Abnormal ventral attention network homogeneity in patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: The attention network is the structural basis of cognitive function. As one of the two known attention networks, the ventral attention network (VAN) has a significant impact on the cognitive impairment of patients with epilepsy. Nevertheless, changes in network homogeneity (NH) are rarely reported in the VAN of right temporal lobe epilepsy (rTLE) patients. Therefore, we explored the NH of the VAN in rTLE patients in this study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy rTLE patients and 69 healthy controls were recruited. All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which was the primary method of evaluation. The executive control reaction time (ECRT) was examined via the attentional network test. The Data Processing Assistant for Resting-State fMRI (DPARSF) was used to analyze NH. The independent component analysis (ICA) and correlation analysis were used in data analysis. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy showed a lower NH in the right superior temporal gyrus, and a longer ECRT. However, abnormal NH values had no significant association with the clinical measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy have abnormal NH values in the VAN, and the executive functions in rTLE patients are also altered. The altered NH values in VAN may help provide new insights into the pathophysiology of cognitive impairment in rTLE.

Radiolabeled nucleosides for predicting and monitoring the cancer therapeutic efficacy of chemodrugs.

Uncontrolled cell proliferation is an important hallmark of cancer. Cancer treatment with cytostatic chemodrugs usually results in insignificant changes in tumor size, and thus limits the applications of anatomical imaging modalities for determining the therapeutic efficacy. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with cell proliferation probes to assess the clinical outcome during or soon after treatment is becoming acceptable. At present, monitoring DNA synthetic pathways with radiolabeled nucleoside probes that are essential for cell proliferation has been considered a more specific approach to predict tumor response. Among the four nucleosides, thymidine analogues, such as (18)F-FLT, have undergone years of development for clinical practice, while cytidine, adenosine and guanosine analogues receive less attention. Recently, several literatures have demonstrated that PET imaging with radiolabeled cytidine and adenosine analogues may have potential to evaluate immune response after chemotherapy, and may enable the prognosis forecast. In this review, we summarize the results of recent preclinical and clinical studies regarding using radiolabeled nucleoside analogues for predicting and monitoring tumor response in cancer treatment. The preparation protocols of these nucleoside scintigraphic probes are also described.

Brain nociceptive imaging in rats using (18)f-fluorodeoxyglucose small-animal positron emission tomography.

Preclinical exploration of pain processing in the brain as well as evaluating pain-relief drugs in small animals embodies the potential biophysical effects in humans. However, it is difficult to measure nociception-related cerebral metabolic changes in vivo, especially in unanesthetized animals. The present study used (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose small-animal positron emission tomography to produce cerebral metabolic maps associated with formalin-induced nociception. Anesthesia was not applied during the uptake period so as to reduce possible confounding effects on pain processing in the brain. The formalin stimulation at the hind paw of rats resulted in significant metabolic increases in the bilateral cingulate cortex, motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, insular cortex, visual cortex, caudate putamen, hippocampus, periaqueductal gray, amygdala, thalamus, and hypothalamus. Among the measured areas, clear lateralization was only evident in the primary somatosensory cortex and hypothalamus. In addition, pretreatment with lidocaine (4 mg/kg, i.v.) and morphine (10 mg/kg, i.v.) significantly suppressed formalin-induced cerebral metabolic increases in these areas. The present protocol allowed identification of the brain areas involved in pain processing, and should be useful in further evaluations of the effects of new drugs and preclinical therapies for pain.

