Transcranial alternating current stimulation improves quality of life in Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The neural cells in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease (PWP) display aberrant synchronized oscillatory activity within the beta frequency range. Additionally, enhanced gamma oscillations may serve as a compensatory mechanism for motor inhibition mediated by beta activity and also reinstate plasticity in the primary motor cortex affected by Parkinson's disease. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can synchronize endogenous oscillations with exogenous rhythms, thereby modulating cortical activity. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the addition of tACS to multidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation treatment (MIRT) can improve symptoms of PWP so as to enhance the quality of life in individuals with Parkinson's disease based on the central-peripheral-central theory. METHODS: The present study was a randomized, double-blind trial that enrolled 60 individuals with Parkinson's disease aged between 45 and 70 years, who had Hoehn-Yahr scale scores ranging from 1 to 3. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the tACS + MIRT group or the sham-tACS + MIRT group. The trial consisted of a two-week double-blind treatment period followed by a 24-week follow-up period, resulting in a total duration of twenty-six weeks. The primary outcome measured the change in PDQ-39 scores from baseline (T0) to 4 weeks (T2), 12 weeks (T3), and 24 weeks (T4) after completion of the intervention. The secondary outcome assessed changes in MDS-UPDRS III scores at T0, the end of intervention (T1), T2, T3, and T4. Additional clinical assessments and mechanistic studies were conducted as tertiary outcomes. DISCUSSION: The objective of this study is to demonstrate that tACS can enhance overall functionality and improve quality of life in PWP, based on the framework of MIRT. Additionally, it seeks to establish a potential correlation between these therapeutic effects and neuroplasticity alterations in relevant brain regions. The efficacy of tACS will be assessed during the follow-up period in order to optimize neuroplasticity and enhance its potential impact on rehabilitation efficiency for PWP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2300071969. Registered on 30 May 2023.

How to select the quantitative magnetic resonance technique for subjects with fatty liver: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Early quantitative assessment of liver fat content is essential for patients with fatty liver disease. Mounting evidence has shown that magnetic resonance (MR) technique has high accuracy in the quantitative analysis of fatty liver, and is suitable for monitoring the therapeutic effect on fatty liver. However, many packaging methods and postprocessing functions have puzzled radiologists in clinical applications. Therefore, selecting a quantitative MR imaging technique for patients with fatty liver disease remains challenging. AIM: To provide information for the proper selection of commonly used quantitative MR techniques to quantify fatty liver. METHODS: We completed a systematic literature review of quantitative MR techniques for detecting fatty liver, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol. Studies were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, and their quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Studies criteria. The Reference Citation Analysis database (https:// www.referencecitationanalysis.com) was used to analyze citation of articles which were included in this review. RESULTS: Forty studies were included for spectroscopy, two-point Dixon imaging, and multiple-point Dixon imaging comparing liver biopsy to other imaging methods. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the three techniques and their clinical diagnostic performances were analyzed. CONCLUSION: The proton density fat fraction derived from multiple-point Dixon imaging is a noninvasive method for accurate quantitative measurement of hepatic fat content in the diagnosis and monitoring of fatty liver progression.