Abnormal Spontaneous Neural Activity in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder have found abnormalities in orbitofronto-striato-thalamic circuitry, including the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, caudate, and thalamus, but few studies have explored abnormal intrinsic or spontaneous brain activity in the resting state. We investigated both intra- and inter-regional synchronized activity in twenty patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 20 healthy controls using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity methods were used to analyze the intra- and inter-regional synchronized activity, respectively. Compared with healthy controls, patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder showed significantly increased ReHo in the orbitofrontal cortex, cerebellum, and insula, and decreased ReHo in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, caudate, and inferior occipital cortex. Based on ReHo results, we determined functional connectivity differences between the orbitofrontal cortex and other brain regions in both patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and controls. We found abnormal functional connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex and ventral anterior cingulate cortex in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder compared with healthy controls. Moreover, ReHo in the orbitofrontal cortex was correlated with the duration of obsessive-compulsive disorder. These findings suggest that increased intra- and inter-regional synchronized activity in the orbitofrontal cortex may have a key role in the pathology of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition to orbitofronto-striato-thalamic circuitry, brain regions such as the insula and cerebellum may also be involved in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Isolation and screening of strains producing high amounts of rutin degrading enzymes from Fagopyrum tataricum seeds.

The rutin degrading enzyme (RDE) was isolated and purified from tartary buckwheat seeds. The RDE was purified about 11.34-fold and its final yield was 3.5%, which was very low, due to our purification strategy of giving priority to purity over yield. The RDE molecular weight was estimated to be about 60 kDa. When rutin was used as substrate, an optimal enzyme activity was seen at around pH 5.0 and 40 °C. Strains isolation strategy characterized by the use of rutin as sole carbon source in enrichment cultures was used to isolate RDE-producing strains. Then the active strains were identified by morphology characterization and 18s rDNA-ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) gene sequencing. Three isolates coded as B3, W2, Y2 were successfully isolated from fusty Fagopyrum tataricum flour cultures. Strain B3 possessed the highest unit activity among these three strains, and its total activity reached up to 171.0 Unit. The active isolate (B3) could be assigned to Penicillium farinosum. When the Penicillium farinosum strains were added to tartary buckwheat flour cultures at pH 5.0, 30 °C after 5 days fermentation, the quercetin production raised up to 1.78 mg/l, almost 5.1 times higher than the fermentation without the above active strains. Hence, a new approach was available to utilize microorganism-aided fermentation for effective quercetin extraction from Fagopyrum tataricum seeds.