Improving Delineation of the Corticospinal Tract in the Monkey Brain Scanned With Conventional Diffusion Tensor Imaging by Using a Compressed Sensing Based Algorithm

Purpose@#The corticospinal tract (CST) is a major tract for motor function. It can be impaired by stroke. Its degeneration is associated with stroke outcome. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography plays an important role in assessing fiber bundle integrity. However, it is limited in detecting crossing fibers in the brain. The crossing fiber angular resolution of intra-voxel structure (CFARI) algorithm shows potential to resolve complex fibers in the brain. The objective of the present study was to improve delineation of CST pathways in monkey brains scanned by conventional DTI. @*Materials and Methods@#Healthy rhesus monkeys were scanned by diffusion MRI with 128 diffusion encoding directions to evaluate the CFARI algorithm. Four monkeys with ischemic occlusion were also scanned with DTI (b = 1000 s/mm2, 30 diffusion directions) at 6, 48, and 96 hours poststroke. CST fibers were reconstructed with DTI and CFARI-based tractography and evaluated. A two-way repeated multivariate analysis of covariance was used to determine significances of changes in DTI indices, tract number, and volumes of the CST between hemispheres or poststroke time points. @*Results@#CFARI algorithm revealed substantially more fibers originated from the ventral premotor cortex in healthy and stroke monkey brains than conventional DTI tractography. In addition, CFARI improved sensitivity in detecting CST abnormality compared to DTI tractography following stroke. @*Conclusion@#CFARI significantly improved delineation of the CST in the brain scanned by DTI with 30 gradient directions. It showed better sensitivity in detecting abnormity of the CST following stroke. Preliminary results suggest that CFARI could facilitate prediction of function outcomes after stroke.

Investigation of White Matter and Grey Matter Alterations in the Monkey Brain Following Ischemic Stroke Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Purpose@#Investigation of stroke lesions mostly focuses on the grey matter (GM). White matter (WM) degeneration during acute stroke has remained understudied. In the present study, monkeys were employed to investigate the alterations in GM and WM in the brain following ischemic occlusion using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). @*Materials and Methods@#Permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced in rhesus monkeys (n = 6) using an interventional approach. Serial DTI was conducted on a clinical 3 T in the hyperacute phase (2–6 hours), 48, and 96 hours post-occlusion. Regions of interest in GM and WM of lesion areas were selected for data analysis. @*Results@#Mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD) in WM decreased substantially during hyperacute stroke, similar to those seen in GM. No obvious fractional anisotropy changes were seen in WM during the hyperacute phase until 48 hours poststroke when significant fiber loss was observed. Pseudo-normalization of MD, AD, and RD was seen at 96 hours. Pathological changes in WM and GM were observed in ischemic areas at 8, 48, and 96 hours poststroke. Relative changes in MD, AD, and RD of WM were correlated negatively with infarction volumes at 6 hours poststroke. @*Conclusion@#The present study revealed the microstructural changes in GM and WM of monkey brains during acute stroke using DTI. The preliminary results suggest that AD and RD may be sensitive surrogate markers to assess specific microstructural changes in WM during the hyperacute stroke.

Predictive analysis of quality markers of Coptidis Rhizoma based on network pharmacology and multivariate statistical analysis / 中国中药杂志

Coptidis Rhizoma, as a bulk medicinal material, is in great demand in clinical practice. Its quality is uneven in the market due to the mixture of genuine, counterfeit and adulterants. Therefore, it is particularly important to establish a quality control system for Coptidis Rhizoma. Based on the concept of Chinese medicine quality marker(Q-marker), the potential quality markers of Coptidis Rhizoma were analyzed and predicted from the perspective of chemistry and pharmacology. The sources of the Q-markers of Coptidis Rhizoma were identified by literature retrieval. The potential Q-markers were then screened through the visualization of the "components-targets-pathways" network. High performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) was used to establish a multi-indicator qualitative and quantitative control method featuring fingerprints for 10 batches of Coptidis Rhizoma. A supervised mode of orthogonality partial least squares method-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) was used to screen the main marker components that caused differences between groups. The literature review results showed that the alkaloids were the main source of Coptidis Rhizoma Q-markers.The fingerprints of 13 common peaks were successfully established, and berberine, palmatine, berberine and epiberberine were selected as Q-markers of Coptidis Rhizoma, and their contents were determined.Based on the concept of the Q-marker of traditional Chinese medicine, the four components can be selected as the Q-marker of Coptidis Rhizoma after comprehensive consideration. The results of this study are not only conducive to the quality evaluation of Coptidis Rhizoma on the market, but also provide a reference for the overall quality control of Coptidis Rhizoma and lay foundation for the future exploration of the mechanism of Coptidis Rhizoma.

