voxels, and group differences in FC were assessed. Correlations between imaging metrics and clinical scales were evaluated using Pearson or Spearman analyses as appropriate. Results:Compared with HC group, EOPD group showed significantly reduced 11C-β-CFT uptake in the bilateral putamen, globus pallidus, and left temporal pole ( P<0.05), and decreased 18F-FDG uptake in the right superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex ( P<0.05). Relative to HC group, EOPD group exhibited markedly lower FC between the right putamen and the left gyrus rectus as well as the right parahippocampal gyrus; the right superior frontal gyrus and the left gyrus rectus; the anterior cingulate cortex and the olfactory area of the frontal lobe, the left gyrus rectus, and the right superior parietal gyrus; the left temporal pole and the left orbitofrontal cortex as well as the left olfactory area ( P<0.05). Correlation analyses revealed no statistically significant associations between altered FC values and clinical scale scores in the EOPD group. Conclusions:Patients with EOPD demonstrate impaired nigrostriatal dopaminergic function, regional cortical hypometabolism, and aberrant functional connectivity across multiple brain networks.

Objective:To evaluate alterations in dopaminergic neurons, cortical metabolism, and functional connectivity networks in patients with early-onset Parkinson′s disease (EOPD) using multimodal neuroimaging.Methods:In this prospective cross-sectional study, 26 patients with EOPD and 16 healthy controls (HC group) were recruited from the PLA General Hospital between April and November 2023. All participants underwent integrated 11C-β-CFT PET/MR, 18F-FDG PET/CT brain imaging and resting-state functional MRI. Clinical assessments were conducted using the Unified Parkinson′s Disease Rating Scale and Hoehn-Yahr staging. Cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Standardized uptake value ratios for both 11C-β-CFT and 18F-FDG PET images were calculated using cerebellar gray matter as the reference region. Voxel-wise two-sample t-tests were performed to identify regions with significant group differences in tracer uptake. Seed regions showing altered 11C-β-CFT or 18F-FDG uptake were used to compute seed-based functional connectivity (FC) with all other brain voxels, and group differences in FC were assessed. Correlations between imaging metrics and clinical scales were evaluated using Pearson or Spearman analyses as appropriate. Results:Compared with HC group, EOPD group showed significantly reduced 11C-β-CFT uptake in the bilateral putamen, globus pallidus, and left temporal pole ( P<0.05), and decreased 18F-FDG uptake in the right superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex ( P<0.05). Relative to HC group, EOPD group exhibited markedly lower FC between the right putamen and the left gyrus rectus as well as the right parahippocampal gyrus; the right superior frontal gyrus and the left gyrus rectus; the anterior cingulate cortex and the olfactory area of the frontal lobe, the left gyrus rectus, and the right superior parietal gyrus; the left temporal pole and the left orbitofrontal cortex as well as the left olfactory area ( P<0.05). Correlation analyses revealed no statistically significant associations between altered FC values and clinical scale scores in the EOPD group. Conclusions:Patients with EOPD demonstrate impaired nigrostriatal dopaminergic function, regional cortical hypometabolism, and aberrant functional connectivity across multiple brain networks.

