Background. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease associated with accumulation of misfolding proteins and increased neuroinflammation, which may further impair the glymphatic system. The purpose of this study was to utilize diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) to evaluate glymphatic system activity and its relationship with systemic oxidative stress status in PD patients. Methods. Magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological tests were conducted on 25 PD patients with normal cognition (PDN), 25 PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), 38 PD patients with dementia (PDD), and 47 normal controls (NC). Oxidative stress status was assessed by plasma DNA level. Differences in ALPS-index among the subgroups were assessed and further correlated with cognitive functions and plasma DNA levels. Results. The PD-MCI and PDD groups showed significantly lower ALPS-index compared to normal controls. The ALPS-index was inversely correlated with plasma nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA levels, and cognitive scores. Conclusions. Lower diffusivity along the perivascular space, represented by lower ALPS-index, indicates impairment of the glymphatic system in PD patients. The correlation between elevated plasma nuclear DNA levels and lower ALPS-index supports the notion that PD patients may exhibit increased oxidative stress associated with glymphatic system microstructural alterations.
BackgroundShanghai fever, a community-acquired enteric illness associated with sepsis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was first described in 1918. The understanding of Shanghai fever is incomplete.ObjectiveTo delineate the clinical features and to examine the host and microbial factors associated with Shanghai fever.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 27 consecutive previously healthy children with community-acquired P aeruginosa enteritis and sepsis between July 2003 and June 2012. An immunological investigation, including measurement of serum immunoglobulin levels and lymphocyte subpopulations, was performed. The clonal relationship of bacterial isolates was determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and the virulence of isolates was measured using cellular and animal models.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 7 months; 24 (89%) were aged <1 year. The most common clinical manifestations were fever (100%), diarrhoea (96%) and shock (81%). Leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, high C-reactive protein levels, coagulopathy and hypoalbuminaemia were the key laboratory findings. Necrotising enteritis with or without bowel perforation, ecthyma gangrenosum and seizures were main complications. The death rate was 15%. No common primary immune deficiency was identified. MLST genotypes indicated that isolates from Shanghai fever were non-clonal, but they shared similar phenotypes which were invariably cytotoxic, invasive and adhesive in cellular experiments and caused prolonged gut colonisation and more death than respiratory and laboratory control strains in mice.ConclusionsShanghai fever is a sporadic community-acquired disease of previously healthy infants that manifests as sepsis associated with P aeruginosa enteric disease. Both host and microbial factors play a role in pathogenesis.
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