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Background: Cerebral infarct associated with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) has been reported in the literature, while isolated central dizziness due to lateral medullary infarct (LMI) following VZV infection is rarely reported. Case report: We report the case of a 65-year-old man who presented to the neurology department because of herpes zoster on the right trigeminal nerve distribution. At 12 hours after admission, he developed transient vertigo along with nausea and unsteady walking and left-sided spontaneous horizontal nystagmus, gaze-evoked nystagmus, and upbeat nystagmus. The other usual signs of LMI including Horner syndrome, dysarthria, swallowing difficulty, and hemibody sensory change were absent. Video head impulse indicated decreased head impulse gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex for the bilateral horizontal, anterior, and posterior semicircular canals with abnormal saccade waves. Suppression head impulse paradigm showed few downward saccades reflecting anti-compensatory saccades after the end of the head impulse back to the head-fixed target and decreased vestibulo-ocular reflex gain values of bilateral semicircular canals. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small infarct in the far dorsolateral portion of the left rostral medulla. The cerebrospinal fluid was positive for VZV DNA. Conclusions: In patients with VZV infection who develop dizziness, the possibility of cerebral infarct should be considered. Patients with facial herpes zoster and neurological symptoms always be screened for stroke using MRI and lumbar puncture should be performed and acyclovir administered empirically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke, particularly due to large vessel occlusion (LVO), is a major cause of mortality and disability globally. Endovascular therapy (ET) significantly improves outcomes for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, but complications such as stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) increase mortality and healthcare costs. This study investigates the association between blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and the increased risk of SAP and explores the relationship between BBB disruption and medium-term functional outcomes., Methods: The retrospective cohort study was performed on AIS patients enrolled between January 2019 to February 2023 who underwent ET. Patients were divided into two groups: BBB disruption and without BBB disruption. Multiple logistic regression model was conducted to measure the association between BBB disruption and SAP. Mediation analysis was used to estimate the potential mediation effects on the associations of BBB disruption with SAP. A restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression model was used to further outline the connection between the highest CT value of hyperattenuated lesions areas and the risk of SAP., Results: The study included 254 patients who underwent endovascular therapy, with 155 patients in the BBB disruption group (exposure) and 99 patients in the without BBB disruption group (control). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed a significantly increased risk of SAP in patients with BBB disruption (OR = 2.337, 95% CI: 1.118-4.990, p = 0.025). Furthermore, mediation analysis suggested that this association may be partly due to malignant cerebral oedema and haemorrhagic transformation. The study found an inverse L-shaped dose-response relationship between the maximum CT values of BBB disruption areas and the incidence of SAP. SAP partially mediated the association between BBB disruption and 3-month poor functional outcome., Conclusion: BBB disruption are a potential risk factor for SAP. BBB disruption may affect short- and medium-term prognosis of patients after ET in part through SAP., Competing Interests: All the authors have no competing interests., (© 2024 Ma et al.)

Background: Ischemic stroke (IS) is the main cause of death and adult disability. However, the pathogenesis of this complicated disease is unknown. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between ITLN1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the susceptibility to IS in Xi'an population, Shaanxi province., Methods: In this study, we designed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers located at -3,308 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site within promoter region of the ITLN1 gene. The target fragment was amplified by PCR and identified by agarose gel electrophoresis. Sanger sequencing was then performed in the samples extracted from a cohort comprising 1,272 participants (636 controls and 636 cases), and the obtained sequences were compared with the reference sequences available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website to detect SNPs in the ITLN1 gene promoter region. Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between ITLN1 polymorphisms and IS risk, with adjustments for age and gender. Significant positive results were tested by false-positive report probability (FPRP) and false discovery rate (FDR). The interaction among noteworthy SNPs and their predictive relationship with IS risk were explored using the Multi-Factor Dimensionality Reduction (MDR) software., Results: The results of Sanger sequencing were compared with the reference sequences on the NCBI website, and we found 14 SNPs in ITLN1 gene promoter satisfied Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Logistic regression analysis showed that ITLN1 was associated with a decreased risk of IS (rs6427553: Homozygous C/C: adjusted OR: 0.69, 95% CI [0.48-0.97]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.83, 95% CI [0.70-0.98]; rs7411035: Homozygous G/G: adjusted OR: 0.66, 95% CI [0.47-0.94]; Dominant G/T-G/G: adjusted OR: 0.78, 95% CI [0.62-0.98]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.81, 95% CI [0.69-0.96]; rs4656958: Heterozygous G/A: adjusted OR: 0.74, 95% CI [0.59-0.94]; Homozygous A/A: adjusted OR: 0.51, 95% CI [0.31-0.84]; Dominant G/A-A/A: adjusted OR: 0.71, 95% CI [0.57-0.89]; Recessive A/A: adjusted OR: 0.59, 95% CI [0.36-0.96]; Log-additive: adjusted OR: 0.73, 95% CI [0.61-0.88]), especially in people aged less than 60 years and males., Conclusions: In short, our study revealed a correlation between ITLN1 variants (rs6427553, rs7411035 and rs4656958) and IS risk in Xi'an population, Shaanxi province, laying a foundation for ITLN1 gene as a potential biomarker for predicting susceptibility to IS., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Shi et al.)

