Identification of Potential Causal Genes for Neurodegenerative Diseases by Mitochondria-Related Genome-Wide Mendelian Randomization.

Current research lacks comprehensive investigations into the potential causal link between mitochondrial-related genes and the risk of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). We aimed to identify potential causative genes for five NDDs through an examination of mitochondrial-related gene expression levels. Through the integration of summary statistics from expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) datasets (human blood and brain tissue), mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets of five NDDs from European ancestry, we conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the potential causal relationship between mitochondrial-related genes and Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Lewy body dementia (LBD).

A case of hepatic paragonimiasis was misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma with rupture and haemorrhage.

Paragonimiasis is a disease caused by parasitic infections that mainly involve the lungs. However, it can also produce ectopic infections, such as when the parasites invade the liver, brain and subcutaneous tissue, which then cause different symptoms. This current case report describes a 55-year-old male patient with hepatic paragonimiasis that was misdiagnosed as liver cancer with rupture and haemorrhage.

Tetrandrine attenuated cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and induced differential proteomic changes in a MCAO mice model using 2-D DIGE.

Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke and brings about a big disease burden because of high mortality and disability in China. Tetrandrine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the Chinese herb Radix Stephania tetrandra, has been demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenging effects and even regulate astrocyte activation, but the possible role of tetrandrine in ameliorating cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury of ischemic stroke remains unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of tetrandrine on neurological injury and differential proteomic changes induced by transient reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice.