Increased Levels of Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cellular Responses in Parkinson's Disease Patients: Search for a Disease Indicator.

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder and it arises when most of the dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra region die. Several mechanisms have been postulated as the causative event in PD pathology, and neuroinflammation is most crucial among them. MATERIAL AND METHODS We analyzed T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) from 80 PD patients to assess inflammatory processes and to find a cost-effective means to evaluate PD prognosis. RESULTS We found significantly increased numbers of Th17 cells and MDSCs count in peripheral circulation in PD patients compared with controls (p<0.001). A positive correlation was found between Th17 cells and MDSCs in PD patients (r=0.421, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our results show the effector role of Th17 cells and MDSCs in PD pathology and shows their utility as effective biomarkers for PD diagnosis.

Cognition in patients with traumatic brain injury measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic.

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) undergo cognitive impairment. We aimed to explore the cognition level in patients of all severities with different lesion sites and the effect of demographic variables, lesion site, TBI severity, and the time since the TBI on their cognitive abilities using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B). A total of 67 patients with TBI were recruited from the Department of Cerebral Surgery at No. 101 Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) at out-patient follow up. A regression model was performed to assess the effect of these variables on cognition of TBI patients. As expected, age, education, and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score were found as predictors of cognition of TBI patients. Participants, who were younger, had more years of education, and a higher GCS score had better cognition, respectively. Thus, the results provide evidence for the early detection of possible different cognition impairment of TBI patients. Specifically, these findings can help predict early prognosis for patients in the course of clinical diagnosis and treatment and, thus, allow for early intervention to improve the patients' quality of life and possible extend their life.