The detection of up-regulated anti-thyroid antibodies and autoimmune thyroid diseases in patients with autoimmune encephalitis: a retrospective study of 221 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential detection rate of anti-thyroid antibodies' (ATAbs) positivity, thyroid dysfunctions, and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) in autoimmune encephalitis (AE) and to analyze whether thyroid autoimmunity/dysfunction can affect the clinical course of AE. METHODS: Two hundred twenty-one AE patients and 229 age- and sex-matched controls were included in this study. We measured the levels of ATAbs (anti-thyroglobulin antibodies [TgAb], anti-thyroid peroxidase anti-bodies [TPOAb]) and thyroid hormones in all the individuals. In addition, the association of thyroid autoimmunity/dysfunctions with functional outcomes of AE was identified by using logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of TPOAb-positive and TgAb-positive was significantly higher in AE patients (16.3% and 16.7%, respectively) as compared with controls (9.6% and 7.4%, respectively; P = 0.034 and P = 0.002, respectively). In addition, the free triiodothyronine (fT3) level was significantly lower in AE patients as compared to the controls (P < 0.001). However, the frequency of AITDs (Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease) did not significantly differ between AE patients and control subjects. Importantly, low fT3 was found to be associated with poor functional outcomes at the 3-month follow-up in AE. Adjustment of potential confounders did not change the association. However, the presence of ATAbs did not significantly alert the disease course of AE. CONCLUSIONS: ATAbs-positive and/or AITD patients with symptomatic encephalopathy should undergo proper surveillance for AE. Moreover, low fT3 could serve as a possible predictor of poor short-term outcome in AE, thereby suggesting that monitoring of thyroid function in AE may be necessary.

Neurological autoantibody prevalence in chronic epilepsy: Clinical and neuropathologic findings.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to explore the prevalence of autoimmune antibodies (Abs) in a large consecutive series with "chronic" epilepsy and without symptoms of autoimmune encephalitis; and to compare the immunopathology of brain tissue from drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) with and without Abs positivity. METHODS: Neuronal and glial antibodies were detected in the serum of patients who were admitted to the wards of West China Hospital from October 2016 to September 2019 and had epilepsy by cell-based assays and tissue-based assays. RESULTS: Twenty-one (6.8 %) of 328 patients had positive Ab findings for the following: dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (n = 7), contactin-associated protein-like 2 (n = 5), glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (n = 4), gamma aminobutyric acid beta receptor (n = 2), N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (n = 2), and dopamine D2 receptor (n = 1). Antibodies were detected in 6.9 % (13/187) of epilepsy people with unknown etiology and 5.6 % (8/141) of patients with known etiology, respectively. Among 190 patients with DRE, 14 (7.3 %) patients were Abs-positive. There was no significant difference between individuals with seropositive and seronegative results in clinical manifestations, except that the history of febrile seizure was significantly more frequent in the seropositive group. Moreover, brain samples from 3 patients with Abs-positive DRE (with DPPX in 2 patients, and CASPR2 in 1 patient) and 18 patients with Abs-negative DRE were analyzed for immunopathology. We found higher expression of CD8-positive T-cells in the hippocampus of Abs-positive DRE group. CONCLUSIONS: Neuronal antibodies are potentially involved in the process of "chronic" epilepsy, and CD8-positive T-cells may play an important role in this process.

Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet and Hyperuricemia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: Although several individual nutrients/foods are associated with uric acid status, the association of overall diet quality with hyperuricemia remains unclear. The current study was undertaken to examine the association between adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and the odds of having hyperuricemia in a Chinese adult population. METHODS: Included were 71,893 Chinese participants in the Kailuan I study and the Kailuan II study (mean age 51.4 years) who were free of gout prior to or in 2014. Dietary intakes were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and the DASH diet score was calculated based on consumptions of vegetables, fruit, dairy, beans, whole grains, meat, fat, sodium, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Fasting blood samples were collected in 2014, and hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid concentrations of ≥7 mg/dl for men, and of ≥6 mg/dl for women. The association between DASH diet score and hyperuricemia was assessed using multiple logistic regression models, adjusting for age, sex, total energy, obesity, physical activity, education, smoking, alcohol drinking, blood pressure, fasting glucose, lipid profiles, renal function, and presence of cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: A High DASH diet score was associated with low odds of having hyperuricemia (adjusted odds ratio for quartile 4 versus quartile 1 0.70 [95% confidence interval 0.66, 0.75], P for trend < 0.001) after adjusting for potential confounders. The association between the DASH diet and hyperuricemia was more pronounced among older individuals (age ≥50 years), women, and physically inactive participants compared with their counterparts (P for interaction < 0.01 for all). CONCLUSION: The DASH diet was associated with a low likelihood of having hyperuricemia in Chinese adults.

Association of serum uric acid and risk of hypertension in adults: a prospective study of Kailuan Corporation cohort.

Whether hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for hypertension in adults is still under debate. To determine the association between serum uric acid and risk of hypertension in the Chinese population, we conducted a prospective study using the "Kailuan Corporation cohort." A total of 39,233 adult subjects with available data on serum uric acid were enrolled from 2006 to 2007. Subjects with established hypertension were excluded and were then grouped based on the gender and baseline quartile serum uric acid into F1-4 for women and M1-4 for men with F1 and M1 being the lowest quartiles. Incidence of newly described primary hypertension was reevaluated in 2010-2011. The median (interquantile range) baseline uric acid (UA) was 290 (243-344) µmol/L in men and 230 (194-274) µmol/L in women. During a 4-year follow-up period, 12,844 subjects (31.31 %) were newly diagnosed with hypertension. The incidence of hypertension was 14.36, 16.57, 19.06, and 22.35 % in F1 to F4 and 33.64, 33.97, 36.54, and 40.74 % in M1 to M4, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratios (ORs) of incident hypertension were 1.17 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.37, P = 0.055], 1.24 (95 % CI 1.06-1.45, P = 0.009), and 1.20 (95 % CI 1.02-1.41, P = 0.027) in F2 to F4 compared to the F1 and 0.98 (95 % CI 0.91-1.05, P = 0.534), 1.05 (95 % CI 0.98-1.13, P = 0.190), and 1.13 (95 % CI 1.05-1.22, P = 0.002) in M2 to M4 compared to the M1. Elevated level of serum uric acid is associated with an increased risk of hypertension in adults.

[Anatomy of temporomandibular joint and condyle position in Uygur adult patients evaluated with cone-beam CT].

PURPOSE: To compare the anatomy and condyle-fossa relationship difference between Uygur adult patients with Class I and Class II division 1 malocclusion by three dimensional cone-beam CT (CBCT). METHODS: Sixty-four patients with Class I and Class II division 1 malocclusion were selected, and the CBCT scans of their temporomandibular joints were taken.The difference of the condylar morphology and location between Class I and Class II division 1 patients was analyzed with SPSS 17.0 software package. RESULTS: The position of condyle in the TMJ fossa was not significantly different between the two groups; in Class II division 1 malocclusion group, the mandibular fossa depth, anterior joint space and the superior joint space were significantly bigger (P<0.05), but the posterior joint space was significantly smaller than those in Class I malocclusion group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There were difference in condyle position and TMJ morphology between Class I and Class II division 1 malocclusion group in Uygur adult patients.