Background and Objectives: Existing evidence indicates anti-GABA B receptor encephalitis (GABA B R-E) seems to occur more commonly later in life, yet the age-associated differences in clinical features and outcomes are not well determined. This study aims to explore the demographic, clinical characteristics, and prognostic differences between late-onset and early-onset GABA B R-E and identify predictors of favorable long-term outcomes., Methods: This is an observational retrospective study conducted in 19 centers from China. Data from 62 patients with GABA B R-E were compared between late-onset (aged 50 years or older) and early-onset (younger than 50 years) groups and between groups with favorable outcomes (modified Rankin scale (mRS) ≤ 2) and poor outcomes (mRS >2). Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify factors affecting long-term outcomes., Results: Forty-one (66.1%) patients experienced late-onset GABA B R-E. A greater proportion of males, a higher mRS score at onset, higher frequencies of ICU admission and tumors, and a higher risk of death were demonstrated in the late-onset group than in the early-onset group. Compared with poor outcomes, patients with favorable outcomes had a younger onset age, a lower mRS score at onset, lower frequencies of ICU admission and tumors, and a greater proportion with immunotherapy maintenance for at least 6 months. On multivariate regression analysis, age at onset (OR, 0.849, 95% CI 0.739-0.974, p = 0.020) and the presence of underlying tumors (OR, 0.095, 95% CI 0.015-0.613, p = 0.013) were associated with poorer long-term outcomes, whereas immunotherapy maintenance for at least 6 months was associated with favorable outcomes (OR, 10.958, 95% CI 1.469-81.742, p = 0.020)., Discussion: These results demonstrate the importance of risk stratification of GABA B R-E according to age at onset. More attention should be paid to older patients especially with underlying tumors, and immunotherapy maintenance for at least 6 months is recommended to achieve a favorable outcome., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.)

Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is experienced by most patients of Parkinson's disease (PD) upon the long-term use of the dopamine precursor levodopa. Striatal dopaminergic signaling plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of LID through its interactions with dopamine receptors. The specific roles of striatal dopaminergic D 5 receptors in the pathophysiological process of LID are still poorly established. In the study, we investigated the role of striatal dopamine D 5 receptor in LID by using PD rats with or without dyskinetic symptoms after chronic levodopa administration. The experimental results showed that the expression level of D 5 receptors in the sensorimotor striatum of dyskinetic rats is significantly higher than that of the non-dyskinetic controls. The administration of levodopa increased c-Fos expression in a subpopulation of sensorimotor striatum neurons of dyskinetic rats, but not in non-dyskinetic rats. The majority of the c-Fos + neurons activated by levodopa in the striatum are positive for D 5 receptor staining. Intrastriatal injection of D 1 -like (D 1 and D 5 ) dopamine receptor antagonist, SCH-23390, significantly inhibited dyskinetic behavior in dyskinetic rats after the injection of levodopa, meanwhile, intrastriatal administration of SKF-83959, a partial D 5 receptor agonist, yielded significant dyskinetic movements in dyskinetic rats without levodopa. In contrast, intrastriatal perfusion of small interfering RNA directed against DRD5 downregulated D 5 receptors expression and moderately inhibited dyskinetic behavior of dyskinetic animals. Our data suggested that the striatal dopamine D 5 receptor might play a novel role in the pathophysiology of LID., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate whether DTI abnormalities in patients with nondemented subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) are correlated to general cognitive function and executive function independent of conventional MRI parameters., Methods: Sixty-six SIVD patients including 30 with cognitive impairment without dementia (VCIND) and 36 with normal cognition (NCI) underwent DTI and cognitive assessment of the general cognitive function and executive function. Conventional MRI parameters and DTI parameters were measured within the white matter lesions (WMLs), normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and normal-appearing gray matter (NAGM). The independent predictors of general cognitive function and executive function in SIVD patients was analyzed., Results: NCI and VCIND patients showed significant differences in the periventricular WMLs, ADC valus in NAWM and WMLs of the centrum semiovale, and FA values in NAWM of the anterior periventricular. Except for ADC values of the caudate nucleus, ADC and FA values in the subcortical NAGM showed significant difference between the two groups. After controlling for age and education, PVLs and ADC values in the WMLs and NAWM of the centrum semiovale and putamen, and FA values in the anterior periventricular NAWM, WMLs and putamen showed significant correlations to MMSE; the number of lacunar infarcts, ADC values in posterior periventricular NAWM and caudate nucleus, and FA values in anterior periventricular NAWM and thalamus showed significant correlations to CDT. Multivariate analysis showed independent correlations of the ADC values in WMLs and NAWM of the centrum semiovale to MMSE, and demonstarted correlations of the ADC values of the caudate nucleus and number of lacunar infarcts to CDT., Conclusion: In nondemented SIVD subjects, the integrity of the white matter in the centrum semiovale strongly correlates to the general cognition, and the microstructural damage of the caudate nucleus head predicts executive function impairment independent of other MRI variables.

Objective: To observe the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) in hippocampus neurons in rats after different time of neuron oxygen deprivation/oxygen supply, and to investigate the role of PPARgamma in neuron ischemia reperfusion injury., Methods: One day old newborn SD rats were chosen. Primary cultured hippocampus neurons were used to establish neuron ischemic reperfusion model in vitro by oxygen and glucose depriving 15 minutes and supplying again, and then the neuron structure was observed by transmission electron microscope of JEM-200EX. The expression of PPARgamma mRNA and protein were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively., Results: Neuron structure was damaged after neuron oxygen deprivation/oxygen supply. There was no significant difference between 0 h oxygen supply group and the control group. The expression of PPARgamma was decreased both at mRNA and protein level after 6 h of oxygen supply. The difference between 6 h oxygen supply group and the control group was significant (P<0.01), which decreased with the length of reperfusion and the lowest was at 48 h after the reperfusion. The difference among the different reperfusion groups and the control group was significant (P<0.01)., Conclusion: PPARgamma may participate in the pathological damage course of neuron ischemical reperfusion injury, and may become a new intervention target of treatment for ischemic cerebrovascular disease.