α-Synuclein in the colon and premotor markers of Parkinson disease in neurologically normal subjects.

Extranigral non-motor signs precede the first motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease by many years in some patients. The presence of α-synuclein deposition within colon tissues in patients with Parkinson's disease can aid in identifying early neuropathological changes prior to disease onset. In the present study, we evaluated the roles of non-motor symptoms and signs and imaging biomarkers of nigral neuronal changes and α-synuclein accumulation in the colon. Twelve subjects undergoing colectomy for primary colon cancer were recruited for this study. Immunohistochemical staining for α-synuclein in normal and phosphorylated forms was performed in normally appearing colonic tissue. We evaluated 16 candidate premotor risk factors in this study cohort. Among them, ten subjects showed positive immunostaining with normal- and phosphorylated-α-synuclein. An accumulation of premotor markers in each subject was accompanied with positive normal- and phosphorylated-α-synuclein immunostaining, ranging from 2 to 7 markers per subject, whereas the absence of Lewy bodies in the colon was associated with relative low numbers of premotor signs. A principal component analysis and a cluster analysis of these premotor markers suggest that urinary symptoms were commonly clustered with deposition of peripheral phosphorylated-α-synuclein. Among other premotor marker, color vision abnormalities were related to non-smoking. This mathematical approach confirmed the clustering of premotor markers in preclinical stage of Parkinson's disease. This is the first report showing that α-synuclein in the colon and other premotor markers are related to each other in neurologically normal subjects.

Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction in Patients With Parkinson Disease Having Depression.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Both depression and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunctions, such as orthostatic hypotension, supine hypertension, and the absence of normal nocturnal blood pressure (BP) fall ("nondipping"), occur relatively commonly in Parkinson disease (PD); however, the relationship between depression and cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities has not been established. In this study, we sought to determine whether the cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities found in PD are associated with depression. METHODS: Among 129 nondemented, levodopa-naive patients with mild PD, 44 had depression. Orthostatic vital signs and ambulatory 24-hour BP monitoring were recorded, and geriatric depressive scales were obtained in all patients. Associations between orthostatic hypotension, supine hypertension, nocturnal hypertension, nondipping, and depression were analyzed. The ratio of the standard deviation of 24-hour heart rate to that of systolic BP (SBP) was utilized as an index of baroreflex-cardiovagal function. RESULTS: Depression was associated with orthostatic hypotension, and patients with depression had higher SBP change during orthostasis and attenuated cardiovagal dysfunction as observed during ambulatory BP monitoring. Across individuals, values for orthostatic changes in BP were correlated with values for geriatric depressive scale. CONCLUSION: Depression is associated with neurocirculatory abnormalities-especially orthostatic hypotension-in early PD. Although the association does not imply causation, this result suggests that depression in PD might be associated with functional impairment of the autonomic nervous system and its pathologic substrate.

Subtype of mild cognitive impairment in elderly patients with essential tremor.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Several studies have demonstrated that patients with essential tremor (ET) may also have mild cognitive impairments (MCIs), and cross-sectional and population-based studies have shown that ET is associated with prevalent dementia. Different presentations of MCI are suggested to be associated with different pathologies. For example, amnestic MCI may be associated with Alzheimer disease. Therefore, in this study, we explored whether the MCI subtype in patients with ET (MCI-ET+) is different from the MCI subtype in patients without ET attending a memory outpatient clinic (MCI-ET-). METHODS: Using a case-control study design, cognitive status in MCI patients with ET and without ET was assessed by neuropsychological testing. Patients with MCI were stratified into groups: amnestic and nonamnestic MCI, or single-domain and multidomain MCI. RESULTS: Of the 93 patients in the ET+ group and the 169 in the ET- group, 45 (48.4%) and 94 (55.6%) patients had MCI, respectively. The frequency of MCI subtypes between the 2 groups was different, such that 25 (55.6%) patients had nonamnestic MCI in the ET+ group and 68 (72.3%) patients had amnestic MCI in ET- group (χ=10.195, P=0.001). Compared with the MCI-ET+ group, patients in the MCI-ET- group showed more severe impairments in verbal and visuospatial memory functions. CONCLUSIONS: ET is associated with MCI, particularly the nonamnestic subtype. These results suggest that cognitive change in patients with ET may have a different pathogenesis from that of Alzheimer disease.

