1.The impact of lesions in different nuclei of the basal ganglia on speech processing function in patients with post-stroke dysarthria
Juan LIU ; Shuzhi ZHAO ; Rongfeng SU ; Shaofeng ZHAO ; Yumei ZHANG ; Lan WANG ; Nan YAN
Chinese Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Brain Science 2025;34(6):517-524
Objective:To investigate the impact of lesions in different nuclei of the subcortical basal ganglia on speech processing functions in patients with post-stroke dysarthria.Methods:From July 2022 to September 2023, a total of 20 patients with post-stroke dysarthria (patient group) and 22 healthy individuals (control group) were recruited. Brain imaging data, including structural magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), as well as behavioral data of speech fluency task and picture association task were collected. Structural MRI data was analyzed using SPM12 software to perform voxel-based morphometry (VBM), measuring cortical thickness and gray matter volume (VGM) in specific nuclei of the basal ganglia. Behavioral metrics, such as reaction time (RT) and the number of valid responses were extracted for each task. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0 and R 4.0 softwares. Spearman correlation analysis was applied to examine relationships between neuroimaging parameters and behavioral performance indicators.Results:The patient group exhibited significantly smaller gray matter volumes in both left and right caudate nuclei((2.69±0.92)mm 3, (3.17±0.91)mm 3 ) and putamen (3.31±1.08)mm 3, (3.66±0.91)mm 3) compared to the control group (caudate nuclei (3.19±0.36)mm 3, (3.49±0.52)mm 3 putamen (4.52±0.54)mm 3, (4.72±0.64)mm 3), with statistically significant differences ( t=-2.83, 1.68; t=-3.59, 3.52, both P<0.05). Behavioral experiments revealed that the patient group exhibited significantly prolonged reaction time during picture association and naming tasks (1 910.50(1 214.25, 3 806.75) ms, 1 362.00(978.00, 2 297.00) ms) compared to the control group (1 618.00(1 162.75, 2 401.75) ms, 1 224.00(984.25, 1 661.50) ms; Z=-5.20, -4.61, both P<0.05). Gray matter volumes in the left caudate nucleus and left putamen exhibited negative correlations with reaction times during the picture naming task ( r=-0.52, -0.54, both P<0.05). Additionally, the gray matter volume of the left putamen demonstrated a positive correlation with the number of valid responses in speech fluency task-T2 ( r=0.46, P<0.05), whereas the left globus pallidus volume showed a negative correlation with speech fluency task-T1 ( r=-0.51, P<0.05) with the same measure. Conclusion:Lesions in the left subnuclei of the basal ganglia directly impair early-stage speech functions, including conceptual preparation and lexical selection, whereas right-side lesions exert less pronounced effects on linguistic performance compared to their left counterparts. Furthermore, the basal ganglia's involvement in higher-order linguistic processing may represent an indirect consequence of cognitive decline.
2.The impact of lesions in different nuclei of the basal ganglia on speech processing function in patients with post-stroke dysarthria
Juan LIU ; Shuzhi ZHAO ; Rongfeng SU ; Shaofeng ZHAO ; Yumei ZHANG ; Lan WANG ; Nan YAN
Chinese Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Brain Science 2025;34(6):517-524
Objective:To investigate the impact of lesions in different nuclei of the subcortical basal ganglia on speech processing functions in patients with post-stroke dysarthria.Methods:From July 2022 to September 2023, a total of 20 patients with post-stroke dysarthria (patient group) and 22 healthy individuals (control group) were recruited. Brain imaging data, including structural magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), as well as behavioral data of speech fluency task and picture association task were collected. Structural MRI data was analyzed using SPM12 software to perform voxel-based morphometry (VBM), measuring cortical thickness and gray matter volume (VGM) in specific nuclei of the basal ganglia. Behavioral metrics, such as reaction time (RT) and the number of valid responses were extracted for each task. