Dissection of perceptual,motor and autonomic components of brain activity evoked by noxious stimulation

In the past two decades, functional brain imaging has considerably advanced our knowledge of cerebral pain processing. However, many important links are still missing in our understanding of brain activity in relation to the regulation of pain-related physiological responses. This fMRI study investigates the cerebral correlates of pain (rating), motor responses (RIII-reflex) and autonomic activity (skin conductance response; SCR) evoked by noxious electrical stimulation. Stimulus intensity was adjusted individually based on the RIII threshold to control for differences in peripheral processes and baseline spinal activation. Covariance analyses were used to reveal individual differences in brain activity uniquely associated with individual differences in pain, RIII and SCR. Shock-evoked activity in cingulate, medial orbitofrontal and parahippocampal regions predicted pain sensitivity. Moreover, lateral orbitofrontal and cingulate areas showed strong positive associations with individual differences in motor reactivity but negative associations with autonomic reactivity. Notably, individual differences in OFC activation was almost fully accounted by the combination of individual measures of autonomic and motor reactivity (R² = 0.93). Additionally, trial-to-trial fluctuations of RIII-reflex and SCR (within-subjects) were proportional to shock-evoked responses in subgenual cingulate cortex (RIII), anterior insula (SCR) and midcingulate cortex (SCR and RIII). Together, these results confirm that individual differences in perceptual, motor, and autonomic components of pain reflect robust individual differences in brain activity. Furthermore, the brain correlates of trial-to-trial fluctuations in pain responses provide additional evidence for a partial segregation of sub-systems involved more specifically in the ongoing monitoring, and possibly the regulation, of pain-related motor and autonomic responses.     

拜糖苹和二甲双胍干预糖稳态受损病例的结果研究

目的:观察拜糖苹和二甲双胍对糖稳态受损包括糖耐量减低(IGT)和空腹血糖异常(IFG)病例的影响,为不同类型糖稳态受损病例提供更合理的预防糖尿病的方案.方法:按1999年WHO诊断标准判断的糖稳态受损病例69例,经卫生宣教,自主选择干预方案,其中饮食运动组15例,二甲双胍组28例,拜糖苹组26例.观察时间6个月,干预前后分别测空腹血糖(FPG),餐后2h血糖(2HPG),总胆固醇(TC),甘油三酯(TG).结果:饮食运动组经干预6个月,检测指标均有不同程度下降,但无统计学意义(P>0.05);两治疗组FPG及2hPG与治疗前比较有明显下降(P<0.01),对FPG控制两组无明显区别,对2hPG的控制拜糖苹组优于二甲双胍组(P<0.01),两治疗组TC、TG与治疗前对比明显下降(P<0.05).结论:在饮食运动基础上,对IFG病例建议选用二甲双胍,对IGT病例建议选用拜糖苹预防糖尿病的发生.     

Cortical recruitment patterns in children born prematurely compared with control subjects during a passive listening functional magnetic resonance imaging task

OBJECTIVES: To use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test the hypothesis that subjects who were born prematurely develop alternative systems for processing language. STUDY DESIGN: Subjects who were born prematurely (n = 14; 600-1250 g birthweight) without neonatal brain injury and 10 matched term control subjects were examined with a fMRI passive listening task of language, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) and portions of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP). The fMRI task was evaluated for both phonologic and semantic processing. RESULTS: Although there were differences in CELF scores between the subjects born prematurely and control subjects, there were no significant differences in the CTOPP measures in the 2 groups. fMRI studies demonstrated that the groups differentially engaged neural systems known to process language. Children born at term were significantly more likely to activate systems for the semantic processing of language, whereas subjects born prematurely preferentially engaged regions that subserve phonology. CONCLUSIONS: At 12 years of age, children born prematurely and children born at term activate neural systems for the auditory processing of language differently. Subjects born prematurely engage different networks for phonologic processing; this strategy is associated with phonologic language scores that are similar to those of control subjects. These biologically based developmental strategies may provide the substrate for the improving language skills noted in children who are born prematurely.     

