Effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments on the cognitive functioning of elderly persons with mild cognitive impairment associated with white matter lesions

Background

Cerebral white matter lesion (WML) is a pathological change of the white matter which is considered an early sign of brain impairment in elderly individuals, so it is reasonable to administer early dementia prevention programs to individuals with WML.Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has developed several approaches to prevent or delay the onset of dementia that have, as yet, not been formally tested.

Aim

Evaluate the effects of a 6-month TCM intervention for elderly persons with mild cognitive impairment and WML.

Methods

Eighty individuals 65 years of age or older with radiological evidence of WML and mild cognitive impairment based on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were classified into the four main TCM constitutional types (qi deficiency, yang deficiency, phlegm dampness, or blood stasis) and randomly assigned to a treatment group or a treatment-as-usual control group. The treatment group participated in training focused on diet, lifestyle, exercises, and emotional regulation adjustment; they also received six monthly courses of moxibustion (heating acupoints by burning the moxa of dried mugwort), each of which involved 10 daily 15-minute sessions focused on three targeted acupoints (one of which was specific to the constitutional type). Changes in the MoCA and in the score of each of the four constitutional types were the main outcomes assessed.

Results

Two participants dropped out of each group over the 6 months, leaving 38 in each group. Based on repeated measures analysis of variance, the total MoCA score, four of the six MoCA subscales scores (visual space and executive function, naming, attention and calculation, and delayed memory), and all four of the TCM constitution type scores showed significantly greater improvement over the 6 months in the treatment group than in the control group.

Conclusion

This study shows that TCM interventions can improve both the cognitive functioning and the severity of symptoms considered in the TCM assessment of constitutional types among elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment and WML. Long-term follow-up studies that use blinded evaluation of the outcome are needed to determine whether or not constitution-specific TCM treatments can prevent the onset of dementia.     

皮质下缺血性脑血管病患者额叶白质病变对认知领域的损害研究

目的探讨皮质下缺血性血管病(SIVD)患者的额叶的白质病变(WML)累及的认知功能域。方法将50例SIVD患者,根据额叶WML评分的严重程度,分为严重WML组(视觉评分3分)27例和轻度WML组(视觉评分≤3分)23例。另以7例无SIVD的人群作为对照。对所有受试者进行全套的认知心理学测查并对结果进行对比分析。结果 3组间一般资料的差异无统计学意义。与轻度WML组和对照组相比,严重WML组的非额叶白质评分、额叶腔隙灶数目明显增多(均P=0.000);与轻度WML组相比,严重WML组的蒙特利尔认知评估量表评分明显降低(P=0.047);且执行功能相关的认知评分明显降低(P=0.006),在调整了额叶的腔隙灶数量后,该差异仍有统计学意义(P=0.038)。多元回归分析发现,对注意执行Z分显著影响的因素为额叶WML评分(P=0.000)。结论在SIVD患者中,额叶的WML主要累及执行功能。     

Spectrophotometric analysis of tooth discolouration induced by mineral trioxide aggregate after final irrigation with sodium hypochlorite: An in vitro study

The aim of this study was to evaluate specific chromatic alterations induced by white mineral trioxide aggregate after final irrigation with sodium hypochlorite. Sixty specimens were prepared mechanically and filled with mineral trioxide aggregate after different final irrigation protocols: Group 1 – distilled water, Group 2 – sodium hypochlorite followed by distilled water, Group 3 – sodium hypochlorite, only. Colour changes were recorded with a spectrophotometer at baseline, and then after 1, 2 and 4 months. The Commision Internationale de l’éclairage colour system was used and the total colour changes ΔE were calculated. In groups where sodium hypochlorite was used, parameter L* decreased significantly after the first month (Group 2 (P < 0.006), Group 3 (P < 0.009)). Group 3 demonstrated greater colour change ΔE than Group 1, after the first month (P < 0.02). In conclusion, white mineral trioxide aggregate can lead to tooth discolouration by contact with sodium hypochlorite residues in dentinal tubules.     

Long-term Nucleos(t)ides Analogues for Chronic Hepatitis B Improve Liver and Spleen Size: A Noninvasive Sonographic Study

Background

Histological improvement and regression of liver fibrosis after long-term use of nucleos(t)ides analogues (NUCs) have been documented. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the usefulness of traditional sonography to detect hepatic and splenic changes during NUC therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

Cerebellar white matter pathways are associated with reading skills in children and adolescents

Reading is a critical life skill in the modern world. The neural basis of reading incorporates a distributed network of cortical areas and their white matter connections. The cerebellum has also been implicated in reading and reading disabilities. However, little is known about the contribution of cerebellar white matter pathways to major component skills of reading. We used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) with tractography to identify the cerebellar peduncles in a group of 9‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents born full term (FT, n = 19) or preterm (PT, n = 26). In this cohort, no significant differences were found between fractional anisotropy (FA) measures of the peduncles in the PT and FT groups. FA of the cerebellar peduncles correlated significantly with measures of decoding and reading comprehension in the combined sample of FT and PT subjects. Correlations were negative in the superior and inferior cerebellar peduncles and positive in the middle cerebellar peduncle. Additional analyses revealed that FT and PT groups demonstrated similar patterns of reading associations within the left superior cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebellar peduncle, and left inferior cerebellar peduncle. Partial correlation analyses showed that distinct sub‐skills of reading were associated with FA in segments of different cerebellar peduncles. Overall, the present findings are the first to document associations of microstructure of the cerebellar peduncles and the component skills of reading. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1536–1553, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How reliable are gray matter disruptions in specific reading disability across multiple countries and languages? insights from a large‐scale voxel‐based morphometry study

The neural basis of specific reading disability (SRD) remains only partly understood. A dozen studies have used voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) to investigate gray matter volume (GMV) differences between SRD and control children, however, recent meta‐analyses suggest that few regions are consistent across studies. We used data collected across three countries (France, Poland, and Germany) with the aim of both increasing sample size (236 SRD and controls) to obtain a clearer picture of group differences, and of further assessing the consistency of the findings across languages. VBM analysis reveals a significant group difference in a single cluster in the left thalamus. Furthermore, we observe correlations between reading accuracy and GMV in the left supramarginal gyrus and in the left cerebellum, in controls only. Most strikingly, we fail to replicate all the group differences in GMV reported in previous studies, despite the superior statistical power. The main limitation of this study is the heterogeneity of the sample drawn from different countries (i.e., speaking languages with varying orthographic transparencies) and selected based on different assessment batteries. Nevertheless, analyses within each country support the conclusions of the cross‐linguistic analysis. Explanations for the discrepancy between the present and previous studies may include: (1) the limited suitability of VBM to reveal the subtle brain disruptions underlying SRD; (2) insufficient correction for multiple statistical tests and flexibility in data analysis, and (3) publication bias in favor of positive results. Thus the study echoes widespread concerns about the risk of false‐positive results inherent to small‐scale VBM studies. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1741–1754, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.