Health literacy and fatigue, anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma from West China: A cross-sectional study.

Background and Aims: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients are associated with excellent prognosis but impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL) by initial and subsequent therapy. Health literacy plays a pivotal role in public health and medical settings, but data on its relationship with DTC patients' HRQOL are insufficient and equivocal. This study was designed to explore the relationship between health literacy and HRQOL in patients with DTC from West China areas. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a descriptive correlational design was conducted. 126 patients with DTC were recruited between 2020 and 2021. Levels of health literacy and HRQOL (including fatigue level, anxiety/depression status, and somatoform symptoms) were assessed by questionnaires. Pearson product-moment correlation and Stepwise multiple regression were used to examined the adjusted association of health literacy with HRQOL. Results: Health literacy and receiving DTC-related education together explained 16.2% of the variance in fatigue level. Patients who had higher health literacy, received more DTC-related education were currently employed and less fatigue. Health literacy, fatigue level and DTC-related education together explained 31.0% of the variance in anxiety and depression of DTC patients. Patients who had higher health literacy, received more DTC-related education and less fatigue level were less anxious and depressive. Age explained 8.3% of the variance in DTC patients' somatoform symptoms. Older patients complained more somatoform symptoms. Conclusion: Health literacy was positively associated with HRQOL in DTC patients regarding to fatigue level and anxiety/depression status across the entire sample. Interventions to improve HRQOL should take the patients' health literacy into account.

OsLMP1, Encoding a Deubiquitinase, Regulates the Immune Response in Rice.

Lesion mimic mutants have become an effective material for understanding plant-microbe interactions and the immune mechanism in plants. Although many mechanisms responsible for the lesion mimic phenotype have been clarified in plants, the mechanism by which lesion mimic is regulated by posttranslational modification remained largely elusive, especially in rice. In this study, a mutant with the lesion mimic phenotype was obtained and named lmp1-1. Physiological measurements and quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the defense response was activated in the mutants. Transcriptome analysis showed that the phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) pathway was activated in the mutant, causing the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA). The results of mapping based cloning showed that OsLMP1 encodes a deubiquitinase. OsLMP1 can cleave ubiquitination precursors. Furthermore, OsLMP1 epigenetically modifies SA synthetic pathway genes by deubiquitinating H2B and regulates the immune response in rice. In summary, this study deepens our understanding of the function of OsLMP1 in the plant immune response and provides further insight into the relationship between plants and pathogenic microorganisms.

Effectiveness of Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians in Screening for Osteoporosis in Healthy Males Over 40 Years Old in China.

In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA) in screening for osteoporosis in the elderly male population in the Chengdu area, China. The Lunar Prodigy Advance bone densitometer was used to measure the bone mineral density of 11,039 healthy males over the age of 40 years. Men with OSTA scores of >-1, -4 < OSTA ≤ -1, or ≤-4 were assigned to the low-risk, moderate-risk, or high-risk group, respectively. The T-scores measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the different sites were compared across the groups. The bone mineral density of the lumbar spines L1-L4, the left femur, and other sites decreased gradually with age. With increasing age, the screening sensitivity of OSTA for osteoporosis in the lumbar spine and femur gradually increased, whereas its specificity decreased. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the OSTA index in different age groups and at different sites were 0.644-0.831. Therefore, the OSTA index demonstrated some value in screening for osteoporosis in men over the age of 50 years. Significant differences in its effectiveness were observed among different age groups.

Do the Symptoms of Kleine-Levin Syndrome Correlate With the Hypometabolism of the Thalamus on FDG PET?

A 15-year-old adolescent boy had experienced intermittent, recurrent hypersomnia lasting for 1 week to 3 weeks for more than 3 years. He was diagnosed with Kleine-Levin Syndrome clinically. The brain MRI, video EEG, and serum and cerebrospinal fluid analysis did not show any abnormality. An FDG PET/CT scanning was acquired when the patient was symptomatic, showing marked symmetric hypometabolism in the thalamus and hypothalamus in the symptomatic phase, as well as mild homogeneous decreased glucose metabolism in the cortex. Interestingly, another FDG PET/CT scan acquired when the patient was asymptomatic found much less severe hypometabolism in the thalamus and hypothalamus.

