Publications by authors named "Bao-Rong Zhang"

Peripheral immune cells play a vital role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, their cytokine and chemokine secretion functions remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the cytokine and chemokine secretion functions of specific immune cell subtypes in drug-naïve patients with PD at different ages of onset.

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DNA damage and defective DNA repair are extensively linked to neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we determined that the PD-associated protein DJ-1 plays an essential role in modulating DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Specifically, DJ-1 is a DNA damage response (DDR) protein that can be recruited to DNA damage sites, where it promotes DSB repair through both homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease around the world; however, its pathogenesis remains unclear so far. Recent advances have shown that DNA damage and repair deficiency play an important role in the pathophysiology of PD. There is growing evidence suggesting that DNA damage is involved in the propagation of cellular damage in PD, leading to neuropathology under different conditions.

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Microglial hyperactivation of the NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome contributes to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Recently, neuronally expressed NLRP3 was demonstrated to be a Parkin polyubiquitination substrate and a driver of neurodegeneration in PD. However, the role of Parkin in NLRP3 inflammasome activation in microglia remains unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the link between intestinal inflammation, gut microbiota, and Parkinson's disease (PD), focusing on the role of elevated serum anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) levels, which are markers of chronic gut inflammation.* -
  • Researchers measured serum ASCA levels and analyzed gut fungal communities in 393 subjects, finding that PD patients had significantly higher ASCA IgG and IgA levels compared to healthy controls and those with essential tremor, alongside differences in gut fungal composition.* -
  • The findings suggest that elevated serum ASCA levels and enriched levels of the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae could help distinguish PD from other groups, indicating a potential link between gut health and PD pathogenesis.*
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to create a global cohort of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) linked to specific genetic variants, aiming to improve the understanding and treatment of monogenic PD.
  • - Researchers collected data from 3,888 participants across 92 centers in 42 countries, including 3,185 diagnosed with PD and 703 unaffected individuals, which highlighted a total of 269 distinct pathogenic variants.
  • - This initiative not only established the largest international genetic PD cohort but also provided quality-controlled clinical and genetic data to foster further research collaboration.
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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease with a significant public health burden. It is characterized by the gradual degeneration of dopamine neurons in the central nervous system. Although symptomatic pharmacological management remains the primary therapeutic method for PD, clinical experience reveals significant inter-individual heterogeneity in treatment effectiveness and adverse medication responses.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recessive mutations in the PRKN, PARK7, and PINK1 genes are known to cause early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD), but this study focuses on heterozygous variants instead.
  • The research analyzed genetic data from nearly 15,000 Parkinson's cases and over 55,000 controls and found no significant association between these heterozygous variants and Parkinson's disease risk.
  • The findings suggest that these variants do not contribute to the risk of developing Parkinson's, indicating a need for larger and more diverse studies to clarify their potential role.
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Multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms may contribute to cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease. However, the mechanism by which these single nucleotide polymorphisms modify brain imaging phenotype remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms on brain imaging phenotype in Parkinson's disease.

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD), with either rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) or olfactory dysfunction (OD), has been associated with disease progression. However, there is currently heterogeneity in predicting prognosis.

Objectives: To identify whether the concurrent presence of OD and probable RBD (pRBD) in PD (Dual hit in PD, PD-DH) is associated with disease progression.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of midbrain substantia nigra pars compacta dopaminergic neurons and the formation of Lewy bodies. Over the years, researchers have gained extensive knowledge about dopaminergic neuron degeneration from the perspective of the environmental and disease-causing genetic factors; however, there is still no disease-modifying therapy. Aging has long been recognized as a major risk factor for PD; however, little is known about how aging contributes to the disease development.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Mutations in the PRKN gene are a leading cause of autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD), but research on parkin-/- mice shows no early loss of dopaminergic neurons or motor symptoms.
  • - This study focused on how the absence of the parkin gene affected the retina's mitochondria and synaptic structures in 6-month-old mice, revealing a thicker retina and significant mitochondrial abnormalities.
  • - The findings indicate that parkin-/- mice experienced impaired mitochondrial function and structural changes in the retina, which disrupted communication between photoreceptors and retinal neurons, leading to visual impairment.
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Ferroptosis, a novel form of regulated cell death, is caused by accumulation of lipid peroxides and excessive iron deposition. This process has been linked to the death of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra compacta (SNc) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Quercetin (QCT), a natural flavonoid, has multiple pharmacological activities.

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Background And Purpose: The insidious onset of Parkinson's disease (PD) makes early diagnosis difficult. Notably, idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) was reported as a prodrome of PD, which may represent a breakthrough for the early diagnosis of PD. However, currently there is no reliable biomarker for PD diagnosis.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the utility of inflammatory markers of hemogram parameters as objective indicators of disease severity in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis.

Methods: A total of 98 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Inflammatory markers of hemogram parameters, including neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio, were acquired within 24 h of admission.

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Brain radiomics can reflect the characteristics of brain pathophysiology. However, the value of T1-weighted images, quantitative susceptibility mapping, and R2* mapping in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) was underestimated in previous studies. In this prospective study to establish a model for PD diagnosis based on brain imaging information, we collected high-resolution T1-weighted images, R2* mapping, and quantitative susceptibility imaging data from 171 patients with PD and 179 healthy controls recruited from August 2014 to August 2019.

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and dystonia are closely related in terms of pathophysiology and clinical manifestations, but their common genetic characteristics remain unclear. Some genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and replication studies have revealed correlations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the genes and dystonia. This study was conducted to assess the association between these genetic loci and PD in a population from Eastern China.

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Cognitive flexibility enables effective switching between mental processes to generate appropriate responses. Cholinergic neurons (CNs) within the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) are associated with many functions, but their contribution to cognitive flexibility remains poorly understood. Here we measure PPN cholinergic activities using calcium indicators during the attentional set-shifting task.

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Background: There is no standard endovascular treatment for extracranial internal carotid artery dissecting aneurysms. In the past, stent-graft isolation and stent-assisted coil embolization were commonly used for wide-necked and fusiform aneurysms. Here, we present two cases of extracranial internal carotid artery dissecting aneurysms treated successfully using the SUPERA stent.

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Recent evidence suggests that innate and adaptive immunity play a crucial role in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, studies regarding specific immune cell classification in the peripheral blood in PD remain lacking. Therefore, we aimed to explore the different immune status in patients with PD at different ages of onset.

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Background: Growing evidence suggests important effects of body mass index (BMI) and metabolic status on neurodegenerative diseases. However, the roles of BMI and metabolic status on cognitive outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD) may vary and are yet to be determined.

Methods: In total, 139 PD patients from the whole PD cohort in Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative database underwent complete laboratory measurements, demographic and anthropometric parameters at baseline, and were enrolled in this study.

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Background: Emerging evidence indicates that the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 exacerbates α-synuclein pathology.

Objective: To determine whether APOE ε4 contributes to motor progression in early Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Longitudinal data were obtained from 384 patients with PD divided into APOE ε4 carriers (n = 85) and noncarriers (n = 299) in the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative.

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Increasing evidence suggests that genetic factors play a key role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). The variant rs11240572 in the PARK16 gene locus is strongly associated with PD. However, its effect on the pathogenesis of PD is yet to be clarified.

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