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Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) impose substantial medical and public health burdens on people worldwide and represent one of the major threats to human health. The prevalence of these age-dependent disorders is dramatically increasing over time, a process intrinsically related to a constantly rising percentage of the elderly population in recent years. Among all the NDs, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are considered the most debilitating as they cause memory and cognitive loss, as well as severely affecting basic physiological conditions such as the ability to move, speak, and breathe. There is an extreme need for new and more effective therapies to counteract these devastating diseases, as the available treatments are only able to slow down the pathogenic process without really stopping or resolving it. This review aims to elucidate the current nanotechnology-based tools representing a future hope for NDs treatment. Noble metal nano-systems, that is, gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs), have indeed unique physicochemical characteristics enabling them to deliver any pharmacological treatment in a more effective way within the central nervous system. This can potentially make NPs a new hope for reversing the actual therapeutic strategy based on slowing down an irreversible process into a more effective and permanent treatment.

Nowadays, with the development of the social health care system, there is an increasing trend towards an aging society. The incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is also on the rise. AD is a kind of neurodegenerative disease that can be found in any age group. For years, scientists have been committing to discovering the cause of AD. DNA methylation is one of the most common epigenetic mechanisms in mammals and plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including tumors. Studying chemical changes in the epigenome, or DNA methylation can help us understand the effects of our environment and life on diseases, such as smoking, depression, and menopause, which may affect people's chances of developing Alzheimer's or other diseases. Recent studies have identified some crucial genes like ANK1, RHBDF2, ABCA7, and BIN1, linking DNA methylation to AD. This review focuses on elucidating the relationship between DNA methylation and the pathogenesis of AD and provides an outlook on possible targeted therapeutic modalities.

To explore the interaction of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and dual sensory function on cognition in the elderly. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in six general hospitals in China, from October 2022 to December 2022. Data collection included general information, IADLs scale, self-reported sensory function questionnaire, and mini-mental state examination (MMSE). Binary logistic regression was used to examine the association between factors and cognition. The interactive effect was evaluated by synergy index (S), relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), and attributable proportion due to interaction (AP). The odds ratio (OR) of IADLs decline in cognition is 4.412 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.633–5.358, p < 0.001); the OR of dual sensory difficulty on cognition is 2.502 (95% CI: 1.272–4.921, p = 0.008). The OR of interaction between IADLs decline and dual sensory difficulty on cognition is 13.737 (95% CI: 9.726–19.400, p < 0.001). RERI (95% CI) = 7.823 (3.230–12.417), AP (95% CI) = 0.570 (0.392–0.747), S (95% CI) = 2.593 (1.616–4.160). IADLs decline and dual sensory difficulty are associated with cognitive decline. IADLs decline and dual sensory difficulty have interaction with cognitive decline; the interaction is greater than the sum effect of those two on cognitive decline independently. Sensory and IADLs assessment can be used as early screening items for cognition among the elderly. In addition, protecting sensory function and maintaining IADLs in the elderly can help protect their cognition.

Cerebral ischemia is a serious cerebrovascular disease with the characteristics of high morbidity, disability, and mortality. Currently, stem cell therapy has been extensively applied to a wide range of diseases, including neurological disorders, autoimmune deficits, and other diseases. Transplantation therapy with neural stem cells (NSCs) is a very promising treatment method, which not only has anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, promoting angiogenesis, and neurogenesis effects, but also can improve some side effects related to thrombolytic therapy. NSCs treatment could exert protective effects in alleviating cerebral ischemia-induced brain damage and neurological dysfunctions. However, the different injection routes and doses of NSCs determine diverse therapeutic efficacy. This review mainly summarizes the various injection methods and injection effects of NSCs in cerebral ischemia, as well as proposes the existing problems and prospects of NSCs transplantation.

