[Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease With Slow Progression:Report of One Case].

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease(sCJD)is a prion-caused degenerative disease of the central nervous system,with the typical clinical manifestation of rapidly progressive dementia.The course of disease is less than 1 year in most patients and more than 2 years in only 2% to 3% patients.We reported a case of sCJD with expressive language disorder and slow progression in this paper.By summarizing the clinical manifestations and the electroencephalograhpy,MRI,and pathological features,we aimed to enrich the knowledge about the sCJD with slow progression.

Corrigendum: Correlation between blood glucose and cerebrospinal fluid glucose levels in patients with differences in glucose metabolism.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1103026.].

Correlation between blood glucose and cerebrospinal fluid glucose levels in patients with differences in glucose metabolism.

Objectives: We aimed to determine a method to identify normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glucose levels by examining the correlation between blood and CSF glucose levels in patients with normal and abnormal glucose metabolism. Methods: One hundred ninety-five patients were divided into two groups according to their glucose metabolism. The glucose levels were obtained from CSF and fingertip blood at 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 h before lumbar puncture. SPSS 22.0 software was used for the statistical analysis. Results: In both the normal and abnormal glucose metabolism groups, CSF glucose levels increased with blood glucose levels at 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 h before lumbar puncture. In the normal glucose metabolism group, the CSF/blood glucose ratio range was 0.35-0.95 at 0-6 h before lumbar puncture, and the CSF/average blood glucose ratio range was 0.43-0.74. In the abnormal glucose metabolism group, the CSF/blood glucose ratio range was 0.25-1.2 at 0-6 h before lumbar puncture, and the CSF/average blood glucose ratio range was 0.33-0.78. Conclusion: The CSF glucose level is influenced by the blood glucose level 6 h before lumbar puncture. In patients with normal glucose metabolism, direct measurement of the CSF glucose level can be used to determine whether the CSF level is normal. However, in patients with abnormal or unclear glucose metabolism, the CSF/average blood glucose ratio should be used to determine whether the CSF glucose level is normal.

Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing of Cerebrospinal Fluid for the Diagnosis of Cerebral Aspergillosis.

Purpose: Cerebral aspergillosis (CA) is a rare but often fatal, difficult-to-diagnose, opportunistic infection. The utility of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for diagnosis of CA is unclear. We evaluated the usefulness of mNGS of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of CA. Methods: This prospective study involved seven consecutive patients with confirmed CA in whom CSF mNGS was performed. Serum (1→3)-ß-D-glucan and galactomannan levels were determined, and histopathological examination and mNGS of the CSF were conducted. CSF specimens from three non-infected patients were used as positive controls. Results: mNGS of the CSF was positive in six of the seven confirmed CA cases (85.71% sensitivity). In the cryptococcal meningitis group (control), mNGS of the CSF was positive for Aspergillus in two patients (84.62% specificity). The positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and Youden's index of mNGS for CA in the CSF were 5.565, 0.169, and 0.7, respectively. Among the six mNGS-positive cases, more than two Aspergillus species were found in four (4/6, 66.67%). In the positive controls, the addition of one A. fumigatus spore yielded a standardised species-specific read number (SDSSRN) of 25.45 by mNGS; the detection rate would be 0.98 if SDSSRN was 2. Conclusion: mNGS facilitates the diagnosis of CA and may reduce the need for cerebral biopsy in patients with suspected CA. Trial Registration Number: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800020442.

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: A Retrospective Analysis of 104 Cases.

