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Objective:To document the clinical features of children with cerebral palsy (CP) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods:The gross motor functioning of 325 children diagnosed as having CP was graded using the gross motor function classification system (GMFCS). The GMFCS grades were correlated with MRI results in univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The significance of any relationship between the MRI results and co-morbidities was tested using chi-squared tests.Results:Cerebral dysplasia, cerebroventricular enlargement, periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), abnormal signals in the thalami, and morphological changes after hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy were all found to be significantly correlated with GMFCS grading. Moreover, the chi-squared tests indicated that PVL children, children with thinning of the corpus callosum and/or abnormal signals in the thalami were significantly more likely to have visual, auditory or speech impairment complications and/or mental retardation.Conclusions:The findings from MRI correlate well with types of CP, GMFCS grades and co-morbidities among CP children. MRI can be an effective tool for early diagnosis and prognosis of CP in children, indicating needs for clinical rehabilitation.
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Objective:To compare the differences in sleep structure between healthy children and children with cerebral palsy (CP) using polysomnography (PSG).Methods:Fifty-six children aged 1-15 hospitalized for cerebral palsy formed the experimental group, while 30 healthy children served as controls. Both groups were given 24-hour PSG, and their sleep structures were compared and analyzed.Results:The incidence of sleep disorders in the children with cerebral palsy (55.4%) was significantly higher than among the healthy children (20.0%). The average sleep latency was significantly higher than among the healthy children, while the duration and the percentage of the rapid eye movement (REM) stage were significantly lower than among the healthy children. Total sleep time [(458.47±95.62)min], sleep efficiency [(74.26±13.63)%], duration of REM [(68.90±42.70)min] and REM percentage [(13.87±7.12)%] were all significantly lower for the children with severe cerebral palsy than for those with mild or moderate disorder. Their time to wake up after falling asleep was significantly longer. Moreover, the duration of REM and the REM percentage of children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy were significantly lower than for those with spastic cerebral palsy.Conclusions:The incidence of sleep disorders among children with cerebral palsy is higher than among healthy children. They have more difficulty in falling asleep and have a shorter REM stage. Children with severe cerebral palsy and involuntary cerebral palsy have more sleep problems.
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Objective To explore the application of submental ultrasonongraphy (SUS) in the assessment of oropharyngeal swallowing disorders in children with cerebral palsy.Methods Seventeen children with cerebral palsy and oropharyngeal swallowing difficulties (7 on nasal feeding,10 on oral feeding) constituted the treatment group while 20 normal counterparts formed the control group.SUS was applied to measure any changes in the thickness of the tongue muscle and the range of hyoid bone displacement when they swallowed 5 ml of water.The results were compared with those assessed using the functional oral intake scale to decide the best cut-off point for detecting tube-feeding-dependent dysphagia.The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the 20 children in the control group was calculated to evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of SUS.Results The average tongue muscle thickness change and hyoid bone displacement amplitude of the children on nasal feeding were significantly smaller than those of the children without nasal feeding and the normal children.The best cut-off point for the tongue muscle thickness change data was 1.0 cm,and that of the hyoid bone displacement amplitude was 1.5 cm.All of the ICCs were above 0.4,indicating good intra-rater and inter-rater reliability for the SUS examination.Conclusion Submental ultrasonongraphy can help assess the swallowing function of children with oropharyngeal swallowing disorders.
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Objective To observe the effect of ginkgobalide B (GB) on neurocyte apoptosis and protein kinase B expression in neonatal rats after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD).Methods Ninety seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham group,an HIBD group and a GB group,each of 30.HIBD was induced in the HIBD and GB groups using the classical Rice method,while the sham group was given a sham operation.GB (10 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally to the rats in the GB group at 0 h and 24 h after the modeling.Then 6 rats were killed 6 h,12 h,24 h and 48 h after the modeling,and the expression of caspase-3 mRNA was detected using a real-time PCR to find the time point of maximum effectiveness.Then to further explore the role of the PI3K-AKT pathway in the anti-apoptosis effect of ginkgolide B,a a GB+LY294002 group of 6 rats,which was injected with PI3K-AKT pathway inhibitor LY294002 (1.8 mg/kg) intraperitoneally at 30 min before the modeling and with GB(10 mg/kg) at 0 h and 24 h after the modeling,was added to the experiment.Hematoxylin-eosin staining,terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling and immunohistochemical staining were then used to observe any morphological changes in the cortex,to detect neuronal apoptosis and to quantify the expression of P-AKT protein.Results The expression of caspase-3 in the HI and GB groups began to increase 6 hours after the HIBD and reached a peak after 24 hours,followed by a gradual decline.The expression of caspase-3 in the GB group was significantly lower than in the HI group throughout,while that of both of those groups was significantly higher than in the sham group.Apoptosis-positive cells and the expression of caspase-3increased had significantly in the HI,GB and GB+LY294002 groups 24 hours after the HIBD compared with the sham group,while the expression of P-AKT protein had decreased significantly.Moreover,the apoptosis-positive cells and the expression of caspase-3 of the HI and GB+LY294002 groups were significantly high-er than those of the GB group,while their expression of P-AKT protein was significantly lower after 24 hours.Conclusion Ginkgobalide B can decrease neurocyte apoptosis caused by hypoxic-ischemic brain damage,especially at 24 h after the damage.The PI3K-AKT signaling pathway plays an important role in this effect.
