Contribution of different somatosensory afferent input to subcortical somatosensory evoked potentials in humans

ObjectivesTo investigate the subcortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to electrical stimulation of either muscle or cutaneous afferents.MethodsSEPs were recorded in 6 patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease (PD) who underwent electrode implantation in the pedunculopontine (PPTg) nucleus area. We compared SEPs recorded from the scalp and from the intracranial electrode contacts to electrical stimuli applied to: 1) median nerve at the wrist, 2) abductor pollicis brevis motor point, and 3) distal phalanx of the thumb. Also the high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) were analysed.ResultsAfter median nerve and pure cutaneous (distant phalanx of the thumb) stimulation, a P1-N1 complex was recorded by the intracranial lead, while the scalp electrodes recorded the short-latency far-field responses (P14 and N18). On the contrary, motor point stimulation did not evoke any low-frequency component in the PPTg traces, nor the N18 potential on the scalp. HFOs were recorded to stimulation of all modalities by the PPTg electrode contacts.ConclusionsStimulus processing within the cuneate nucleus depends on modality, since only the cutaneous input activates the complex intranuclear network possibly generating the scalp N18 potential.SignificanceOur results shed light on the subcortical processing of the somatosensory input of different modalities.     

结核病与糖尿病共病的治疗管理专家共识

结核病与糖尿病均是临床上的常见病和多发病,两者可合并存在,相互影响。活动性结核病作为感染因素可加重糖尿病病情,而糖尿病患者又是发生结核病的高危人群,结核病与糖尿病双重负担将成为重大的全球公共卫生问题。因此,需重视结核病与糖尿病共病的治疗管理。本共识重点介绍了结核病与糖尿病共病的危害、发病机制、双向筛查、临床特点、诊断、治疗和管理等内容。     

Motor dysfunction in mild cognitive impairment as tested by kinematic analysis and transcranial magnetic stimulation

ObjectivePrevious studies have demonstrated voluntary movement alterations as well as motor cortex excitability and plasticity changes in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). To investigate the pathophysiology of movement abnormalities in MCI, we tested possible relationships between movement abnormalities and primary motor cortex alterations in patients.MethodsFourteen amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients and 16 healthy controls were studied. Cognitive assessment was performed using clinical scales. Finger tapping was recorded by a motion analysis system. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to test the input/output curve of motor evoked potentials, intracortical inhibition, and short-latency afferent inhibition. Primary motor cortex plasticity was probed by theta burst stimulation. We investigated correlations between movement abnormalities, clinical scores, and cortical neurophysiological parameters.ResultsMCI patients showed less rhythmic movement but no other movement abnormalities. Cortical excitability measures were normal in patients, whereas plasticity was reduced. Movement rhythm abnormalities correlated with frontal dysfunction scores.ConclusionOur study in MCI patients demonstrated abnormal voluntary movement and plasticity changes, with no correlation between the two. Altered rhythm correlated with frontal dysfunction.SignificanceOur results contribute to the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of motor impairment in MCI.     

Brain lipidomics as a rising field in neurodegenerative contexts: Perspectives with Machine Learning approaches

Lipids are essential for cellular functioning considering their role in membrane composition, signaling, and energy metabolism. The brain is the second most abundant organ in terms of lipid concentration and diversity only after adipose tissue. However, in the central system (CNS) lipid dysregulation has been linked to the etiology, progression, and severity of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimeŕs, Parkinson, and Multiple Sclerosis. Advances in the human genome and subsequent sequencing technologies allowed us the study of lipidomics as a promising approach to diagnosis and treatment of neurodegeneration. Lipidomics advances rapidly increased the amount and quality of data allowing the integration with other omic types as well as implementing novel bioinformatic and quantitative tools such as machine learning (ML). Integration of lipidomics data with ML, as a powerful quantitative predictive approach, led to improvements in diagnostic biomarker prediction, clinical data integration, network, and systems approaches for neural behavior, novel etiology markers for inflammation, and neurodegeneration progression and even Mass Spectrometry image analysis. In this sense, by exploiting lipidomics data with ML is possible to improve the identification of new biomarkers or unveil new molecular mechanisms associated with lipid impairment across neurodegeneration. In this review, we present the lipidomic neurobiology state-of-the-art highlighting its potential applications to study neurodegenerative conditions. Also, we present theoretical background, applications, and advances in the integration of lipidomics with ML. This review opens the door to new approaches in this rising field.     

Primary vaccination in adult patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation – A single center retrospective efficacy analysis

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) results in a loss of humoral immunity and subsequent risk for severe infections. Thus, re-vaccination is required but may fail due to incomplete immune reconstitution. We retrospectively analyzed predictors of immune response to primary vaccination applied according to the EBMT (European Blood and Marrow Transplantation Group) recommendations. Serologic response to vaccination against diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), Bordetella pertussis (aP) and Haemophilus influenzae (Hib) (administrated as combined DTaP-Hib-IPV vaccination) was studied in 84 alloHSCT patients transplanted between 2008 and 2015 (age at alloHSCT: 18.6–70.6 years). All patients with a relapse-free survival of ≥9 months, at least 3 consecutive vaccinations and absence of intravenous immunoglobulin administration within 3 months before and after vaccination met the primary inclusion criteria. Additionally, immunological response to a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was analyzed in a subgroup of 67 patients. Patients’ characteristics at the time of first vaccination were recorded. Responses were measured as vaccine-specific antibody titers. Regarding DTaP-Hib-IPV vaccination, 89.3% (n = 75) of all patients achieved protective titers to at least 3 of the 4 vaccine components and were thus considered responders. 10.7% (n = 9) of the patients were classified as non-responders with positive immune response to less than 3 components. Highest response was observed for Hib (97.4%), tetanus (95.2%) and pneumococcal vaccination (83.6%) while only 68.3% responded to vaccination against Bordetella pertussis. Significant risk factors for failure of vaccination response included low B cell counts (p < 0.001; cut-off: 0.05 B cells/nl) and low IgG levels (p = 0.026; mean IgG of responders 816 mg/dl vs. 475 mg/dl of non-responders). Further, a trend was observed that prior cGvHD impairs vaccination response as 88.9% of the non-responders but only 54.7% of the responders had prior cGvHD (p = 0.073). The results demonstrate, that the currently proposed vaccination strategy leads to seroprotection in the majority of alloHSCT patients.     

