Alterations of regional homogeneity and interhemispheric voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity in patients with methamphetamine dependence / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the differences of spontaneous neural activity and functional connectivity between bilateral symmetrical voxels in the local brain regions at resting-state of methamphetamine (MA) dependent patients and healthy controls (HCs).Methods:Forty-six MA-dependent patients, admitted to and received drug rehabilitation treatment for the first time in our hospital from February 2014 to October 2019, and 46 HCs matched with age, gender and education level during the same period were enrolled in this study. The resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of these subjects were collected; the static and dynamic regional homogeneity (ReHo, d-ReHo) and static and dynamic voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC, d-VMHC) were used to evaluate MA-related alterations of brain spontaneous activity and interhemispheric functional connectivity. The correlations of brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS) scores with above values in the brain regions with significant inter-group differences were analyzed.Results:As compared with the HCs, the MA-dependent patients had significantly decreased ReHo in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), and significantly increased d-ReHo in the left mOFC, left middle frontal gyrus, bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus and left postcentral gyrus ( P<0.05). As compared with the HCs, the MA-dependent patients had significantly decreased VMHC in the bilateral mOFC, precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus ( P<0.05). The ReHo, VMHC, d-ReHo, and d-VMHC were not significantly correlated with total scores and each factor scores of BPRS, and total dose of MA (after removing outliers) in MA-dependent patients ( P>0.05). Conclusion:During resting state, MA-dependent patients show obvious abnormalities in the coordination and stability of spontaneous neural activity and the coordination of interhemispheric activity in local brain regions, especially in the mOFC; abnormal ReHo, d-ReHo and VMHC in left mOFC may be important neuroimaging biomarkers for MA-dependence.

Aberrant topology of functional networks in chronic methamphetamine-dependent patients / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the topological alterations of brain functional networks in patients with chronic methamphetamine (MA) dependence.Methods:Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map the brain networks of 46 patients with MA-dependence (MA group) and 46 healthy controls (control group). Statistical methods were used to compare the differences of brain functional connection and topological parameters between the two groups, and the correlations between these topological parameters with significant inter-group differences and clinical measurements were analyzed.Results:(1) Brain functional connection: as compared with the control group, the MA group had significantly enhanced functional connectivity in the subnetworks consisting of several brain regions, including the inferior parietal lobule, posterior central gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, ventromedial occipital cortex, orbital gyrus, anterior central gyrus, fusiform gyrus, superior temporal gyrus and thalamus; as compared with the control group, the MA group had significantly attenuated functional connectivity in the subnetworks consisting of several brain regions, the orbit frontal cortex, precentral gyrus, paracenter lobule, inferior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, postcentral gyrus, medioventral occipital cortex, lateral occipital cortex and amygdala. (2) Network topology attributes: the brain functional networks in all subjects from the MA group and control group held worldlet; but attribute of worldlet in the MA group was significantly reduced as compared with that in the control group ( P<0.05); moreover, the MA group had significantly decreased clustering coefficient, local efficiency, and modularity as compared with the control group ( P<0.05). In terms of regional topological attributes, such as betweenness centrality, the MA group presented evident reduction in the left superior frontal gyrus, right orbit frontal cortex, right middle temporal gyrus and right/left lateral occipital cortex as compared with the control group with significant differences ( P<0.05). (3)Correlation analysis: the betweenness centrality of right middle temporal gyrus exhibited a positive correlation with the age of patients using MA for the first time ( r=0.327, P=0.028); a positive correlation was found between the modularity and activating factor scores in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) in MA group ( r=0.315, P=0.035). Conclusions:Part of the global/local topological attributes of the brain functional network of patients with MA addiction are damaged. The younger the patients are when they take MA for the first time, the lower the betweenness centrality of the right middle temporal gyrus; the more the local attributes are damaged; and furthermore, the deeper the network modularity, the severer the active symptoms in the psychotic symptoms.

Intumescent abdomen,diminish strength and pericarditis / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

There was a 1 1 -year -old school -aged girl complaining of abdomen intumescing and declining physical fitness for 1 6 months,and hydropericardium for 5 months.The child had a intumescent abdomen and strength diminished strength suddenly.After the strenuous exercise she was more tired than before and lost her appetite.The girl was found cardiac enlargement and calcification of pericardium during security check at the airport.The thoracoabdomi-nal computed tomography(CT)suggested hydropericardium,hydrothorax effusion in the right,and seroperitoneum,pel-vic effusion.The girl had no response to pericardiocentesises,anti -inflammation and antituberculosis therapies.The in-flammatory markers and the findings of autoimmunity were normal after her admission.The purified protein derivatives (PPD)test was (++),but the antituberculosis therapy was invalid,so the diagnosis was unclear.The she had peri-cardiectomy.The pericardium visceral and parietale′s pathology showed hyperplasia,hyalinosis and organization of fi-brous connective tissue,congestion of the blood capillaries,infiltration of inflammatory cells.Terminally,she was diag-nosed as constrictive pericarditis.Symptoms disappeared after treatments with cardiotonic,diuretic and potassium sup-ply.The comprehensive analysis is important clinically,the possible causes should be removed gradually,and pathologi-cal examination must be emphasized during the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis.

Effect of melittin on proliferation and apoptosis of human HepG2 cells / 中国药理学通报

Aim To observe the effect of melittin on human hepatocelluar carcinoma HepG2 cell prolifera-tion in vitro and its further mechanisms.Methods The capacity of cellular proliferation and apoptosis was measured with the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay,Hoechst 33258 assay and Annexin V-FITC /PI assay.The mR-NA expression of Shh, PTCH1, SMO, GLi1 and HDAC2 was performed by qRT-PCR.And the protein expression of Shh,PTCH1,SMO,GLi1 and HDAC2 was assessed by western blotting.Results Our study found that melittin effectively inhibited cell prolifera-tion and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro using MTT method and Flow cytometry.The mRNA and protein expression of Shh,PTCH1,SMO,GLi1 and HDAC2 were obviously decreased after treated with various con-centrations of melittin for 48h in HepG2 cells.Conclu-sions Taken together,our data suggest that melittin could inhibit cell proliferation and promote cell apopto-sis,reduce the level of HDAC2 and down-regulate the Hedgehog signaling pathway in this process simultane-ously.