Association of variants in CDKN2A/2B and CDKAL1 genes with gestational insulin sensitivity and disposition in pregnant Han Chinese women.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Variants in cell cycle regulation genes, CDKAL1 and CDKN2A/2B, have been suggested to be associated with type 2 diabetes, and also play a role in insulin procession in non-diabetic European individuals. Rs7754580 in CDKAL1 and rs7020996 in CDKN2A/2B were found to be associated with gestational diabetes in Chinese individuals. In order to understand the metabolism mechanism of greatly upregulated maternal insulin signaling during pregnancy and the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes, we investigated the impact of rs7754580 and rs7020996 on gestational insulin regulation and procession. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 1,146 unrelated, non-diabetic, pregnant Han Chinese women (age 28.5 ± 4.1 years, body mass index 21.4 ± 2.6 kg/m(2)), and gave them oral glucose tolerance tests. The indices of insulin sensitivity, insulin disposition, insulin release and proinsulin to insulin conversion were calculated. Rs7754580 in the CDKAL1 gene and rs7020996 in the CDKN2A/2B gene were genotyped. Under an additive model, we analyzed the associations between the variants and gestational insulin indices using logistic regression. RESULTS: By adjusting for maternal age, body mass index and the related interactions, CDKAL1 rs7754580 risk allele C was detected to be associated with increased insulin sensitivity (P = 0.011), decreased insulin disposition (P = 0.0002) and 2-h proinsulin conversion (P = 0.017). CDKN2A/2B rs7020996 risk allele T was found to be related to decreased insulin sensitivity (P = 0.002) and increased insulin disposition (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that cell cycle regulating genes might have a distinctive effect on gestational insulin sensitivity, ß-cell function and proinsulin conversion in pregnant Han Chinese women.

The Impact of Genetic Variants for Different Physiological Characterization of Type 2 Diabetes Loci on Gestational Insulin Signaling in Nondiabetic Pregnant Chinese Women.

We investigate the impact of genetic variants on transiently upregulated gestational insulin signaling. We recruited 1152 unrelated nondiabetic pregnant Han Chinese women (age 28.5 ± 4.1 years; body mass index [BMI] 21.4 ± 2.6 kg/m(2)) and gave them oral glucose tolerance tests. Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, indices of insulin disposition, early-phase insulin release, fasting state, and 0 to 120 minute's proinsulin to insulin conversion were used to dissect insulin physiological characterization. Several variants related to ß-cell function were genotyped. The genetic impacts were analyzed using logistic regression under an additive model. By adjusting for maternal age, BMI, and the related interactions, the genetic variants in ABCC8, CDKAL1, CDKN2A, HNF1B, KCNJ11, and MTNR1B were detected to impact gestational insulin signaling through heterogeneous mechanisms; however, compared with that in nonpregnant metabolism, the genetic effects seem to be eminently and heavily influenced by maternal age and BMI, indicating possible particular mechanisms underlying gestational metabolism and diabetic pathogenesis.

Performance of the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA) in Screening Osteoporosis Among Middle-Aged and Old Women in the Chengdu Region of China.