Parietal and frontal object areas underlie perception of object orientation in depth

Recent studies have shown that the human parietal and frontal cortices are involved in object image perception. We hypothesized that the parietal/frontal object areas play a role in differentiating the orientations (i.e., views) of an object. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared brain activations while human observers differentiated between two object images in depth-orientation (orientation task) and activations while they differentiated the images in object identity (identity task). The left intraparietal area, right angular gyrus, and right inferior frontal areas were activated more for the orientation task than for the identity task. The occipitotemporal object areas, however, were activated equally for the two tasks. No region showed greater activation for the identity task. These results suggested that the parietal/frontal object areas encode view-dependent visual features and underlie object orientation perception.     

Indexes of β-cell function from the oral glucose tolerance test can modestly predict pancreatic β-cell area in Korean

Aims

Pancreatic β-cell function indexes have been suggested using the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Here, we investigated whether β-cell function index from the OGTT reflects pancreatic β-cell area in Korean patients.

Methods

The study consisted of 45 patients who underwent pancreatectomies. Before operation, a 75-g OGTT was performed. Immunohistochemical staining was performed, and indexes of β-cell function from the OGTT data were compared with the pancreatic β-cell area.

Results

The β-cell area of the pancreas was 1.07 ± 0.33% in the normal glucose tolerance group, 1.71 ± 0.85% in the pre-diabetes group (impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose), and 1.08 ± 0.57% in the diabetes group. The β-cell area of the pre-diabetes group was significantly higher than that of the diabetes group. Pancreatic β-cell area showed a significant correlation with a homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (r = 0.358, P = 0.016), disposition index (r = 0.336, P = 0.024), fasting glucose (r = −0.359, P = 0.015), and the C-peptide/glucose 30 min ratio (r = 0.319, P = 0.035).

Conclusions

Some parameters of β-cell function from the OGTT showed a significant relationship with the β-cell area of pancreas.     

Elevated alanine aminotransferase is associated with metabolic syndrome but not consistently associated with impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background

Abnormally elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of nonspecific causes is a common outpatient problem. Without considering ethnicity, several studies had suggested that it was associated with insulin resistance (IR).

Objective

To investigate whether nonspecific elevated ALT in Taiwanese population could reflect a likely underlying IR and was associated with impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes mellitus (IFG/T2DM).

Methods

The health examination profiles of 1313 Taiwanese were investigated cross-sectionally. The prevalence and odds ratios (ORs) for IFG/T2DM and metabolic abnormalities in relation to elevated ALT were analyzed.

Results

Subjects with metabolic syndrome (MS) all had IFG/T2DM. The elevated ALT significantly correlated with MS and IFG/T2DM (i.e., 19.9-29.2% vs. 7.8% for MS, and 27.0-31.5% vs. 16.1% for IFG/T2DM). However, after excluding MS and adjustment for age and sex, the elevated ALT alone was not consistently associated with IFG/T2DM (36 < ALT ≤ 80 IU/L with OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.58-1.61; 80 < ALT ≤ 120 IU/L with OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.13-2.37; none with ALT > 120 had IFG).

Conclusions

In a cross-sectional analysis of Taiwanese industrial employees, elevated ALT associated with MS, but in subjects who did not meet MS criteria, elevated ALT by itself did not associate with IFG/T2DM.     

饮食防治前列腺癌

流行病学及病理研究证实,前列腺癌的发生和发展与饮食习惯、生活方式明显相关。文献还证实,低脂肪饮食,尤其来源于鱼油的n-3脂肪酸,及蔬菜、水果和豆类中的多酚类、异黄酮、番茄红素、类胡萝卜素及没食子,通过调节性激素、胰岛素／IGF轴及基因,可降低前列腺癌细胞生长、异种移植癌生长、细胞增殖,并增加凋亡,从而达到抑制前列腺癌生长和发展的作用。对前列腺癌患者,进行低脂肪饮食干预,可提高生活质量,且可使PSA倍增时间延长,增加存活。此法有效、安全、省钱、易行,值得推广。     

2007年江苏省居民血糖水平及糖尿病患病情况监测分析

目的:了解江苏省城乡居民血糖水平及糖尿病患病情况.方法: 采用多阶段随机整群抽样方法,在全省14个疾病监测点共监测4 318名15～69岁城乡居民.空腹血糖应用德国罗氏血糖仪采无名指末梢血测得.结果:江苏省城乡居民血糖平均水平为5.12 mmol/L(标化后为5.02 mmol/L);糖尿病、空腹血糖受损患病率分别为8...