99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT in healthy and 6-OHDA lesioned parkinsonian monkeys: comparison with 18F-FDOPA PET.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway, leading to a selective loss of dopamine in the striatum. 99mTc-TRODAT-1 is a recently developed radiotracer that selectively binds to the dopamine transporters, which are significant because loss of these transporters corresponds with a loss of dopaminergic neurons. The present investigation compared 99mTc-TRODAT-1 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 18F-FDOPA positron emission tomography (PET) in the evaluation of PD using a primate model. Three monkeys, including one 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned PD model and two controls, were examined by both 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT and 18F-FDOPA PET. For the PD monkey, expression of parkinsonian behaviour and 18F-FDOPA PET were used to evaluate the severity of the lesion. 99Tc-TRODAT-1 was prepared from a lyophilized kit. After intravenous injection of the radiotracer, SPECT was acquired over 4 h using a dual-head camera equipped with ultra-high resolution fan-beam collimators. Both uptake measurement and visual assessment were performed. Data were compared with motor behaviour and PET imaging. The striatal uptake in both healthy and PD monkeys increased continuously during the study, although the gradient of increase was less prominent in the diseased monkey. The increased uptake in the controls appeared to become blunt around 4 h after injection. A profound decrease of 99Tc-TRODAT-1 uptake was found in the striatum of the PD monkey compared with the controls (0.91 vs 2.16). In the PD monkey, the decrease of striatal uptake contralateral to the more affected side of the body was more prominent compared to the ipsilateral side (0.77 vs 1.06). In addition, greater loss occurred in the contralateral side of the putamen (0.54 vs 1.04). Changes of uptake ratios in the striatum and its subnuclei of the PD monkey were significantly correlated with those measured from PET. The loss of striatal uptake appeared greater in SPECT than the corresponding PET with both visual and uptake analyses. In conclusion, our data in a limited series of cases indicate that 99Tc-TRODAT-1 with a conventional nuclear medicine camera system may provide a suitable tool in evaluating parkinsonism in a primate model.

The use of prochiral centers for demonstrating asymmetric stacking in aggregates of azulenylazulenium cyanine dyes

[structure: see text]The diastereotopic methyl signals detected at low temperatures or high concentrations of an azulenylazulenium salt containing prochiral centers are consistent only with a model involving monomers in rapid equilibration with dimers in the staggered ("brickwork") arrangement and not in the "card-stacked" arrangement.

Facile synthesis of oxa- and azacyclic dienes via cycloalkenation of alkynyltungsten compounds. Stereoselective construction of tricyclic furan and pyran derivatives via intramolecular diels-alder reaction

A convenient and short synthesis of functionalized oxacyclic and azacyclic dienes is developed on the basis of organotungsten chemistry. Alkynyltungsten compounds bearing a tethered alcohol and amine are treated with aldehydes and BF(3).Et(2)O in cold diethyl ether to give tungsten-heterocyclic carbenium salts, further leading to tungsten-heterocyclic dienes via deprotonation with Et(3)N. Hydrodemetalation of these tungsten-heterocyclic dienes is performed by the action of anhydrous Me(3)NO in CH(3)CN. This method is applicable to the synthesis of a number of oxa- and azacyclic dienes, including those tethered with an electron-deficient olefin. The oxacyclic 1,3,8-nonatrienes and 1,3,9-decatrienes undergo intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions upon heating in toluene, yielding tricyclic tetrahydropyran and -furan derivatives with excellent diastereoselectivities.

31. Clinical Application of

Background and Purpose: [F-18]FDG has long been used for detection of the malignant tumors and assessment of the metabolic activity of the tumors. However, there are several drawbacks of FDG including hyperglycemic effect, nonspecific uptake on inflammation, sink phenomenon due to high accumulation of FDG in urinary tract, and physiologic uptake of FDG in the bowels and muscles, which may cause false positive as well as false negative results. [C-11]acetate, as a metabolic substrate of beta-oxidation, precursors of amino acid, fatty acid and sterol, has been proved useful in detecting various malignancies. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of clinical application of [C-11]acetate in oncology.Methods: High quality whole body images could be obtained by using large dosage (20 mCi) of [C-11]acetate and modern PET scanner. In the recent years, [C-11]acetate PET studies have been performed in 513 patients with various malignancies.Results: The results showed that [C-11]acetate is more accurate in detecting meningioma (accuracy 97%), glioma (91%), nasopharyngeal cancer (93%), lymphoma (85%), non-small cell cancer (81%), colon cancer (78%), renal cell cancer (80%), ovarian cancer (76%), than in detecting small cell cancer of lung, thyroid cancer, and pancreas cancer. The advantages of [C-11]acetate are less time consuming (whole procedure completed within 45 min after injection), no hyperglycemic effect and no sink phenomenon. The disadvantages are increased uptake in salivary glands, pancreas, and sometimes the bowels, which may cause either false positive or false negative results, and on-site-cyclotron dependent.Conclusion: In summary, [C-11]acetate is clinically useful in detecting various malignant tumors clinically and may play a complementary role to FDG.

Correlation of substituent effects and energy levels of the two lowest excited states of the azulenic chromophore

[structure: see text] Experimental and calculated data show that the relative energy levels of the two lowest excited states of azulene are sensitive to the nature and position of substituents on the nonalternant hydrocarbon. Extending such investigations led to a rational explanation for some of the baffling data on azulenic bacteriorhodopsin analogues in the literature.