BACKGROUND:Traumatic brain injury is a condition in which the normal function of the brain is disrupted by a bump or impact to the head.It is necessary to find effective treatments and objective targets that can help doctors diagnose the injury status and restore the brain function of patients. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation on the electroencephalographic signals of rats with traumatic brain injury. METHODS:Forty 6-week-old SPF male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups:sham group,model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group(electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation),with eight rats in each group.Feeney weight-drop method was used to establish the animal model of traumatic brain injury.In the sham group,the bone window was only opened without impact.Interventions were started at 1 day after modeling.Electroacupuncture in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,and electroacupuncture+low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation in the combined group were performed for days in total.The modified neurological severity scale score for assessing rats'neurological deficits was performed at 8 hours after modeling.The percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in the Y-maze was measured at 7 days after modeling.Then,the electroencephalographic signals were collected and electroencephalographic data of α,β,θ,and δ waves were extracted by fast Fourier transform,and the value of oscillation amplitude and energy ratio were calculated in α,β,θ,and δ waves,as well as the Lempel-Ziv complexity and sample entropy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the sham group,the modified neurological severity scale scores in the model group,electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group were significantly increased at 8 hours after modeling(P<0.05).Compared with the sham group,the value of oscillation amplitude in δ wave and the value of δ energy ratio were significantly increased in the model group at 7 days after modeling,meanwhile the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior in Y-maze,and the value of α/β energy ratio,Lempel-Ziv complexity,and sample entropy were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the value of oscillation amplitude in α and δ waves was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the value of α/β energy ratio was significantly increased(P<0.05)and the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased(P<0.05)in the electroacupuncture group,low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group and combined group.Compared with the electroacupuncture group and low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation group,the value of δ energy ratio was significantly decreased in the combined group(P<0.05),while the percentage of spontaneous alternation behavior,the value of α/β energy ratio,the Lempel-Ziv complexity,and the sample entropy were significantly increased(P<0.05).To conclude,abnormal electroencephalographic signals can appear in rats with traumatic brain injury,while the electroacupuncture combined with low-frequency transcranial ultrasound stimulation can alleviate the abnormal electroencephalographic signals in rats,which suggests the electroencephalographic frequency domain value and nonlinear features can be used to assess the severity of traumatic brain injury.

Background::Histological healing is closely associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes and lowered relapses in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we developed a novel diagnostic criterion for assessing histological healing in UC patients.Methods::We conducted a retrospective cohort study in UC patients, whose treatment was iteratively optimized to achieve mucosal healing at Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital of Tongji University from January 2017 to May 2022. We identified an inflammatory cell enumeration index (ICEI) for assessing histological healing based on the proportions of eosinophils, CD177 + neutrophils, and CD40L + T cells in the colonic lamina propria under high power field (HPF), and the outcomes (risks of symptomatic relapses) of achieving histological remission vs. persistent histological inflammation using Kaplan-Meier curves. Intrareader reliability and inter-reader reliability were evaluated by each reader. The relationships to the changes in the Nancy index and the Geboes score were also assessed for responsiveness. The ICEI was further validated in a new cohort of UC patients from other nine university hospitals. Results::We developed an ICEI for clinical diagnosis of histological healing, i.e., Y = 1.701X 1 + 0.758X 2 + 1.347X 3 - 7.745 (X 1, X 2, and X 3 represent the proportions of CD177 + neutrophils, eosinophils, and CD40L + T cells, respectively, in the colonic lamina propria under HPF). The receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis revealed that Y <-0.391 was the cutoff value for the diagnosis of histological healing and that an area under the curve (AUC) was 0.942 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.905-0.979) with a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 83.6% ( P <0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the intrareader reliability was 0.855 (95% CI: 0.781-0.909), and ICEI had good inter-reader reliability of 0.832 (95% CI: 0.748-0.894). During an 18-month follow-up, patients with histological healing had a substantially better outcome compared with those with unachieved histological healing ( P <0.001) using ICEI. During a 12-month follow-up from other nine hospitals, patients with histological healing also had a lower risk of relapse than patients with unachieved histological healing. Conclusions::ICEI can be used to predict histological healing and identify patients with a risk of relapse 12 months and 18 months after clinical therapy. Therefore, ICEI provides a promising, simplified approach to monitor histological healing and to predict the prognosis of UC.Registration::Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, No. ChiCTR2300077792.

Objective:To investigate the abnormal changes of the nodal centrality of the whole-brain network in patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) through the degree centrality (DC) technique of resting-state magnetic resonance and the predictive value for NT1.Methods:From September 2019 to November 2021, 18 NT1 patients who were first diagnosed and never accepted managements and 18 age-, sex-matched healthy controls recruited by advertisement in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University were required for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans and clinical scale assessment, including Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Self-rating Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Severity Scale and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20). The differences in DC values between the NT1 patients and healthy controls were analyzed using the DC method. Then, the correlation between DC values in differential brain regions and clinical characteristics of NT1 was explored through Pearson correlation analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of the DC values in the differential brain regions for NT1 patients.Results:Compared with the healthy controls, the DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus was increased, while the DC values of the bilateral middle frontal gyrus and the right precuneus were decreased in the NT1 patients (all P<0.05, Gaussian random-field correction). The DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus in the NT1 patients was positively correlated with the ESS score ( r=0.82, P<0.001) and MFI-20 score ( r=0.48, P=0.040). The DC value of the right middle frontal gyrus was positively correlated with the disease course ( r=0.51, P=0.032). The ROC curve showed that the area under the curve of NT1 predicted by the DC value of the right superior temporal gyrus was 0.95. And the areas under the curve of non-NT1 predicted by the DC values of the left middle frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and right precuneus were 0.86, 0.84 and 0.87, respectively. Conclusions:NT1 patients have abnormal resting-state DC in the default network, executive network core brain regions, and superior temporal gyrus. And the DC value in the right superior temporal gyrus may be a potential biomarker of NT1 patients.