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.0 and R 4.0 softwares. Spearman correlation analysis was applied to examine relationships between neuroimaging parameters and behavioral performance indicators.Results:The patient group exhibited significantly smaller gray matter volumes in both left and right caudate nuclei((2.69±0.92)mm 3, (3.17±0.91)mm 3 ) and putamen (3.31±1.08)mm 3, (3.66±0.91)mm 3) compared to the control group (caudate nuclei (3.19±0.36)mm 3, (3.49±0.52)mm 3 putamen (4.52±0.54)mm 3, (4.72±0.64)mm 3), with statistically significant differences ( t=-2.83, 1.68; t=-3.59, 3.52, both P<0.05). Behavioral experiments revealed that the patient group exhibited significantly prolonged reaction time during picture association and naming tasks (1 910.50(1 214.25, 3 806.75) ms, 1 362.00(978.00, 2 297.00) ms) compared to the control group (1 618.00(1 162.75, 2 401.75) ms, 1 224.00(984.25, 1 661.50) ms; Z=-5.20, -4.61, both P<0.05). Gray matter volumes in the left caudate nucleus and left putamen exhibited negative correlations with reaction times during the picture naming task ( r=-0.52, -0.54, both P<0.05). Additionally, the gray matter volume of the left putamen demonstrated a positive correlation with the number of valid responses in speech fluency task-T2 ( r=0.46, P<0.05), whereas the left globus pallidus volume showed a negative correlation with speech fluency task-T1 ( r=-0.51, P<0.05) with the same measure. Conclusion:Lesions in the left subnuclei of the basal ganglia directly impair early-stage speech functions, including conceptual preparation and lexical selection, whereas right-side lesions exert less pronounced effects on linguistic performance compared to their left counterparts. Furthermore, the basal ganglia's involvement in higher-order linguistic processing may represent an indirect consequence of cognitive decline.
3.Recent advances in diverse nanosystems for nitric oxide delivery in cancer therapy.
Dan GAO ; Sajid ASGHAR ; Rongfeng HU ; Su CHEN ; Ruixin NIU ; Jia LIU ; Zhipeng CHEN ; Yanyu XIAO
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2023;13(4):1498-1521
Gas therapy has been proven to be a promising and advantageous treatment option for cancers. Studies have shown that nitric oxide (NO) is one of the smallest structurally significant gas molecules with great potential to suppress cancer. However, there is controversy and concern about its use as it exhibits the opposite physiological effects based on its levels in the tumor. Therefore, the anti-cancer mechanism of NO is the key to cancer treatment, and rationally designed NO delivery systems are crucial to the success of NO biomedical applications. This review summarizes the endogenous production of NO, its physiological mechanisms of action, the application of NO in cancer treatment, and nano-delivery systems for delivering NO donors. Moreover, it briefly reviews challenges in delivering NO from different nanoparticles and the issues associated with its combination treatment strategies. The advantages and challenges of various NO delivery platforms are recapitulated for possible transformation into clinical applications.
4.Effects of alcohol on HCV replication and its mechanism
Hui CHEN ; Jinming SU ; Yu LI ; Rongfeng CHEN ; Jie LIU ; Minlian WANG ; Fangning ZHAO ; Hong WANG ; Jinrong ZENG
Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology 2014;(5):397-401
Objective To investigate the effects of alcohol on hepatitis C virus( HCV) replication and type I interferon signaling pathway in human hepatocytes .Methods Primary hepatocytes were treated with different concentrations of alcohol , and then infected with HCV .The infected cells were collected to measure the level of HCV RNA .The alcohol-treated hepatocytes were also collected to detect the expression of HCV Core, IFN-α, IFN-β, IRF-7, suppressor of cytokine signaling SOCS-2 and SOCS-3 at mRNA and protein levels by real-time quantitative PCR and ELISA or Western blot , respectively .Results Alcohol treatment enhanced HCV infection and replication in primary hepatocytes at concentrations higher than 10 mmol/L in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05).Treatment with 40 mmol/L of alcohol significantly reduced the expression of IFN-α, IFN-βand IRF-7 at mRNA and protein levels , and increased the expression of SOCS-2 and SOCS-3 at mRNA and protein levels .Conclusion Alcohol treatment could damage the host in-nate immunity in human hepatocytes and promote HCV replication by reducing the expression of type Ⅰinter-feron ( IFN-αand IFN-β) and IRF-7 and increasing the expression of negative regulators including SOCS-2 and SOCS-3.These results demonstrated that the impairment of innate immunity in liver of alcohol abusers might contribute to the enhancement of HCV infection and result in poor therapeutic effect of IFN -α.
