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BackgroundCognitive impairment， a core clinical feature of schizophrenia， is considered to be associated with the aberrant functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia， whereas previous studies on the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic schizophrenia and its correlation with interhemispheric voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity （VMHC） are somewhat inadequate. ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with chronic schizophrenia who are clinically stable on their antipsychotic medication， and to explore its correlation with resting-state interhemispheric VMHC， so as to provide theoretical basis for the identification of neurobiological mechanism possibly responsible for cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia. MethodsA total of 15 patients with chronic schizophrenia who met the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases， tenth edition （ICD-10） and hospitalized in Suzhou Guangji Hospital from January 2021 to December 2022 were included. Another 15 healthy community-dwelling individuals were concurrently recruited. All participants were requested to complete the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale （PANSS）， Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status （RBANS） and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging （rs-fMRI） scanning to evaluate their mental symptoms， cognitive function and interhemispheric functional connectivity. The rs-fMRI data were analyzed with VMHC method. Then Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine the correlation between VMHC values of regions of interest and scores of RBANS and PANSS within patient group. ResultsPatient group obtained lower scores than control group based on RBANS immediate memory， visuospatial/constructional， language， attention and total score， with statistically significant differences （t=-2.853， -2.107， -5.576， -7.108， -5.354， P<0.05 or 0.01）. The VMHC values of left superior occipital gyrus （t=-5.188， P<0.05） and right cuneus （t=-5.188， P<0.05） in patient group were lower than those in control group， with statistical difference. Correlation analysis denoted that the VMHC values of left superior occipital gyrus （r=0.612， P=0.015） and right cuneus （r=0.612， P=0.015） were positively correlated with visuospatial/constructional index score in RBANS. ConclusionThe resting-state VMHC is abnormal in left superior occipital gyrus and right cuneus of patients with chronic schizophrenia， and yields a correlation with the visuospatial/constructional performance of patients. ［Funded by Suzhou Science and Technology Development Plan Project （number， SKJYD2021131； SKJY2021143）］
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Objective:To investigate the level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its correlation with clinical symptoms in patients with first-episode drug-naive schizophrenia patients of different genders.Methods:From January 2016 to October 2019, a total of 81 first-episode drug-naive schizophrenia patients(patient group, 41 male, 40 female) and 64 healthy controls (control group, 40 male, 24 female) were included in this study.The serum level of VEGF was detected with flow cytometric bear array (CBA). Positive and negative symptom scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the relevant clinical symptoms of patients.SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Independent sample t-test and nonparametric test were used for comparison between groups.The relationship between VEGF and clinical variables was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis and Spearman correlation analysis. Results:The level of serum VEGF in the patient group was significantly lower than that in the control group(148.08(75.89, 208.61)pg/mL, 179.94(99.14, 318.41)pg/mL, Z=-2.20, P=0.028). The total PANSS score((82.71±17.30), (73.45±16.36), t=2.473, P=0.016)and cognitive score((7.88±3.36), (6.23±2.81), t=2.402, P=0.019) in male patients were higher than those in female patients.There was a negative correlation between VEGF level and PANSS negative symptom score in the patient group( r=-0.228, P=0.041), as well as significant negtive correlation between VEGF level and cognitive score in male patients( r=-0.425, P=0.007). Conclusion:The level of serum VEGF is reduced in first-episode patients with schizophrenia, which influences their negative symptom. Moreover, the decline in serum VEGF level is implicated in cognitive impairments in male patients with first-episode schizophrenia.
