Preliminary study of brain glucose metabolism changes in patients with lung cancer of different histological types / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Cerebral glucose metabolism changes are always observed in patients suffering from malignant tumors. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the brain glucose metabolism changes in patients with lung cancer of different histological types.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and twenty patients with primary untreated lung cancer, who visited People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University from February 2012 to July 2013, were divided into three groups based on histological types confirmed by biopsy or surgical pathology, which included adenocarcinoma (52 cases), squamous cell carcinoma (43 cases), and small-cell carcinoma (25 cases). The whole body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) of these cases was retrospectively studied. The brain PET data of three groups were analyzed individually using statistical parametric maps (SPM) software, with 50 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls for comparison.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The brain resting glucose metabolism in all three lung cancer groups showed regional cerebral metabolic reduction. The hypo-metabolic cerebral regions were mainly distributed at the left superior and middle frontal, bilateral superior and middle temporal and inferior and middle temporal gyrus. Besides, the hypo-metabolic regions were also found in the right inferior parietal lobule and hippocampus in the small-cell carcinoma group. The area of the total hypo-metabolic cerebral regions in the small-cell carcinoma group (total voxel value 3255) was larger than those in the adenocarcinoma group (total voxel value 1217) and squamous cell carcinoma group (total voxel value 1292).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The brain resting glucose metabolism in patients with lung cancer shows regional cerebral metabolic reduction and the brain hypo-metabolic changes are related to the histological types of lung cancer.</p>

Initial study of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging in brain white matter of early AIDS patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>HIV is a neurotropic virus which can cause brain white matter demyelination, gliosis, and other pathological changes that appear as HIV encephalitis or AIDS dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of the diffused condition of water molecules in brain white matter in early acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients using MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>DTI examinations were performed on a Siemens 3.0T MR scanner in 23 AIDS patients with normal brain appearance by conventional MRI and 20 healthy volunteers as the control group. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured in nine regions; corpus callosum (CC) knee, CC body, CC splenium, periventricular white matter, frontal lobe white matter, parietal lobe white matter, occipital lobe white matter, and the anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsule. The mean FA and ADC values from each region were compared in three groups: the symptomatic, asymptomatic and the control.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean FA values were significantly lower and the mean ADC values were significantly higher in all nine regions in patients in the symptomatic group than in the asymptomatic and control group patients. In the asymptomatic group, the mean FA values were significantly lower and the mean ADC values were significantly higher at the CC knee, CC body, CC splenium, periventricular white matter, frontal lobe white matter and parietal lobe white matter, than in the control group. There were no significant differences at other regions between the two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The diffused changes of water molecules in brain white matter in AIDS patients are related to brain white matter regions. DTI examination can detect the brain white matter lesions early in AIDS patients.</p>

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in AIDS patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The pathological abnormalities of the AIDS patients lie in the subcortical regions of the brain, specifically the deep white matter and basal ganglia, while the extent of pathology generally correlates with the severity of cognitive impairments in the white matter and basal ganglia. Brain metabolite changes of these lesions can reflect the pathological abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in AIDS patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>3.0T MR was used to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (MI) and creatinine (Cr) in the frontal white matter, basal ganglia and parietal cortex of 21 AIDS patients with dementia complex (ADC), 19 AIDS patients with neuroasymptomatic (NAS) and 20 seronegative (SN) controls. Then we compared the difference of metabolic rate between AIDS patients and SN groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>NAA/Cr (mean = 1.2502, SD = 0.1600) was significantly decreased and Cho/Cr (mean = 1.2028, SD = 1.1655) was increased in the frontal white matter in ADC group, while NAA/Cr (mean = 1.5334, SD = 0.0513) was reduced in NAS group when compared with SN group. NAA/Cr in the basal ganglia was decreased in both ADC and NAS groups (mean = 1.2625, SD = 0.1615 and mean = 1.5278, SD = 0.0380, respectively). Cho/Cr (mean = 1.1631, SD = 0.0981) was markedly increased in ADC group. Although NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and MI/Cr in the parietal cortex had a certain change in both ADC and NAS groups compared with SN group, the differences were not statistically significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The brain metabolite changes of AIDS patients are correlated with cognitive impairments. MRS can be used as a valuable inspection method to assess cognitive impairments in AIDS patients.</p>