The effect of computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on cognitive function for stroke patients.

[Purpose] This study investigated the effects of computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (CACR) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on cognitive function in patients with stroke. [Subjects and Methods] We enrolled 20 patients and divided them into CACR and rTMS groups. CACR and rTMS were performed thrice a week for 4 weeks. Cognitive function was measured with the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) and Lowenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment-Geriatric (LOTCA-G) before and after treatment. The independent samples t-test was performed to test the homogeneity of K-MMSE and LOTCA-G before treatment and compare the differences in cognitive improvement between the CACR and rTMS groups. A paired samples t-test was used to compare cognitive function before and after treatment. [Results] Cognitive function of both the groups significantly improved after the intervention based on the K-MMSE and LOTCA-G scores. While the LOTCA-G score improved significantly more in the CACR group than in the rTMS group, no significant difference was seen in the K-MMSE scores. [Conclusion] We showed that CACR is more effective than rTMS in improving cognitive function after stroke.

Carotid artery thickening and neurocirculatory abnormalities in de novo Parkinson disease.

Cognitive dysfunction constitutes a major non-motor manifestation of Parkinson disease (PD), but the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Neurocirculatory abnormalities such as supine hypertension (SH) and orthostatic hypotension (OH), white matter hyperintensities upon magnetic resonance imaging, and dementia are inter-related in PD, even in patients with early, levodopa-untreated disease. These abnormalities might in turn be associated with carotid atherosclerosis which, by a variety of interacting means could contribute to repeated episodes of cerebral hypo- and hyper-perfusion. We investigated inter-correlations among neurocirculatory and carotid sonographic measurements [intimal-medial thickness (IMT) and wall:lumen ratios (WLR)] in 65 patients with levodopa-untreated, de novo PD who underwent tilt table testing and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Increased mean IMT and WLR were associated with OH and supine and overnight blood pressures. Across individuals the orthostatic fall in systolic pressure was correlated with both IMT and WLR. Since arteriosclerosis would be expected to splint carotid sinus baroreceptors, complex positive interactions among carotid wall thickening, SH, and OH may result in myriad episodes of cerebral hypo- and hyper-perfusion, contributing to microvascular injury and consequently to the cognitive dysfunction attending PD.

Serum hs-CRP levels are increased in de Novo Parkinson's disease independently from age of onset.

BACKGROUND: Microglia in the brain are the counterpart of macrophages and it functions as a first defense in the brain. The double-edged feature of microglia has explained that the inflammatory state of microglia in aged brains induces them to over-respond to small stimuli that are otherwise well controlled in young brains. The clinical effect of microglia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is poorly defined. This prospective study assessed the peripheral concentrations of hs-CRP, a protein able to reflect neuroinflammation in the CNS, in de novo PD patients with varying ages of onset. METHODS: We examined 435 patients with de novo PD and 221 healthy subjects and the differences in hs-CRP between these groups were investigated. The PD group was classified into 4 subgroups according to the age of de novo PD to investigate the relationship between hs-CRP and the aging process in de novo PD. RESULTS: There were significantly higher serum hs-CRP levels in patients with PD compared with healthy subjects. A post-hoc analysis of the 4 PD subgroups showed no significant differences in serum hs-CRP level. CONCLUSION: We assumed that neuroinflammatory reactions play a role in the pathogenesis of PD, but found no clinical evidence of a neuroprotective effect against PD in young brains. To clarify the role of microglia and aging in the pathogenesis of PD, future longitudinal studies involving a large cohort are required.

The Nuclear DNA Content Determination of 31 Endemic Freshwater Fishes in Korea.

