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• Investigating the immunization coverage in Chinese children with underlying neurological condition. • Clarifying vaccine hesitancy occurred in all types of neurological conditions. • First reporting particular concerns about vaccines of MPSV, DTaP/DT and JEV which prevent neurological diseases. • Promoting specialized consultation on immunization to stimulate the immunization coverage. Parents and healthcare providers usually defer or avoid immunization for children with neurological conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the common issues of immunization among these special children and the impact of specialists' recommendation on improving immunization practice. We included 2,221 children with underlying neurological conditions seeking vaccination consultation at the first Immunization Advisory Clinic in China during 2017–2019. The primary neurological conditions and immunization status were analyzed. All parents were informed to self-report the adverse events following catch-up immunization. For specially concerned children with hereditary disorders, immune-related encephalopathy and epilepsy, we conducted the active follow-up to monitor the compliance with recommendation and the adverse events. All counselling children were assessed as not having any contraindication of immunization. A total of 2,019 (90.9%) children with underlying neurological conditions had delayed immunization and 99 (4.5%) had non-immunization. The coverage rate of age-appropriate vaccines was 56.1%. The most concerned vaccines were diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis combined vaccine, diphtheria and tetanus combined vaccine, meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine and Japanese encephalitis vaccine. Resuming immunization was recommended for the 2,048 (92.2%) children. Most of counselling children complied with the specialists' recommendation. Neither progress nor flaring of the neurological medical conditions was reported from parents. Vaccine hesitancy was a common issue for Chinese children with all kinds of neurological conditions. Specialized consultation on immunization is helpful to build vaccine confidence for the special children. Immunization for children with underlying neurological conditions is generally safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurological diseases are complex diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord, with numerous etiologies and pathogenesis not yet fully elucidated. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. (TWHF) is a traditional Chinese medicine with a long history of medicinal use in China and is widely used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. With the rapid development of modern technology, the two main bioactive components of TWHF, triptolide and celastrol, have been found to have anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive and anti-tumor effects and can be used in the treatment of a variety of diseases, including neurological diseases. In this paper, we summarize the preclinical studies of triptolide and celastrol in neurological diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, brain and spinal cord injury, and epilepsy. In addition, we review the mechanisms of action of triptolide and celastrol in neurological diseases, their toxicity, related derivatives, and nanotechnology-based carrier system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equine herpesvirus type 8 (EHV-8) can cause significant economic losses in the global horses and donkey industry. The disease has been associated with abortion and respiratory symptoms. However, it is rare for a study to be reported about donkeys with neurological diseases induced by EHV-8 infection. In the present study, one 2-year-old male donkey, from a large-scale donkey farm in China, died with a severe neurological disorder. The causative agent, donkey/Shandong/10/2021 (GenBank accession: OL856098), was identified and isolated from the brain tissue of the dead donkey. Meanwhile, BALB/c mice were used as an animal model to evaluate the pathogenicity of the EHV-8 isolate. Our data showed that EHV-8 was positive in brains by PCR and immunohistochemistry, which induced typical viral encephalitis lesions in both donkey and mice consistent with clinical signs. For the first time, we reported that EHV-8 had been isolated from donkeys with a neurological illness in China, which is helpful to reveal the pathogenicity of EHV-8 in the donkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution acts as a potential trigger for neurological diseases (NDs), yet the current knowledge regarding the impact of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) on the patients with NDs remains limited. In this study, we conducted a time-series study to evaluate the association between short-term exposure to NO 2 and hospital visits for NDs in Xinxiang, China., Methods: An over-dispersed Poisson generalized additive model was used to analyze the association between ambient NO 2 concentrations and daily outpatient visits for NDs from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. The model adjusted for meteorological factors, temporal trends, day of the week, and public holidays. The concentrations of air pollutants were collected from four air quality stations in Xinxiang., Results: A total of 38, 865 outpatient visits for NDs were retrieved during the study period. 86.5% of the patients were below the age of 65 years. It was revealed that a 10 µg/m 3 increase in NO 2 at lag 0 was associated with a significant rise of 1.50% (95% CI: 0.45-2.56%) in outpatient visits for NDs, which was stronger during the cold season. However, the overall results from stratified analyses did not reach statistical significance., Conclusions: Short-term exposure to NO 2 is associated with increased outpatient visits for NDs. These findings underscore the need for implementing mitigating measures to reduce the neurological health effects of air pollutants., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Radix Polygalae (also known as Yuanzhi in China) is the dried rhizome of Polygala tenuifolia Willd. or Polygala sibirica L., which is a famous Chinese herb and has been widely used for centuries in traditional medicines including expectorants, tonics, tranquilizers, antipsychotic, and so on. This article reviews the neuroprotective effects of Radix Polygalae in preclinical models of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, especially anxiety, depression, declining cognition, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD). The chemical composition of Radix Polygalae as well as the underlying mechanisms of action were also reviewed. We found that Radix Polygalae possesses a broad range of beneficial effects on the abovementioned conditions. The multifold mechanisms of action include several properties such as antioxidant and associated apoptotic effects; anti-inflammatory and associated apoptotic effects; neurogenesis, regeneration, differentiation, and neuronal plasticity improvement; hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) regulation; neurotransmitter release; and receptor activation (A2AR, NMDA-R, and GluR). Nevertheless, the detailed mechanisms underlying this array of pharmacological effects observed in vitro and in vivo still need further investigation to attain a coherent neuroprotective profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]