The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of an osteoporosis self-assessment tool for Asians (OSTA) for screening middle-aged and old healthy women in the Chengdu region of China. OSTA scores were used to evaluate the effect of age on the development of osteoporosis. A total of 15,752 healthy women older than 40 yr, who reside in the Chengdu region, were assigned to 9 age groups divided by 5-yr intervals. Bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae, L1-L4, and the left hip was measured with a GE Lunar Prodigy advance dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry system (GE Healthcare, Cincinnati, OH). All subjects were classified into 3 categories according to OSTA cutoff values. The OSTA values used to define the categories were ≥-1, >-4 and <-1, and ≤-4. The accuracy of the OSTA index was compared with T-scores measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at various skeletal sites. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, version 17.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The detection rate of osteoporosis and osteopenia at the lumbar vertebrae and the femur was found to increase with age. Furthermore, the sensitivity of OSTA value for detection of osteoporosis also gradually enhanced with subject age. In contrast, the specificity gradually decreased with age. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of the OSTA index for detecting osteoporosis gradually increased with higher OSTA cutoff values, and the specificity and positive predictive value appeared to gradually decline. It was concluded that the OSTA is a useful screening tool to detect osteoporosis in middle-aged and old women in the Chengdu region of China. Furthermore, specific OSTA cutoff values should be selected for screening individuals who belong to different age groups.

Electroacupuncture stimulation at sub-specific acupoint and non-acupoint induced distinct brain glucose metabolism change in migraineurs: a PET-CT study.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture has analgesic effect to most pain conditions. Many neuroimaging studies were conducted to explore acupoint specificity in pain and other condition, but till now there is still discrepancy. Based on our previous finding, this study investigated the brain metabolism changes of acupuncture analgesia induced by sub-specific acupoint and non-acupoint stimulation. METHODS: 30 migraineurs were included and randomly assigned to 3 groups: Acupuncture Group (AG), Sham Acupuncture Group (SAG) and Migraine Group (MG). In AG, a combination sub-specific points of Shaoyang meridians, Luxi (TE19), San Yangluo (TE8), and Xi Yangguan (GB33) has been stimulated with electroacupuncture, while non-acupoints for SAG were used and MG received no treatment. Positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET-CT) was used to identify differences in brain glucose metabolism between groups. RESULTS: In the AG, brain glucose metabolism increase compared with the MG was observed in the middle frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, the precuneus, parahippocampus, cerebellum and middle cingulate cortex (MCC), and decrease were observed in the left hemisphere of Middle Temporal Cortex (MTC).In the SAG, compared with MG, glucose metabolism increased in the poster cingulate cortex (PCC), insula, inferior temporal gyrus, MTC, superior temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, fusiform, inferior parietal lobe, superior parietal lobe, supramarginal gyrus, middle occipital lobe, angular and precuneus; while, decreased in cerebellum, parahippocampus. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture stimulation at both sub-specific acupoint and non-acupoint yields ameliorating effect to migraine pain, but with evidently differed central mechanism as measured by PET-CT. The pattern of brain glucose metabolism change in acupoint is pertinent and targeted, while in non-acupoint that was disordered and randomized. These finding may provide new perspectives into the validation of acupoint specificity, optimizing acupuncture analgesia and revealing central mechanism of acupuncture analgesia by neuroimaging measurement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, with registration no. ChiCTR-TRC-11001813.

Familial multinodular goiter syndrome with papillary thyroid carcinomas: mutational analysis of the associated genes in 5 cases from 1 Chinese family.

BACKGROUND: Familial papillary thyroid cancer (fPTC) is recognized as a distinct entity only recently and no fPTC predisposing genes have been identified. Several potential regions and susceptibility loci for sporadic PTC have been reported. We aimed to evaluate the role of the reported susceptibility loci and potential risk genomic region in a Chinese familial multinodular goiter (fMNG) with PTC family. METHODS: We sequenced the related risk genomic regions and analyzed the known PTC susceptibility loci in the Chinese family members who consented to join the study. These loci included (1) the point mutations of the BRAF and RET; (2) the possible susceptibility loci to sporadic PTC; and (3) the suggested potential fMNG syndrome with PTC risk region. RESULTS: The members showed no mutations in the common susceptible BRAF and RET genomic region, although contained several different heterozygous alleles in the RET introns. All the members were homozygous for PTC risk alleles of rs966423 (C) at chromosome 2q35, rs2910164 (C) at chromosome 5q24 and rs2439302 (G) at chromosome 8p12; while carried no risk allele of rs4733616 (T) at chromosome 8q24, rs965513 (A) or rs1867277 (A) at chromosome 9q22 which were associated with radiation-related PTC. The frequency of the risk allele of rs944289 (T) but not that of rs116909374 (T) at chromosome 14q13 was increased in the MNG or PTC family members. CONCLUSIONS: Our work provided additional evidence to the genetic predisposition to a Chinese familial form of MNG with PTC. The family members carried quite a few risk alleles found in sporadic PTC; particularly, homozygous rs944289 (T) at chromosome 14q13 which was previously shown to be linked to a form of fMNG with PTC. Moreover, the genetic determinants of radiation-related PTC were not presented in this family.