The main purpose of the current study was to obtain nuclear DNA content data among the representatives of the families and subfamilies of 31 endemic fishes that inhabit river of Korea. DNA contents of 31 endemic species were observed to rang from 1.5 to 4.8 pg DNA/nucleus. In Cyprinidae, DNA content of Abbottina springeri (1.5±0.03 pg DNA/nucleus) was the lowest value and DNA content of Carassius cuvieri (4.5±0.32 pg DNA/nucleus) was the highest value in all experimental groups. In Cobitidae, DNA content of Iksookimia longicorpa (3.9±0.17 pg DNA/nucleus) was the highest value and DNA content of Orthrias toni (1.5±0.18 pg DNA/nucleus) was the lowest value in all experimental groups. This study provides new information for a better understanding of the process of genomic evolution in 31 endemic species in river of Korea.

A review of studies on Oryzias dancena.

Oryzias dancena (Beloniformes; Teleostei), is a euryhaline teleost that mainly inhabits the brackish or freshwater of river mouths and estuaries around the Bay of Bengal and the Malay Peninsula. It also has a short interval between generations, with spawning possibilities just 60 days after hatching. The aim of this paper is to provide a review for the study of O. dancena based on the studies collected so far, and could form the basis for a wide category of researches including zootoxy, cytogenetics, anesthesia, tagging, salinity tolerance, reproduction, fish disease, chromosome engineering, and trnasgenesis in order to highlight the recent progress in different fields of study using this species.

Effect of dietary nutrient composition on the growth of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) with different feeding regimes.

We have examined the effect of dietary nutrient composition on the growth, body composition and blood chemistry of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) maintained on two different feeding regimes. Three experimental diets [HP (high protein), HE (high energy) and IPE (intermediate protein and energy)] were crossed in a two-factor design with the two feeding regimes, which consisted of 2WS + 2WF (2-week starvation and then 2-week feeding) and 4WS + 4WF (4-week starvation and then 4-week feeding)], for 8 weeks. The total days of feeding in all treatments were the same. The final weight of fish was affected by feeding regime, but not by dietary nutrient composition. Long-term starving and feeding (the 4WS + 4WF treatments) yielded higher growth than the alternating short-term starving and feeding regime (2WS + 2WF treatments). The feed consumption of fish was affected by dietary nutrient composition, but not by feeding regime, while the feed efficiency of fish was affected by feeding regime, but not by dietary nutrient composition. Moisture, crude protein and crude lipid contents of the liver of the fish were affected by dietary nutrient composition, but not by feeding regime.

Factors Predicting the Need for Early Surgical Intervention for Small Bowel Obstruction.

PURPOSE: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common disease that requires hospitalization. The most common cause of SBO is postoperative adhesion. Delayed timing of operations in patients who need surgical intervention results in mortality or morbidity. A number of studies on SBO have established criteria for emergency surgery. However, few objective clinical parameters are available for screening patients who need a delayed operation. Therefore, we analyzed factors that affect the clinical course of SBO to select appropriate therapeutic plans for reducing the risk of complications in these patients. METHODS: We investigated the clinical characteristics of patients admitted to the surgery department of our hospital between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2016, who were diagnosed with SBO. Patients were divided into an operative treatment group (n = 12) and a conservative treatment group (n = 96). We compared clinical characteristics between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The operative treatment group underwent more operations before SBO than the conservative treatment group (P = 0.007). Initial leukocyte counts (P = 0.004) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (P = 0.028) were elevated in the operative group. Body mass index (BMI) was lower in the operative group (P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: The number of operations before SBO, leukocyte counts, CRP levels, and BMI were useful parameters for selecting patients who needed an urgent operation for SBO.

The Anesthetic Effects of Clove Oil and MS-222 on Far Eastern Catfish, Silurus asotus.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the anesthetic effects of clove oil and tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) on the Far Eastern catfish, Silurus asotus, by measuring the times to anesthesia and recovery. Each anesthetic effect of clove oil and MS-222 was tested in two groups of fish with different body sizes: a group of small fish (mean body length: 15.5±1.58 cm, mean body weight: 50.1±5.91 g, n=20) and a group of large fish (mean body length: 31.5±4.19 cm, mean body weight: 302.1±15.22 g, n=20). The anesthetics were used at concentrations of 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 ppm. The results showed significant relationships between the concentration of the anesthetic and the body size of the fish. Each of these variables showed statistical significance (p<0.05). The time to anesthesia decreased linearly with increasing concentration in the large fish for both clove oil and MS-222 (p<0.05). Based on an optimal anesthetic time of approximately 1 min, the preferred concentrations of the anesthetics were 500 ppm for clove oil and 600 ppm for MS-222. Both the anesthetic time and the recovery time were shorter for the small fish than for the large fish (p<0.05). Our study showed that the smaller-sized Far Eastern catfish was more easily anesthetized and recovered more rapidly from anesthesia than the larger-sized fish.

