Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive memory loss along with neuropsychiatric symptoms and a decline in activities of daily life. Its main pathological features are cerebral atrophy, amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of patients. There are various descriptive hypotheses regarding the causes of AD, including the cholinergic hypothesis, amyloid hypothesis, tau propagation hypothesis, mitochondrial cascade hypothesis, calcium homeostasis hypothesis, neurovascular hypothesis, inflammatory hypothesis, metal ion hypothesis, and lymphatic system hypothesis. However, the ultimate etiology of AD remains obscure. In this review, we discuss the main hypotheses of AD and related clinical trials. Wealthy puzzles and lessons have made it possible to develop explanatory theories and identify potential strategies for therapeutic interventions for AD. The combination of hypometabolism and autophagy deficiency is likely to be a causative factor for AD. We further propose that fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, has the potential to treat AD.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract. Cervical cancer is one of the most malignant types of tumor and the fourth leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in females worldwide. High expression of brain cytoplasmic RNA 1 (BCYRN1) has been detected in various tumors. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of BCYRN1 in the viability and motility of cervical cancer, and the relevant mechanism. The results demonstrated that BCYRN1 was upregulated in cervical cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. Elevated levels of BCYRN1 were also detected in three human cervical cancer cell lines (SiHa, HeLa and CaSki) compared with non-cancerous ectocervical epithelial cell line (Ect1/E6E7). The expression of BCYRN1 was suppressed following transfection with small interfering RNA (siRNA) in HeLa cells. The silence of BCYRN1 significantly reduced cell viability and motility. Furthermore, microRNA (miR)-138 was predicted as a direct target of BCYRN1 and the expression of miR-138 was elevated in HeLa cells transfected with BCYRN1 siRNA. Subsequently, elevated levels of miR-138 were suppressed by transfection with miR-138 inhibitor in HeLa cells pretreated with BCYRN1 siRNA. The targeting association between BCYRN1 and miR-138 was supported by luciferase reporter assays. Additionally, BCYRN1 siRNA partially counteracted the effect of miR-138 inhibitor on promoting cell viability and mobility in HeLa cells. Finally, the in vivo experiment verified that BCYRN1 siRNA was able to prevent tumor growth, and reduced the expression of migration marker proteins metalloproteinase 2 and vascular endothelial cell growth factor, with enhanced expression levels of miR-138. These results suggest that lncRNA BCYRN1 promotes the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer via targeting miR-138.

Background:Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model has shown promising results for providing both diffusion and perfusion information in cervical cancer; however, its use to predict and monitor the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in cervical cancer is relatively rare. The study aimed to evaluate the use of DWI with IVIM and monoexponential models to predict and monitor the efficacy of NACT in cervical cancer.Methods:Forty-two patients with primary cervical cancer underwent magnetic resonance exams at 3 time points (pre-NACT, 3 weeks after the first NACT cycle, and 3 weeks after the second NACT cycle). The response to treatment was determined according to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors 3 weeks after the second NACT treatment, and the subjects were classified as two groups: responders and nonresponders groups. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), true diffusion coefficient (D), perfusion-related pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) values were determined. The differences in IVIM-derived variables and ADC between the different groups at the different time points were calculated using an independent samples t-test.Results:The D and ADC values were all significantly higher for the responders than for the nonresponders at all 3 time points, but no significant differences were observed in the D* and f values. An analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated that a D value threshold <0.93 × 10−3 mm2/s and an ADC threshold <1.11 × 10−3 mm2/s could differentiate responders from nonresponders at pre-NACT time point, yielding area under the curve (AUC) of which were 0.771 and 0.806, respectively. The ROC indicated that the AUCs of D and ADC at the 3 weeks after the first NACT cycle and 3 weeks after the second NACT cycle were 0.823, 0.763, and 0.787, 0.794, respectively. The AUC values of D and ADC at these 3 time points were not significantly different (P = 0.641, 0.512, and 0.547, respectively).Conclusions:D and ADC values may be useful for predicting and monitoring the efficacy of NACT in cervical cancer. An IVIM model may be equal to monoexponential model in predicting and monitoring the efficacy of NACT in cervical cancer.

Unenhanced MR angiography with SLEEK preliminarily proved to be a reliable diagnostic method for depiction of anatomy and complications of renal vascular transplant. It may be used for evaluation of patients with renal transplant, and in particular for those with renal insufficiency.