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Inflammation has been demonstrated to be involved in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. There were evidences that the disturbance of the protective function of IL-10 gene contributed to PD. In our study, haplotype analyses were conducted of IL-10 rs1800871 and rs1800872 on 371 PD patients. Because the two SNPs exposed significant linkage disequilibrium demonstrated by Haploview software, we included 177 carriers of both rs1800871 and rs1800872 and 190 noncarriers in clinical phenotype analyses. As to nonmotor symptoms, the score of the gastrointestinal dysfunction domain in Nonmotor Symptom Scale (NMSS) was lower in the carrier group of both SNPs than in the noncarrier group in PD patients (SC: −0.198, p:0.023). Other nonmotor symptoms reflected by relevant rating scales showed negative results. As to comorbidity, no significant statistical significance was observed between the two SNPs and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). In conclusion, we found less severe gastrointestinal dysfunctions of both IL-10 rs1800871 and rs1800872 carriers than noncarriers in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C9orf72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in Caucasian populations. However, the relationship between C9orf72 repeats and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was not clear. Additionally, there were few articles assessing C9orf72 in other ethnicities with ALS. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to investigate the relationship between C9orf72 repeat expansions (≥30 repeats) and intermediate repeat copies (20–29 repeats) and AD or ALS. The results suggested positive correlations between C9orf72 repeat expansions and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (OR = 6.36, 95% CI = 3.13–12.92, and p<0.00001), while intermediate repeat copies of C9orf72 gene were not associated with the risk of the disease. C9orf72 repeat expansions were positively correlated with the risk of familial and sporadic ALS (OR = 293.25, 95% CI = 148.17–580.38, and p<0.00001; OR = 35.57, 95% CI = 19.61–64.51, and p<0.00001). There was a positive correlation between the gene variations and ALS risk among Caucasians and Asians (OR = 57.56, 95% CI = 36.73–90.22, and p<0.00001; OR = 6.35, 95% CI = 1.39–29.02, and p=0.02). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In principle, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are generated from somatic cells by reprogramming and gaining the capacity to self-renew indefinitely as well as the ability to differentiate into cells of different lineages. Human iPSCs have absolute advantages over human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and animal models in disease modeling, drug screening, and cell replacement therapy. Since Takahashi and Yamanaka first described in 2007 that iPSCs can be generated from human adult somatic cells by retroviral transduction of the four transcription factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, disease specific iPSC lines have sprung up worldwide like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, making iPSC one of the hottest and fastest moving topics in modern science. The craze for iPSCs has spread throughout main branches of clinical medicine, covering neurology, hematology, cardiology, endocrinology, hepatology, ophthalmology, and so on. Here in this paper, we will focus on the clinical application of human iPSCs in disease modeling, drug screening, and cell replacement therapy for neurological diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]