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Objective: Anti-dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (DPPX) encephalitis is a rare autoimmune encephalitis, and clinical and experimental information regarding this disease is limited. We conducted this study to comprehensively describe the clinical characteristics, ancillary test results, neuroimaging results, and treatment response in a group of Chinese patients with anti-DPPX encephalitis for better understanding this disease., Methods: We recruited 14 patients who tested positive for anti-DPPX antibodies in the serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid from 11 medical centers between March 2021 and June 2023. This retrospective study evaluated data on symptoms, autoantibody test, auxiliary examinations, treatments, and outcomes., Results: The average age at diagnosis was 45.93 ± 4.62 years (range: 11-72 years), and 9 of the 14 patients were males. The main symptoms included cognitive impairment (50.0%, 7/14), central nervous system hyperexcitability (42.9%, 6/14), gastrointestinal dysfunction (35.7%, 5/14), and psychiatric disorders (35.7%, 5/14). Notably, we discovered specific findings on 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging in two patients. Co-existing autoantibodies were identified in two patients. Parainfection was identified in four patients. One patient had other autoimmune diseases, and one had tumor. Eleven patients received immunotherapy and most patients improved at discharge. Surprisingly, three male patients but no female patients relapsed during the 6 months of follow-up., Conclusion: The development and outcome of anti-DPPX encephalitis are variable. Male patients were predominant in our cohort. The most common symptoms were the classical triad of prodromal gastrointestinal dysfunction, cognitive and mental disorders, and central nervous system hyperexcitability. Infections, immune dysregulation, and tumors may be important etiologies. Long-term monitoring of disease development should be done in male patients. Overall, our results highlight novel clinical characteristics of anti-DPPX encephalitis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gao, Zhang, Chunyu, Xu, Wang, Liu, Chang, Tang, Xu, Lu, Zhou, Kong, Zhu, Chen, Zhou and Meng.)

We recently showed that inhibition of hypoxia-induced factor-1 α (HIF-1 α ) decreased acute ischemic stroke-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage. However, factors that induce the upregulation of HIF-1 α expression remain unclear. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase played a critical role in reperfusion-induced BBB damage after stroke. However, the role of NADPH oxidase in BBB injury during the acute ischemia stage remains unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the role of NADPH oxidase in BBB injury and the expression of HIF-1 α after acute ischemic stroke. A sutured middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used to mimic ischemic stroke in rats. Our results show that the inhibition of NADPH oxidase by apocynin can significantly reduce the BBB damage caused by 2 h ischemic stroke accompanied by reducing the degradation of tight junction protein occludin. In addition, treatment with apocynin significantly decreased the upregulation of HIF-1 α induced by 2 h MCAO. More importantly, apocynin could also inhibit the MMP-2 upregulation. Of note, HIF-1 α was not colocalized with a bigger blood vessel. Taken together, our results showed that inhibition of NADPH oxidase-mediated HIF-1 α upregulation reduced BBB damage accompanied by downregulating MMP-2 expression and occludin degradation after 2 h ischemia stroke. These results explored the mechanism of BBB damage after acute ischemic stroke and may help reduce the associated cerebral hemorrhage transformation after thrombolysis and endovascular treatment after ischemic stroke., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Yanping Wang et al.)

Heptazine-based conjugated polymeric carbon nitrides (PCNs) are promising metal-free photocatalysts, yet their synthesis is challenging due to the electron-deficiency and insolubility of heptazine units. Indeed, heptazine-containing polymers have only been prepared through nucleophilic substitution with amines by using toxic cyameluric chloride as the starting material. Herein, we report the novel and environmentally friendly method for preparing heptazine-based mesoporous PCNs with hydrazone links formed through a simple Schiff base condensation of melem-NH 2 and aldehydes. Unlike cyameluric chloride, melem-NH 2 is non-toxic, stable, and can be readily obtained from melem and hydrazine in solution. We demonstrate that the hydrazone linkages and the heptazine units synergistically enhance the photocatalytic activity of PCNs in visible-light-driven aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. In particular, the polymer constructed from melem-NH 2 and p-phthalaldehyde shows 17 times more activity than graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 )., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) signals are spatiotemporally organized. R-fMRI studies in patients with classic trigeminal neuralgia (CTN) have suggested alterations in functional connectivity. However, far less attention has been given to investigations of the local oscillations and their frequency-specific changes in these patients. The objective of this study was to address this issue in patients with CTN. R-fMRI data from 17 patients with CTN and 19 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were analyzed using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). The ALFF was computed across different frequencies (slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz; slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz; and typical band: 0.01-0.08 Hz) in patients with CTN compared to HCs. In the typical band, patients with CTN showed increases of ALFF in bilateral temporal, occipital, and left middle frontal regions and in the left middle cingulate gyrus, as well as decreases of ALFF in the right inferior temporal region and in regions (medial prefrontal regions) of default mode network. These significant group differences were identified in different sub-bands, with greater brainstem findings in higher frequencies (slow-4) and extensive default mode network and right postparietal results in lower frequencies (slow-5). Furthermore, significant relationships were found between subjective pain ratings and both amplitudes of higher frequency (slow-4) blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in pain localization brain regions and lower frequencies (slow-5) in pain signaling/modulating brain regions in the patients, and decreased ALFF within the prefrontal regions was significantly correlated with pain duration in the patients. This result supports our hypothesis that trigeminal pain has a characteristic spatiotemporal distribution of low-frequency BOLD signals. These findings might contribute to a better understanding of the impact of CTN on the brain's intrinsic architecture. Future studies should take the frequencies into account when measuring brain resting BOLD signals of patients with CTN., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.