Neural Regen Res
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A reduction in gray matter volume is common in patients with chronic back pain, and different types of pain are associated with gray matter abnormalities in distinct brain regions. To examine differences in brain morphology in patients with low back pain or neck and upper back pain, we investigated changes in gray matter volume in chronic back pain patients having different sites of pain using voxel-based morphometry. A reduction in cortical gray matter volume was found primarily in the left postcentral gyrus and in the left precuneus and bilateral cuneal cortex of patients with low back pain. ⋯ In upper back pain patients, reduced cortical gray matter volume was found in the left precentral and left postcentral cortices. Our findings suggest that regional gray matter volume abnormalities in low back pain patients are more extensive than in upper back pain patients. Subcortical gray matter volume increases are found only in patients with low back pain.
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Review
Neurosurgery in Parkinson's disease: Social adjustment, quality of life and coping strategies.
Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation has become a standard neurosurgical therapy for advanced Parkinson's disease. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation can dramatically improve the motor symptoms of carefully selected patients with this disease. ⋯ This paper reviews the literatures regarding effects of bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation on social adjustment, quality of life and coping strategies in patients with Parkinson's disease. The findings may help to understand the psychosocial maladjustment and poor improvement in quality of life in some Parkinson's disease patients.
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Review
Mild hypothermia as a treatment for central nervous system injuries: Positive or negative effects.
Besides local neuronal damage caused by the primary insult, central nervous system injuries may secondarily cause a progressive cascade of related events including brain edema, ischemia, oxida-tive stress, excitotoxicity, and dysregulation of calcium homeostasis. Hypothermia is a beneficial strategy in a variety of acute central nervous system injuries. ⋯ Therapeutic hypothermia decreases free radical produc-tion, inflammation, excitotoxicity and intracranial pressure, and improves cerebral metabolism after traumatic brain injury and cerebral ischemia, thus protecting against central nervous system dam-age. Although a series of pathological and physiological changes as well as potential side effects are observed during hypothermia treatment, it remains a potential therapeutic strategy for central nervous system injuries and deserves further study.
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We selected 106 hemiplegic patients with shoulder pain hospitalized after stroke from three hospitals in Nanjing, China between February 2007 and January 2012. All patients had complete clinical data sets and accounted for 45.5% of the inpatients because of stroke. Results showed that the number of patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain post stroke increased yearly, attacking mainly males 50-69 years of age. ⋯ Shoulder pain, upper limb motor function, and function independence were significantly improved after comprehensive rehabilitation. In particular, electroacupuncture based on basic physical therapy exhibited efficacy on shoulder tion and complex regional pain syndrome. Multiple linear regression results showed a negative relationship of efficacy of pain management with the attack period of shoulder pain, involvement of the posterior limb of the internal capsule, and duration between onset and rehabilitation treatment, but a positive correlation with pain-related education, pain regression period, and pain diagnosis.
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The Chinese herb Shuyusan, whose main constituent is jasminoidin, has been shown to protect SH-SY5Y cells against corticosterone-induced damage. SH-SY5Y cells injured by 400 μmol/L corticosterone were treated with 5 and 30 μg/mL Shuyusan-containing serum. ⋯ Therefore, Shuyusan-containing serum appears to protect SH-SY5Y cells against corticosterone-induced impairment by adjusting the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Moreover, high-dose Shuyusan-containing serum has a protective effect on high-dose corticosterone-induced impairment.