American journal of neurodegenerative disease最新文献

Background: The occurrence of sialorrhea (drooling) in children with cerebral palsy is one of the important complications of this disease, which is associated with the impaired quality of life of patients and also the dissatisfaction of their parents. Botox injection in the salivary glands is one of the treatment methods that has recently received special attention in these patients, but there are still many challenges regarding its effectiveness and safety. We aimed to test the effectiveness and safety of botulinum toxin type A in reducing sialorrhea in children with cerebral palsy.

Methods: This semi-experimental before-after study was performed on 12 children who suffering from sialorrhea. The ethics code of this project is IR.MUI.MED.REC.1400.774 and the clinical trial registry code is IRCT20220516054868N1 (https://www.irct.ir/trial/64393). In each of the parotid and submandibular glands, an amount of 0.5 U/kg of botulinum toxin type A was injected by ultrasound guidance under general anesthesia. Before and 6 months after the intervention, the severity and frequency of drooling were tested by Drooling Frequency and Severity Scale.

Results: We found a decreasing trend in the severity and frequency scores for drooling within one month; however, after that time, until the end of the 24th week, we saw an increasing trend in the intensity and frequency of this complication. Only two-thirds of parents were satisfied with the therapeutic protocol. Side effects related to botox injection were revealed in 25.0% mostly as dysphagia.

Conclusion: Botox injection in salivary glands is not a definitive and stable treatment in the treatment of sialorrhea in children with cerebral palsy.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a representative example of motor neuron disease, is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The nucleus accumbens (NA) is the ventral striatum's main part and is considered as a modulator of the human brain's reward network. The purpose of this article is to review the current knowledge regarding NA changes in ALS patients. The NA involvement in ALS includes volumetric, cellular and molecular changes. There are recent imaging and pathological studies revealing NA atrophy in ALS, a finding which seems to be related to neuronal loss and protein deposition in this area. The clinical significance of NA atrophy in these patients is not currently fully understood. Perhaps it could be correlated with apathy, behavioral disturbances and cognitive impairment that ALS patients sometimes manifest.

Surgery of the knee, injury to the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve, traumatic eczematous dermatitis (SKINTED) involving the skin lateral to the surgical incision/scar area is a site- and procedure-specific diagnosis associated with total knee replacement surgery. It results from autonomic denervation following surgical trauma to the nerve and occurs months to years after surgical trauma. It needs to be differentiated from post traumatic eczema/dermatitis, neuropathic dermatitis and contact dermatitis/sensitization due to topical therapies or implant material. Herein, we report a case of 70-year-old woman having no preexisting medical or dermatological disorder of significance presenting with eczematous lesions around both knees lateral to the incision site developing few months after bilateral total knee replacement surgery. Treatment with twice daily application of betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% cream, gabapentine 100 mg/d PO and liberal use of bland emollient cream given over 2 months was remittive without recurrence during more than one year of follow up. Since its exact prevalence, pathophysiology and clinical course remain uncertain its awareness remains relevant to both dermatologists and orthopedic surgeons to address unnecessary anxiety and dissatisfaction of the patient.

The deficit in cognitive function is more concerning in methamphetamine (MA) users. The cognitive deficit was suspected to be the consequence of neuroinflammation-induced neurological dysregulation. In addition, activating the key enzyme in the tryptophan metabolic pathway by pro-inflammatory cytokines results in metabolite toxicity, further generating cognitive impairments. However, the evidence for the role of neuroinflammation and tryptophan metabolites involved in MA-induced cognitive deficit needs more conclusive study.

Objectives: This retrospective study aimed to determine blood-inflammatory markers, tryptophan metabolite-related molecules, and cognitive function in MA abusers compared to healthy control (HC) participants.

Methods: The cognitive functions were evaluated using Stroop, Go/No-Go, One Back Task (OBT), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64 (WCST-64). Blood samples were analyzed for complete blood count (CBC) analysis, serum inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-18 and tryptophan metabolites.

