Cortical and Subcortical Grey Matter Abnormalities in White Matter Hyperintensities and Subsequent Cognitive Impairment / 神经科学通报·英文版

Grey matter (GM) alterations may contribute to cognitive decline in individuals with white matter hyperintensities (WMH) but no consensus has yet emerged. Here, we investigated cortical thickness and grey matter volume in 23 WMH patients with mild cognitive impairment (WMH-MCI), 43 WMH patients without cognitive impairment, and 55 healthy controls. Both WMH groups showed GM atrophy in the bilateral thalamus, fronto-insular cortices, and several parietal-temporal regions, and the WMH-MCI group showed more extensive and severe GM atrophy. The GM atrophy in the thalamus and fronto-insular cortices was associated with cognitive decline in the WMH-MCI patients and may mediate the relationship between WMH and cognition in WMH patients. Furthermore, the main results were well replicated in an independent dataset from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database and in other control analyses. These comprehensive results provide robust evidence of specific GM alterations underlying WMH and subsequent cognitive impairment.

Acupuncture expectation and its clinical evaluation / 中国针灸

Acupuncture expectation refers to the subjective estimation for the effect of acupuncture to be applied. As sham acupuncture is usually used in acupuncture randomized clinical trials,there exists the effect of acupuncture expectation on subjects. It is necessary to evaluate and standardize it. The factors that influence the evaluation standard of acupuncture expectations are different acupuncture expectation value evaluations,evaluation criterions and time points. They will affect the evaluation of clinical efficacy. It is urgent to establish a unified evaluation standard to improve its reliability.

Psychological factors are closely associated with the Bell's palsy: A case-control study / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

To observe the differences in psychological status between Bell's palsy (BP) patients and healthy subjects, and to examine the relationship between psychological factors and the severity of BP, we conducted a case-control, multi-center clinical investigation. A total of 695 subjects were assigned to the case group (n=355) and the control group (n=340). House-Brackmann grading system and Facial Disability Index (FDI) were adopted to assess the BP patients; Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and 16 Personality Factor (16PF) scale were employed to evaluate the psychological distress and personality profiles of all subjects. Two independent samples t test was used to compare the differences between cases and controls, and to compare the differences among different BP patients. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between psychological factors and severity of facial paralysis. The results showed that psychological distress (K10) in case group (27.09±5.80) was significantly higher than that in control group (13.43±3.02) (t=-37.219, P=0.000). The scores of personality factor Warmth (A), Openness to Change (Q1), Self-Reliance (Q2) were lower in cases than in the controls (P<0.01, P<0.05, P<0.05, respectively), whereas the scores of Sensitivity (I), Vigilance (L), Apprehension (O), and Tension (Q4) were significantly higher in cases than in the controls (P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.01, P<0.01, respectively). In addition, the psychological distress was significantly higher in female patients, severe (HB score IV-VI) patients, and subacute (onset time 72-168 h) patients compared with that in male patients, mild (HB score I-III)patients, and acute (onset time[Symbol: see text]72 h) patients (P<0.05). The scores of personality factor in female patients, severe patients, and subacute patients were also significantly different from male patients, mild patients, and acute patients (P<0.05). The result of Pearson correlation analysis showed that psychological factors (K10, personality A, F, L, N, O, Q4) were closely related to HB scores. We are led to conclude that the psychological status between BP patients and healthy people are different; psychological distress and personality factors are closely associated with severity of facial paralysis.

Identification of common variants within KCNK17 in Chinese Han population / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

KCNK17 is a member of the acid-sensitive subfamily of tandem pore K(+) channels, which are open at all membrane potentials an red contribute to cellular resting membrane potential. Recent genome-wide study (GWA) has shown that variants within KCNK17 confer genetic susceptibility for increasing ischemic stroke. In an effort to discover additional polymorphism(s), we scrutinized the genetic polymorphisms in the KCNK17. By direct DNA sequencing in 32 individuals, we identified nine sequence variants within the 16 kb of whole KCNK17 gene: one in exon1, one in intron and seven in the promoter region. Haplotypes, their frequencies and linkage disequilibrium coefficients (D'), among polymorphisms were estimated. All the polymorphisms in the 5'-flanking region (SNP2-SNP7) being in complete (or nearly complete) association with each other in the promoter region maybe produce synergistic effect to regulate the expression of KCNK17 gene and then have an influence on the pathogenesis of cerebrovascular diseases. The common haplotypes were observed comprising 88.9% of the total haplotypes in the same block. Bioinformatic analysis predicted several potential transcriptional factors binding sites by SNP -95, -134, -596 and -846. However, these binding sites need to be experimentally verified. The information concerning genetic polymorphisms of KCNK17 gene might provide valuable information for future genetic studies of diseases.