A PET-CT study on the specificity of acupoints through acupuncture treatment in migraine patients.

BACKGROUND: In the field of acupuncture research, the topic of acupoint specificity has received increasing attention, but no unified conclusion has been reached on whether or not acupoint specificity exists. Furthermore, the majority of previous acupuncture neuroimaging studies have been performed using healthy subjects. In this study, patients with migraine were used to investigate acupoint specificity. METHODS: Thirty patients with migraine were enrolled and randomized into three groups: Traditional Acupuncture Group (TAG), Control Acupuncture Group (CAG), and Migraine Group (MG). The TAG was treated by acupuncture stimulation at Waiguan (TE5), Yang Lingquan (GB34), and Fengchi (GB20). The CAG was treated at Touwei (ST8), Pianli (LI6), and Zusanli (ST36). The MG received no treatment. Positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET-CT) was used to test for differences in brain activation between the TAG and CAG versus MG, respectively. RESULTS: Traditional acupuncture treatment was more effective for pain reduction than control acupuncture treatment. The TAG showed higher brain metabolism than the MG in the middle temporal cortex (MTC), orbital frontal cortex (OFC), insula, middle frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, post-cingulate cortex (PCC), the precuneus, and the middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Metabolism decreased in the parahippocampus, hippocampus, fusiform gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and cerebellum in the TAG compared with the MG. In the CAG, metabolism increased compared with the MG in the MTC, supratemporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and MCC, whereas metabolism decreased in the cerebellum. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture stimulation of different points on similar body regions in migraine patients reduced pain and induced different levels of cerebral glucose metabolism in pain-related brain regions. These findings may support the functional specificity of migraine- treatment-related acupoint. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The number of our clinical trial registration is: ChiCTR-TRC-11001813, and the protocol and inclusion criteria have already been registered as ChiCTR-TRC-11001813.

Association of genetic variants of melatonin receptor 1B with gestational plasma glucose level and risk of glucose intolerance in pregnant Chinese women.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the association of MTNR1B genetic variants with gestational plasma glucose homeostasis in pregnant Chinese women. METHODS: A total of 1,985 pregnant Han Chinese women were recruited and evaluated for gestational glucose tolerance status with a two-step approach. The four MTNR1B variants rs10830963, rs1387153, rs1447352, and rs2166706 which had been reported to associate with glucose levels in general non-pregnant populations, were genotyped in these women. Using an additive model adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI), association of these variants with gestational fasting and postprandial plasma glucose (FPG and PPG) levels were analyzed by multiple linear regression; relative risk of developing gestational glucose intolerance was calculated by logistic regression. Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was tested by Chi-square and linkage disequilibrium (LD) between these variants was estimated by measures of D' and r(2). RESULTS: In the pregnant Chinese women, the MTNR1B variant rs10830963, rs1387153, rs2166706 and rs1447352 were shown to be associated with the increased 1 hour PPG level (p=8.04 × 10(-10), 5.49 × 10(-6), 1.89 × 10(-5) and 0.02, respectively). The alleles were also shown to be associated with gestational glucose intolerance with odds ratios (OR) of 1.64 (p=8.03 × 10(-11)), 1.43 (p=1.94 × 10(-6)), 1.38 (p=1.63 × 10(-5)) and 1.24 (p=0.007), respectively. MTNR1B rs1387153, rs2166706 were shown to be associated with gestational FPG levels (p=0.04). Our data also suggested that, the LD pattern of these variants in the studied women conformed to that in the general populations: rs1387153 and rs2166706 were in high LD, they linked moderately with rs10830963, but might not linked with rs1447352;rs10830963 might not link with rs1447352, either. In addition, the MTNR1B variants were not found to be associated with any other traits tested. CONCLUSIONS: The MTNR1B is likely to be involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis during pregnancy.

