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The severity of parkinsonism and response to levodopa vary in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) because of the heterogeneity of nigrostriatal neuropathology. To investigate the difference in clinical features between MSA patients with predominantly pre-synaptic nigrostriatal dysfunction and those with trans-synaptic nigrostriatal dysfunction. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 61 patients with MSA who underwent both [18F]FP-CIT-PET and [18F]FDG-PET within 3 months of clinical evaluation, and who had ≤3 years of disease duration. Tracer uptake of the striatum on [18F]FP-CIT-PET and glucose metabolism of the striatum on [18F]FDG-PET were analyzed using eight striatal subregional volumes-of-interest templates. The patients were classified into two subgroups according to the predominant pre-synaptic tracer uptake loss of the posterior putamen on [18F]FP-CIT-PET (MSA-SNpc, n = 21) and trans-synaptic dopaminergic dysfunction reflected by both [18F]FP-CIT-PET and [18F]FDG-PET (MSA-STR, n = 40). Parkinsonian features were significantly more severe in the MSA-STR group than in the MSA-SNpc group (P =.005) and cerebellar ataxia was significantly more severe in the MSA-SNpc group (P =.036). The cerebellar type of MSA was significantly more common in the MSA-SNpc group (P =.001). There was no difference in age at onset, disease duration at the time of study, or Mini-Mental Status Examination scores between the groups. Patients with MSA showed distinct clinical features depending on whether the pattern of nigrostriatal dysfunction was predominantly pre-synaptic or trans-synaptic. • Brain [18F]FP-CIT- and [18F]FDG-PET is useful to understanding the features of MSA. • Parkinsonism is more severe in MSA with trans-synaptic nigrostriatal dysfunction. • Cerebellar ataxia is more severe in MSA with presynaptic nigrostriatal dysfunction. • MSA shows distinct features depending on the pattern of nigrostriatal dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Inflammation plays an important role in the development of ischemic stroke. We hypothesized that inflammation of carotid atherosclerosis, as measured by 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET), associates with the early recurrent ischemic lesions (ERILs). Methods This prospective study included patients with symptomatic carotid atherosclerosis. ERILs were defined as newly developed ischemic lesions in the territory of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis, as detected by follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). The patients with and without ERILs were compared in terms of risk factors, inflammatory markers, and FDG uptake on PET. Results Of the 21 patients, 8 had ERILs (38.1%). Compared to the patients without ERILs, those with ERILs had higher FDG uptake (maximum standardized uptake value, 3.07 ± 0.79 vs. 2.17 ± 0.68, p = 0.013) and were more likely to have irregular carotid plaques (100% vs. 38.5%, p = 0.007). Inflammatory markers were not different between the two groups, and also did not correlate with FDG uptake. Conclusions Increased carotid plaque inflammation, as measured by FDG uptake on PET, may be a useful marker for identifying patients with symptomatic carotid atherosclerosis who are at risk of recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity. In this study, IL-10 from big-belly seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) (HaIL-10) was characterized based on its molecular and functional aspects. The coding sequence of HaIL-10 is 570 bp in length and encodes a 189-amino acid residue protein (calculated molecular weight, 21.89 kDa). The deduced amino acid sequence comprises a typical signal peptide and a mature peptide domain sequence carrying four conserved Cys residues and two additional Cys residues specific to fish. Phylogenetic analysis indicated an evolutionary relationship between HaIL-10 and its counterparts in other vertebrates, with close clustering to the fish-specific homologs. Recombinant HaIL-10 (rHaIL-10) significantly reduced nitric oxide (NO) production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner but had no effect on cell viability, suggestive of its involvement in immune response. The protein expressions of iNOS and COX-2 were significantly reduced by rHaIL-10 in LPS-induced murine macrophages RAW 264.7 cells. HaIL-10 mRNA expression was observed in all analyzed tissues, with the maximum expression being noted in the kidney and ovary. However, transcriptional levels of HaIL-10 were significantly higher in the blood, gill, and intestine upon in vivo induction with LPS, polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [poly (I:C)], and Streptococcus iniae. To summarize, our findings help in the improved understanding of the biological functions of HaIL-10 and modulation of HaIL-10 mRNA expression in response to immune stress. Highlights • Identified and characterized interleukin-10 from big-belly seahorse • The HaIL-10 was constitutively expressed in healthy seahorse tissues. • mRNA expression pattern found to be correlated with the immune stresses. • rHaIL-10 reduces NO production in LPS-induced macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. • rHaIL-10 reduces iNOS and COX-2 proteins in LPS-induced macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Apraxia is a core clinical feature of corticobasal syndrome (CBS). Among the subtypes of apraxia, ideomotor and imitation apraxia are frequently found in CBS. However, little is known about the brain networks that are characteristic of each apraxia subtype or their clinical implication. In this study, we used 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to explore the specific patterns of glucose hypometabolism that are characteristic of apraxia subtypes by focusing on ideomotor and imitation apraxia.Methods: We compared the areas of glucose hypometabolism in the brains of 52 patients with CBS and 13 healthy controls, both as a whole and according to apraxia subtypes. In addition, we investigated the relationship between the apraxia subtypes and the clinical phenotype of CBS.Results: In patients with CBS, common hypometabolism was observed in the frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus and caudate regardless of apraxia subtypes. In particular, ideomotor apraxia was associated with hypometabolism in the angular gyrus, while imitation apraxia was associated with hypometabolism in the posterior part including the postcentral gyrus, precuneus, and posterior cingulate gyrus. Patients who showed both ideomotor and imitation apraxia were more likely to show the typical features of CBS and progressive supranuclear palsy compared with patients showing only one type of apraxia.Conclusion: Group comparison analysis using FDG-PET revealed distinct pathways of ideomotor and imitation apraxia in CBS. These findings add to our understanding of the brain networks underlying apraxia in association with the clinical features of CBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic-cell-specific ICAM-3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) is a C-type lectin that functions as a pattern recognition receptor by recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). It is also involved in various events of the dendritic cell (DC) life cycle, such as DC migration, antigen capture and presentation, and T cell priming. In this study, a DC-SIGN-like gene from the big belly seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis (designated as ShDCS-like ) was identified and molecularly characterized. The putative, complete ORF was found to be 1368 bp in length, encoding a protein of 462 amino acids with a molecular mass of 52.6 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 8.26. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a single carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD), in which six conserved cysteine residues and two Ca 2+ -binding site motifs (QPN, WND) were identified. Based on pairwise sequence analysis, ShDCS-like exhibits the highest amino acid identity (94.6%) and similarity (97.4%) with DC-SIGN-like counterpart from tiger tail seahorse Hippocampus comes. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that ShDCS-like mRNA is transcribed universally in all tissues examined, but with abundance in kidney and gill tissues. The basal mRNA expression of ShDCS-like was modulated in blood cell, kidney, gill and liver tissues in response to the stimulation of healthy fish with lipopolysaccharides (LPS), Edwardsiella tarda, or Streptococcus iniae . Moreover, recombinant ShDCS-like-CRD domain exhibited detectable agglutination activity against different bacteria. Collectively, these results suggest that ShDCS-like may potentially involve in immune function in big belly seahorses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The characteristics of clinical features and nigrostriatal dopaminergic dysfunction in patients with combined postural and resting tremors have been less clearly reported. Methods: The present study examined 43 patients with a visible persistent bilateral postural tremor and a unilateral/bilateral resting tremor involving the hands and forearms. The patients had experienced tremors for more than 3 years, with no evidence of Parkinson's disease or other parkinsonian disorders. Visual and quantitative analyses of [18F] N-(3-fluoropropyl)-2beta-carbon ethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane (FP-CIT) PET in 36 patients were performed. Seventeen age-matched normal controls were also studied. Results: On visual analysis, 28 patients (78%) showed normal [18F] FP-CIT uptake and eight (22%) showed significantly reduced uptake, suggesting nigrostriatal dopaminergic neuronal degeneration. The reduced [18F] FP-CIT uptake was significantly associated with earlier age-at-onset of tremor and asymmetric presentation of resting tremor. On quantitative analysis, there were statistically significant differences in the [18F] FP-CIT uptake ratio in the posterior putamen between patients with reduced uptake (2.37 ± 1.83) and patients with normal uptake (6.39 ± 1.35) (P < 0.001). However, posterior putamen uptake levels in patients with normal [18F] FP-CIT uptake on visual analysis were similar to those in normal controls (7.22 ± 1.29) (P = 0.291). Conclusion: The nigrostriatal dopaminergic dysfunction in patients with combined postural and resting tremors may be associated with earlier age-at-onset of tremor and asymmetric pattern of resting tremor, which might help to correctly diagnose patients with mixed tremors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]