BACKGROUND: Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is an extremely rare fatal and infectious neurodegenerative brain disorder characterized by rapidly progressive dementia, cerebellar ataxia, and visual disturbances. This article summarizes the retrospective analysis of 104 sCJD patients in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2003 to 2019. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the medical records of the 104 patients diagnosed with sCJD was performed from the aspects of demographic data, clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, electroencephalograms (EEGs), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) scans, positron emission tomography (PET) scans, and prion protein gene mutations. RESULTS: In the 104 sCJD patients, pathological evidence of a spongiform change was found in 11 patients, while the remaining 93 patients were probable sCJD. The 104 patients included 57 males and 47 females, with the age of onset ranging from 29 to 82 (mean: 58, median: 60) years. The time from disease onset to death ranged from 1 to 36 months. Most of the patients died 7-12 months after the onset of sCJD. In most patients, rapidly progressive dementia appeared as the initial symptom, followed by cerebellar ataxia, visual disturbances, and neurobehavioral disorders. Most patients' DWI images showed symmetric or asymmetric hyperintensity in the cortex. In terms of EEGs, 38.2% of the patients had periodic sharp wave complexes. The sensitivity of 14-3-3 protein detection was 34.1%. The brain PET scans of 50 patients with sCJD presented 96% sensitivity for the diagnosis of sCJD. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that sCJD occurred at an early age in patients in China. The sensitivity of 14-3-3 protein detection was significantly low, but brain PET was highly sensitive in the diagnosis of sCJD.

Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Diagnosis of Infectious Encephalitis and Meningitis: A Large, Prospective Case Series of 213 Patients.

Purpose: We assessed the performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of infectious encephalitis and meningitis. Methods: This was a prospective multicenter study. Cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with viral encephalitis and/or meningitis, tuberculous meningitis, bacterial meningitis, fungal meningitis, and non-central nervous system (CNS) infections were subjected to mNGS. Results: In total, 213 patients with infectious and non-infectious CNS diseases were finally enrolled from November 2016 to May 2019; the mNGS-positive detection rate of definite CNS infections was 57.0%. At a species-specific read number (SSRN) ≥2, mNGS performance in the diagnosis of definite viral encephalitis and/or meningitis was optimal (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.659, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.566-0.751); the positivity rate was 42.6%. At a genus-specific read number ≥1, mNGS performance in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (definite or probable) was optimal (AUC=0.619, 95% CI=0.516-0.721); the positivity rate was 27.3%. At SSRNs ≥5 or 10, the diagnostic performance was optimal for definite bacterial meningitis (AUC=0.846, 95% CI = 0.711-0.981); the sensitivity was 73.3%. The sensitivities of mNGS (at SSRN ≥2) in the diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis and cerebral aspergillosis were 76.92 and 80%, respectively. Conclusion: mNGS of cerebrospinal fluid effectively identifies pathogens causing infectious CNS diseases. mNGS should be used in conjunction with conventional microbiological testing. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800020442.

Apparent performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in the diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis: a descriptive study.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has become widely used in medical microbiology to detect pathogen infection. AIM: We aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of mNGS of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for prediction of cryptococcal meningitis (CM). METHODOLOGY: A comparative evaluation of mNGS (performed on CSF samples) and conventional methods, including India ink staining, culture for fungi and cryptococcal-antigen (CrAg) detection by enzyme immunoassay, was performed on 12 consecutive non-HIV-infected patients with chronic or subacute CM. RESULTS: India ink staining and culture of the CSF were positive for Cryptococcus in 83.33 % (10/12) of the samples; 100 % (11/11) were positive via CrAg EIA. The mNGS results of the CSF identified DNA sequences corresponding to Cryptococcus in 75 % of samples (9/12). However, the DNA of both C. neoformans s.l. and C. gattii s.l. was detected concurrently in 33.33 % (4/12). CONCLUSION: mNGS is helpful for identifying Cryptococcus species. The application of mNGS, together with India ink staining, culture methods, and CrAg, may significantly improve the diagnostic precision in CM, thereby informing choice of appropriate antifungal treatment courses.

Evaluation of Next-Generation Sequencing for the Diagnosis of Infections of the Central Nervous System Caused by the Neurotropic Herpes Viruses: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: There are sparse and limited studies on small sample size reporting the application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the detection of central nervous system (CNS) viral infections. We assessed the diagnostic performance of NGS of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for predicting viral infections of the CNS caused by the neurotropic herpes viruses in a pilot population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively collected CSF samples from 24 patients with CNS viral infection from April 2017 to October 2018. Of the 24 patients, 19 patients were infected with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), 1 patient with HSV-2, and 4 patients with varicella-zoster virus (VZV). All CSF samples were screened for viral DNA using NGS technologies to detect viral CNS infections. RESULTS: Of the 24 patients with confirmed viral CNS infection caused by the neurotropic herpes viruses, 10 (10/24, 41.67%) patients exhibited positive NGS results. With the help of NGS, HSV-1 DNA was detected in the CSF of 6 patients (6/19; 31.58%). HSV-2 DNA was detected in 1 patient (1/1; 100%) and VZV DNA was detected in 3 patients (3/4; 75%). The positive rate of virus detected by NGS decreased with time. The positive rates of NGS of CSF in the first, second, and third weeks were 54.5% (6/11), 44.4% (4/9), and 0% (0/4), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: NGS method is a promising pathogen detection tool for identifying viral CNS infections. It should be recommended to sequence viral DNA of CSF in the early stage of CNS viral infections.

Neurobrucellosis.

PURPOSE: Neurobrucellosis (NB) is a rare complication of brucellosis. NB presents with avariety of clinical manifestations, and the symptoms are always atypical. Our aim was to analyze the demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, imaging findings, treatments and outcomes of patients with NB. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed the data from 17 patients with NB hospitalized at the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital between 1 January 2005 and 31 October 2016. RESULTS: The following symptoms were recorded: 10/17 (59%) patients had fever, and 9/17 (53%) patients had a disorder affecting urination and defecation. Involvement of the cranial nerves was documented in 12/17 (71%) patients. The positivity rates of the tests were as follows: serum standard tube agglutination (STA), 15/17 (88.2%); cerebrospinal fluid STA, 10/17 (59%). The radiologic findings were categorized into four types: normal, white matter changes, vascular insult and inflammatory changes. Patients were treated with different combinations of rifampicin, doxycycline, ceftriaxone sodium and sulphamethoxazole for a total of six months. Two (12%) patients deteriorated, and two (12%) patients were lost to follow-up. The remaining patients (76%) were cured, but sequelae occurred in six patients. CONCLUSIONS: NB should be kept in mind in patients with autonomic dysfunction, especially disorders of urination and defecation. Hearing loss due to vestibulocochlear nerve injury seems to be typical for NB. The high incidence of sequelae may be related to a long disease course and the involvement of the central nervous system. Early detection, diagnosis and treatment could decrease mortality and sequelae.

Cerebral aspergillosis: a retrospective analysis of eight cases.

PURPOSE: Aspergillosis of the central nervous system is very rare. However with recent increases in the use of immunosuppressive agents and antibiotics, its incidence is increasing. We evaluated the demographics, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, diagnosis, underlying conditions, treatment regimens and outcomes of patients with cerebral aspergillosis (CA). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from eight patients with CA hospitalized at a Chinese general hospital from 1 January 2005 to 30 September 2015. RESULTS: Common clinical manifestations included headache and cranial nerve involvement. Four patients underwent biopsy and were pathologically diagnosed with Aspergillus hyphae. One patient was proved to have Aspergillus infection via autopsy. One patient had positive cerebrospinal fluid fungal cultures. The lesion locations were: the cavernous sinus (n = 5, 62.5%), frontal lobe (n = 1, 12.5%), temporosphenoid lobe (n = 1, 12.5%) and cerebellum (n = 1, 12.5%). At the end of follow-up, three patients were cured and five patients had died (mortality rate, 62.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with CA had no significant immunosuppression-related conditions in our study. Aspergillus spp. can infect the central nervous system through several pathways and CA has an atypical clinical manifestation. The use of local tissue puncture, surgery or other invasive means to obtain diseased tissue containing higher levels of Aspergillus, followed by culture or histological examination, can contribute to an early diagnosis of CA and timely therapeutic intervention. The prognosis of CA is poor, but early and adequate use of antifungal drugs with high transfer across the blood-brain barrier and radical surgery to remove lesions can improve the survival rate.

Autoimmune encephalitis mimicking sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: A retrospective study.

Autoimmune encephalitis associated with anti-voltage-gated potassium channel antibodies are most likely to be misdiagnosed as sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Our goal was to delineate patients who were initially suspected to have CJD but were later found to have AE. We performed a retrospective clinical review of cases of individuals and made a comparison between groups of patients diagnosed with sCJD and AE. Patients who had rapidly progressing dementia and focal neurological impairment, such as aphasia, gait disturbance, visual disturbance, and depression, at onset were diagnosed with sCJD, whereas epilepsy, hyponatremia and dysautonomia were strong hints for AE. Fluoroscope-positron emission tomography (PET) of patients with AE revealed variable metabolism and normative and long-term immunosuppression were less likely to relapse.

A Clinical Study of Miliary Brain Tuberculomas in China.

Brain tuberculomas can exhibit many different clinical and radiological patterns. However, disseminated or miliary brain tuberculomas are very rare. Miliary brain tuberculomas have specific clinical prognostic implications. Seven patients diagnosed with miliary brain tuberculomas between December 2004 and August 2012 were evaluated retrospectively. Their clinical features, cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics, treatments, and outcomes were reviewed. The median patient age was 42 years (range, 22-66 years). Six patients presented with fever, 5 with headache, 4 with papilledema, and 3 with diplopia. MRI studies revealed multiple brain lesions. MRI showed 20-50 lesions at the same level. These lesions measured approximately 2-4 mm in diameter and exhibited ring or nodular enhancement after gadolinium injection. All patients began to recover within 2 weeks of initiating antitubercular therapy (ATT). The number of lesions visible on MRI scans was halved within a month, and all lesions had healed without sequelae after 18 months of regular ATT. Miliary brain tuberculoma is a rare form of central nervous system tuberculosis. Some special characteristics of miliary brain tuberculomas are as follows: First, the presence of mild atypical clinical manifestations and almost normal laboratory findings; second, severe radiological features and 20-50 lesions at the same level on MRI scans; and third, a good response to standard ATT. Finally, they are benign; for instance, no patients died in our study. Early diagnosis and treatment can result in full recovery.

Long-term Effectiveness of Antiepileptic Drug Monotherapy in Partial Epileptic Patients: A 7-year Study in an Epilepsy Center in China.

BACKGROUND: It is important to choose an appropriate antiepileptic drug (AED) to manage partial epilepsy. Traditional AEDs, such as carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproate (VPA), have been proven to have good therapeutic effects. However, in recent years, a variety of new AEDs have increasingly been used as first-line treatments for partial epilepsy. As the studies regarding the effectiveness of new drugs and comparisons between new AEDs and traditional AEDs are few, it is determined that these are areas in need of further research. Accordingly, this study investigated the long-term effectiveness of six AEDs used as monotherapy in patients with partial epilepsy. METHODS: This is a retrospective, long-term observational study. Patients with partial epilepsy who received monotherapy with one of six AEDs, namely, CBZ, VPA, topiramate (TPM), oxcarbazepine (OXC), lamotrigine (LTG), or levetiracetam (LEV), were identified and followed up from May 2007 to October 2014, and time to first seizure after treatment, 12-month remission rate, retention rate, reasons for treatment discontinuation, and adverse effects were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 789 patients were enrolled. The median time of follow-up was 56.95 months. CBZ exhibited the best time to first seizure, with a median time to first seizure of 36.06 months (95% confidential interval: 30.64-44.07). CBZ exhibited the highest 12-month remission rate (85.55%), which was significantly higher than those of TPM (69.38%, P = 0.006), LTG (70.79%, P = 0.001), LEV (72.54%, P = 0.005), and VPA (73.33%, P = 0.002). CBZ, OXC, and LEV had the best retention rate, followed by LTG, TPM, and VPA. Overall, adverse effects occurred in 45.87% of patients, and the most common adverse effects were memory problems (8.09%), rashes (7.76%), abnormal hepatic function (6.24%), and drowsiness (6.24%). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that CBZ, OXC, and LEV are relatively effective in managing focal epilepsy as measured by time to first seizure, 12-month remission rate, and retention rate.

