Objective: Late-onset hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) is often associated with heart involvement. Recent advances in cardiac imaging allow the detection of cardiac amyloidosis. This study aimed to explore cardiomyopathy by cardiac imaging and its clinical correlates with polyneuropathy in late-onset ATTRv-PN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Although the microenvironment for peripheral nerve regeneration is permissive, such a mechanism is defective in diabetes, and the molecular mediators remain elusive. [Correction added on May 11, 2022, after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, "is ok" was changed to "is defective".] This study aimed to (1) investigate the relationship between skin innervation and collagen pathology in diabetic neuropathy and to (2) clarify the molecular alterations that occur in response to hyperglycemia and their effects on axon regeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Sensory symptoms, especially neuropathic pain, are common in polyneuropathy. Conventional diagnostic tools can evaluate structural or functional impairment of nerves but cannot reveal mechanisms of neuropathic pain. Changes in the brain after polyneuropathy may play roles in the genesis of neuropathic pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Disease-modifying therapies provide new horizons for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) to slow neuropathic progression. Initiating treatment at the earliest time requires biomarkers reflecting both small- and large-fiber degeneration in carriers.
Methods: This study included examinations of pathology (intraepidermal nerve fiber [IENF] density), physiology (nerve conduction studies, autonomic function test, and nerve excitability), and psychophysics (thermal thresholds) in carriers to compare to healthy controls and asymptomatic diabetic patients.
Contact heat-evoked potentials (CHEPs) have become an established method of assessing small-fiber sensory nerves; however, their potential as a physiological signature of neuropathic pain symptoms has not been fully explored. To investigate the diagnostic efficacy in examining small-fiber sensory nerve degeneration, the relationship with skin innervations, and clinical correlates with sensory symptoms, we recruited 188 patients (115 men) with length-dependent sensory symptoms and reduced intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density at the distal leg to perform CHEP, quantitative sensory testing, and nerve conduction study. Fifty-seven age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled for comparison of CHEP and skin innervation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSensory symptoms are frequent nonmotor complaints in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, few investigations integrally explored the physiology and pathology of the thermonociceptive pathway in PD. We aim to investigate the involvement of the thermonociceptive pathway in PD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF15-Deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)) is a potent anti-angiogenic factor and induces endothelial cell apoptosis, although the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 15d-PGJ(2) was found to increase p53 levels of the human umbilical vein endothelial cells by stabilizing p53. Both 15d-PGJ(2)-induced apoptosis and the induction of p21(Waf1) and Bax can be abolished by p53 small interfering RNA but not by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma inhibitors.
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