Background::Genetic variants of dopaminergic transcription factor-encoding genes are suggested to be Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk factors; however, no comprehensive analyses of these genes in patients with PD have been undertaken. Therefore, we aimed to genetically analyze 16 dopaminergic transcription factor genes in Chinese patients with PD.Methods::Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed using a Chinese cohort comprising 1917 unrelated patients with familial or sporadic early-onset PD and 1652 controls. Additionally, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed using another Chinese cohort comprising 1962 unrelated patients with sporadic late-onset PD and 1279 controls.Results::We detected 308 rare and 208 rare protein-altering variants in the WES and WGS cohorts, respectively. Gene-based association analyses of rare variants suggested that MSX1 is enriched in sporadic late-onset PD. However, the significance did not pass the Bonferroni correction. Meanwhile, 72 and 1730 common variants were found in the WES and WGS cohorts, respectively. Unfortunately, single-variant logistic association analyses did not identify significant associations between common variants and PD. Conclusions::Variants of 16 typical dopaminergic transcription factors might not be major genetic risk factors for PD in Chinese patients. However, we highlight the complexity of PD and the need for extensive research elucidating its etiology.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by bradykinesia,resting tremor,muscle rigidity,and abnormal gait posture.Ocular motor function test plays an important part in neurological examinations.It has been widely accepted that specific ocular motor patterns contribute to diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndrome including progressive supranuclear palsy and multiple system atrophy.However,recent studies have shown that patients of PD may also exhibit specific eye movement disorders,which will be helpful in the early diagnosis,evaluation and differential diagnosis of PD.In 2015,the Movement Disorder Society clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease suggested that sustained staring evoked nystagmus could be used as an exclusive criterion for PD.The clinical features,detection methods and clinical significance of oculomotor dysfunction in PD are reviewed in this article.

Objective To investigate the vasorelaxant effect and possible mechanism of niclosamide ethanolamine (NEN)on isolated rat coronary artery(RCA). Methods Wire myograph was used to record myogenic tone of vessels. The vasorelaxant effect of NEN was studied in RCA precontracted with either KCl or U46619. Study of related inhibitors was performed to investigate possible involvement of potassium channels and the mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathway in vasorelaxation. The effect of NEN on Ca2+mobilization was determined by observing vasoconstrictor-induced contractions in tissue solution deprived of Ca2+followed by Ca2+restoration. Results NEN(0.5-3.0 μmol/L) relaxed RCA precontracted with KCl or U46619 in a concentration-dependent manner. MAPK inhibitors(PD98059 and SB239063)reduced the relaxant effect of NEN,while the potassium-channel blockers(tetraethylamine,4-aminopyridine, BaCl2,and glibenclamide)did not significantly affect relaxation. NEN specifically inhibited the contraction component dependent on extracellular Ca2+influx in vessels stimulated with KCl and U46619, with a negligible effect on the component dependent on intracellular Ca2+release. Conclusions NEN exhibits vasodilator properties in RCA. Inhibition of extracellular Ca2+influx and activation of the MAPK signaling pathway may be involved in NEN-induced RCA vasorelaxation.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of constipation in patients with Parkinson 's disease (PD) and explore the relationship between constipation and motor symptoms.Methods The data of 221 PD patients were collected.Patients were evaluated with following scales:Rome Ⅲ criteria for diagnosis of functional constipation,unified Parkinson's disease rating scale part Ⅲ (UPDRS Ⅲ),and simple mental status examination scale (MMSE).Results Among 221 PD patients,132 (59.7％) had constipation,and 48 (36.4％) experienced constipation before motor symptoms.Compared to those without constipation,PD patients with constipation had a higher UPDRS Ⅲ scores,posture/gait scores,and axis scores (P ＜ O.05).The most common symptoms of PD patients with constipation were defecation straining (93.9％).Conclusions PD patients with constipation have severer motor symptoms than those without constipation.Defecation straining is the most common subtypes of PD patients with constipation.

Objective To investigate the change of body mass index (BMI) in Parkinson's disease (PD) and its association with disease severity.Methods SPSS 22.0 was used for data analysis of one hundred and sixty-eight PD patients and one hundred and fifteen healthy controls.Results BMI value was obviously declined in PD (P =0.001).Decrease of BMI in PD was associated with increase of disease duration (r =-0.270,P =0.001),total score of Unified Parkinson~ Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) (r =-0.195,P =0.008),score of UPDRS part Ⅱ (r =-0.147,P =0.045),score of UPDRS part Ⅲ (r =-0.159,P =0.030),H-Y grading (r =-0.256,P =0.001),and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) (r =0.291,P =O.001).Conclusions BMI declines more obviously in PD patients than in healthy controls.PD Patients with longer disease duration and severe motor symptoms have a higher risk of BMI loss.

Objective To explore the correlated factors and clinical features of cognitive impariment in parkinson's disease (PD).Methods A total of 419 patients with PD were collected from Xiangya Hospital of Centre-South University during Mar 1st,2017 to Nov 30th,2017.The cognitive functions of patients were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE),and the basic information and the motor symptoms of 419 PD patients were selected at the same time.The PD patients were classified into three groups according to the MMSE score:PD with no cognitive impairment (PD-NC),mild cognitive impairment in PD (PD-MCI),and Dementia in PD (PD-D).The data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0.Results There were 156 patients with PD-MCI (37.2％) and 64 patients with PD-D (15.3％).The difference of sex and disease duration among three groups were not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).The significant difference was found among PD-D,PD-MCI,and PD-NC groups in age of onset,age,educational attainment,Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)-Ⅱ score,UPDRS-Ⅲ score and Hoehn-Yahr stage (P ＜ 0.05).There were significant differences among three groups in MMSE score and its items (P ＜ 0.01).Logistics regression analysis found that the age of onset,educational attainment,and Hoehn-Yahr stage were the risk factors of cognitive impairment in PD patients (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Cognitive impairment is common in PD patients,and it is relevant to the age of onset,educational attainment and the severity of illness of PD patients.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of fatigue symptoms and investigate its related factors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods The Parkinson's Fatigue Scale (PFS-16) was used to assess the fatigue status of 453 PD patients.These patients were divided into fatigue group (mean PFS-16≥3.3 defined as fatigue) and non-fatigue group.All of them completed the assessment of the relevant scale.Results Among 453 PD patients,there were 169 patients (37.3％) in fatigue group and 284 patients (62.7％) in non-fatigue group.Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and HoehnYahr (H-Y) staging in fatigue group were significantly higher than non-fatigue group (P ＜0.05).Motor symptoms,mental and emotional status and daily living ability are positively correlated with fatigue symptoms.Conclusions The motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms are more serious in PD patients with fatigue.The motor symptoms,mental and emotional status,daily living ability and Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) stage are the main related factors of fatigue symptoms in PD patients.

Objective o investigate the clinical characteristics and relevant risk factors of freezing gait in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods A total of 570 consecutive PD patients were registered basic information and evaluated by Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and New Freezing of gait questionnaire (NFOG-Q).They were divided into the PD with freezing gait group (188 cases) and non-freezing gait group.Results UPDRS score in each part (UPDRS-Ⅰ,UPDRS-Ⅱ,UPDRS-Ⅲ,UPDRS-Ⅳ) and Hoehn & Yahr stage of the PD freezing gait group was significantly higher than that of the non frozen gait group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions PD patients with frozen gait group experience more rapid PD progression than those without freezing of gait.The appearance of FOG is associated with the mental behavior and emotion,treatment complication,disease severity,and course of PD.

To explore the application of gene chip technology in the acupuncture research so as to provide evidences for the mechanism of acupuncture for regulating bodies. The literature on the application of gene chip technology in the acupuncture field from 2001 to 2016 was collected in PubMed, Springer, CNKI and WANFANG databases, which was analyzed and summarized. There were some achievements of the technology for acupuncture research, focusing on the five aspects, including the study of the relationship between meridian-point and viscera, the influencing factors of acupuncture effect, the effect and mechanism of acupuncture analgesia, the mechanism of acupuncture anti-aging, the effect and mechanism of acupuncture for diseases of each system. Gene chip technology plays an important role in researching acupuncture mechanism. It is an important technology for genomics study of acupuncture. However, there are also some disadvantages such as high cost, deficient data mining, non-uniform observation objects, deficient professionals, etc. All those need further resolution so as to promote the application of this technology in the acupuncture researching field.