Lamotrigine induced DIHS/DRESS: Manifestations, treatment, and outcome in 57 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical features, course, response to treatment, and outcome of lamotrigine induced drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DIHS) or drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS). METHODS: A comprehensive PubMed and Scopus search (covering the period from January 1999 through April 2014) of the English and non-English literature (with English abstract) was conducted to identify published reports of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) associated with lamotrigine therapy. RESULTS: This study population included 57 patients, of whom 38 (66.67%) were female and 19 (33.33%) were male. The latency period varied from 9 days to 120 days, with a mean of 27.58 ± 20.65 days. Multisystem involvement was present in 97.37% (37/38) patients. Systemic corticosteroids were administered to (61.29%) 19/31 patients. 35/38 (92.11%) patients recovered completely, one patient developed liver failure and needed liver transplant, one died from septic shock and one died from multiple organ failure. CONCLUSIONS: We found a greater predominance of women with LTG-DIHS/DRESS, and 68.42% patients were >18 years of age. The presenting symptoms in most of patients were fever, skin rash, liver involvement, hypereosinophilia, and lymphadenopathy. Lamotrigine is associated to a rather high risk of severe cutaneous adverse reactions and to the risk of dying from such reactions, likes many other anticonvulsants. Early recognition and withdrawal of the suspected agent may avoid irreversible damage to the organs will be life saving.

Voriconazole: a novel treatment option for cryptococcal meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a relatively common opportunistic infection in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and can also occur in patients with no underlying disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, diagnosis and misdiagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CM at a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 55 patients at a tertiary care hospital from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2013. All the patients had a definite diagnosis based on etiology. RESULTS: All 55 patients had a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) India ink staining result. The predominant change observed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was leptomeningeal liner enhancement, which is also called 'lumbriciform-enhancing.' Only 15 patients were first diagnosed with CM, indicating a misdiagnosis rate of 72.7%. At the follow-up end point, 8 patients were cured, 33 had improved, and 14 had died. The overall response rate was 74.5%. The voriconazole group had a response rate of 100%, which was significantly higher than the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Most CM patients in China were previously healthy without any potential risk factors. CM was easily misdiagnosed due to the lack of specificity of early clinical symptoms. Repeated CSF India ink staining should be performed to identify the pathogen. Voriconazole could be administered to the patients with CM, especially to patients who had a treatment failure with amphotericin B alone or accompanied by fluconazole.

Diffusion-weighted MRI findings and clinical correlations in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The objective of this study is to investigate the hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) and its clinical correlation in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Patients who suffered from sCJD and followed up at the Department of Neurology at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army during the period of June 1, 2007 to July 1, 2014 were reviewed. The location of the hyperintense lesions on DWI, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the hyperintense lesions were correlated with symptoms and clinical course. A total of 58 sCJD patients and ten healthy controls were included. Hyperintense lesions on DWI were observed in all the patients. The patients with basal ganglia (BG) hyperintense lesions on DWI had shorter disease duration and higher incidence of myoclonus (92 versus 44 %) than those without BG hyperintense lesions. The patients with occipital cortex hyperintense lesions on DWI had shorter disease duration between symptom onset and akinetic mutism than those without these lesions. The lower of the BG ADC value the faster presence of akinetic mutism and the shorter disease duration the patients will have. The presence of BG and occipital cortex hyperintense lesions on DWI and BG ADC values is correlated with the clinical course and clinical symptoms.

Lamotrigine-induced severe cutaneous adverse reaction: Update data from 1999-2014.

We systematically reviewed and analyzed published patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) or toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) associated with lamotrigine therapy to identify characteristics of these reactions. We identified a total of 70 patients (42 SJS, five SJS/TEN, 23 TEN). The female to male ratio was 2.83:1 in the TEN group and 1.47:1 in the SJS group. Patients in the TEN group were younger than in the SJS group but this difference was not significant (28.35 versus 32.71 years, respectively; p=0.27). The median time to onset was 25.33 versus 18.42 days for SJS and TEN, respectively. The median dosage at onset was 36.46 versus 57.29mg, and final dosage 111.25 versus 97.92mg/day for SJS and TEN, respectively. The median final dosages did not significantly differ. Concomitant use of valproate acid was reported in 54.55% of the SJS patients and 50.00% of the TEN patients. Three fatal reactions were reported, of which two patients deteriorated rapidly and died within 12h of admission, indicating that this disease can develop rapidly before effective treatment. There was no significant difference between the SJS and TEN groups in any of the clinical factors examined which confirmed the opinion that SJS and TEN are part of a single disease spectrum.

