Authors: Mi, Yingxin | Qin, Qi | Xing, Yi | Tang, Yi
Article Type: Short Communication
Abstract: Capgras syndrome (CS) was usually considered a symptom of a functional disorder in the young, most commonly schizophrenia, or an organic disorder in the elderly. The occurrence of CS among early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD) is extremely rare. We describe a case in which the unrecognition of CS as part of EOAD resulted in a wrong psychiatric diagnosis and inappropriate treatment. This paper aims to acknowledge CS as an early or core manifestation and highlight EOAD as a differential diagnosis of mental disorders in young people, even without a remarkable family history.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, biomarkers, capgras syndrome, early-onset dementia, mental disorders
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215565
Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 155-160, 2022
Authors: Xing, Yi | Tang, Yi | Zhao, Lina | Wang, Qi | Qin, Wei | Zhang, Jin-Lan | Jia, Jianping
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: Background: Various evidence demonstrates the influences of ceramides on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Furthermore, increased ceramides were also suggested to be related to cognitive decline. However, the association between ceramides and neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD remains unclear. Objective: This study sought to investigate the association between plasma ceramide levels and multiple neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD. Methods: A total of 98 patients and 92 cognitively normal controls participated in this study, including 56 with mild AD and 42 with moderate to severe AD. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms. Considering the influences of dementia severity on ceramide …levels and neuropsychiatric symptoms, a subgroup analysis was conducted by dementia severity. Results: Except for C24 : 0, all ceramide species were significantly higher in AD patients than in controls. After controlling for confounding factors, the C16 : 0 and C20 : 0 levels were positively associated with delusions, and the quartiles of C22 : 0 and C24 : 0 were positively associated with depression. In the subgroup analysis, association between ceramide species and delusions were only observed in mild AD, and the association between ceramides and depression were prominent in moderate to severe AD. In mild AD, after controlling for age, gender, anti-dementia medications, diabetes status, and ApoE ɛ 4 status, the C16 : 0, C20 : 0, and quartiles of C24 : 1 were associated with delusions. In moderate to severe AD, depression was associated with C22 : 0 and C24 : 0. Conclusion: There were stage-specific associations between ceramides and neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD. The potential mechanisms deserve further investigation. Show more
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, ceramides, plasma, psychiatry
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-151158
Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 1029-1035, 2016
Authors: Tan, Wei-Qiang | Yuan, Li | Cao, Xu | Wu, Xiao-Yuan | Xing, Yi-Qun | Ye, Ming
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) TUG1 plays a critical role in the development of human cancers. This study explored whether TUG1 is involved in the cytotoxicity of dendritic cells and cytokine-induced killer cells (DCs-CIK), an immunotherapy approach, in neuroblastoma. METHODS: A TUG1 expression plasmid was transfected into DCs. Neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells were incubated with CIK cells, DCs-CIK cells, and TUG1-overexpressing DCs-CIK cells, with or without irradiation. SK-N-SH cell viability, colony formation, migration, and apoptosis were analyzed using CCK-8, colony formation assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. Production of IL-12, IL-2 and IFN-γ in the supernatants was determined using ELISA. …A dual luciferase activity assay was performed to confirm the molecular interactions between TUG1 and miR-204. Tumor-bearing mice were established by injection of SK-N-SH cells followed by stimulation with CIK cells, DC-CIK cells, and TUG1-overexpressing DCs-CIK cells. RESULTS: Compared to CIK alone or DC-CIK therapy, overexpression of TUG1 significantly suppressed tumor cell proliferation, colony formation, and migration of neuroblastoma cells. Moreover, upregulation of TUG1 robustly induced apoptosis and altered key molecules associated with apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Contents of IL-12, IL-2 and IFN-γ were dramatically elevated in the supernatants in the coculturing system upon transfection with TUG1. In addition, TUG1 was found to be act as miR-204 sponge. Furthermore, in vivo experiments demonstrated that upregulation of TUG1 potentiated the antitumor activity of DC-CIK immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of TUG1 promotes DC maturation and enhances CIK cytotoxicity, suggesting that TUG1 may be a novel target for enhancing DC-CIK based immunotherapy for neuroblastoma. Show more
Keywords: Neuroblastoma, immunotherapy, lncRNA TUG1
DOI: 10.3233/CBM-210436
Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 53-61, 2023
Authors: Li, Min | Shen, Si-qi | Xing, Yi-bin | Jiao, Wan-wan | Zhan, Yong-rui | Sun, Ya-dan | Guo, Da-long | Yu, Yi-He