Influence of acupuncture treatment on cerebral activity in functional dyspepsia patients and its relationship with efficacy.

OBJECTIVES: Acupuncture is a commonly used therapy for treating functional dyspepsia (FD), although the mechanism remains unclear. The objectives of this study were to investigate the differences in cerebral glycometabolism changes evoked by acupuncture and sham acupuncture and to explore the possible correlations between brain responses and clinical efficacy. METHODS: In all, 72 FD patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or sham acupuncture treatment for 4 weeks. Ten patients in each group were randomly selected for fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography scans to detect cerebral glycometabolism changes. The Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) and Symptom Index of Dyspepsia (SID) were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect. RESULTS: (i) The clinical data showed that after treatment the decrease in SID score in the acupuncture group was significantly greater than that in the sham acupuncture group (P<0.05). The increase in NDI score between the two groups did not differ (P>0.05), and only the improvement in NDI score in the acupuncture group was clinically significant. (ii) The neuroimaging data indicated that after treatment the acupuncture group showed extensive deactivation in cerebral activities compared with the sham acupuncture group. In the acupuncture group, the deactivations of the brainstem, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, thalamus, and hypothalamus were nearly all related to the decrease in SID score and the increase in NDI score (P<0.05, corrected). In the sham acupuncture group, the deactivations of the brainstem and thalamus tended to be associated with the increase in NDI score (P<0.1, corrected). CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture and sham acupuncture have relatively different clinical efficacy and brain responses. Acupuncture treatment more significantly improves the symptoms and quality of life of FD patients. The more remarkable modulation on the homeostatic afferent network, including the insula, ACC, and hypothalamus, might be the specific mechanism of acupuncture.

Cortical-limbic regions modulate depression and anxiety factors in functional dyspepsia: a PET-CT study.

OBJECTIVE: To observe some specific brain areas or cerebral functional network participating in the modulation of depression and anxiety factors in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients by detecting cerebral glucose metabolism (CGM) in fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scans. METHODS: Eight FD patients with depression and anxiety (DA-FD group) and eight FD patients without depression and anxiety (non-DA-FD group) were recruited and evaluated by the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) and Dyspepsia Symptom Scores (DSS). Cerebral (18)F-FDG PET-CT scans were performed on the DA-FD group and non-DA-FD group, respectively. The differences in CGM between the two groups were analyzed with SPM2. RESULTS: Extensive changes in the CGM signals were observed in the cerebral cortex and limbic system of FD patients with depression and anxiety. Compared to non-DA-FD patients, DA-FD patients showed a higher glucose metabolism in the right postcentral gyrus (BA 1 and 5), inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45), superior temporal gyrus (BA 22), middle temporal gyrus (BA 22), inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), lingual gyrus (BA 18) and the left middle occipital gyrus (BA 37), as well as the limbic system including the left thalamus, lateral globus pallidus, parahippocampal gyrus (BA 35), right insular cortex (BA 13) and parahippocampal gyrus (BA 18); a lower glucose metabolism was presented in the left middle cingulated gyrus (BA 24), the right superior frontal gyrus (BA 6), the medial frontal gyrus (BA 6) and middle temporal gyrus (BA 21). CONCLUSION: An extensive cortical-limbic brain network might modulate the procession of FD patients with depression and anxiety factors.

