Altered whole-brain gray matter volume in primary angle closure glaucoma patients: a voxel-based morphometry study.

The study aimed to compare the whole-brain gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) difference between primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) patients and health controls (HCs) using a voxel-based morphometry method. A total of 27 patients with PACG (17 males and 10 females) and 27 HCs (17 males and 10 females), closely matched for age and education, were enrolled in the study. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The MRI data were processed using SPM8 software in voxel-based morphometry 8 toolbox. The relationship between the mean GMV values of brain regions and the clinical features including psychological testing and mean retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in PACG groups were analyzed by using Pearson correlation. Compared with HCs, PACG patients showed significantly decreased GMV values in the left cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL), right extra-nuclear, and right superior temporal gyrus. In contrast, PACG patients showed significantly increased GMV values in the left CPL, right CPL, right superior temporal gyrus, right thalamus and right insula (P<0.01). Moreover, in the PACG group, the left mean RNFL showed a positive correlation with the mean GMV values of the left CPL (r=0.719; P<0.001) and the right mean RNFL showed a positive correlation with the mean GMV values of the left CPL (r=0.721; P<0.001). The Hamilton depression score showed a positive correlation with the mean GMV values of right insula (r=0.897; P<0.001). Our results demonstrated that PACG patients showed altered brain structure in various regions related to visuomotor function, thalamocortical pathway, and emotion function, which might provide a useful informations to understanding the anatomy neural mechanisms of deficit in vision loss and depression in PACG.

Glioblastoma recurrence correlates with NLGN3 levels.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive glioma in the brain. Recurrence of GBM is almost inevitable within a short term after tumor resection. In a retrospective study of 386 cases of GBM collected between 2013 and 2016, we found that recurrence of GBM mainly occurs in the deep brain regions, including the basal ganglia, thalamus, and corpus callosum. But the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is not clear. Previous studies suggest that neuroligin-3 (NLGN3) is necessary for GBM growth. Our results show that the levels of NLGN3 in the cortex are higher than those in the deep regions in a normal human brain, and similar patterns are also found in a normal mouse brain. In contrast, NLGN3 levels in the deep brain regions of GBM patients are high. We also show that an increase in NLGN3 concentration promotes the growth of U251 cells and U87-MG cells. Respective use of the cortex neuron culture medium (C-NCM) and basal ganglia neuron culture medium (BG-NCM) with DMEM to cultivate U251, U87-MG and GBM cells isolated from patients, we found that these cells grew faster after treatment with C-NCM and BG-NCM in which the cells treated with C-NCM grew faster than the ones treated with BG-NCM group. Inhibition of NLGN3 release by ADAM10i prevents NCM-induced cell growth. Together, this study suggests that increased levels of NLGN3 in the deep brain region under the GBM pathological circumstances may contribute to GBM recurrence in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and corpus callosum.

Quantitative Evaluation of Vertebral Microvascular Permeability and Fat Fraction in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Rabbits.

Purpose To determine longitudinal relationships between lumbar vertebral bone marrow permeability and marrow adipose tissue in a rabbit diabetes model by using quantitative dynamic contrast agent-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and iterative decomposition of water and fat with the echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation quantitation (IDEAL IQ) sequence. Materials and Methods Twenty rabbits were randomly assigned to the diabetic (n = 10) or control (n = 10) group. All rabbits underwent sagittal MR imaging of the lumbar region at fixed time points (0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after alloxan injection). A linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze fat fraction (FF) and permeability parameter changes for 16 months after baseline. These parameters were compared between the two groups by using an independent-samples t test. Correlation of DCE MR imaging parameters with FF and with microvessel density (MVD) was analyzed by using the Spearman correlation coefficient. All statistical analyses were performed with software. Results Twelve weeks after injection, transfer constant (Ktrans) and rate constant (Kep) were markedly and significantly increased, while fractional plasma volume (Vp) significantly decreased. The volume of extravascular extracellular space (Ve) decreased significantly after 16 weeks in the diabetic group. MVD was negatively correlated with Ktrans and Kep and positively correlated with Ve and Vp, while FF was positively correlated with Ktrans and Kep and negatively correlated with Ve and Vp (P < .05 for all). Conclusion DCE MR imaging and the IDEAL IQ sequence can be used for quantitative evaluation of changes in vertebral microvascular permeability and vertebral fat deposition in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. This variation is highly associated with increased vertebral fat deposition. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.