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The study aims to explore how microRNA-146a/b (miR-146a/b) regulates the function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in acute ischemic stroke in mice. Eighty male SPF C57BL/6J mice were evenly divided into the model-6 h, model-12 h, model-24 h (mice suffered from middle cerebral artery occlusion [MCAO] for 6 h, 12 h and model-24 h) and normal groups. EPCs were transfected and assigned into the control, MCAO, MCAO-miR-146a, MCAO-miR-146b and MCAO-miR-146a/b groups. The qRT-PCR was used to detect miR-146a/b expression in EPCs. Expressions of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) and interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) were detected using western blotting. Cell proliferation and migration of EPCs were testified using CCK-8 assay and scratch test, respectively. Angiogenesis ability of EPCs was observed under microscope. MiR-146a and miR-146b expressions were lower in the model groups than the normal group. There were up-regulated TRAF6 and IRAK1 expressions in the model-6 h, model-12 h and model-24 h groups compared with the normal group. And there were down-regulated TRAF6 and IRAK1 expressions in the MCAO-miR-146a, MCAO-miR-146b and MCAO-miR-146a/b groups than in the MCAO group. Compared with the control group, the proliferation, migration and angiogenesis ability of EPCs were significantly lower in the MCAO group, but higher in the MCAO-miR-146a, MCAO-miR-146b and MCAO-miR-146a/b groups. Besides, the miR-146a/b group showed more enhancement than the MCAO-miR-146a and MCAO-miR-146b groups. MiR-146a/b could down-regulate the TRAF6 and IRAK1 expressions and promote proliferation, migration and angiogenesis ability of EPCs, which was important for recovery of patients with hyperacute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic values of serum levels of Hcy and UA for predicting vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI) in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). MATERIAL AND METHODS We selected 172 cerebral SVD patients and divided them into a VMCI group and a non-VMCI group. Eighty-six healthy individuals without nervous system diseases were selected as the control group. Enzymatic cycling method was performed to detect serum Hcy and UA levels. Serum levels of folic acid (FOA) and vitamin B12 (VitB12) were detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) was applied to evaluate the cognitive function. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic values of serum Hcy and UA levels for predicting VMCI. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the possible risk factors. RESULTS Compared with the non-VMCI and control groups, serum FOA and VitB12 levels were lower and serum Hcy and UA levels were higher in the VMCI group. AUC values of serum Hcy and UA levels were 0.703 and 0.829, respectively. Serum Hcy and UA levels were negatively correlated with serum FOA and VitB12 levels, total MoCA score, and subscores on visuospatial ability and executive function, on language ability and on delayed recall, and they were positively correlated with serum cholesterol (CH) level. Serum Hcy and UA levels were indicated as risk factors for VMCI in cerebral SVD patients. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that serum Hcy and UA levels may serve as predictive factors for VMCI in cerebral SVD patients.

