The transcription factor early growth response protein 3 (EGR3) is involved in schizophrenia. We developed a putative rat model of schizophrenia by transfecting lentiviral particles carrying the Egr3 gene into bilateral hippocampal dentate gyrus. We assessed spatial working memory using the Morris water maze test, and neuronal metabolite levels in bilateral hippocampus and thalamus were determined by 3.0 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Choline content was significantly greater in the hippocampus after transfection, while N-acetylaspartate and the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatine/phosphocreatine in the thalamus were lower than in controls. This study is the first to report evaluation of brain metabolites using 3.0 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in rats transfected with Egr3, and reveals metabolic abnormalities in the hippocampus and thalamus in this putative model of schizophrenia.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Length and thickness of 152 corpus cal osa were measured in neonates within 24 hours of birth. Using ultrasonic diagnostic equipment with a neonatal brain-specific probe, corpus cal osum length and thickness of the genu, body, and splenium were measured on the standard mid-sagittal plane, and the anteroposterior diameter of the genu was measured in the coronal plane. Results showed that corpus cal osum length as wel as thickness of the genu and splenium increased with gesta-tional age and birth weight, while other measures did not. These three factors on the standard mid-sagittal plane are therefore likely to be suitable for real-time evaluation of corpus cal osum de-velopment in premature infants using cranial ultrasound. Further analysis revealed that thickness of the body and splenium and the anteroposterior diameter of the genu were greater in male infants than in female infants, suggesting that there are sex differences in corpus cal osum size during the neonatal period. A second set of measurements were taken from 40 premature infants whose ges-tational age was 34 weeks or less. Corpus cal osum measurements were corrected to a gestational age of 40 weeks, and infants were grouped for analysis depending on the outcome of a neonatal behavioral neurological assessment. Compared with infants with a normal neurological assessment, corpus cal osum length and genu and splenium thicknesses were less in those with abnormalities, indicating that corpus cal osum growth in premature infants is associated with neurobehavioral de-velopment during the early extrauterine stage.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Expression of miR-137 is downregulated in brain tissue from patients with depression and suicidal behavior, and is also downregulated in peripheral blood from stroke patients. However, it is not yet known if miR-137 acts as a bridge between stroke and depression. To test this, we used middle cerebral artery occlusion and chronic mild stress to establish a post-stroke depression model in rats. Compared with controls, we found significantly lower miR-137 levels in the brain and peripheral blood from post-stroke depression rats. Injection of a miR-137 antagonist into the brain ventricles upregulated miR-137 levels, and improved behavioral changes in post-stroke depression rats. Lu-ciferase assays showed miR-137 bound to the 3′UTR of Grin2A, regulating Grin2A expression in a neuronal cel line. Grin2A gene overexpression in the brain of post-stroke depression rats, noticea-bly suppressed the inhibitory effect of miR-137 on post-stroke depression. Overal , our results show that miR-137 suppresses Grin2A protein expression through binding to Grin2A mRNA, thereby ex-erting an inhibitory effect on post-stroke depression. Our results offer a new therapeutic direction for post-stroke depression.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
This study compared the difference in brain structure in 12 mine disaster survivors with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, 7 cases of improved post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and 14 controls who experienced the same mine disaster but did not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, us-ing the voxel-based morphometry method. The correlation between differences in brain structure and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms was also investigated. Results showed that the gray matter volume was the highest in the trauma control group, fol owed by the symptoms-improved group, and the lowest in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. Compared with the symptoms-improved group, the gray matter volume in the lingual gyrus of the right occipital lobe was reduced in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. Compared with the trauma control group, the gray matter volume in the right middle occipital gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus was reduced in the symptoms-improved group. Compared with the trauma control group, the gray matter volume in the left superior parietal lobule and right superior frontal gyrus was reduced in the chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group. The gray matter volume in the left superior parietal lobule was significantly positively correlated with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory subscale score in the symptoms-improved group and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder group (r = 0.477, P = 0.039). Our findings indicate that (1) chronic post-traumatic stress disorder patients have gray matter structural damage in the prefrontal lobe, occip-ital lobe, and parietal lobe, (2) after post-traumatic stress, the disorder symptoms are improved and gray matter structural damage is reduced, but cannot recover to the trauma-control level, and (3) the superior parietal lobule is possibly associated with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder patients exhibit gray matter abnormalities.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Episodic memories are composed of various interrelated elements, including those specific to items of central interest and those pertaining to related features, such as the color, shape, size, spatial location, temporal order, and media or modalities of presentation. Memory about a core item (such as a word, object, or picture) is cal ed item memory while memory about the context or related fea-tures of a core item is defined as source memory. What determines which sources within an episode are successful y remembered is of particular interest to researchers. Behavioral evidence suggests that the orientation of a memory task influences whether the related source of the item wil be re-membered later. This study explored changes in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex while par-ticipants completed two tasks:an item-oriented task and a source-oriented task. We used functional MRI to investigate the neural mechanisms by which task orientation influences source encoding. We found that subsequent source memory effects in the right prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were modulated by task orientation, whereas task orientation modulated item memory effects in the prefrontal cortex. These findings highlight the possibility that the hippocampus contributes to the intentional encoding of item-source associations, whereas the prefrontal cortex is biased toward processing information to which attention is directed.