Voxel-wise meta-analysis of structural changes in gray matter of Parkinson's disease patients with mild cognitive impairment

Evidence from previous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies indicates that widespread brain regions are involved in Parkinson’s disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). However, the spatial localization reported for gray matter (GM) abnormalities is heterogeneous. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively integrate studies on GM abnormalities observed in PD-MCI in order to determine whether a pattern exists. Eligible whole-brain VBM studies were identified by a systematic search of articles in PubMed and EMBASE databases spanning from 1995 to January 1, 2019. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate regional GM abnormalities in PD-MCI. The anisotropic effect size version of seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM) meta-analysis was conducted to explore the GMV differences of PD-MCI compared with PD patients with normal cognitive function (PD-NC). A total of 12 studies comprising 243 PD-MCI patients and 326 PD-NC were included in the meta-analysis. PD-MCI patients showed a robust GM decrease in the left insula and left superior temporal gyrus. Moreover, meta-regression analysis demonstrated that age, PD duration and stage, and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III and Mini-Mental State Examination scores might be partly correlated with the GM abnormalities observed in PD-MCI patients. The convergent findings of this quantitative meta-analysis revealed a characteristic neuroanatomical pattern in PD-MCI. The findings provide some evidence that MCI in PD may result in the breakdown of the insula and temporal gyrus, which may serve as specific regions of interest for further investigations.

Efficacy, acceptability, and tolerability of antidepressant treatments for patients with post-stroke depression: a network meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy, acceptability, and tolerability of antidepressants in treating post-stroke depression (PSD) by performing a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the current literature. Eligible studies were retrieved from online databases, and relevant data were extracted. The primary outcome was efficacy as measured by the mean change in overall depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes included discontinued treatment for any reason and specifically due to adverse events. Fourteen trials were eligible, which included 949 participants and 9 antidepressant treatments. Few significant differences were found for all outcomes. For the primary outcome, doxepin, paroxetine, and nortriptyline were significantly more effective than a placebo [standardized mean differences: −1.93 (95%CI=−3.56 to −0.29), −1.39 (95%CI=−2.59 to −0.21), and −1.25 (95%CI=−2.46 to −0.04), respectively]. Insufficient evidence exists to select a preferred antidepressant for treating patients with post-stroke depression, and our study provides little evidence that paroxetine may be the potential choice when starting treatment for PSD. Future studies with paroxetine and larger sample sizes, multiple medical centers, and sufficient intervention durations is needed for improving the current evidence.

Construction of recombinant vaccinia virus expressing GM-CSF and its use as tumor vaccine

We made several generic plasmids for construction of recombinant vaccinia virus (rvv) expressing foreign proteins in high yield. Rvvs expressing biologically active Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (rvv-lacZ) and the cytokine murine GM-CSF (rvv-mGM-CSF) were constructed by using these plasmids. To obtain attenuated rvv, cDNA for these proteins was inserted in the thymidine kinase gene of vaccinia virus. Their expression was controlled by vaccinia early/late promoter, 7.5 K so that these proteins could be expressed in the infected cells throughout the life cycle of the virus. Female C57BL/6 mice were immunized subcutaneously with B16-F10 melanoma cells infected with rvv, and 2 weeks later challenged with viable B16 cells. Mice immunized with rvv-mGM-CSF showed delay in tumor development, smaller tumor volumes and longer survival time compared with unimmunized mice, as well as mice immunized with rvv-lacZ. Mice immunized with rvv-mGM-CSF followed by a booster injection after 1 week responded slightly better than those immunized once, but this difference was not statistically significant. These results suggested that rvv-mGM-CSF could be a promising vaccine for cancer therapy.

Preliminary studies on antigenic variation of poliovirus using neutralizing monoclonal antibodies

Cross-neutralization assays were done using 85 strains of poliovirus type 1 with five groups of monoclonal antibodies. These strains were classified into 10 subgroups which had marked differences in antigenicity. Subgroups P1-2 (28%) and P1-5 (43%) were dominant and have been epidemic in China in recent years. These two subgroups were antigenically different from the Sabin-1 strain, but according to their responses to one group of monoclonal antibodies they had antigenic epitopes in common with the Mahoney and Brunhilde strains. Similarly, 91 strains of type 3 poliovirus were classified into six subgroups with another five groups of monoclonal antibodies. The results showed that strain P3/Yunnan/2/84, which was isolated from cases of poliomyelitis in a local epidemic in the Yunnan province of China in 1984, and strain P3/Finland/23127/84, which was isolated in Finland in 1984, were both antigenically different from the Sabin-3 strain and the reference virulent strain.