Osteopontin levels are associated with late-time lower regional brain volumes in multiple sclerosis

Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory marker produced by systemic immune and central nervous system (CNS) resident cells. We examined, if the level of OPN in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood is associated with late-time regional brain volumes and white matter (WM) lesion load in MS. Concentrations of OPN in blood and CSF were related to MRI findings 10.1 ± 2.0 years later in 46 patients with MS. OPN concentration was measured by ELISA, while regional brain volumes and lesion load was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using 3D MPRAGE sequence and automated MR volumetry. OPN measured in the CSF was associated with several regional brain volumes and WM lesion load measured 10.1 ± 2.0 years later. CSF OPN concentration correlated with long-term enlargement of lateral- and inferior lateral ventricles and the elevation of gross CSF volume, in conjunction with the reduction of several cortical/subcortical gray matter and WM volumes. Serum OPN showed no long-term association with regional brain volumes. OPN measured from the CSF but not from the serum was associated with lower regional brain volumes measured a decade later, indicating the primary role of inflammation within the CNS in developing long-term brain related alterations.

Lymphaticovenous Anastomosis Supermicrosurgery Decreases Oxidative Stress and Increases Antioxidant Capacity in the Serum of Lymphedema Patients

Background: Excess lymphedematous tissue causes excessive oxidative stress in lymphedema. Lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) supermicrosurgery is currently emerging as the first-line surgical intervention for lymphedema. No data are available regarding the changes in serum proteins correlating to oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity before and after LVA. Methods: A total of 26 patients with unilateral lower limb lymphedema confirmed by lymphoscintigraphy were recruited, and venous serum samples were collected before (pre-LVA) and after LVA (post-LVA). In 16 patients, the serum proteins were identified by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation-based quantitative proteomic analysis with subsequent validation of protein expression by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. An Oxidative Stress Panel Kit was used on an additional 10 patients. Magnetic resonance (MR) volumetry was used to measure t limb volume six months after LVA. Results: This study identified that catalase (CAT) was significantly downregulated after LVA (pre-LVA vs. post-LVA, 2651 ± 2101 vs. 1448 ± 593 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.033). There were significantly higher levels of post-LVA serum total antioxidant capacity (pre-LVA vs. post-LVA, 441 ± 81 vs. 488 ± 59 µmole/L, respectively, p = 0.031) and glutathione peroxidase (pre-LVA vs. post-LVA, 73 ± 20 vs. 92 ± 29 U/g, respectively, p = 0.018) than pre-LVA serum. In addition, after LVA, there were significantly more differences between post-LVA and pre-LVA serum levels of CAT (good outcome vs. fair outcome, −2593 ± 2363 vs. 178 ± 603 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.021) and peroxiredoxin-2 (PRDX2) (good outcome vs. fair outcome, −7782 ± 7347 vs. −397 ± 1235 pg/mL, respectively, p = 0.037) in those patients with good outcomes (≥40% volume reduction in MR volumetry) than those with fair outcomes (<40% volume reduction in MR volumetry). Conclusions: The study revealed that following LVA, differences in some specific oxidative stress markers and antioxidant capacity can be found in the serum of patients with lymphedema.

MRI based volumetric analysis of entorhinal cortex in elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment and in subjects with normal cognition to see effects of aging on volume of ERC

Background: MCI is a transitional period between normal ageing and clinically probable early Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD). ERC volumes show early reduction in cases of MCI in comparison to the normal ageing subjects. Early cognitive impairment can be documented with ERC atrophy on MR volumetry. Aim of the study was to evaluate the volume of entorhinal cortex in patients of MCI and to compared the volume with patients of normal cognition. Secondarily, we studied changes in the volume of entorhinal cortex with increasing ageMethods: In this study 30 patients of 60 years and above with MCI and 30 controls of normal cognition (age and sex matched) underwent brain examination on 3T MRI. Volume of entorhinal cortex was measured on 1 mm thick T1 coronal oblique MR scans by manually tracing the boundaries defined by two widely used methods i.e. Insausti et al and Goncharova et al.Results: Patients with MCI showed 17.2% decline in the entorhinal cortex volume compared to controls (p value = 0.001). Patients of older age showed significantly more ERC volume reduction, reaching up to 30.4% in comparison to younger subjects suggesting atrophy of ERC in normal aging and in MCI both, but more so in patients with cognitive impairment.Conclusions: ERC atrophy was found in MCI cases more than controls, increase atrophy trend was noted with increasing age. MR volumetry may play a role for documentation of ERC atrophy in cases of MCI.

MR volumetry in predicting the aggressiveness of endometrioid adenocarcinoma: correlation with final pathological results

Background Magnetic resonance (MR) has been widely used in predicting the aggressiveness of endometrioid adenocarcinoma. However, the diagnostic value of the MR volume of the lesion has been controversial. Purpose To determine whether the whole-lesion MR volume measurement could be used as a better predictor for evaluating the aggressiveness of endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Material and Methods In this retrospective study, we include 357 patients with pathologically demonstrated endometrioid adenocarcinoma at our institution between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2018. Whole-lesion MR volume was calculated on sagittal T2-weighted images with ITK-SNAP software on a personal computer. Results According to the receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, whole-lesion MR volume has the competitive advantage in evaluating deep myometrial invasion compared with the frozen results, generating area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.751 vs. 0.834 ( P = 0.0629, Z = 1.860). The AUC of tumor maximum diameter, simple tumor volume, and whole-lesion MR volume in predicting deep myometrial invasion was 63.8%, 67.6%, and 75.1%, respectively. Conclusion Whole-lesion MR volume is a good diagnostic tool for prediction of deep myometrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, and lymphovascular invasion. MR volumetry could reflect the aggressiveness of endometrioid adenocarcinoma more accurately than traditional lesion measurements.