Objective:To investigate the effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele on β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition in subcortical structures and functional connectivity (FC) between brain regions in patients with Alzheimer′s disease (AD). Methods:Forty-three patients with probable mild/moderate AD were prospectively enrolled from the First Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 2023 and October 2023, including 23 APOE ε4+ patients (12 males and 11 females, age (74.8±8.4) years), 20 APOE ε4- patients (14 males and 6 females, age (77.6±8.9) years) and 20 normal cognitive volunteers (NC) (15 males and 5 females, age (75.3±6.2) years). All subjects underwent 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) PET/MR brain imaging. The differences of gray matter volume (GMV) in subcortical structures (hippocampus, amygdala) among the three groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and least significant difference (LSD) t test. Independent-sample t test and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze difference in Aβ deposition between APOE ε4+ patients and APOE ε4- patients, and the correlation between subcortical structure and brain FC. Results:The GMV of bilateral amygdala between NC group and APOE ε4+ gene carrier group, and between APOE ε4+ and APOE ε4- gene carrier groups were significantly different ( F=6.43, P=0.002; P values: 0.002, 0.003). Significant difference of GMV was observed in the bilateral hippocampus among three groups ( F=5.34, P=0.030). Abnormal PIB uptake was detected in both the hippocampus and amygdala of both APOE ε4+ and APOE ε4- gene carrier groups, with a more pronounced effect observed in the APOE ε4+ group ( t values: 3.14, 2.19, P values: 0.032, 0.009). Taking the hippocampus as the seed point, there was no obvious abnormality in the whole brain connectivity map among APOE ε4+, APOE ε4- carriers and NC groups. With the amygdala as the seed point, the whole brain connectivity in the APOE ε4+ gene carrier group was significantly reduced, and the connectivity between the amygdala and the cingulate gyrus, parietal lobe and temporal lobe was significantly reduced in the APOE ε4+ gene carrier group compared with NC group, while the connectivity between the amygdala and the whole brain was not significantly reduced in the APOE ε4- gene carrier group. Aβ deposition in amygdala was positively correlated with FC coefficients of frontal brain regions, gyrus rectus, right middle occipital gyrus and left temporal lobe ( r values: 0.56-0.70, all P<0.05). Conclusion:APOE influences GMV and Aβ deposition of hippocampus and amygdala, and FC of amygdala, and may be involved in the pathological mechanism of cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility, safety, clinical, and angiographic follow-up of only overlapping stents therapy for intracranial vertebral artery dissection aneurysms (VADA).

METHODSEight consecutive patients (6 men, 2 women; mean age 46.8 years ranging from 34 to 62 years) with intracranial VADA admitted to Department of Neurology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital from June 2008 to June 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were diagnosed intracranial VADA by MRI or digital subtraction angiography (DSA). All patients were treated by only overlapping stents therapy under general anesthesia. In the endovascular treatment process 2 to 3 Solitaire, Neuroform or Wingspan self-expandable stents were overlapping implanted in the segment of the aneurysms. All patients received routine antiplatelet therapy before and after endovascular treatment.

RESULTSThe operative procedures were succeeded in all patients. Eight patients were implanted 18 stents (2 patients, 3 stents; 6 patients, 2 stents). The stents were located accurately and implanted smoothly, none perioperative complications occurred. All patients lived and worked normally and had no recurrent symptoms on follow-up of 6 to 48 months. All patients performed DSA reexamination on follow-up. The aneurysm blocked in 2 patients, the size lessened in 2 patients, and the size had no change in 3 patients.

CONCLUSIONSOnly overlapping stents therapy for treating intracranial VADA is feasible and has good operation safety. Preliminary follow-up results show that it can reduce the probability of thrombosis or hemorrhage and can improve the patients' life quality.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome ; Vertebral Artery Dissection ; surgery

BACKGROUNDThe molecular and cellular origins of migraine headache are among the most complex problems in contemporary neurology. Up to now the pathogenesis of migraine still remains unclearly defined. The objective of this study was to explore new factors that may be related to the mechanism of migraine.

METHODSThe present study performed a comprehensive analysis of gene expression in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis induced by electrical stimulation of dura mater surrounding the superior sagittal sinus in conscious rats using microarray analysis followed by quantitative real-time reverse-transcribed polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) verification. Student's two sample t-test was employed when two groups were compared. A P value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTSComparing the placebo and the electrical stimulation groups, 40 genes were determined to be significantly differentially expressed. These significantly differentially expressed genes were involved in many pathways, including transporter activity, tryptophan metabolism, G protein signaling, kinase activity, actin binding, signal transducer activity, anion transport, protein folding, enzyme inhibitor activity, coenzyme metabolism, binding, ion transport, cell adhesion, metal ion transport, oxidoreductase activity, mitochondrion function, and others. Most of the genes were involved in more than 2 pathways. Of particular interest is the up-regulation of Phactr3 and Akap5 and the down-regulation of Kdr.

CONCLUSIONThese findings may provide important clues for a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of migraine.

Animals ; Dura Mater ; physiology ; Electric Stimulation ; Gene Expression ; physiology ; Male ; Microarray Analysis ; Migraine Disorders ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Superior Sagittal Sinus ; physiology