Subcortical structural alterations have been implicated in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Yet, the extent of anatomical alterations for subcortical structures across illness phases remains unknown. To assess this, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to examine volume differences of major subcortical structures: thalamus, nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, amygdala and hippocampus. These differences were examined across four groups: i) healthy comparison subjects (HCS, n=96); ii) individuals at high risk (HR, n=21) for schizophrenia; iii) early-course schizophrenia patients (EC-SCZ, n=28); and iv) chronic schizophrenia patients (C-SCZ, n=20). Raw gray matter volumes and volumetric ratios (volume of specific structure / total gray matter volume) were extracted using automated segmentation tools. EC-SCZ group exhibited smaller bilateral amygdala volumetric ratios, compared to HCS and HR subjects. Findings did not change when corrected for age, level of education and medication use. Amygdala raw volumes did not differ among groups once adjusted for multiple comparisons, but the smaller amygdala volumetric ratio in EC-SCZ survived Bonferroni correction. Other structures were not different across the groups following Bonferroni correction. Smaller amygdala volumes during early illness course may reflect pathophysiologic changes specific to illness development, including disrupted salience processing and acute stress responses.
Knowledge of population base rates of neurological and psychiatric disorders is fundamental for diagnostic decision making. Consideration of relevant probabilistic information can improve diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. However, such data continue to be misused or underutilized, which can lead to misdiagnoses and negative patient outcomes. The aim of the current review is to create an easily accessible and comprehensive reference of existing age of onset as well as prevalence and incidence data for common neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders in adults. Relevant epidemiological data were compiled from well-respected and frequently-cited textbooks and scholarly studies. Reviews were collected from PubMed, and publicly-available sources were gathered from Google Scholar. Results are organized and presented in several tables and a figure, which can be used as a diagnostic guide for students and clinicians across healthcare disciplines.
MicroRNA (miRNA) is a type of endogenous non-coding RNA that can regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, apoptosis and several other biological activities by specially inducing gene silencing, and thereby is related to development and disease in life course. In recent years, researchers have found that miRNAs are closely related with refractory epilepsy. MiRNAs can intervene in the modification of mRNAs, the synthesis of proteins and some the connectivity of signal pathways in pathogenesis of epilepsy. Furthermore, some miRNAs in neurons are of great importance in neuronal differentiation. Therefore, miRNA may play a very important role in the occurrence, development and episodes of refractory epilepsy. These discoveries can provide a new direction for the research of pathogenesis, diagnostic methods and therapeutic approach of refractory epilepsy. Although research about miRNA and intractable epilepsy has progressed, more remains to be done before miRNA can be used in clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies. This paper focuses on the research progress of molecular diagnosis about miRNA in intractable epilepsy.
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