Cerebrospinal fluid soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2: A potential predictor of outcome for prognosis after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background: Serum concentration of soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2 (sST2) appears to have prognostic value in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) by now. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sST2 concentration and outcome in patients with aSAH. Methods: A total of 65 aSAH patients who met the inclusion criteria in the Neurosurgery Department of Jining No.1 People's Hospital from March 2021 to August 2022 were selected as the research objects. 35 patients with the third month Modified-Rankin-Scale (mRS) score of 0-2 were divided into good prognosis group, and 30 patients with the third month mRS score of 3-5 were divided into poor prognosis group. CSF was collected by lumbar puncture for the first 5 days after aneurysm surgery. CSF sST2 concentration was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In all patients, CSF sST2 concentrations initially increased, peaked on day 2, and then decreased. Compared with the good prognosis group, the sST2 concentration was significantly increased in the poor prognosis group at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days after aSAH surgery. CSF sST2 concentration exhibited good diagnostic performance for predicting outcome (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.988). Additionally, CSF sST2 concentration has good performance for predicting cerebral edema, but only in the poor prognosis group (area under the curve = 0.93). Conclusions: Elevated CSF sST2 concentration is associated with poor outcome in aSAH patients. CSF sST2 may have a role as a predictive biomarker in these patients.

Association between the SLC6A11 rs2304725 and GABRG2 rs211037 polymorphisms and drug-resistant epilepsy: a meta-analysis.

Background: Previous studies have shown that SLC6A11 and GABRG2 are linked to drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE), although there have been conflicting results in the literature. In this study, we systematically assessed the relationship between DRE and these two genes. Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Wanfang Data, CNKI, and VIP databases. To clarify whether heterogeneity existed between studies, tools such as the Q-test and I 2 statistic were selected. According to study heterogeneity, we chose fixed- or random-effects models for analysis. We then used the chi-squared ratio to evaluate any bias of the experimental data. Results: In total, 11 trials and 3,813 patients were selected. To investigate the relationship with DRE, we performed model tests on the two genes separately. The results showed that SLC6A11 rs2304725 had no significant correlation with DRE risk in the allele, dominant, recessive, and additive models in a pooled population. However, for the over-dominant model, DRE was correlated with rs2304725 (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.92-1.27, p = 0.33) in a pooled population. Similarly, rs211037 was weakly significantly correlated with DRE for the dominant, recessive, over-dominant, and additive models in a pooled population. The subgroup analysis results showed that rs211037 expressed a genetic risk of DRE in allele (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.76-1.35, p = 0.94), dominant (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.77-1.50, p = 0.65), and additive models (OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.62-2.09, p = 0.67) in an Asian population. Conclusion: In this meta-analysis, our results showed that SLC6A11 rs2304725 and GABRG2 rs211037 are not significantly correlated with DRE. However, in the over-dominant model, rs2304725 was significantly correlated with DRE. Likewise, rs211037 conveyed a genetic risk for DRE in an Asian population in the allele, dominant, and additive models.

Remote cerebellar hemorrhage following repeated lumbar punctures.

BACKGROUND: Remote cerebellar hemorrhage (RCH) is a rare complication in neurosurgery. No case of RCH secondary to repeated lumbar punctures (LPs) has been previously reported. CASE PRESENTATION: A 49-year-old man presented with impaired consciousness following persistent fever. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed high opening pressure, elevated white blood cells, increased protein level, and decreased glucose level, resulting in a diagnosis of bacterial meningoencephalitis. Treatment with repeated LPs and intrathecal injection of ceftriaxone resulted in an improvement in neurological symptoms. However, on day 31 of treatment, brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) showed streaky bleeding in bilateral cerebellum (zebra sign), leading to a diagnosis of RCH. Close observation and repeated brain MRI imaging without specific treatments led to the absorption of bilateral cerebellar hemorrhage, and the patient was discharged with improved neurological symptoms. Repeated brain MRI scans one month after discharge showed that bilateral cerebellar hemorrhage had improved, and had disappeared one year after discharge. CONCLUSION: We reported a rare occurrence of LPs-induced RCH presenting as isolated bilateral inferior cerebellar hemorrhage. Clinicians should be vigilant of the risk factors for RCH, closely monitoring patients' clinical symptoms and neuroimaging findings to determine the need for specialized treatment. Furthermore, this case highlights the importance of ensuring the safety of LPs and managing any potential complications appropriately.

