Application of combined AD8 and MMSE in detecting cognitive impairment in servicemen undergoing physical examination / 中华老年心脑血管病杂志

Objective To study the sensitivity and specificity of combined AD8 and MMSE in detecting cognitive impairment in servicemen undergoing physical examination.Methods Cognitive impairment in 1723 servicemen undergoing physical examination in our hospital was assesed according to their AD8 and MMSE scores.Results The AD8 score was ≥2 in 326 (18.9％) out of the 1723 servicemen who underwent AD8 examination and in 84 (52.2％) out of the 161 servicemen who complained of cognitive impairment detected by MMSE.The MMSE was abnormal in 78 (48.4％) out of the 161 servicemen who complained of cognitive impairment.Of the 66 servicemen (41.0％) who were diagnosed with dementia,46 (69.7％) were diagnosed according to their AD8 score and 55 (83.3％) were diagnosed according to their MMSE score.ROC curve analysis showed that the specificity (91.6％) of combined AD8 and MMSE was significantly higher than that (60.0％) of simple AD8.Covariance analysis revealed that the score of trail making test-A was significantly higher while that of MMSE,delay recall,executive function,working memory and word fluency was significantly lower in servicemen with abnormal AD8 and MMSE than in those with normal AD8 and MMSE (P＜0.01).Conclusion Combined AD8 and MMSE can improve its specificity and reliability in detecting dementia in servicemen undergoing physical examination and can thus be popularized in grass-root medical and healthcare institutions.

Application of A(2)DS(2) score for predicting post-stroke pneumonia in elderly patients / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the risk factors for post-stroke pneumonia and assess the value of A(2)DS(2) score in predicting post-stroke pneumonia in elderly stroke patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data were retrospectively collected from elderly stroke patients from January, 2007 to December, 2012. A(2)DS(2) score was then assigned using the clinical information from the medical record. The ability of the score to discriminate between patients with post-stroke pneumonia and those without was quantified using ROC analysis. The calibration of the score was analyzed using Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 131 elderly male stroke patients were enrolled in this study, among whom the incidence of post-stroke pneumonia was 29.01%. The independent risk factors for post-stroke pneumonia identified included moderate (P=0.0081, OR: 5.6089; 95%CI: 1.5663-20.0854) and severe (P=0.0048, OR: 44.4827; 95%CI: 3.1847-621.3126) neurological impairment, dysphagia (P=0.0005, OR: 7.5265; 95%CI: 2.4282-23.3292), and atrial fibrillation (P=0.0226, OR: 4.1778; 95%CI: 1.2221-14.2825). The incidence of post-stroke pneumonia ranged from 2.2% in patients with a A(2)DS(2) score less than 3 to 75% in those with a score higher than 8. The C-statistic of A(2)DS(2) score for predicting post-stroke pneumonia was 0.86 (95%CI: 0.784-0.911) by the ROC analysis. The A(2)DS(2) score was well calibrated to predict post-stroke pneumonia in elderly patients by Hosmer-Lemeshow test (7.083, P=0.528).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The A(2)DS(2) score can be useful for predicting post-stroke pneumonia and for routine monitoring of high-risk elderly stroke patients in the clinical setting.</p>

A cross-sectional study of neurological disease in the veterans of military communities in Beijing / 中华内科杂志

Objective To investigate the prevalence of cognitive and motor disorders as well as emotional and sleep abnormality in the veterans from military communities in Beijing. Methods The participants underwent a comprehensive in-person evaluation including detailed neuropsychological testing,Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and special questionnaires for movement and sleep disorders. Results The overall prevalence of cognitive impairment, extrapyramidal diseases was 32.7%, 8.8% . The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinson disease, essential tremor, anxiety and depression was 26.2% , 6.5% , 2.0% , 6.1 % , 1.4% and 4.1% respectively. Prevalence of all kinds of sleep disorders ranged from 10. 3% to 53. 9%. The prevalence of cognitive impairment had no significant difference of sex, but were correlated to age and education, the correlation coefficient was 0. 326 and -0.221 ( P<0.01) . Conclusion Veterans from military communities had higher prevalence of cognitive impairment, extrapyramidal diseases and sleep disorders and lower that of anxiety and depression relatively.

Transfection of mouse L-M (TK-) cells with Wnt3a and its effect on the subcellular distribution of beta-catenin / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Wnt signaling pathway plays an important regulative role in the embryonic development processes. Accordingly, it is of great significance to establish the cell model of Wnt signaling pathway so as to conduct study on it. OBJECTIVE: To establish Wnt signaling pathway cell model by transfecting L-M (TK-) cells with Wnt3a eukaryotic expression plasmid, and to investigate the effect of canonical Wnt signal pathway on the β-catenin subcellular distribution. METHODS: The eukaryotic expression plasmid pgk-Wnt3a-pcDNA3.0 after amplification was digested by restriction endonuclease first. Then it was transfected together with the control plasmid pgk-neo-pcDNA3.0 into L-M (TK-) cells via lipofection, after which the cell colony was screened by G418 for amplification. RT-PCR was used for detecting the expression products and the indirect immunofluorescence assay for observing the effect of Wnt3a on the β-catenin subcellular localization of L-M (TK-) cells. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The Wnt3a plasmid was verified by endonuclease digestion to have produced the expected plasmids after amplification. According to the RT-PCR detection to the 10 stably-transfected cell colonies achieved by 3 weeks of G418 screening, it was seen, on the L-Wnt3a cDNA, a strip of bright band of 320 bp in length, which showed that the products of amplification were exactly the expected fragments and that the Wnt3a plasmid was expressed on mRNA transcriptional level after being transfected with L-M (TK-) cells. In contrast, no expected band was found on the cDNA of L-M (TK-) calls transfecting the control plasmid. In addition, the immunofiuorescence assay detection showed that the protein expression of Wnt3a was found in the cytoplasm of the L-M(TK-) cells tranfecting Wnt3a plasmid, while for those transfecting the control plasmid, it was opposite. β-catenin, as showing by bright red fluorescence, was found to concentrate and enter into the nucleus of the L-M (TK-) cells transfecting Wnt3a plasmid, while for those transfecting the control plasmid, it was opposite. Cell model with continually activated Wnt signaling pathway is established. The stable expression of Wnt3a in L-M (TK-) cells transfected with pgk-Wnt3a-pcDNA3.0 is obtained. The expression of Wnt3a is able to promote the transfer of β-catenin from cytoplasms into nucleus in L-M (TK-) cells.

Effect of Ruditapes philippinarum diet on the development of experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits / 中国海洋药物

Objective To evaluate the effect of diets rich in Ruditapes philippinarum on the development of atherosclerosis. Methods The rabbits were fed with normal forage or high lipid diet with a daily supplement of Ruditapes philippinarum for 8 weeks respectively. Serum lipid, the area of atherosclerotic plaque and IMT were analysed.Results Compared with control group, serum lipid profiles didn't change obviously and atherosclerotic lesion was not observed in group fed with a supplement of RP. Compared with model group, the concentration of serum TC, TG and LDL C/HDL C decreased significantly, while the concentration of serum HDL C increased significantly in group fed with high lipid forage and a supplement of RP (p