Anaesthetic Efficacy and Physiological Response of Clove Oil and Lidocaine-HCl on River Puffer, Takifugu obscurus and Tiger Puffer, T. rubripes.

The effects of the anaesthetic agents, clove oil and mixture of clove oil with lidocaine-HCl were evaluated on river puffer, Takifugu obscurus and tiger puffer, T. rubripes. Anaesthesia times of clove oil were affected by water temperature (20℃, 24℃, and 28℃) and salinity (10, 20, and 30 ppt). Anaesthesia times of mixed samples were significantly similar with regard to exposure and recovery times, and all samples satisfied anaesthesia criteria (exposure time within 3 min and recovery time within 5 min) under the various temperatures and salinities, and the lowest to highest concentration of anaesthetics (p<0.05). Both species river puffer and tiger puffer had short exposure time with a high anaesthesia dose, high temperature (28℃) and intermediate salinity (20 ppt), and were highly affected by temperature and salinity (p<0.05). The mixed anaesthetics had rapid exposure times and long recovery times in contrast to the effects of clove oil. Cortisol concentrations under the conditions of various clove oil dosages, salinity, and temperature for both species increased until 12 hrs after recovery from anaesthesia (p<0.05). After 12 hrs, cortisol concentrations decreased until after 48 hrs (p<0.05). During the simulated transportation of both species, control and sedated clove oil groups (5 ppm) were measured for water parameters, dissolved oxygen (DO), CO2, respiratory frequency, NH4 +, and pH for 6 hrs in 1 hr intervals. Water parameters of sedated groups and controls were significantly different after 2 hrs (p<0.05).

Karyotypic Analysis of Chicken Grunt, Parapristipoma trilimeatum, Small Yellow Croaker, Larimichthys polyactis, and Brown Croaker, Miichthys miiuy.

To clarify the cytogenetic features of the chicken grunt, Parapristipoma trilineatum, small yellow croaker, Larimichthys polyactis, and brown croaker, Miichthys miiuy, in Jeju, Korea, karyotype analysis was performed. The karyotype of chicken grunt and brown croaker consists of 24 pairs of telocentrics [2n=48, fundamental number (FN)=48], and small yellow croaker consists of 3 pairs of submetacentrics and 21 pairs of telocentrics (2n=48, FN=54). No evidence of polymorphism, including aneuploidy or sex-related heteromorphic chromosomes, was found in any specimens examined in this study.

The Sterilization Effect of Methylene Blue, Formalin, and Iodine on Egg and Adult Stage of Marine Medaka, Oryzias dancena.

The sterilization effects of methylene blue (MB), formalin, and iodine on the egg of marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, were investigated for disinfecting naididae worm, Chaetogaster diastrophus through sterilization. To determine harmfulness of MB, formalin, and iodine, lethal concentrations 50 (LC50) of three chemicals were analyzed in the eggs of marine medaka. The sterilized periods of each chemical were set at 1 hr. Sterilized rates of naididae worm in each chemical were significantly affected and increased drastically as the concentration of each chemical increased (p<0.05). Sterilization abilities of naididae worm were most effective for formalin, but survival rates of egg and hatched rates for formalin were lowest among each chemical. The LC50 of MB over 96 hrs were 185.26, 103.84, and 127.15 ppm for adults, juveniles, and eggs respectively. The toxic effects of MB were clearly dose dependent for each life stage (p<0.05). The toxicity sensitivity of juveniles to MB was dramatically higher than that of other groups. In 48 hrs after sterilization, cortisol and glucose concentrations of the adult group with MB treatment were significantly higher than those of the adult group with no treatment (p<0.05). This research provides useful data on sterilization effect of MB, formalin, and iodine, acute toxicity in marine medaka egg and toxicity, sensitivity of life stage of MB in marine medaka.