Risk of a lamotrigine-related skin rash: current meta-analysis and postmarketing cohort analysis.

PURPOSE: We systematically reviewed studies to provide current evidence on the incidence and risk of skin rash in patients with LTG therapy. METHODS: PubMed and Scopus databases, up to 15 March 2014 were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies included prospective studies, retrospective studies and postmarketing reports, which included data of skin rash in patients with LTG therapy. RESULTS: Forty-one articles met the entry criteria. A total of 4447 patients with LTG therapy from 26 prospective studies, 2977 patients from 8 retrospective studies, and 26,126 patients from 5/7 postmarketing reports were included. The overall incidence of skin rash with LTG therapy was 9.98% (444/4447) from prospective studies, 7.19% (214/2977) from retrospective studies, and 2.09% (547/26,126) from postmarketing reports. A meta-analysis of the risk of skin rash in 21 prospective studies, did not show a significant difference between patients with LTG and other drugs, including placebo, other ADEs or lithium (OR 0.99-2.41). In 6 respective studies, there was a significantly higher OR in patients with LTG compared with those with non-aromatic AEDs. However, there was no significant difference in rash risk between patients with LTG and aromatic AEDs. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that LTG significantly increased the risk of developing a skin rash compared to non-aromatic AEDs. Our results support the need for large prospective population-based studies and clinical trials to determine whether LTG increases the risk of developing a skin rash than compared to other drugs.

Incidence and risk factors of pleural effusions in patients with POEMS syndrome.

Information regarding the characteristics of pleural effusions in patients with POEMS syndrome is limited. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and risk factors of pleural effusions in patients with POEMS syndrome and characterize the pleural fluid biochemistry in those patients. A retrospective review of 96 patients with POEMS syndrome was conducted. The patients were divided into groups with and without pleural effusions. The clinical data were obtained from medical charts. Risk factors were studied with univariate and multivariate analysis. The median age at the time of diagnosis of POEMS syndrome was 45.1 years, and the median disease duration was 30.4 months. Pleural effusions were detected in 41 (42.7%) of the 96 patients. Increased serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), complement component 3 (C3), Lambda light chain, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 levels and low albumin as well as cardiac disease were found to be significantly correlated with pleural effusions. By multivariate logistic regression, independent risk factors for pleural effusions in POEMS syndrome were VEGF [odds ratio (OR): 2.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.720-3.414, p = 0.01], TNF-α (OR: 3.64, 95% CI: 1.073-4.338, p = 0.04) and C3 (OR: 3.77, 95% CI: 1.225-3.591, p = 0.02) levels. Pleural effusions are the most common thoracic involvement findings in patients with POEMS syndrome, and all the pleural fluids are exudates. Serum VEGF, TNF-α and C3 levels are identified as important risk factors for presence of pleural effusions in POEMS syndrome.

Changes and overlapping distribution in the expression of CB1/OX1-GPCRs in rat hippocampus by kainic acid-induced status epilepticus.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening neurological disorder. It is important to discover new drugs to control SE without the development of pharmacoresistance. Focus on the cannabinoid receptor and cannabinoid-related compounds might be a good option. Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and orexin receptor 1 (OX1) both belong to the GPCR superfamily and display "cross-talk" interactions, however, there has been no study of the effect of OX1/CB1 in epilepsy. Therefore, we investigated the potential long-term effects of SE on CB1 and OX1 expression in rat hippocampus, aiming to elucidate whether they are involved in the causative mechanism of epilepsy and whether they might form a heterodimer. In this study, SE was induced with kainic acid, and results of immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR both showed that the expression of CB1 in the hippocampus increased after SE and was significantly higher compared to controls especially 1 week post-SE. However we did not find any significant difference in the expression of OX1 between the SE group and the controls at any time. Under immunofluorescence staining, we observed an overlapping distribution of CB1 and OX1 in the hippocampus. The increased expression of CB1 in the hippocampus indicates that CB1 may play an important role in the underlying mechanism of SE, but the effect of OX1 was not obvious. The overlapping distribution of CB1 and OX1 in the hippocampus indicates that they may form a heterodimer to exert their effect in epilepsy.