Anti-neurexin-3α antibody-associated encephalitis is rare in clinical practice. It often has a history of pre-infection. It is characterized by abnormal mental behavior, seizures, decreased consciousness, cognitive and sleep disorders, movement disorder, central hypoventilation and autonomic nervous dysfunction. Among them, dyskinesias are mainly involuntary movements of the mouth, face and limbs, dystonia, myoclonic seizures and other manifestations of increased movement. Parkinson′s symptoms manifested as decreased movement are rarely reported. A encephalitis patient with positive anti-neurexin-3α antibody is reported, who is a young female, mainly with parkinsonism such as slow movement, unsteady walking, difficulty in starting and turning around, and inability to hold things in both upper limbs, accompanied by abnormal mental behavior and cognitive dysfunction. After treatment with methylprednisolone and intravenous immunoglobulin, the prognosis is good.

Autoimmune encephalitis is a group of inflammatory diseases related to autoantibodies that affect the central nervous system. Early diagnosis of patients with autoimmune encephalitis has certain difficulties, because the clinical manifestations caused by different types of autoantibodies can be non-specific, and the presence of multiple autoantibodies can cause variation and superposition of clinical manifestations. The article reported a case of autoimmune encephalitis patients with double positive anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 antibodies, and reviewed relevant literature for clinical reference.

Objective To explore and compare the clinical efficacy of levetiracetam tablets and compound sodium valproate sustained release tablets in the treatment of children and adolescents with epilepsy.Methods From April 2017 to April 2018,80 children and adolescents with epilepsy treated in Chaonan Minsheng Hospital of Shantou were selected as study objects,and they were randomly divided into two groups by drawing lots,with 40 cases in each group.The observation group was given levetiracetam tablets,and the control group was treated with valproate.The improvement of EEG after therapy,the total effective rate,and the incidence of adverse reactions were observed and evaluated.Results The EEG improvement rates after treatment for 6 months in the observation group and control group were 41.17％,45.71％,respectively,the difference was not statistically significant(x2 =0.508,P ＞0.05).The EEG improvement rates after treatment for 9 months in the observation group and control group were 70.58％,74.28％,respectively,the difference was not statistically significant (x2 =0.225,P ＞ 0.05).The total effective rate in the observation group was 92.50％,which was 95.00％ in the control group,the difference was not statistically significant between the two groups (x2 =0.354,P ＞ 0.05).However,the incidence rate of adverse reactions of the observation group(22.50％) was significantly lower than that of the control group(45.00％)(x2 =6.864,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Both levetiracetam tablets and compound sodium valproate sustained release tablets have appreciable efficacy and safety in the treatment of epilepsy in children and adolescents,but levetiracetam therapy has less adverse reactions,which deserves further promotion in monotherapy of epilepsy in children and adolescents.

Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dust ; Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Pneumoconiosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of the extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb761) and the components isolated from the extract named ginkgolide B (GB) against damage of glutamate in pretreatment modes so that determine their application value and approach.

METHODBased on glutamate-induced excitotoxicity to primary cultures from neonatal Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat hippocampal neuron, our experiment utilized trypan blue, TUNEL and LDH to study the effect of EGb761 and GB on neuron in different doses pretreatment modes, as well as to compare with the NMDA receptor uncompetitive antagonist-MK-801.

RESULTEGb761 and GB can recrease cell viability, reduce apoptosis rate and decrease LDH leakage in different degree and depended on dose in certain range. The maximal protection was achieved at a concentration of 100 mg x L(-1), 100 micromol x L(-1), but inferior to MK-801 (10 micromol x L(-1)). The protective effect of GB is superior to EGb761.

CONCLUSIONTreatment with EGb761 and GB could protect the neurons against glutamate-induced injury. The maximal protection of GB was achieved by pretreatment is superior to EGb761, so its precautionanary intervention to high-risk population could have more value.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cells, Cultured ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Ginkgolides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Lactones ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; Neuroprotective Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective:To observe the change in expression level ofp75NTR(p75 neurotrophin receptor)in cultured hippocampal neurons during glutamate-induced excitotoxicity.Methods:Excitotoxicity was induced by glutamate in rat cultured hippocampal neurons; RT-PCR and western blot were used to detect the change in expression level of p75NTR.Results:After glutamate exposure,p75NTR mRNA(P

Objective To study the effect of mAbN1,a monoclonal antibody against N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 1(NR1)on Ca2+ influx after glutamate stimulation in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.Methods Excitotoxicity was induced by glutamate in cultured hippocampal neurons.Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to observe the changes in intracellular free calcium concentration([Ca2+]i)at the level of cultured hippocampal neurons following pretreatment with mAbN1 and MK-801.Intracellular free calcium was imaged after loading cells with the fluorescent dye indicator fluo-3/AM.Results Our findings indicate that as compared with MK-801,mAbN1 can more significantly attenuate the glutamate-induced [Ca2+]i increase,and it has no effect on [Ca2+]i in physiological condition.Conclusion mAbN1 may alter the secondary structure of NR,consequently influence Ca2+ influx in excitotoxicity process.