Background and Aim: Gut bacteria play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the alteration of fecal microbiota in PD with cognitive impairment remains unexplored. This study aimed to explore whether the gut microbiota of patients with PD having mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) were different from those with PD having normal cognition (PD-NC) and from healthy controls (HC). Also, the study probed the association between altered gut microbiota and cognitive ability in patients with PD. Methods: The fecal bacteria composition and short-chain fatty acids of 13 patients with PD-MCI, 14 patients with PD-NC, and 13 healthy spouses were analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: Compared with HC, the fecal microbial diversities increased in patients with PD-MCI and PD-NC. After adjusting the influence of age, sex, body mass index, education, and constipation using the statistical method, the relative abundances of two families (Rikenellaceae and Ruminococcaceae) and four genera (Alistipes, Barnesiella, Butyricimonas, and Odoribacter) were found to be higher in the feces of the PD-MCI group compared with the other two groups. Moreover, the abundance of genus Blautia and Ruminococcus decreased obviously in the PD-MCI group compared with the PD-NC group. Further, the abundance of genera Butyricimonas, Barnesiella, Alistipes, Odoribacter, and Ruminococcus negatively correlated with cognition ability. Conclusion: Compared with HC and patients with PD-NC, the gut microbiota of patients with PD-MCI was significantly altered, particularly manifesting in enriched genera from Porphyromonadaceae family and decreased the abundance of genera Blautia and Ruminococcus.

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Objective: Gout and hyperuricemia are common public health problem. There has been no epidemiological survey of gout and hyperuricemia in Tibet Autonomous Region, the southwest of China. Therefore, we estimated the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia in Luoma Town, Naqu City, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1458 residents of Luoma Town, Tibet Autonomous Region, age ≥40 years. We used questionnaires in face-to-face interviews, anthropometric measurements and serum uric acid test. Hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid level ≥7 mg/dl in men and ≥6 mg/dl in women. The definition of gout in this study was on the basis of new 2015ACR/EULAR classification criteria. Results: Nine hundred eighty-nine participants completed all items of gout and 818 participants attended to be taken blood samples for serum UA levels test. The overall crude prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia was 0.30% and 1.83% respectively. It was more prevalent in men than in women (2.86% vs 0.75%, P = .034) in hyperuricemia group. Tibetan had a lower age-standardized prevalence of gout 0.26% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0%–0.60%) and hyperuricemia 2.05% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99%–3.44%) compared with the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study results. Conclusion: This is the first large-scale population-based survey to demonstrate the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia of the middle-aged and elderly population in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia is relatively lower than other places in China, and that might be influenced by ethnicity, genetic and environment factors. These findings will be useful for the future researches and health care strategies.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease, which is characterized by a low level of dopamine being expressing in the striatum and a deterioration of dopaminergic neurons (DAn) in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Generation of PD-derived DAn, including differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, human neural stem cells, human-induced pluripotent stem cells, and direct reprogramming, provides an ideal tool to model PD, creating the possibility of mimicking key essential pathological processes and charactering single-cell changes in vitro. Furthermore, thanks to the understanding of molecular neuropathogenesis of PD and new advances in stem-cell technology, it is anticipated that optimal functionally transplanted DAn with targeted correction and transgene-free insertion will be generated for use in cell transplantation. This review elucidates stem-cell technology for modeling PD and offering desired safe cell resources for cell transplantation therapy.

Musculoskeletal disorders are a group of conditions that affect the motor system, including bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints. 1 People with multiple disorders are particularly vulnerable, especially in the context of an ageing population. Musculoskeletal disorders include a variety of conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteopenia, osteoporosis, fractures, sarcopenia, etc. 2 Non-protein-coding RNA makes up 98% of the whole human genome. 3,4 These functional RNAs can be divided into two groups according to the threshold of 200 nucleotides (NTS): small and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). 5,6 LncRNAs regulate the activities of both nearby and distant genes by multiple mechanisms. It could act as a scaffold for transcription factors and other molecules involved in transcription initiation. 7 Moreover, it could serve as protein and microRNA decoys to interfere with cell division by regulating a series of key genes. 8 For those mainly located in the cytoplasm, it could directly target mRNA and induce translation. 9 Currently, an increased number of lncRNAs are found to be involved in the regulation of development and homeostasis of skeletal muscle system. 10,11 It is notable that lncRNAs take key roles in musculoskeletal disorders.