5.Inhibition of Toll-like receptor 2 expression by siRNA in human monocyte-derived macrophages
Peijiang PAN ; Li YE ; Hui CHEN ; Jiegang HUANG ; Bingyu LIANG ; Junjun JIANG ; Yanyan LIAO ; Yu LI ; Jinming SU ; Rongfeng CHEN ; Hao LIANG
Chinese Journal of Immunology 2014;(8):1032-1035,1045
To screen the siRNAs (small interference RNA sequences ) which specifically inhibit the gene expression of TLR2 in human monocyte-derived macrophage , and discuss their prospects on the treatment of HIV at the level of molecular immunology.Methods:We obtained the mRNA sequences of human TLR 2 gene from NCBI gene bank ,then designed three siRNAs by siDESIGNTM software.The siRNA targeting human housekeeping gene GAPDH was used as positive control.The fluorescent labeling missense siRNA sequences (NC-FAM ) was used as negative control.We collected fresh peripheral blood from healthy volunteers and isolated mononuclear cells from the blood samples.The human mononuclear macrophages were then purified from mononuclear cells by utilizing adherence method.Cationic liposome reagent Lipofectamine 2000 was used to mediate siRNAs into the human mononuclear macrophages.The levels of TLR2 mRNA expression of siRNA-transfected monocyte-derived macrophage were determined by q-PCR.Expression of TLR2 protein was determined by Western blot.Results: At 72 h after transfection ,we found that the expression of GAPDH mRNA and protein in positive control group decreased significantly.Also found there existed significant differences between each siRNA group (F=41.957,P<0.001).Compared with negative control ,the relative expression of TLR2 mRNA in all siRNAs groups decreased significantly (P<0.05 ) , and the inhibition rates were 46%, 43%, 43% by three miRNAs respectively.Western blot showed that the expression of TLR 2 protein in siRNAs groups decreased significantly compared with that of control (P<0.05 ).Conclusion: The designed siRNAs in this study could inhibit the expression of TLR 2 gene in human monocyte-derived macrophage ,indicating that mediation of TLR-2 expression by siRNA might be a novel strategy for HIV treatment from the per-spective of molecular immunology.
6.HPLC Determination of Notoginsenoside R_1 and Ginsenosides in San Xiong Zhitong Ointment
Yangang LONG ; Xiaoqi HUANG ; Rongfeng LIN ; Ziren SU
Traditional Chinese Drug Research & Clinical Pharmacology 1993;0(01):-
Objective To establish a HPLC method for the determination of effective components in Radix Notoginseng in San Xiong Zhitong Ointment.Methods Kromasil KR100-5 C18 column(250 mm?4.6 mm,5 ?m)and gradient elution were used.Solvent A was acetonitrile and solvent B was water.The detection wavelength was set at 203 nm.Results The four components were isolated well.The linearity was fine with the recoveries of 98 %~100 %.Conclusion The quantitative method for determining the ingredient of San Xiong Zhitong Ointment is simple,feasible and repeatable,and is beneficial for quality control of San Xiong Zhitong Ointment.
7.Determination of Stilbene Glucoside in Zishen Ningshen Pills by HPLC and Preliminary Study on Its Influence Factors
Xiqiang ZHANG ; Rongfeng LIN ; Yaohui HE ; Jianping CHEN ; Xiaoqi HUANG ; Xuguang SHI ; Ziren SU
Traditional Chinese Drug Research & Clinical Pharmacology 1993;0(02):-
Objective To establish a method of HPLC assay for determining stilbene glucoside in Zishen Ningshen Pills(ZNP),and to study the influence factors on the content of stilbene glucoside in the process of preparation.Methods HPLC was used for the determination of stilbene glucoside in ZNP.Through simulation the process of preparation,the stilbene glucoside content in the intermediate products was determined by HPLC,and its retention rate and metastasis rate were also investigated.Results The resolution and the linearity of stilbene glucoside were fine,the average recoveries being 98 % ~ 102 %.The retention rate of stilbene glucoside in the drying powder was 60.3 %,lower than that in the original medicinal powder.Conclusion The quantitative method for determining the ingredients in ZNP is simple,feasible and reproducible,and is beneficial for quality control of ZNP.The drying process under normal pressure is the main influence factors of the decrease of stilbene glucoside content,and the decompression drying can be taken into account to take the place of the atmospheric drying.

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