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Objective To investigate the relationship between peripheral inflammatory cytokines and anxiety symptoms in patients with the first?episode generalized anxiety disorder. Methods 48 patients diagnosed with the first?episode generalized anxiety disorder according to ICD?10 criteria and 48 healthy sub?jects were recruited. Peripheral levels of IL?1, IL?2, IL?4, IL?5, IL?6, IL?8, IL?10, IL?12p70, GM?CSF and IFN?γ of both groups were evaluated by enzyme?linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) ,and CRP was evalua?ted by immunoturbidimetric method. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale( GAD?7) and State?Trait Anxiety Inventory ( STAI ) were used to assess the levels of overall anxiety, state anxiety and trait anxiety. Results The levels of CRP ( ( 1. 19 ± 0. 80 ) mg/L vs ( 0. 68 ± 0. 70 ) mg/L, t=3. 31 ) , IL?1α( ( 70. 34 ± 3.60)pg/ml vs (16.94±3.42)pg/ml, t=74.50),IL?2((7.25±3.42)pg/ml vs (4.95±2.31)pg/ml, t=3.85), IL?4((102.02±73.14)pg/ml vs (75.55±32.78)pg/ml, t=2.29),IL?6((12.55±2.37)pg/ml vs (2.71±1.35) pg/ml, t=14.79),IL?8((44.64±16.21)pg/ml vs (35.69±11.70)pg/ml, t=3.10),IL?12((18.16±24.17) pg/ml vs (10.82±4.72)pg/ml, t=2.06),IFN?γ((23.32±15.52)pg/ml vs (16.48±6.80)pg/ml, t=2.79), GM?CSF((19.07±11.12)pg/ml vs (13.40±8.54)pg/ml, t=2.80) in patients with the first?episode general?ized anxiety disorder were significantly higher than normal controls(P<0.05) . Both SAI and TAI had signifi? cantly positive correlation with the levels of IL?1α, IL?2, IL?6, IL?8, IL?12, IFN?γ and GM?CSF ( r=0.24?0.76, P<0.05) . Conclusion The levels of some peripheral inflammatory cytokines in patients with the first?episode generalized anxiety disorder are significantly increased,and they have positive correlation with gener?al anxiety,state anxiety and trait anxiety,which may suggest some immune system defects in the patients.
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The morphological and molecular identifications of Cyclospora-like oocysts of dogs were underwent in the present study, in which the morphological characteristics of the Cyclospora-like oocysts firstly found in the stool samples of dogs, such as shape, size, acid-fast staining,sporulation and auto-fluorescene, were observed. According to the published sequence of the rDNA gene of Cyclospora in GenBank, 3 primers were designed and were used to amplify part of the 18S rDNA gene of dog-associated Cyclospora-like organism by nested PCR.The amplicons were purified and cloned into vector pMD19T. Then, the positive clones screened were sequenced and subjected to sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis. It was found that the morphological charactertistics of the Cyclospora-like oocysts in dogs were similar to that of the human Cyclospoa oocysts and the size of-the amplified fragment of 18S rDNA was proved to be 715 bp, that was identical to that of the target fragment. Based on the results of sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis, the dog-associated Cyclospora-like organism was identified as the Cyclospora species.
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To establish a highly sensitive and specific method to detect the presence of Cryptosporidium homini, the RT-PCR-ELISA assay was tried, in which the primer with a biotin-labeled probe was designed to amplify fragment containing the highly variable region by multiple alignment between p23 gene of C.hominis and other Cryptosporidium spp. The RT-PCR was used to amplify the target fragment, and the amplified product was used to hybridize with the probe primer. The hybridized product was then captured on micro-plate wells coated with streptavidin and reacted with anti-digoxin antibody labeled with horse-radish peroxidase. This method of testing was then used for the detection of C.hominis in 22 clinical specimens and compared with the conventional methods of testing. It was demonstrated that the RT-PCR--ELISA for the detection of C.hominis was proved to be quite sensitive and specific. Its sensitivity was 100 times higher than that of the general PCR. From the result of clinic detection, the detection rate of RT-PCR-ELISA assay attained to 86%(19/22), while those of RT-PCR, sucrose floating method and anti-acid staining were 27%, 27% and 50% respectively. This result indicates that the RT-PCR-ELISA assay is more sensitive to detect C.hominis than the other three methods of testing.