To explore the role of leukoaraiosis (LA) on the cognitive function in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).The cohort for this study included 63 patients with PD, whom were divided into 3 groups according to cognitive status:with intact cognition (PD-IC, n = 23), with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI, n = 23) and with dementia (PDD, n = 17). All the patients were recruited from the Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University between September 2011 and July 2012. The cognitive functions were evaluated by mini-metal state examination (MMSE), the Cambridge cognitive examination-Chinese version (CAMCOG-C), clinical dementia rating (CDR), clock drawing task (CDT) and verbal fluency test, etc. Depression symptoms were assessed by the geriatric depression scale (GDS) while motor symptoms by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-motor (UPDRS-motor) and the Hoehn and Yahr scale (HY). All the patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a 3.0-T system. LA was rated using the semiquantitative visual rating system proposed by scheltens et al.Both the PD-IC (2.43 ± 2.79) and PD-MCI (4.48 ± 4.33) groups showed significantly lower deep hyperintensities (DHs) scores than the PDD group (7.88 ± 6.69, P = 0.004 and 0.040, respectively), especially in frontal (1.09 ± 1.31; 1.83 ± 1.90; 3.24 ± 2.64, P0.05) and parietal areas (0.09 ± 0.29; 0.65 ± 1.03; 1.53 ± 2.32, P0.05). There were no significant differences in periventricular (1.57 ± 1.75; 2.52 ± 2.37; 3.24 ± 2.64, P0.05), basal ganglia (0.09 ± 0.42; 0.30 ± 0.77; 0.53 ± 1.33, P0.05) and infratentorial white matter hyperintensities scores (--; 0.13 ± 0.63; 0.18 ± 0.73, P0.05) among three groups. The DHs showed a significant correlation with age (P = 0.003), MMSE (P = 0.009), verbal fluency test (P = 0.009), orientation (P = 0.047) and executive function (P = 0.027) in CAMCOG-C. The multiple regression analysis showed that the MMSE scores were associated significantly with education (P0.001, β = 0.600), DHs (P = 0.001, β = -0.678) and HY (P = 0.035, β = -0.480). DHs were the most significantly associated with MMSE scores.There was a significant correlation between DHs and multiple domain cognitive impairment in PD, especially in executive function. DHs, which were the most significantly variable associated with MMSE scores, may contribute to cognitive impairment in PD.

To explore the vascular risk factors and neuropsychological profiles of patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined subcortical ischemic depression (SID).Thirty-five SID patients, 37 patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease without depression (SIVD) and 40 normal controls (NC) participated in this case-control study. The SID and SIVD groups were recruited from the Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University between October 2010 and September 2011. And the NC group came from Medical Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University over the same period. The vascular risk factors of all participants were assessed by the Framingham scale. Depression symptoms were assessed by the geriatric depression scale (GDS) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) while cognitive functions by the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive clock drawing task (CDT).Both the SID (12.3 ± 4.7) and SIVD (13.5 ± 3.4) groups showed significantly higher Framingham scores than the NC group (8.6 ± 1.8) (F = 20.850, P = 0.000). Compared with the NC group (28.3 ± 1.8; 23.1 ± 3.4; 8.0 ± 1.8), the MMSE, MoCA and CDT scores were significantly lower in the SID (26.7 ± 2.5; 20.0 ± 4.0; 2.0 ± 2.7) and SIVD (26.8 ± 1.9; 20.7 ± 3.0; 6.1 ± 2.1) groups (P0.05). There were significantly lower CAMCOG-C scores in the SID (82.7 ± 9.0) and SIVD (86.2 ± 6.9) groups versus the NC group (92.3 ± 6.2) (P0.05) and similarly in the SID group versus the SIVD group (P0.05). Among the subtests of CAMCOG-C, the orientation, language and memory scores in both SID (9.0 ± 1.4; 24.7 ± 4.0; 19.5 ± 3.4) and SIVD (9.4 ± 0.9; 25.5 ± 2.1; 20.3 ± 2.3) groups were significantly lower than those in the NC group (9.9 ± 0.4; 27.4 ± 1.9; 22.1 ± 2.4) (P0.05); the praxis scores in the SID group (9.4 ± 1.9) were significantly lower than those in the NC group (10.4 ± 1.5) (P0.05). And the thinking and perception scores in the SID group (5.4 ± 1.7; 6.3 ± 1.4) were significantly lower than those in the SIVD (6.2 ± 1.3; 7.0 ± 1.4) and NC (6.6 ± 1.3; 7.2 ± 1.4) groups. In the SID group, no significant correlation was found between the Framingham scores and neuropsychological assessments. There were a negative correlation between the GDS, HAMD scores and MMSE, MoCA, CAMCOG-C and CDT scores (P0.05).The SID patients demonstrate multiple neuropsychological deficits, especially in thinking, perception and praxis. No significant correlation between vascular risk factors and depression symptoms is found in SID patients.