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Objective To investigate the effects and the possible mechanisms of nerve growth factor (NGF) on serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) protein expression in rats with focal cerebral ischemia.Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighting 200 ～ 250 g were subjected to middle cerebral occlusion (MCAO).MCAO rats were randomly divided into NGF group,saline control group and NGF+PI3K antagonist group (n =12).The neurological function was evaluated on the 4th,7th day after MCAO,and the serum levels of VEGF and SDF-1 protein were measured by ELISA.Results The neurological function was better in rats of the NGF group than those of the saline control group and NGF+PI3K antagonist on the 4th,7th day after MCAO (P ＜ 0.05).The serum levels of VEGF and SDF-1 protein of the NGF group was significantly higher than that of the saline control group and NGF+PI3K antagonist group on the 4th day after MCAO (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Treatment with NGF may improve neurological function of rats with focal cerebral ischemia,and upregulate serum levels of VEGF and SDF-1 protein expression.PI3K/AKT signal pathway may have attended the above regulation.
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Objective To investigate the risk factors,severity and infarct site features and clinical characteristics of the elderly patients over 80 years with cute cerebral infarction.Methods One hundred and sixty-two patients with acute cerebral infarction in Red Cross Hospital of Guangzhou,The Forth Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Jinan University from January 2012 to May 2015 were enrolled and randomly divided into the elderly patients (≥ 80 years old) and the middle aged patients (＜ 60 years old).The risk factors,national institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) scores and Oxfordshire community stroke project (OCSP) criteria were compared between the two groups.Results Coronary artery disease,atrial fibrillation and NIHSS in the elderly patients (25％ (22/88),13.6％ (12/88),7.74 ± 4.986) were significantly higher than those of the middle aged group (12.2％ (9/47),4.1％ (3/74),5.04± 4.305),and the differences were significant (x2 =4.281,4.393,t =-3.649;P＜ 0.05 or P＜ 0.001).The logistic regression analysis finally showed that smoking,hyperlipemia,NIHSS scores and gender(male) were the independent risk factors(OR=3.851,3.609,1.100 and 2.670;P＜0.05).There were more LACI patients in the elderly group than he middle aged group ((40.9％,36/88) vs.(60.8％,45/74),x2 =6.369,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Compare to the middle aged patients,occurrence of the elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction is more severe,and the clinical features and risk factors have its particularity.Secondary prevention strategy should be emphasized on the control of different risk factors based on the patients' age.
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Objective To explore the effect of different types of statins combined with donepezil in the treatment of Alzheimer disease(AD).Methods According to the digital table,90 patients with AD were randomly divided into the statins A group(atrovstatin combined with donepezil) 31 cases,statins B group(simvastatin combined with donepezil)27 cases,and donepezil group(only with donepezil) 32 cases.All patients were treated for one year.The blood lipid level (including cholesterol (CH) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),mini-mental state examination(MMSE),activity of daily living(ADL) and global deterioration scale (GDS) were detected and compared respectively among groups before and after treatment.Results The MMSE,ADL and GDS scores of the donepezil group were (17.00 ± 2.99) points,(60.44 ± 14.57) points,(4.28 ± 1.22) points,respectively,which were worse than those of the statins A group [(19.90 ± 3.07) points,(71.61 ± 18.50) points,(3.39 ± 1.15) points] (t =0.218,P ＜ 0.05,t =2.669,P ＜ 0.01,t =2.562,P ＜ 0.01) and statins B group [(19.88 ± 6.66) points,(71.89 ± 19.61) points,(3.37 ±l.39)points](t=l.959,P ＜0.05,t=2.991,P ＜0.0l,t=2,265,P ＜0.01).Conclusion The combination of donepezil and statins can effectively improve cognitive function and daily living ability in patients with AD,and its effect is superior to single use of donepezil.
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Objective To investigate the spontaneons recovery of calculation and number processing in patients with stroke.Methods Assessment of calculation and number processing were performed in 30 stroke patients with stable conditions (21 cerebral infarction and 9 cerebral hemorrhage) within 3 weeks after stroke,and they were followed up for one year.Calculation and number processing was assessed using the Revised EC301 Calculation and Number Processing Battery in Chinese version at 3,6,and 12 months after stroke onset.Results The scores in the areas of numerical sequences,numerical understanding,numerical transcoding,numerical calculation,numerical knowledge and the total scores increased significantly with the passage of time (all P ＜0.001).There were significant differences between each area and total scores at 3,6,and 12 months after stroke and those at 3 weeks (all P ＜0.01),however,there were no significant differences among the three time points.The total scores and the scores in each area increased significantly with the passage of time in the cerebral infarction group and the hemorrhage group (all P ＜0.001),however,there were no significant differences in each area at the same time point between the two groups.There was significant difference in the recovery of the total scores between the cerebral hemorrhage group and the cerebral infarction group (P =0.008).Pearson correlation analysis showed that the recovery of the calculation and number processing in all patients (R =0.452,P =0.012) as well as in the cerebral infarction group (R =0.683,P=0.001) and the cerebral hemorrhage group (R =0.250,P =0.049) within one year showed a significant positive correlation with the total score of the first assessment.Conclusions The impaired calculation and number processing may partly spontaneously recover after stoke,and it shows significant improvement within 3 months after onset.The recovery in patients with cerebral hemorrhage may be better than that in those with cerebral infarction.The more serious the impairment in initial calculation and number processing,the worse the spontaneous recovery will be.
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Objective To investigate errors and the mechanism of acalculia in patients with left or right hemisphere cerebral infarction.Methods Fifty-six patients with single hemisphere cerebral infarction and 56 normal adults who were matched in age,sex and years of education were tested with EC301-CR.The patients were divided into a left hemisphere cerebral infarction group(n =34)and a right hemisphere cerebral infarction group(n =22).Results The scores on 30 out of 32 EC301-CR items were significantly lower among the patients than in the normal control group.Scores on 14 EC301-CR items were significantly lower in the left hemisphere group than in the right hemisphere group.In the left hemisphere group the item scores of aphasia patients were significantly lower than those of no-aphasia patients except on digit identity.Conclusion Mathematical processing and calculation were impaired in patients with single hemisphere cerebral infarction.Calculation was significantly worse among left hemisphere patients compared with right hemisphere cerebral infarction.There was a highly significant correlation between acalculia and aphasia.