Results: MA group exhibited poor cognitive performance in selective attention, inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, concept formation and processing speed compared to HC. Reduction in red blood cell (RBC) components but induction in white blood cells (WBCs) and IL-6 were observed in MA abusers, which might indicate anemia of (systemic chronic low-grade) inflammation. In addition, the depletion of precursor in the tryptophan metabolic pathway, L-tryptophan was also observed in MA users, which might represent induction in tryptophan metabolites.

Conclusion: These findings emphasize that blood biomarkers might be a surrogate marker to predict the role of neuroinflammation and abnormal tryptophan metabolite in MA-induced cognitive impairments.

Parkinson's disease (PD), the most common motoric neurodegenerative illness, has been extensively researched to better understand its complex pathophysiology. Nearly 80% of genome-wide association studies have been conducted on persons of European ancestry, indicating a lack of diversity in human genetics. Disparate representation may result in disparities that impede the equitable adoption of personalized medicine and may also limit our knowledge of illness etiology. Even though Parkinson's disease (PD) is a global affliction, the AfrAbia population remains understudied. We conducted a dynamic and longitudinal bibliometric analysis to investigate existing studies on Parkinson's disease genetics in the AfrAbia area and identify data gaps and possible new research avenues. All PD papers concentrating on PD genetics were found using the search terms "Parkinson's Disease", "Genetics", and "Africa" in the PubMed/MEDLINE database. Only English publications published between 1992 and 2023 were chosen using filters. Original English-language research publications disclosing genetic results on Parkinson's disease in non-European Africans were examined for inclusion. Two sets of independent reviewers discovered and extracted pertinent data. The bibliometric study was carried out using the R software packages Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny. The narrowed search yielded 43 publications, all published between 2006 and 2022. Yet, after applying filters and considering the inclusion requirements, the search results comprise just 16 original articles out of 43 articles. There were 27 articles eliminated. This study puts emphasis on the critical need for more diverse participant demographics in Parkinson's disease investigations. AfrAbia-PD-Genetic Consortium (AAPDGC) is GP2 initiative that helps to represent AfrAbia PD genetics.

Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain or spine examines the findings as well as the time interval between the onset of symptoms and other adverse effects in coronavirus disease that first appeared in 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The goal of this study is to look at studies that use neuroimaging to look at neurological and neuroradiological symptoms in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: We try to put together all of the research on how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes neurological symptoms and cognitive-behavioral changes and give a full picture.

Results: We have categorized neuroimaging findings into subtitles such as: headache and dizziness; cerebrovascular complications after stroke; Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH); Cerebral Microbleeds (CMBs); encephalopathy; meningitis; encephalitis and myelitis; altered mental status (AMS) and delirium; seizure; neuropsychiatric symptoms; Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and its variants; smell and taste disorders; peripheral neuropathy; Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); and myopathy and myositis.

Conclusion: In this review study, we talked about some MRI findings that show how COVID-19 affects the nervous system based on what we found.

Hypomelanosis of Ito (HI) syndrome is a complex neuro-dermatological disorder that affects many organs in the body, including the skin, brain, eyes, and skeleton. This disease has been reported to present with seizures in a few rare cases. Seizures are seen in all age groups but are more common in children and the elderly. Virchow-Robin spaces (VRSs) are spaces around small arteries and the arteries that pierce the surface of the brain and are spread throughout the rest of the brain. As individuals age, the number and size of VRSs increase. A relationship between dilated VRSs and neuropsychiatric disorders has been observed above a 2 mm threshold. The patient is a 10-year-old child who was referred to the neurology ward of Imam Hossein Children's Hospital in Isfahan about 2.5 months ago due to seizures. The last seizure occurred four days before the visit, and the patient was sent for a brain computed tomography (CT) scan, which revealed diffuse bilateral hypopigmented lesions in the brain's white matter. The results of the para-clinical tests were relatively unremarkable. In the early stages of hospitalization, the child received treatment such as fluid therapy and anticonvulsant drugs to stabilize their vital condition. The patient's para-clinical tests, including brain CT, electroencephalogram, complete blood count, liver function test, and magnetic resonance imaging, showed the presence of HI syndrome and bilateral diffuse hypopigmented lesions in the white matter.

