Topological Alterations of the Intrinsic Brain Network in Patients with Functional Dyspepsia

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Previous studies reported that integrated information in the brain ultimately determines the subjective experience of patients with chronic pain, but how the information is integrated in the brain connectome of functional dyspepsia (FD) patients remains largely unclear. The study aimed to quantify the topological changes of the brain network in FD patients. METHODS: Small-world properties, network efficiency and nodal centrality were utilized to measure the changes in topological architecture in 25 FD patients and 25 healthy controls based on functional magnetic resonance imaging. Pearson's correlation assessed the relationship of each topological property with clinical symptoms. RESULTS: FD patients showed an increase of clustering coefficients and local efficiency relative to controls from the perspective of a whole network as well as elevated nodal centrality in the right orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus and left hippocampus, and decreased nodal centrality in the right posterior cingulate gyrus, left cuneus, right putamen, left middle occipital gyrus and right inferior occipital gyrus. Moreover, the centrality in the anterior cingulate gyrus was significantly associated with symptom severity and duration in FD patients. Nevertheless, the inclusion of anxiety and depression scores as covariates erased the group differences in nodal centralities in the orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus and hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest topological disruption of the functional brain networks in FD patients, presumably in response to disturbances of sensory information integrated with emotion, memory, pain modulation, and selective attention in patients.

A study on the cyclical changes of the apparent diffusion coefficients in the normal uterus of young women with 3 .0T MRI / 实用放射学杂志

Objective To investigate the cyclical changes of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the normal uterine zonal structures and explore physiological mechanism and clinical significance of the changes .Methods Nineteen healthy young fe‐male volunteers were selected to receive DWI (b=0 and 1 000 s/mm2 ) scan during periovulatory ,late secretory and menstrual pha‐ses .The ADC values of endometrium ,junctional zone and myometrium were measured and the differences of the ADC values were analyzed .Results The ADC values among three structures were significantly different in three phases (P< 0 .05) .The ADC value of myometrium was highest and the second was endometrium and the last was junctional zone .The differences of specific uterine zonal structures in different phases were statistically significant (F=55 .674 ,P<0 .05) .There was a interaction effect between menstrual cycle and uterine structures .Conclusion The effect of zones and different phases of the menstrual cycle in young women on ADC val‐ues of uterine structures should be considered when use ADC values to diagnose uterine diseases .

Brain-based Correlations Between Psychological Factors and Functional Dyspepsia

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Increasing evidence shows involvement of psychological disorders in functional dyspepsia (FD), but how psychological factors exert their influences upon FD remains largely unclear. The purpose of the present study was to explore the brain-based correlations of psychological factors and FD. METHODS: Based on Fluorine-18-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography, the altered cerebral glycometabolism was investigated in 40 FD patients compared with 20 healthy controls during resting state using statistical parametric mapping software. RESULTS: FD patients exhibited increased glucose metabolism in multiple regions relative to controls (P < 0.001, family-wise error corrected). After controlling for the dyspeptic symptoms, increased aberrations persisted within the insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and middle frontal cortex (midFC), which was related to anxiety and depression score. Interestingly, FD patients without anxiety/depression symptoms also showed increased glycometabolism within the insula, ACC, MCC and midFC. Moreover, FD patients with anxiety/depression symptoms exhibited more significant hypermetabolism within the above 4 sites compared with patients without anxiety/depression symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that the altered cerebral glycometabolism may be in a vicious cycle of psychological vulnerabilities and increased gastrointestinal symptoms.

Opening experiment teaching based on research projects in pathogen biology practice / 中华医学教育探索杂志

According to the three orientation cultivating mode,in order to improve quality of experiment teaching in pathogen biology and cultivate innovative talents of medicine the open experi-ment teaching which based on the research projects is applied to optimize the experiment content design, teaching form and comprehensive assessment. For example, In the choice of subject direction more attention are paid to the students' autonomy; In the design of experiment content students' inter-ests should be fully considered;During the course of experiments, the teachers play the role of visitors most of the time; In the experiment evaluation, students' ability of solving problems and their innova-tive ability are included. By participating in research projects, it not only can arouse the enthusiasm of students, but also can cultivate their scientific spirit of innovation and the rigorous scientific attitude.

Abnormal Brain Activity Changes in Patients with Migraine: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Whether or not migraine can cause cumulative brain alterations due to frequent migraine-related nociceptive input in patients is largely unclear. The aim of this study was to characterize longitudinal changes in brain activity between repeated observations within a short time interval in a group of female migraine patients, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: Nineteen patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional interregional connectivity were assessed to determine the focal and global features of brain dysfunction in migraine. The relationship between changes in headache parameters and longitudinal brain alterations were also investigated. RESULTS: All patients reported that their headache activity increased over time. Abnormal ReHo changes in the patient group relative to the HC were found in the putamen, orbitofrontal cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, brainstem, and thalamus. Moreover, these brain regions exhibited longitudinal ReHo changes at the 6-week follow-up examination. These headache activity changes were accompanied by disproportionately dysfunctional connectivity in the putamen in the migraine patients, as revealed by functional connectivity analysis, suggesting that the putamen plays an important role in integrating diverse information among other migraine-related brain regions. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study suggest that progressive brain aberrations in migraine progress as a result of increased headache attacks.

The Effect of the Volatile Oil of Zanthoxylum Bungeanum on Human Demodex in vitro / 医学研究杂志

Objective To observe the effect of the volatile oil of zanthoxylum bungeanum in killing demodex in vitro.Method The mites were collected with adhesive cellophane tape technique.The killing effect of the pure volatile oil with different concentrations volatile oils on human demodex was investigated by microscope.Results The pure volatile oil was highly powerful in killing D.f and D.b in vitro,and for the D.b,the killing effect was better.With the increase of dilutus multiple,the killing effect dareased.Conclusion The pure volatile oil of zanthoxylum bungeanum is an effective component in killing demodex in vitro.