Inverse associations of outdoor activity and vitamin D intake with the risk of Parkinson's disease.

Early studies had suggested that vitamin D intake was inversely associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. However, the associations of vitamin D intake and outdoor activities with Parkinson's disease (PD) are still unclear, so this study is to evaluate these relationships from a case-control study in elderly Chinese. The study population involved 209 cases with new onsets of PD and 210 controls without neurodegenerative diseases.

[A prevalence study on mild cognitive impairment among the elderly populations of Mongolian and Han nationalities in a pastoral area of Inner Mongolia].

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics and distribution of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in elderly populations from Mongolian and Han nationalities living in the pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

Methods: According to the MCI clinical diagnostic criteria from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th revised edition (DSM-IV) by American Psychiatric Association, the individuals under study were at the age of 55 or over, with Mongolian or Han ethnicities and living in the pastoral area of Inner Mongolia.

Results: The crude MCI morbidity rates of Mongolian and Han of the study populations in the pastoral area of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China was 19.

IL-6-174 G/C and -572 C/G polymorphisms and risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Associations between interleukin 6 (IL-6) polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain controversial and ambiguous. The aim of this meta-analysis is to explore more precise estimations for the relationship between IL-6-174 G/C and -572 C/G polymorphisms and risk for AD. Electronic searches for all publications in databases PubMed and EMBASE were conducted on the associations between IL-6 polymorphisms and risk for AD until January 2012.

Increased levels of IL-23 and osteopontin in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients.

Osteopontin (OPN) and interleukin-23 (IL-23) are pro-inflammatory cytokines proposed to play central roles to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to evaluate levels of OPN, IL-23 and other inflammatory cytokines and investigate their relationships in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with MS. Fifty one MS patients and 48 patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NIND) were recruited from clinic.

Expression of δNp73 in hippocampus of APP/PS1 transgenic mice following GFP-BMSCs transplantation.

Objective: To study the effect of hippocampal bone marrow stromal cells (GFP-BMSCs) transplantation on spatial memory and DeltaNp73 expression in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Methods: Twelve APP/PS1 transgenic mice randomly received either 10 μl GFP-BMSCs suspension in medium (GFP-BMSCs transplantation group) or 10 μl complete medium (sham-operated group). Learning and memory function of mice in both groups were observed and tested in Morris water maze experiment at 2 weeks after surgery.

Effects of Chinese herbal medicine Fuzhisan on autologous neural stem cells in the brain of SAMP-8 mice.

Fuzhisan (FZS), a Chinese herbal complex prescription, has been used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) for more than 16 years. However the underlying mechanism remains to be explored. The effects of the aqueous extract of FZS on the cognitive functions of the aged mice and the pharmacological basis for its therapeutic efficacy were investigated.

Hypoxia enhances stimulating effect of amyloid beta peptide (25-35) for interleukin 17 and T helper lymphocyte subtype 17 upregulation in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Th17 has been demonstrated to have a key role in several autoimmune diseases. The present study was carried out to investigate changes in IL-17 and Th17 in cultured PBMC in response to Abeta peptide (25-35) and hypoxic stimulation in vitro. PBMC were collected from adult healthy donors and cultured in normal and anaerobic conditions (hypoxia 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 hr).