Compound porcine perebroside and ganglioside injection (CPCGI) was used to treat stroke. The study was initiated because of the high incidence of low-does CPCGI use in our area. However, no research has confirmed the effectiveness of CPCGI below the standard dose. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a reference for the clinical selection of different dose treatments. We collected ischemic stroke patients and divided them into three groups (low-dose group: Group A = 4 mL, Group B = 6 mL, standard-dose group: Group C = 10 mL). The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and the Barthel Index (BI) scores were performed before treatment and 14 days and 90 days post CPCGI treatment. For 90 days, the primary outcomes were calculated including the degree of disability, neurological recovery, and activities of daily living. All data were compared between pretherapy and posttreatment and among groups. NIHSS, mRS and BI scores improved on 14 and 90 days in each group. Group B and C improved than Group A on 14 and 90 days. The difference between groups B and C was not statistically significant. On 90 days, there were differences in the degree of disability, the recovery of neurological function, and the ability of daily living among groups. No drug-related adverse reactions occurred in the groups. Although 4 or 6 mL CPCGI had some neuroprotective effects, the standard dose of 10 mL CPCGI had the best effect on reducing the degree of disability and improving abilities of daily living.

Gastrodin, as an effective monomer of gastrodia elata, plays a significant role in anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptosis, and other aspects. As the global aging process continues to intensify, diseases of the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and immune system have brought serious economic and mental burdens to families and have become a major challenge for global public health resources. Many studies have proved that gastrodin may be a potential drug for neurological diseases and ischemic injury but its mechanism of action is still unclear. [Correction added on 19 February 2025, after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, “the treatment of various systemic diseases” has been corrected to “neurological diseases and ischemic injury” in this version.]. In this study, the pharmacological action of gastrodin and the possible mechanism of regulating ferroptosis and pyroptosis were reviewed to provide a new treatment and research direction for clinicians and researchers.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) animal models have been widely created and utilized for repair therapy research, but more suitable experimental animals and accurate modeling methodologies are required to achieve the desired results. In this experiment, we constructed an innovative dorsal 1/4 spinal cord transection macaque model that had fewer severe problems, facilitating postoperative care and recovery. In essence, given that monkeys and humans share similar genetics and physiology, the efficacy of this strategy in a nonhuman primate SCI model basically serves as a good basis for its prospective therapeutic use in human SCI.

Extracranial metastasis of glioma is extremely rare. Herein, we report a case of glioblastoma that originated and showed stepwise malignant transformation from a low-grade glioma (LGG) along with the presence of lung and mediastinal lymph node metastases after repeated craniotomy. A 30-year-old man presented with hemoptysis. Thoracic computed tomography revealed a space-occupying lesion in the right upper lung with mediastinal nodal and metastases in both lungs; lung cancer was suspected. The patient's medical history showed that he had undergone craniotomy three times in 7 years for a primary LGG disease relapse, and stepwise malignant-transformed high-grade glioma (HGG). However, brain magnetic resonance imaging did not reveal any relapse of intracranial tumors. The diagnosis of extracranial metastatic glioblastoma was confirmed using the morphology and staining results for specific immunohistochemistry markers using the specimen obtained via endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration. Subsequently, the patient received a combination of systemic and local treatments; however, he died of massive hemoptysis after 6 months. The survival time of this glioma patient improved after transformation and metastasis. Detailed descriptions will help us understand the biological behavior of glioma, but more studies are needed to confirm the complex mechanism of extracranial metastasis.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is an autoimmune disease in the central nervous system. Clinical manifestations include cognitive dysfunction, psychiatric-behavioral abnormalities, epilepsy, motor disorders, speech disorders, and memory impairment. Some patients do not have the characteristic clinical manifestations of the disease when they see a doctor, so they are easily diagnosed incorrectly. Autoimmune antibodies originate from genetic and acquired factors. Clinical data have found a correlation between ovarian teratoma and autoimmune encephalitis. This case reports a 34-year-old woman who was diagnosed with teratoma-associated anti-N-methyl-D- aspartate receptor-mediated autoimmune encephalitis called anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis with bilateral hearing loss in 2021. Through this case report, clinicians will pay attention to autoimmune encephalitis and raise awareness of the specific clinical manifestations of autoimmune encephalitis, and focus on early identification. It means that clinicians should be familiar with the representative clinical manifestations of the disease.

Memantine is a noncompetitive moderate-affinity strong voltage-dependent N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. It has been used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) since 1989. In 2018, it became the second most commonly used drug for the treatment of dementia in the world. AD is nonreversible, and memantine can only relieve the symptoms of AD but not cure it. Over the past half-century, memantine's research and clinical application have been extensively developed. In this review, the basic composition of memantine, the mechanism and limitations of memantine in the treatment of AD, memantine combination therapy, comparison of memantine with other drugs for AD, and clinical studies of memantine in other diseases are reviewed to provide a valuable reference for further research and application of memantine for the treatment of AD.