Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2016
Sialylated IgG-Fc: a novel biomarker of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
Sialylation in Fc portion of IgG plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and the working mechanism of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). We aim to test whether IgG-Fc sialylation is a biomarker of disease activity for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). ⋯ Sialylation of IgG-Fc is reduced in CIDP. Its level correlated with clinical severity and increased after IVIG treatment. Sialylated as well as ratio of sialylated/agalactosylated IgG-Fc could be new measures to monitor the disease severity and treatment status in CIDP.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2016
Identification of novel biomarkers for Parkinson's disease by metabolomic technologies.
The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) involves complex interactions between environmental and genetic factors. Metabolomics can shed light on alterations in metabolic pathways in many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study, we attempted to elucidate the candidate metabolic pathway(s) associated with PD. ⋯ Metabolomic analysis detected biomarkers associated with PD pathogenesis and disease progression. Since critical metabolic biomarkers need to be identified in PD, future studies should include assay validation and replication in independent cohorts.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2016
Meta AnalysisCandidate-gene analysis of white matter hyperintensities on neuroimaging.
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are a common radiographic finding and may be a useful endophenotype for small vessel diseases. Given high heritability of WMH, we hypothesised that certain genotypes may predispose individuals to these lesions and consequently, to an increased risk of stroke, dementia and death. We performed a meta-analysis of studies investigating candidate genes and WMH to elucidate the genetic susceptibility to WMH and tested associated variants in a new independent WMH cohort. We assessed a causal relationship of WMH to methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). ⋯ There is a genetic basis to WMH but anonymous genome wide and exome studies are more likely to provide novel loci of interest.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2016
Meta AnalysisMortality in multiple sclerosis: meta-analysis of standardised mortality ratios.
There are inconsistent data on mortality in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We performed a meta-analysis of all-cause, cause-specific and gender-specific crude mortality rates (CMRs), and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) in MS, and estimated the rate of change of CMR and SMR over the past 50 years. ⋯ The excess mortality in MS relative to the general population has not changed over the past 50 years. Female patients with MS have higher survival disadvantage compared to that of males. Death due to cardiovascular diseases, suicide and infection is higher in patients with MS compared to the general population.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Mar 2016
Improving fMRI reliability in presurgical mapping for brain tumours.
Functional MRI (fMRI) is becoming increasingly integrated into clinical practice for presurgical mapping. Current efforts are focused on validating data quality, with reliability being a major factor. In this paper, we demonstrate the utility of a recently developed approach that uses receiver operating characteristic-reliability (ROC-r) to: (1) identify reliable versus unreliable data sets; (2) automatically select processing options to enhance data quality; and (3) automatically select individualised thresholds for activation maps. ⋯ We demonstrated ROC-r analysis for identifying reliable fMRI data sets, choosing optimal postprocessing pipelines, and selecting patient-specific thresholds. Data sets with higher reliability also showed closer spatial correspondence to cortical stimulation. ROC-r can thus identify poor fMRI data at time of scanning, allowing for repeat scans when necessary. ROC-r analysis provides optimised and automated fMRI processing for improved presurgical mapping.