Association between Polymorphism of Interleukin-23 Receptor and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis in Chinese Han Population of Shandong / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) has been shown to be associated with autoimmune diseases in many different populations. This study aimed to investigate the association between IL-23R gene polymorphism and susceptibility to Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) in Chinese Han population of Shandong.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A case-control cohort study was performed in 145 HT patients from First People's Hospital of Jining between February 2010 to October 2013 and 150 healthy controls. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the promoter region of IL-23R gene (rs17375018 and rs7517847) were examined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was performed using the Chi-square test. Genotype frequencies were estimated by direct counting, and allele and genotype frequencies between patients and controls were analyzed by the Chi-square test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rs17375018 GG genotype and the G allele were significantly increased in HT patients compared with healthy controls (P = 0.034 and P = 0.013, respectively). No association was identified between HT patients and healthy controls in rs7517847.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The study demonstrated that polymorphism of IL-23R gene rs17375018 is highly associated with HT in Chinese Han population of Shandong, suggesting that IL-23R gene polymorphism (rs17375018 G) may play a critical role in susceptibility to HT.</p>

Effect of Chinese drugs for strengthening Pi, harmonizing Wei, and dispersing blood stasis on the expression of gastric mucosal heat shock protein 70 in chronic atrophic gastritis patients / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Chinese drugs for strengthening Pi, harmonizing Wei, and dispersing blood stasis (CDSPHWDBS) on the expression of gastric mucosal heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 100 CAG patients were assigned to the control group and the treatment group by random digit table, 50 in each group. Patients in the control group took Folic Acid Tablet 10 mg each time, 3 times per day. Those in the treatment group took CDSPHWDBS, 100 mL each time, once per day. The treatment course was 6 months for all. Clinical symptoms and signs, endoscopic and histopathological changes were observed before and after treatment in the two groups. The expression of gastric mucosal HSP70 in CAG patients was determined using SP immunohistochemistry. Data were collected by HPIAS-1 000 pathological graphic analysis system, and its expression semi-quantitatively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate of clinical Chinese medical symptoms and signs was 88. 0% (44/50 cases) in the treatment group and 56. 0% (28/50 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P <0. 01). The improvement rate of endoscopic manifestations such as congestion and edema, erosion, bile regurgitation, pale gastric mucosa, exposed blood vessels, particles proliferation in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group (P <0. 05). The total effective rate of atrophy was 80. 0% (40/50 cases) in the treatment group and 54. 0% (27/50 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 01). The effective rate of intestinal metaplasia was 75. 0% (12/16 cases) in the treatment group and 33.3% (5/15 cases) in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0. 05). The optical density value of gastric mucosal HSP70 was significantly elevated in the two groups after treatment (both P <0. 05). It was higher in the treatment group than in the control group after treatment with significant difference (P <0. 01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CDSPHWDBS had obvious effect in treatment of CAG and could improve pathological changes of precancerous lesions possibly by promoting the expression of gastric mucosal HSP70 in CAG patients.</p>

Forebrain NMDA receptor 2B subunit over-expression has no influence on anxiety behaviors of mice / 生理学报

It has been known that the glutamate transmission system and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R) were possibly related to anxiety processes. Although anxiety symptom can be relieved by NMDA-R antagonists and partial agonists treatment, the functions of NMDA-R and its subunits in anxiety behaviors remain unclear. We used forebrain specific NR2B over-expression mice to examine whether the increase of NR2B subunit level would induce anxiety behaviors. The results indicated that the juvenile (3-5 months old), middle-aged (8-10 months old) and old (19-22 months old ) NR2B transgenic mice showed no significant difference in open field test and elevated plus maze test as compared with the control mice. Capillary electrophoresis of monoamine neurotransmitter in subregions of forebrain revealed no significant difference between transgenic and control mice of 16-18 months age. These results suggest that the increase of NR2B expression and followed NR1 and NR2A expression augmentations in the forebrain have no significant effect on anxiety-related behaviors in mice.

The Establishment of Scale-up Isolation Procedure of Phycoerythrin and Phycocyanin from Porphyra yezoensis / 中国生物工程杂志

The way of "extracting-salting-chromatography" was used to purify the phycoerythrin and phycocyanin from Porphyra yezoensis in process scale-up.First,by comprehensive comparison of efficiency,the Sephadex G-25 was selected from four resins (Sephadex G-25、G-100、S-300 and CL-6B) as the best choice used in crude extract desalting of phycobiliprotein.Then the preparation process of phycobiliprotein was scaled-up with raw material(Porphyra yezoensis) increased from 1g to 20g,and finally to 400g.The results indicated that the yields of purified phycoerythrin and phycocyanin (absorption spectra purity above 3.2) increased during according to process scale-up,with 0.323% phycoerythrin and 0.148% phycocyanin obtained from 400g frozen Porphyra yezoensis blades respectively.It is no doubt that the process involved in the experiment is a potential way for large scale preparation of phycobiliproteins of high purity.