Changing Salinity Affects Hematological and Histological Response in Hybrids and Hybrid Triploids between River Puffer, Takifugu obscurus and Tiger Puffer, T. rubripes.

We investigated the physiological responses of the river puffer, Takifugu obscurus, the tiger puffer, T. rubripes, a hybrids of the two (river puffer×tiger puffer) and a hybrid triploids to acute changes of salinity from 30 psu to 0 psu and from 0 psu to 30 psu. The blood and plasma factors of each species were elevated for 48, 72, or 96 hrs, and thereafter decreased due to hyper-osmoregulation and hypo-osmoregulation. In hyper-osmoregulation and hypo-osmoregulation, the cortisol concentration of river puffer, hybrids, hybrid triploids and tiger puffer increased for 12 or 48 hrs, and decreased thereafter. Chloride cells in the gill filaments of each species increased with increasing salinity, and melano-macrophages in the kidney tissue of each species increased with decreasing salinity. In conclusion, the hematological and stress responses of the hybrids were between those of the river puffer and tiger puffer, and the hematological responses of the hybrid triploids were higher than those of the other groups. The stress response of the hybrids was more sensitive than that of the hybrid triploids. In all groups, the histological responses of kidney in hyper-osmoregulation were more sensitive than those in hypo-osmoregulation.

The Effect of Sodium Nitrite Exposure on Physiological Response of Starved Far Eastern Catfish, Silurus asotus.

The experiment was conducted for 210 days to determine the effect of feeding, and starvation, and exposure to sodium nitrite (NaNO2) on the survival, physiological changes, hematological parameter, and stress response of Far Eastern catfish, Silurus asotus. The survival of the starved group was lower than that of the fed group during the experiment. Starvation resulted in retardation of growth, which provides an example of fish that failed to continue to grow and remain in a good condition. Blood analyses (cortisol and glucose) showed significant differences of stress response between the fed and starved groups exposed to NaNO2 at the conclusion of the experiment (p<0.05). These results suggest that all nutritional parameters used for starvation and feeding with NaNO2 stress in this experiment appear to be a useful index of nutritional status in Far Eastern catfish.

Comparative Analysis of Fluctuating Asymmetry between Ploidy and Sex in Marine Medaka, Oryzias dancena.

The purpose of this study is to examine fluctuating asymmetry of eye diameter, maxilla length, operculum length, and the number of pectoral fin ray and pelvic fin ray between ploidy and sex in diploid and triploid marine medaka, Oryzias dancena. In all experimental groups, eye diameter and maxilla length showed no significant difference between left side and right side (p>0.05). Results of operculum length in triploid male group and pectoral fin ray's number in diploid male group showed similarity ones with results of operculum length in triploid female group and pectoral fin ray's number in diploid female group (p<0.05). However, the operculum length in diploid male group and pectoral fin ray's number in triploid male group showed consinderable difference with those of operculum length in diploid female group and pectoral fin in triploid female group. Findings of pelvic fin ray's number in all groups were similar to those of pectoral fin ray's number in all groups (p<0.01).

Morphometric Characteristics of Diploid and Triploid Marine Medaka, Oryzias dancena.

The morphometric truss characteristics and classical dimensions of the marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, that might distinguish diploid and triploid fish were examined. Significant differences in all the classical and truss dimensions of the diploid and triploid fish were observed in both sexes (p<0.01). All the dimensions of the triploid fish were greater than those of the diploid fish. The triploid marine medaka shows sexual dimorphism in these characters, and the sexual dimorphism of the triploid marine medaka is similar to that of the diploid marine medaka. Thus, when their classical dimension and truss dimension was measured, the growth of triploid marine medaka is faster than that of the diploid fish, and it displays clear sexual dimorphism, with male fish having longer dorsal and anal fins than female fish.