Background: COVID-19 is the cause of the recent pandemic. Viral infections could increase the risks of neurological impairments, including seizures. Here, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence, clinical, imaging, electroencephalography and laboratory characteristics of seizures in COVID-19.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on cases of COVID-19 infection and seizure. The prevalence of seizures in patients with COVID-19 was calculated using the incidence of seizures in all patients. The collected data were age, sex, history of previous illnesses, the severity of COVID-19 disease, patients' medications, hospitalization, and the presence of electrolyte disorders in patients' tests and other tests such as blood gas. Those patients with their first seizure episodes were also divided into two groups of cases with COVID-19 associated seizures (N=38) and non-COVID-19 associated seizures (N=37) and the mentioned data were compared between the two groups.

Results: We assessed data of 60 patients with COVID-19-associated seizures (group 1), 40 patients with seizures not related to COVID-19 (group 2) and 60 patients with COVID-19 infection and no seizures (group 3). The prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus were significantly higher in group 3 compared to group 1 (P=0.044 and P=0.009, respectively). Still, patients in group 1 had a higher prevalence of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) compared to group 3 (P=0.008). The prevalence of abnormal EEG was significantly higher in cases with COVID-19 infection compared to the other group (P<0.001). Cases with their first seizure episode associated with COVID-19 had significantly higher creatinine levels (P=0.035), lower blood pH (P=0.023), lower blood HCO3 (P=0.001), higher ALT (P=0.004), higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (P=0.001), lower hemoglobin (Hb) (P=0.017), higher ESR (P=0.001), higher CRP (P<0.001) and higher mortality rates (P=0.004).

Conclusion: Patients with COVID-19 infection and seizure have higher mortality rates and disturbed laboratory data.

Complications are increasingly recognized with SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen for COVID-19. Various mechanisms have been proposed to justify the cause of seizures in Covid-19 patients. To our knowledge, 13 cases of status epilepticus (SE) associated with COVID-19 have been reported so far. Here, we present a single-center case series, including the clinical, laboratory, and imaging characteristics, and the EEG and the outcome of SE in 5 Iranian patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 virus. SE was para-infectious in four patients and post-infectious in one other patient. In Three patients, the causes of seizure were included severe hyponatremia, acute ischemic stroke, and meningoencephalitis. However, in two other patients, no specific reason for seizure was found, but there are possibilities for lesser-known mechanisms of Covid-19 that play roles in developing SE. Two of the patients recovered, and three patients, older and with higher comorbidities, failed to recover and died.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder associated with gray matter atrophy. The human nucleus accumbens (NA) is a major part of the ventral striatum and modulator of the reward network of the brain. It plays an important role in several cognitive and emotional functions. In patients with PD, dysfunction of this nucleus is correlated not only with movement disorders but also with various neuropsychological deficits and psychiatric symptoms. The human NA suffers atrophy in PD, which is called Mavridis' atrophy (MA), a well established characteristic of PD that was first described 10 years ago. The purpose of this article is to review the current knowledge regarding the clinical significance of MA. We currently know that it begins in early-stage PD patients, precedes clinical phenotype, and is part of the degeneration of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system in these patients. MA has several clinical consequences. It is, more specifically, associated with the expression (and severity) of specific neuropsychiatric PD symptoms, namely cognitive impairment, apathy, disinhibition, and impulsive behavior, while its association with motor symptoms remains unclear. MA was recently suggested as a marker of global dysfunction in the mesocorticolimbic network. With new research data, new questions about MA emerge and further research is obviously necessary in order to effectively apply MA, as an imaging finding, to clinical practice.