Abnormal resting brain activity in patients with functional dyspepsia is related to symptom severity.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Abnormal processing of visceral sensation at the level of the central nervous system is believed to be involved in functional dyspepsia. However, compared with studies of stimulation-related changes in brain activity, few studies have focused on resting brain activity, which also is important in pathogenesis. We mapped changes in resting brain glucometabolism of patients with functional dyspepsia, compared with healthy subjects, and attempted to correlate abnormal brain activity with symptom severity. METHODS: We performed fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography on 40 patients with functional dyspepsia and 20 healthy subjects who were in resting states. The symptom index of dyspepsia and the Nepean dyspepsia index were used to determine symptom severity. The positron emission tomography-computed tomography data were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping software. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, patients with functional dyspepsia had higher levels of glycometabolism in the bilateral insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), middle cingulate cortex (MCC), cerebellum, thalamus, prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, putamen, right parahippocampal gyrus, claustrum, and left precuneus (P < .001). The signal increase in the ACC, insula, thalamus, MCC, and cerebellum was correlated with symptom index of dyspepsia scores and Nepean dyspepsia index scores (P < .01). The glycometabolism in ACC, insula, thalamus, MCC, and cerebellum of patients with more severe functional dyspepsia was significantly higher than that of patients with less severe functional dyspepsia (P < .005). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with functional dyspepsia, resting cerebral glycometabolism differs significantly from that of healthy subjects. The ACC, insula, thalamus, MCC, and cerebellum might be the key regions that determine the severity of symptoms.

Brain areas involved in acupuncture treatment on functional dyspepsia patients: a PET-CT study.

Neuroimaging studies on brain responses to acupuncture stimulations have received considerable attention recently. The majority of these studies are centered on healthy controls (HC) and neuropathy, while little work has addressed other disorders. This study aimed to investigate the influence of acupuncture stimulations on brain activities in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients. Eight FD patients and eight healthy controls (HC) were involved in this study. Each HC received an 18F-FDG PET-CT scan at baseline, while each patient received scans at baseline and after acupuncture stimulations. Manual acupuncture stimulations were performed at ST34 (Liangqiu), ST36 (Zusanli), ST40 (Fenglong) and ST42 (Chongyang) in FD patients. The images were analyzed with the Statistical Parametric Mapping software 2.0. Compared to HC, the FD patients showed a lower glycometabolism in the right orbital gyrus, the left caudate tail and the cingulate gyrus, and a higher glycometabolism in the left inferior temporal gyrus (p<0.005). After acupuncture stimulations, the FD patients showed a glycometabolism decrease in the postcentral gyrus and the cerebella, and an increase in the visual-related cortices(p<0.005). The results suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortices and the caudate tail involve in processing gastric perceptions in FD patients and that the deactivation of the primary somatosensory area and the cerebella is contributable to acupuncture stimulation, while activation of the visual-related cortex is a response to pain or acupoint actions.

[Effects of trimetazidine on myocardial metabolism evaluated by PET-CT in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy].