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Objective To study the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a(HIF-1α) at mRNA and protein levels in the early stage of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in neonatal rats and its role.Methods (1) Experiment 1:thirty-six postnatal 7-day SD rats were divided into Sham group (n =6) and model group (HIBD,n =30) according to the random table method,then the rats in the model group were divided into 5 subgroups according to the time of sacrifice after HIBD(6 h,12 h,24 h,48 h,72 h,n =6).The expression levels of HIF-1cα mRNA and protein were detected by quantitative Real-time PCR(qPCR) and Western blot,respectively.(2) Experiment 2:forty-five postnatal 7-day SD rats were randomized into 3 groups:Sham group (n =15),HIBD group (n =15) and 2-methoxyestradiol(2ME2) group(n =15).According to the experiment 1,at the time point of the highest expression levels of HIF-1 α mRNA and protein,rats were killed and the brains were collected.The location and expression of HIF-1 α protein were detected by immunofluorescence,histopathological changes of brain were observed by HE staining,brain water content was measured by dry-wet method,cell apoptosis was detected by nick end labeling(TUNEL) method.Results At the early stage of HIBD,the expression levels of HIF-1 α mRNA and protein increased at first and then decreased,and the mRNA expression level (3.38 ± 0.21) and protein expression level (2.81 ± 0.36) were the highest at 24 h after HIBD.In Sham group,HIF-1 α protein was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm,while in HIBD group it was mainly expressed in the nucleus.The number of HIF-1α staining positive cells,brain water content and apoptosis rate were significantly different among Sham group,HIBD group and 2ME2 group (all P ＜ 0.05),and which were significantly lower in 2ME2 group than those in HIBD group (all P ＜ 0.05),and the pathological changes were also less serious than those in HIBD group.Conclusions The mRNA and protein levels of HIF-1 α are the highest at 24 h after HIBD.Inhibiting the expression of HIF-1 α can ameliorate the brain damage of neonatal rats induced by hypoxia-ischemia.Therefore,it is hypothesized that HIF-1α may cause injury in the early stage of HIBD in neonatal rats.
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Objective To observe the effect of ginkgobalide B (GB) on neurocyte apoptosis and protein kinase B expression in neonatal rats after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD).Methods Ninety seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham group,an HIBD group and a GB group,each of 30.HIBD was induced in the HIBD and GB groups using the classical Rice method,while the sham group was given a sham operation.GB (10 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally to the rats in the GB group at 0 h and 24 h after the modeling.Then 6 rats were killed 6 h,12 h,24 h and 48 h after the modeling,and the expression of caspase-3 mRNA was detected using a real-time PCR to find the time point of maximum effectiveness.Then to further explore the role of the PI3K-AKT pathway in the anti-apoptosis effect of ginkgolide B,a a GB+LY294002 group of 6 rats,which was injected with PI3K-AKT pathway inhibitor LY294002 (1.8 mg/kg) intraperitoneally at 30 min before the modeling and with GB(10 mg/kg) at 0 h and 24 h after the modeling,was added to the experiment.Hematoxylin-eosin staining,terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling and immunohistochemical staining were then used to observe any morphological changes in the cortex,to detect neuronal apoptosis and to quantify the expression of P-AKT protein.Results The expression of caspase-3 in the HI and GB groups began to increase 6 hours after the HIBD and reached a peak after 24 hours,followed by a gradual decline.The expression of caspase-3 in the GB group was significantly lower than in the HI group throughout,while that of both of those groups was significantly higher than in the sham group.Apoptosis-positive cells and the expression of caspase-3increased had significantly in the HI,GB and GB+LY294002 groups 24 hours after the HIBD compared with the sham group,while the expression of P-AKT protein had decreased significantly.Moreover,the apoptosis-positive cells and the expression of caspase-3 of the HI and GB+LY294002 groups were significantly high-er than those of the GB group,while their expression of P-AKT protein was significantly lower after 24 hours.Conclusion Ginkgobalide B can decrease neurocyte apoptosis caused by hypoxic-ischemic brain damage,especially at 24 h after the damage.The PI3K-AKT signaling pathway plays an important role in this effect.
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Objective To study the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a(HIF-1α) at mRNA and protein levels in the early stage of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in neonatal rats and its role.Methods (1) Experiment 1:thirty-six postnatal 7-day SD rats were divided into Sham group (n =6) and model group (HIBD,n =30) according to the random table method,then the rats in the model group were divided into 5 subgroups according to the time of sacrifice after HIBD(6 h,12 h,24 h,48 h,72 h,n =6).The expression levels of HIF-1cα mRNA and protein were detected by quantitative Real-time PCR(qPCR) and Western blot,respectively.(2) Experiment 2:forty-five postnatal 7-day SD rats were randomized into 3 groups:Sham group (n =15),HIBD group (n =15) and 2-methoxyestradiol(2ME2) group(n =15).According to the experiment 1,at the time point of the highest expression levels of HIF-1 α mRNA and protein,rats were killed and the brains were collected.The location and expression of HIF-1 α protein were detected by immunofluorescence,histopathological changes of brain were observed by HE staining,brain water content was measured by dry-wet method,cell apoptosis was detected by nick end labeling(TUNEL) method.Results At the early stage of HIBD,the expression levels of HIF-1 α mRNA and protein increased at first and then decreased,and the mRNA expression level (3.38 ± 0.21) and protein expression level (2.81 ± 0.36) were the highest at 24 h after HIBD.In Sham group,HIF-1 α protein was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm,while in HIBD group it was mainly expressed in the nucleus.The number of HIF-1α staining positive cells,brain water content and apoptosis rate were significantly different among Sham group,HIBD group and 2ME2 group (all P ＜ 0.05),and which were significantly lower in 2ME2 group than those in HIBD group (all P ＜ 0.05),and the pathological changes were also less serious than those in HIBD group.Conclusions The mRNA and protein levels of HIF-1 α are the highest at 24 h after HIBD.Inhibiting the expression of HIF-1 α can ameliorate the brain damage of neonatal rats induced by hypoxia-ischemia.Therefore,it is hypothesized that HIF-1α may cause injury in the early stage of HIBD in neonatal rats.