基于信息化的社区骨关节炎患者多学科管理模式构建及应用研究

背景 骨关节炎致残、致畸率高，可合并多种身心疾病，但早期症状不明显。当前社区骨关节炎的管理存在管治不协调、方法不健全、制度不完善等问题。 目的 构建并评价基于信息化的社区骨关节炎多学科管理模式，以促进对社区骨关节炎患者的管理，改善患者疾病预后。 方法 首先构建社区骨关节炎患者的多学科管理模式，包含基于危险因素分层的患者分级管理流程、多学科管理团队及其诊治分工，然后构建基于信息化的多学科管理流程，并完成信息软件开发。选取2019年7月至2020年7月在上海市定海、大桥社区卫生服务中心全科门诊，以及杨浦区中心医院骨科门诊就诊的膝骨关节炎患者80例为研究对象，采用随机数表法将其分为普通组和多学科组，各40例。普通组采用常规治疗模式，多学科组在此基础上进行基于信息化的多学科管理。分别于治疗前和治疗12周后评估两组患者的视觉模拟评分法（VAS）评分、西安大略麦克马斯特大学（WOMAC）骨关节炎指数、关节炎生活质量测量量表（AIMS2）评分、健康素养管理量表（HeLMS）评分、体质指数（BMI）。 结果 治疗前，多学科组和普通组膝骨关节炎患者的VAS评分、WOMAC骨关节炎指数、AIMS2评分、HeLMS评分、BMI比较，差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）；治疗12周后，多学科组和普通组膝骨关节炎患者的VAS评分、WOMAC骨关节炎指数低于治疗前，AIMS2总分、HeLMS总分高于治疗前，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）；治疗12周后，多学科组患者AIMS2总分、HeLMS总分高于普通组，VAS评分、WOMAC骨关节炎指数、BMI均低于普通组，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。 结论 对膝骨关节炎患者实施基于信息化的社区骨关节炎患者多学科管理模式，可有效减轻患者的关节疼痛和体质量，提高患者的日常生活能力和健康素养，改善患者的生活质量，延缓患者的病情进展。     

Applications of geospatial analyses in health research among homeless people: A systematic scoping review of available evidence

BackgroundUnequal housing access resulted in more than 150 million homeless people worldwide, with millions more expected to be added every year due to the ongoing climate-related crises. Homeless population has a counterproductive effect on the social, psychological integration efforts by the community and exposure to other severe health-related issues. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have long been applied in urban planning and policy, housing and homelessness, and health-related research.MethodsWe used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method to systematically review 24 articles collected from multiple databases (n = 10) that focused on health-related issues among homeless people and used geospatial analysis techniques in their research.ResultsOur findings indicated a geographic clustering of case study locations– 26 out of the 31 case study sites are from the USA and Canada. Studies used spatial analysis techniques to identify hotspots, clusters and patterns of patient location and population distribution. Studies also reported relationships among the location of homeless shelters and substance use, discarded needles, different infectious and non-infectious disease clusters.ConclusionMost studies were restricted in analyzing and visualizing the patterns and disease clusters; however, geospatial analyses techniques are useful and offer diverse techniques for a more sophisticated understanding of the spatial characteristics of the health issues among homeless people. Better integration of GIS in health research among the homeless would help formulate sensible policies to counter health inequities among this vulnerable population group.     

Compliance to Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations for pneumococcal vaccination

We evaluated compliance to the ACIP pneumococcal vaccination recommendations issued in 2014 for adults aged ≥ 65 years and in 2012 for adults with high-risk (HR) conditions. The MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental databases (January 2007-June 2019) were used to identify the cohorts of interest. Analyses for adults aged ≥ 65 years were adjusted to account for missing vaccination history. Two HR cohorts were identified. The HR1 cohort included patients with immunocompromising conditions, functional or anatomic asplenia, cerebrospinal fluid leak, or cochlear implant. The HR2 cohort included patients with chronic heart, lung, or liver disease; diabetes mellitus; alcoholism; cirrhosis; or cigarette smoking. Full compliance for those aged ≥ 65 years or in the HR1 cohort was defined as receipt of PCV13 and PPSV23, and partial compliance was defined as receipt of PCV13 or PPSV23. For those in the HR2 cohort, full compliance was defined as receipt of PPSV23. Annual compliance rates were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method.Among those aged ≥ 65 years, partial compliance at 4 years post index was 53% and full compliance was 17% in adjusted analyses. In subjects ≥ 65 years receiving the first vaccination, 42% received the second vaccination by year 4. For the HR1 cohort, partial compliance was 19% and full compliance was 5% at 6 years post index date. For the HR2 cohort, full compliance was 20% at 6 years, with the highest rate in patients with diabetes (27%) and the lowest rate in patients with alcoholism (8%).Additional efforts are needed to maximize compliance to the ACIP pneumococcal vaccine recommendations among adults ≥ 65 years of age and adults with HR conditions including streamlined recommendations and single-dose vaccines. These efforts may subsequently reduce the incidence and burden of pneumococcal disease.