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Amyloid β-peptide, a major component of senile plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, has been impli-cated in neuronal cel death and cognitive impairment. Recently, studies have shown that the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia is closely linked with Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, a rat model of global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was established via occlusion of four arteries;meanwhile, fibril ar amyloid β-peptide was injected into the rat lateral ventricle. The Morris water maze test and histological staining revealed that administration of amyloid β-peptide could further aggravate impairments to learning and memory and neuronal cel death in the hippocampus of rats subjected to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Western blot showed that phosphorylation of tau protein and the activity of glycogen synthase kinase 3β were significantly stronger in cerebral is-chemia-reperfusion injury rats subjected to amyloidβ-peptide administration than those undergoing cerebral ischemia-reperfusion or amyloidβ-peptide administration alone. Conversely, the activity of protein phosphatase 2A was remarkably reduced in rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury fol owing amyloidβ-peptide administration. These findings suggest that amyloidβ-peptide can po-tentiate tau phosphorylation induced by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion and thereby aggravate cog-nitive impairment.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumor usual y occurs in the brain and rarely occurs in the spinal cord. On imaging, inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumor appears very similar to intramedul ary tumors such as gliomas. It is often misdiagnosed as intramedul ary tumor and surgical y resected. In view of this, the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging manifestations and the pathological fea-tures of 36 cases of inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumor in the spinal cord were retrospec-tively analyzed and summarized. Most of these cases suffered from acute or subacute onset and exhibited a sensorimotor disorder. Among them, six cases were misdiagnosed as having intrame-dul ary gliomas, and inflammatory demyelinating pseudotumor was only identified and pathologi-cal y confirmed after surgical resection. Lesions in the cervical and thoracic spinal cord were com-mon. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed edema and space-occupying lesions to varying de-grees at the cervical-thoracic junction, with a predominant feature of non-closed rosette-like rein-forcement (open-loop sign). Pathological examination showed perivascular cuffing of predominantly dense lymphocytes, and demyelination was observed in six of the misdiagnosed cases. These re-sults suggest that tumor-like inflammatory demyelinating disease in the spinal cord is a kind of special demyelinating disease that can be categorized as inflammatory pseudotumor. These solitary lesions are easily confused with intramedul ary neoplasms. Patchy or non-closed reinforcement (open-ring sign) on magnetic resonance imaging is the predominant property of inflammatory de-myelinating pseudotumor, and inflammatory cel infiltration and demyelination are additional patho-logical properties.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
Maintaining standing postural balance is important for walking and handling abilities in patients with cerebral palsy. This study included 23 patients with cerebral palsy (seven with spastic diplegia and 16 with spastic hemiplegia), aged from 7 to 16 years of age. Standing posture balance measure-ments were performed using an AMTI model OR6-7 force platform with the eyes open and closed. Patients with diplegic cerebral palsy exhibited greater center of pressure displacement areas with the eyes open and greater center of pressure sway in the medial-lateral direction with the eyes open and closed compared with hemiplegic patients. Thus, diplegic patients exhibited weaker postural balance control ability and less standing stability compared with hemiplegic cerebral palsy patients.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
In the present study, we investigated the effects of hypothyroidism on the morphology of astrocytes and microglia in the hippocampus of Zucker diabetic fatty rats and Zucker lean control rats. To in-duce hypothyroidism, Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty rats at 7 weeks of age oral y received the vehicle or methimazole, an anti-thyroid drug, treatment for 5 weeks and were sacrificed at 12 weeks of age in al groups for blood chemistry and immunohistochemical staining. In the methimazole-treated Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty rats, the serum circulating tri odothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) levels were significantly decreased compared to levels ob-served in the vehicle-treated Zucker lean control or Zucker diabetic fatty rats. This reduction was more prominent in the methimazole-treated Zucker diabetic fatty group. Glial fibril ary acidic protein immunoreactive astrocytes and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba-1)-immunoreactive microglia in the Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty group were diffusely detected in the hippocampal CA1 region and dentate gyrus. There were no significant differences in the glial fibril ary acidic protein and Iba-1 immunoreactivity in the CA1 region and dentate gyrus between Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty groups. However, in the methimazole-treated Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty groups, the processes of glial fibril ary acidic protein immunoreactive astrocytes and Iba-1 immunoreactive microglia, were significantly decreased in both the CA1 region and dentate gyrus compared to that in the vehicle-treated Zucker lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty groups. These results suggest that diabetes has no effect on the mor-phology of astrocytes and microglia and that hypothyroidism during the onset of diabetes promi-nently reduces the processes of astrocytes and microglia.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第26期