Corrigendum: Association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of rs2383206, rs2383207, and rs10757278 with stroke risk in the Chinese population: A meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.905619.].

Variants rs2200733 and rs6843082 Show Different Associations in Asian and Non-Asian Populations With Ischemic Stroke.

A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) has reported that variants rs2200733 and rs6843082 in the paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2 (PITX2) gene may be one of the risk factors for ischemic stroke (IS) in European populations. However, more recently, studies in Asia have reported that rs2200733 and rs6843082 are only weakly or not associated with increased risk of IS. This difference may be caused by the sample size and genetic heterogeneity of rs2200733 and rs6843082 among different races. For this study, we selected eight articles with nine studies from the PubMed and Embase databases, including five articles from Asian and three articles from non-Asian, to evaluate the risk of IS caused by rs2200733 and rs6843082. Then, we investigated rs2200733 and rs6843082 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by analysis using allele, recessive, dominant, and additive models. We identified that rs2200733 and rs6843082 are weakly significantly associated with IS for the allele model (p = 0.8), recessive model (p = 0.8), dominant model (p = 0.49), and additive model (p = 0.76) in a pooled population. Next, we performed a subgroup analysis of the population, the result of which showed that rs2200733 and rs6843082 covey genetic risk for IS in a non-Asian population, but not in an Asian population. In conclusion, our analysis shows that the effect of PITX2 rs2200733 and rs6843082 SNPs on IS risk in Asia is inconsistent with the effect observed in European IS cohorts.

Association of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of rs2383206, rs2383207, and rs10757278 With Stroke Risk in the Chinese Population: A Meta-analysis.

Several studies have reported that chromosome 9p21 is significantly associated with ischemic stroke (IS) risk, with the G allele associated with increased risk. However, controversial results have been reported in the literature. We systematically assessed the relationship between stroke and three 9p21 loci (rs2303206, rs2383207, and rs10757278) in this meta-analysis. First, we searched the PubMed and Embase databases for relevant studies. We then calculated odds ratios using the chi-squared test. The evaluation of experimental data was performed using bias tests and sensitivity analyses. We analyzed data from 16 studies involving 18,584 individuals of Chinese ancestry, including 14,033 cases and 14,656 controls. Our results indicated that chromosome 9p21 is significantly associated with IS (odds ratio: 1.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-1.20, p < 0.0001). Because the three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2383206, rs2383207, and 10757278) have a linkage disequilibrium relationship, all three may increase the risk of IS.

Effectiveness of thalidomide for ankylosing spondylitis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in China.

Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of thalidomide as a treatment for patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS); however, published literature reported controversial results. We conducted a meta-analysis to systematically evaluate the efficacy of thalidomide in AS patients. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang Data, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for relevant studies. The Q test and I2 statistic were used to examine between-study heterogeneity. Fixed- or random-effects models were selected based on study heterogeneity. The risk difference (RD), absolute risk reduction (ARR), and weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled for dichotomous or continuous data, as appropriate. Sensitivity analyses, funnel plots, and the Begg's tests were also performed. Overall, 19 trials with 1471 patients were included. The effectiveness of thalidomide alone and combined with other drugs was significantly higher than the control group, and the pooled RDs were 0.15 (95% CI: 0.10-0.20, I2 = 0%) and 0.20 (95% CI: 0.14-0.25, I2 = 13.4%), respectively. Thalidomide treatment yielded significant improvements in secondary outcomes for patients with AS. The adverse reaction rate for thalidomide alone was low than that for the control group (ARR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01-0.15, I2 = 0.0%), while there was no significant difference in the safety between the group in which thalidomide was combined with other drugs and the control (ARR = 0.03, 95% CI: - 0.04-0.10, I2 = 41.1%). The findings suggest that thalidomide improves the effectiveness of AS treatment, which should be considered by physicians. However, owing to the inclusion of several low-quality and Chinese studies, additional rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed in the future to confirm the results of this meta­analysis.