AbstarctGlaucoma is a chronic disease that shares many similarities with other neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system. This study was designed to evaluate the association between glaucoma and other neurodegenerative disorders by investigating glaucoma-associated protein changes in the retina and vitreous humour. The multiplexed Tandem Mass Tag based proteomics (TMT-MS3) was carried out on retinal tissue and vitreous humour fluid collected from glaucoma patients and age-matched controls followed by functional pathway and protein network interaction analysis. About 5000 proteins were quantified from retinal tissue and vitreous fluid of glaucoma and control eyes. Of the differentially regulated proteins, 122 were found linked with pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Pathway analyses of differentially regulated proteins indicate defects in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation machinery. The classical complement pathway associated proteins were activated in the glaucoma samples suggesting an innate inflammatory response. The majority of common differentially regulated proteins in both tissues were members of functional protein networks associated brain changes in AD and other chronic degenerative conditions. Identification of previously reported and novel pathways in glaucoma that overlap with other CNS neurodegenerative disorders promises to provide renewed understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of age related neurodegenerative diseases.

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In this retrospective study, charts of inpatients with spinal tuberculosis (STB) treated in large-scale general hospitals in Changsha, Hunan, China, between 2007 and 2016 were reviewed to investigate their clinical characteristics. Demographic, epidemiological and clinical features, imaging findings, treatment methods, and prognosis were summarized and analyzed. There were 1378 patients, 805 males and 573 females, with a mean age of 43.7 years. The mean interval between symptom onset and diagnosis was 16.0 months (range 15 days–240 months). The incidence of back pain, radicular pain and symptoms of systemic toxicity was 92.5%, 40.1%, and 32.1%, respectively. The rate of neurological impairment was 49.9 %. STB was present in two or more vertebrae in 91.1% of patients, with two adjacent vertebrae being involved in 67.9% of them. The lumbar segment (38.2%) was the most frequently affected, followed by the thoracic spine (35.7%). The sacrococcygeal area was the least frequently involved (0.8%). Abscesses were detected in 65.5% of patients. One thousand patients (72.6%) were managed with surgery and 378 (27.4%) with anti-TB drugs only. Cure was achieved in 1215 patients (88.2%), whereas 49 (3.5 %) had relapses. Concomitant pulmonary TB (PTB) was diagnosed in 366 patients (26.6%) and 63 (4.6%) had concomitant diabetes. Compared with the previous five years, the number of older patients, urban patients, and medical staff with STB had increased by 6.1%, 5.2%, and 1.3%, respectively in the five years studied. STB remains a severe public health problem that cannot be ignored. Most of the patients ignored early symptoms and therefore received untimely treatment. Thus, surveillance for and treatment of STB in South-central China requires strengthening. In addition to the current China-wide database of patients with PTB, a China-wide database of patients with STB should also be set up.

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