Migraine is a common recurrent neurological disorder combining nausea, vomiting, and hypersensitivities to visual, auditory, olfactory and somatosensory stimuli. However, the dysfunction of the sensorimotor network in migraineurs has not been well clarified. In the present study, we evaluated the dysfunction of the sensorimotor network in 30 migraineurs without aura and in 31 controls by combining regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and degree centrality (DC) analysis methods based on resting-state fMRI. A seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis was used to investigate whether the dysfunctional areas within the sensorimotor network exhibited abnormal FC with other brain areas. Compared to the controls, the migraineurs without aura exhibited significantly smaller ReHo, ALFF and DC values in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and right premotor cortex (PMC). The migraineurs showed weaker FC between the S1 and brain areas within the pain intensity and spatial discrimination pathways and trigemino-thalamo-cortical nociceptive pathway. We proposed that the dysfunction of the S1 and PMC and the decreased FC between the S1 and brain areas in migraineurs without aura may disrupt the discrimination of sensory features of pain and affect nociception pathways, and would be involved in the dysfunctional mechanism in migraine.

BackgroundMigraine constitute a disorder characterized by recurrent headaches, and have a high prevalence, a high socio-economic burden and severe effects on quality of life. Our previous fMRI study demonstrated that some brain regions are functional alterations in migraineurs. As the function of the human brain is related to its structure, we further investigated white and gray matter structural alterations in migraineurs.MethodsIn current study, we used surface-based morphometry, voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging analyses to detect structural alterations of the white matter and gray matter in 32 migraineurs without aura compared with 32 age- and gender-matched healthy controls.ResultsWe found that migraineurs without aura exhibited significantly increased gray matter volume in the bilateral cerebellar culmen, increased cortical thickness in the lateral occipital-temporal cortex, decreased cortical thickness in the right insula, increased gyrification index in left postcentral gyrus, superior parietal lobule and right lateral occipital cortex, and decreased gyrification index in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus compared with controls. No significant change in white matter microstructure was found in DTI analyses.ConclusionThe significantly altered gray matter brain regions were known to be associated with sensory discrimination of pain, multi-sensory integration and nociceptive information processing and were consistent with our previous fMRI study, and may be involved in the pathological mechanism of migraine without aura.

BackgroundThe precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, which has been associated with pain sensitivity, plays a pivotal role in the default mode network. However, information regarding migraine-related alterations in resting-state brain functional connectivity in the default mode network and in local regional spontaneous neuronal activity is not adequate.MethodsThis study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to acquire resting-state scans in 22 migraineurs without aura and in 22 healthy matched controls. Independent component analysis, a data-driven method, was used to calculate the resting-state functional connectivity of the default mode network in the patient and healthy control groups. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was used to analyse the local features of spontaneous resting-state brain activity in the migraineurs without aura.ResultsCompared with the healthy controls, migraineurs without aura showed increased functional connectivity in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex within the default mode network and significant increase in ReHo values in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, left pons and trigeminal nerve entry zone. In addition, functional connectivity was decreased between the areas with abnormal ReHo (using the peaks in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex) and other brain areas.ConclusionsThe abnormalities in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex suggest that migraineurs without aura may exhibit information transfer and multimodal integration dysfunction and that pain sensitivity and pian processing may also be affected.

A Myriophyllum-like TiN@Ni3N nanowire array was synthesized as an efficient bifunctional hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution electrocatalyst.

Current data confirms that PP is an independent risk factor for stroke but is not a predictor of mortality.

Migraines are a common and undertreated disease and often have psychiatric comorbidities; however, the abnormal mechanism of emotional processing in migraine patients has not been well clarified. This study sought to investigate the different brain functional activation to neutral, positive and negative emotional stimuli between migraine and healthy subjects. Twenty-six adults with migraines and 26 healthy adults, group-matched for sex and age, participated in this experiment. Although there were no significant differences between two groups during the viewing of positive affective pictures vs. neutral affective pictures, there were different activation patterns during the viewing of negative to neutral affective pictures in the two groups; the control group showed both increased and decreased activation patterns, while the migraine subjects showed only increased activation. Negative affective pictures elicited stronger activation than neutral affective pictures in migraineurs, which included the bilateral cerebellum anterior lobe/culmen, the bilateral lingual gyri, the bilateral precuneus and the left cuneus. Our data indicated that migraine patients were hypersensitive to negative stimuli, which might provide clues to aid in the understanding of the pathophysiology and psychiatric comorbidities of migraines.

Long-term headache attacks may cause human brain network reorganization in patients with migraine. In the current study, we calculated the topologic properties of functional networks based on the Brainnetome atlas using graph theory analysis in 29 female migraineurs without aura (MWoA) and in 29 female age-matched healthy controls. Compared with controls, female MWoA exhibited that the network properties altered, and the nodal centralities decreased/increased in some brain areas. In particular, the right posterior insula and the left medial superior occipital gyrus of patients exhibited significantly decreased nodal centrality compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, female MWoA exhibited a disrupted functional network, and notably, the two sub-regions of the right posterior insula exhibited decreased functional connectivity with many other brain regions. The topological metrics of functional networks in female MWoA included alterations in the nodal centrality of brain regions and disrupted connections between pair regions primarily involved in the discrimination of sensory features of pain, pain modulation or processing and sensory integration processing. In addition, the posterior insula decreased the nodal centrality, and exhibited disrupted connectivity with many other brain areas in female migraineurs, which suggests that the posterior insula plays an important role in female migraine pathology.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and antineoplastic drug research continues to be a major field in medicine development. The marine milieu has thousands of biological species that are a valuable source of novel functional proteins and peptides, which have been used in the treatment of many diseases, including cancer. In contrast with proteins and polypeptides, small peptides (with a molecular weight of less than 1000 Da) have overwhelming advantages, such as preferential and fast absorption, which can decrease the burden on human gastrointestinal function. Besides, these peptides are only connected by a few peptide bonds, and their small molecular weight makes it easy to modify and synthesize them. Specifically, small peptides can deliver nutrients and drugs to cells and tissues in the body. These characteristics make them stand out in relation to targeted drug therapy. Nowadays, the anticancer mechanisms of the small marine peptides are still largely not well understood; however, several marine peptides have been applied in preclinical treatment. This paper highlights the anticancer linear and cyclic small peptides in marine resources and presents a review of peptides and the derivatives and their mechanisms.