Hand function is impaired in healthy older adults at risk of Parkinson’s disease

Abnormal substantia nigra morphology in healthy individuals, viewed with transcranial ultrasound, is a significant risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. However, little is known about the functional consequences of this abnormality (termed ‘hyperechogenicity’) on movement. The aim of the current study was to investigate hand function in healthy older adults with (SN+) and without (SN?) substantia nigra hyperechogenicity during object manipulation. We hypothesised that SN+ subjects would exhibit increased grip force and a slower rate of force application compared to SN? subjects. Twenty-six healthy older adults (8 SN+ aged 58 ± 8 years, 18 SN? aged 57 ± 6 years) were asked to grip and lift a light-weight object with the dominant hand. Horizontal grip force, vertical lift force, acceleration, and first dorsal interosseus EMG were recorded during three trials. During the first trial, SN+ subjects exhibited a longer period between grip onset and lift onset (i.e. preload duration; 0.27 ± 0.25 s) than SN? subjects (0.13 ± 0.08 s; P = 0.046). They also exerted a greater downward force prior to lift off (?0.54 ± 0.42 N vs. ?0.21 ± 0.12 N; P = 0.005) and used a greater grip force to lift the object (19.5 ± 7.0 N vs. 14.0 ± 4.3 N; P = 0.022) than SN? subjects. No between group differences were observed in subsequent trials. SN+ subjects exhibit impaired planning for manipulation of new objects. SN+ individuals over-estimate the grip force required, despite a longer contact period prior to lifting the object. The pattern of impairment observed in SN+ subjects shares similarities with de novo Parkinson’s disease patients.     

Is Gatekeeper Training Enough for Suicide Prevention?

While schools have the capacity to reach youth at-risk for suicide, there remains a gap between the number of youth with mental health issues and those who     

Childhood head trauma and psychosis

The medical histories of 200 schizophrenic patients were compared to those of 203 depressed patients, 122 manic patients, and 134 surgical controls. All subjects were hospital inpatients. Charts were specifically examined to record any head injury before age 10 that had required medical attention or caused loss of consciousness. Schizophrenics had a significantly greater history of head trauma than the manics, depressives, and surgical controls. There were no significant differences between manics and depressives or between affective disorders as a group and surgical controls. Childhood trauma may be a contributing factor to the development of psychosis in some individuals.     

混合造血干细胞移植后输注供者淋巴细胞和白细胞介素2对急性髓性白血病疗效的影响

目的:观察急性髓性白血病经混合造血干细胞移植后,应用供者淋巴细胞输注 白细胞介素2治疗的效果,并与移植后未经特殊治疗的效果进行比较。方法:①选取2000-01/2004-07解放军兰州军区兰州总医院全军血液病中心收治的19例急性髓性白血病患者,实验经医院伦理委员会批准,患者均知情同意。随机数字表法分为两组:观察组8例,年龄17～40岁,M2a 4例,M4 1例,M5a 3例;对照组11例,年龄19～39岁,M2a 2例,M3a 2例,M4 3例,M5a 4例。②两组患者采用化疗联合重组人粒细胞集落刺激因子的方法动员自体外周血造血干细胞,采集后液氮中保存5d备用。③术前采用直线加速器对患者全身及肺部照射,预处理完毕后实施混合造血干细胞移植。首先回输自体单个核细胞中位数为4×108/kg,CD34 细胞中位数为6.2×106/kg,粒-巨噬祖细胞集落形成单位中位数为5.8×104/kg。间隔1～6h后,采集人类白细胞抗原半相合异体骨髓,按回输自体单个核细胞数的1/6～1/10输注给患者。④两组患者移植期间均住无菌层流病房,给予相应并发症的防治及支持治疗。在粒细胞降至0时注射重组人粒细胞集落刺激因子150μg/12h,促进造血恢复。观察组给予供者淋巴细胞输注 白细胞介素2治疗,每次采集的供者淋巴细胞中,CD3 淋巴细胞中位数为1.43×108/kg,CD4 细胞中位数为0.97×108/kg,CD8 细胞中位数为0.41×108/kg,中位治疗次数4(1～7)次,回输后即开始应用100wu/d重组人白细胞介素2,共10d。对照组混合造血干细胞移植后未给予特殊治疗。结果:19例急性髓性白血病患者均进入结果分析。①造血恢复:两组患者均获得造血重建,术后4～9d粒细胞均降至0,12～17d粒细胞达0.5×109L-1,16～21d白细胞达4.0×108 L-1,19～23 d血小板达20×108 L-1。16～21 d骨髓检查示恢复期骨髓象。②术后并发症:两组患者不同程度地出现口腔溃疡,随着造血恢复,7～10d溃疡消失。观察组1例患者出现出血性膀胱炎,两组各2例患者出现发热。无肝静脉闭塞病和移植物抗宿主病发生。③嵌合体形成:观察组中1例M4患者形成嵌合体,对照组中2例M4患者与1例M5患者形成嵌合体,嵌合体持续存在3～12个月。④供者淋巴细胞输注 白细胞介素2疗效:观察组中有1例M2a患者在接受2次特殊治疗后7个月复发死亡;1例M2a患者接受2次特殊治疗后1年出现骨髓增生异常综合征,脑出血死亡,1例M5a患者应用特殊治疗1次后出现不明原因高热、抽搐,死于癫痫持续状态,其余5例患者随访2年均健康存活,长期生存率为62.5%(5/8)。对照组有2例M2a患者、2例M4患者、1例M5患者于移植后1～7个月复发死亡,1例M3患者于移植后25d死于脑出血,其余2例M3患者、2例M4患者、1例M5患者随访2年均健康存活,长期生存率为45.4%(5/11)。结论:混合造血干细胞移植后应用供者淋巴细胞输注 白细胞介素2治疗,急性髓性白血病患者均获得造血重建且无移植物抗宿主病发生,其长期生存率有效提高。