OBJECTIVE: Trimetazidine (TZM) has been shown to have anti-ischemia properties by optimizing ischemic myocardium metabolism. We evaluated the effect of TZM on myocardial metabolism with Positron Emission Computed Tomography (PET-CT) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: TZM (60 mg/d, n = 15) or placebo (n = 15) was randomly applied to ischemic cardiomyopathy patients on top of conventional therapy for 12 months. Color Doppler Flow Imaging (CDFI), (18)F-FDP PET-CT imaging and (99m)Tc-MIBI gated single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) imaging were performed at study begin and after 12 months. LVEF with CDFI, summed rest scores (SRS) with SPECT and standard uptake value (SUV) with PET-CT of the segments which were perfusion-metabolism matched and decreased were determined respectively. RESULTS: After 12 months, LVEF of the therapy group was increased from (37.9 +/- 5.0)% to (42.3 +/- 10.4)% (P < 0.05), while the control group increased from (37.9 +/- 4.6)% to (40.1 +/- 5.5)% (P > 0.05); SRSs of the matched segments of the therapy and the control were reduced from 3.9 +/- 1.0 to 2.4 +/- 2.3 (P < 0.01) and 4.0 +/- 0.7 to 2.8 +/- 1.8 (P < 0.05) respectively, while LVEF and SRSs were similar at study begin and after 12 months between these two groups. SUV of myocardial segments classified as myocardial perfusion-metabolism matched was increased from 5.3 +/- 1.5 to 9.8 +/- 4.7 in the therapy group (P < 0.05) and from 5.4 +/- 1.2 to 6.0 +/- 2.3 (P > 0.05) in the placebo group, SUV was significantly higher in the therapy group than that in placebo group after 12 months (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SPECT and (18)F-FDG imaging combination could be used to detect the surviving myocardium and chronic trimetazidine treatment could increase the glucose metabolism of ischemic cardiomyocytes in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

[Effect of acupuncture at acupoints of the Shaoyang Meridian on cerebral glucose metabolism in the patient of chronic migraine].

OBJECTIVE: To observe response characteristics of human brain to acupuncture of corresponding channel point selection and probe into the central nervous mechanism of acupuncture at the points selected along channel. METHODS: Six cases of chronic migraine were treated with acupuncture at Fengchi (GB 20), Waiguan (TE 5), Yang-lingquan (GB 34) on the Shaoyang Channel. Positron emission computerized tomography (PET-CT) was used for scanning and statistic parameter map (SPM 2) software was used to analyze the data and compare with healthy human brain function imaging and investigate the changes of metabolism of glucose in the brain of the patient of migraine before and after acupuncture. RESULTS: After acupuncture, excitation areas of the pain brain regions such as the brain stem, insula, etc. obviously reduced, and the brain function-reducing area turned from the right temporal lobe as main to bilateral temporal lobes with symmetry. CONCLUSION: The pons, insula, anterior frontal gyrus, etc. possibly are the target points of analgesic effect of acupuncture at the Shaoyang Channel on chronic migraine, and the change of metabolism reduction on bilateral temporal lobes induced by acupuncture possibly is one of the mechanisms for acu-puncture at points on the Shaoyang Channel for treatment of migraine. Acupuncture achieves whole and beneficial therapeutic effect possibly through coordination and redistribution of energy metabolism in the brain.

[Manufacture and evaluation of a spine phantom used in the cross-calibration of DXA bone densitometry].

OBJECTIVE: To design and manufacture a reliable spine phantom used in the cross calibration and quality control of dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). METHODS: A hydroxyapatite quality control phantom was designed and made through three steps: solid water, bone phantom material and integration, then evaluated the phantom on four different types of DXA machines made by LUNAR company. RESULTS: Among the four DXA densitometers, the Expert fan beam densitometer had the biggest accuracy errors of bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content(BMC) and area values while the other three one narrow fan beam (Prodigy) and two pencil beam densitometers-had small errors. Of the three indexes measured by all the machines, BMD error was the smallest (-15.4%-11.5%), with the Prodigy's BMD was most outstanding. BMD errors at the higher density ends were small, tend to be positive values while the errors at the lower ends were big, tend to be negative. In cross calibration, giving consideration to the differences between the both ends, it is better to use the regression equation to correct. The base line of precision error derived by scanning the phantom once a day for consecutive 25 days was better than that derived by scanning the phantom 25 times consecutively on the same day. As to precision error, the coefficient of variation (CV) of scanning-25 times-a day was the smallest (0.0043) while the CV of 12 adults measurements was the biggest (0.0078). CONCLUSIONS: This phantom can be used in the quality control and cross-calibration of different types of DXA machines.