[Chinese characters morphological and phonetic working memory impairment in early Parkinson disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of Chinese characters morphological and phonetic working memory in early Parkinson disease (PD) patients and the underlying neuropsychological and patho-physiological mechanisms. METHODS: The Smith working memory software was modified and further developed to be used to investigate the Chinese characters morphological and phonetic working memory in early PD patients and healthy controls. RESULTS: Twenty early PD patients, 10 males and 10 females, aged (62.2 +/- 2.3), with (13.6 +/- 0.6) years of full-time study and the MMSE score of (28.2 +/- 0.5), and 25 sex, age, schooling time, and MMSE score-matched healthy controls underwent Chinese characters morphological working memory test. The correct rate of Chinese characters morphological working memory of the PD patients was 91.8% +/- 1.9%, not significantly different from that of the healthy controls (91.3% +/- 1.4%, P = 0.823). Twenty-five early PD patients, 13 males and 12 females, aged (64 +/- 11), with (14.4 +/- 2.2) years of full-time study and the MMSE score of (28.9 +/- 0.4), and 25 sex, age, schooling time, and MMSE score-matched healthy controls underwent Chinese characters phonetic working memory test. The correct rate of Chinese characters phonetic working memory of the PD patients was 89.3% +/- 6.3%, significantly lower than that of the healthy controls (94.1% +/- 5.1% , P = 0. 007). Further more the Chinese characters in the test were classified into four groups according to the syllable and intonation: with same syllable and same intonation, with same syllable and different intonation, with different syllable and same intonation, and with both different syllable and intonation. The correct rates to these groups were recorded separately. The correct rate to Chinese character group of the same syllable with different intonation of the PD patients was 80.2% +/- 2.5%, significantly lower than that of the healthy controls (86.3% +/- 1.8%, P = 0.01), and there were not significant differences in the correct rate to other Chinese character groups. The correct rate of phonetic working memory of the PD patients with left extremity onset was 88.0% +/- 6.5%, significantly lower than that of the healthy controls (94.1% +/- 5.1%, P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Phonetic verbal working memory impairment exists in early PD patients. Intonation may play a role in the phonetic verbal working memory impairment in the early PD patients. Different verbal working memory subsystems may use different neurocircuits.

[Study on the correlation of between infection, inflammation and coronary artery disease].

OBJECTIVE: Recently studies showed infections of Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp), Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) played roles in the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to study relationship between infection of Cp, Hp and CMV, systemic inflammation and coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: Fourty-five patients with at least one coronary artery stenosis > 50% and 33 control subjects with negative coronary angiography were recruited for this case-control study from May 2000 to October 2001. Antibodies against Cp, Hp and CMV were measured and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels determined for each case. CRP level > 0.8 mg/dl was defined at elevated CRP level. RESULTS: The prevalence of Cp IgG, Hp IgG or Hp IgA antibody was associated with CAD (P = 0.017, P < 0.001, P = 0.009). After adjustment for age, gender, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes, the association was still seen. Mean CRP value was significantly higher in patients with CAD, compared to those without CAD (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed statistical significance (P = 0.03). Elevated levels of CRP were found to be an important parameter for CAD (P = 0.032). The prevalence of Cp IgG antibody, Hp IgG and CMV IgG antibody all showed no association with elevated levels of CRP (P = 0.391, P = 0.253, P = 0.724). The ratio of elevated levels of serum basic CRP in the group with IgG antibodies to 3 pathogens was 32.1% while in the group with IgG antibodies to

Mirror writing of Chinese characters in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Thirty-five patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 35 normal subjects were investigated using handedness, the writing part of the Chinese Aphasic Examination Scale. All subjects were instructed to write with their left and right hands. Among them, 19 cases of PD and 19 controls were examined by intelligence, visuo-spatial perception and visual memory tests. Seven of the 35 PD patients (20.0%) and three out of 35 normal subjects (8.6%) showed mirror writing when they were asked to write with their left hand. The percentage of occurrence of mirror writing in PD patients was higher, but not statistically significant, and the degree of mirror writing more severe. Mirror writing in PD may be related to the PD per se, educational level and ageing. In the PD group, the intelligence of the seven cases with mirror writing was significantly lower than the others, but visuo-spatial perception and visual memory showed no significant difference except for the Stick-Frame Test. It is suggested that mirror writing in PD may be related to intelligence but not to visuo-spatial perception and visual memory. In this paper the classification criteria of mirror writing is suggested.