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Powdery mildew affects grapevine growth and development and reduces grapevine fruit yield and quality. Plant U-box (PUB) E3 ubiquitin ligases play important roles in ubiquitin/proteasome-mediated protein degradation during plant development and in the plant defense response. OBJECTIVE: We cloned the VvPUB17 gene from Vitis vinifera and analyzed that VvPUB17 enhanced the resistance of grapevine to powdery mildew through the SA signal pathway. METHODS: Pathogen inoculation of Arabidopsis thaliana and grapevine plants was carried out by the tableting method. Gene expression was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. Sequence analysis and in vitro ubiquitination experiments show the structure and characteristics of …VvPUB17 . Exogenous salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, ethylene and powdery mildew induced the expression of VvPUB17 in Arabidopsis leaves to verify the resistance of VvPUB17 to powdery mildew. RESULTS: Sequence analysis and in vitro ubiquitination experiments show that VvPUB17 contains U-box and Armadillo repeats (ARM repeat) and has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity dependent on the conserved U-box motif. Transgenic plants showed elevated levels of key genes related to the SA defense response pathway and high concentrations of salicylic acid. CONCLUSIONS: VvPUB17 functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase that enhances the resistance of grapes to powdery mildew through the SA signal pathway. Show more
Keywords: Disease resistance, E3 ubiquitin ligase, grapevine (Vitis vinifera), plant U-box (PUB), powdery mildew, salicylic acid
DOI: 10.3233/JBR-210709
Citation: Journal of Berry Research, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 419-430, 2021
Authors: Liu, Li-Yang | Xing, Yi | Zhang, Zi-Heng | Zhang, Qing-Ge | Dong, Ming | Wang, Haibo | Cai, Longjun | Wang, Xiaoyi | Tang, Yi
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: Background: Age-related cognitive decline is a chronic, progressive process that requires active clinical management as cognitive status changes. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) provides cognitive exercises targeting specific cognitive domains delivered by computer or tablet. Meanwhile, CCT can be used to regularly monitor the cognitive status of patients, but it is not clear whether CCT can reliably assess cognitive ability or be used to diagnose different stages of cognitive impairment. Objective: To investigate whether CCT can accurately monitor the cognitive status of patients with cognitive impairment as well as distinguish patients with dementia from patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method: …We included 116 patients (42 dementia and 74 MCI) in final analysis. Cognitive ability was assessed by averaging the patient performance on the CCT to determine the Cognitive Index. The validity of the Cognitive Index was evaluated by its correlation with neuropsychological tests, and internal consistency was measured to assess the reliability. Additionally, we determined the diagnostic ability of the Cognitive Index to detect dementia using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: The Cognitive Index was highly correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (r = 0.812) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (r = 0.694), indicating good convergent validity, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.936, indicating excellent internal consistency. The area under the ROC curve, sensitivity, and specificity of the Cognitive Index to diagnose dementia were 0.943, 83.3%, and 91.9%, respectively. Conclusions: CCT can be used to assess cognitive status and detect dementia in patients with cognitive impairment. Show more
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive assessment, cognitive monitoring, computerized cognitive training, dementia, mild cognitive impairment
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-230416
Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 93-101, 2023
Authors: Xing, Yi | Zhu, Zude | Du, Yifeng | Zhang, Junjian | Qu, Qiumin | Sun, Li | Li, Yang | Guo, Yanjun | Peng, Guoping | Liu, Yong | Yu, Yueyi | Qiao, Yuchen | Xie, Beijia | Shi, Xinrui | Lu, Jie | Jia, Jianping | Tang, Yi
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: Background: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is often the prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although previous studies have suggested that computerized cognitive training is an effective non-pharmacological intervention for aMCI, large-sample, randomized controlled studies are warranted to provide a high level of evidence. Objective: To identify the efficacy of computerized cognitive training for aMCI. Methods: This study will include 260 patients diagnosed with aMCI from 8 centers in China. A computerized multi-domain adaptive training program will be used in this study, and the targeted cognitive domains include memory, attention, language, and executive function. The patients will be randomized into …either a cognitive-training group or an active-control group. The intervention is a 12-week internet-based cognitive training performed for 40 minutes per day, 4 days a week. Neuropsychological assessments and structural and functional MRI will be obtained at baseline, at the end of the intervention, and 6 months after randomization. The primary outcome will be the global cognitive function score assessed by Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The secondary outcomes include changes in other neuropsychological assessments and neuroplasticity changes measured by structural and functional MRI. Results: The trial is currently ongoing, and it is anticipated that recruitment will be completed in December 2020. Conclusion: This multi-center, large-sample, randomized controlled trial will investigate the short and long-term effects of computerized cognitive training in patients with aMCI. Furthermore, the combination of functional and structural MRI results will also reveal the underlying mechanisms of the effect of intervention. Show more
Keywords: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04063956, Cognitive training, mild cognitive impairment, non-pharmacological intervention, randomized controlled clinical trial
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-191314
Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 75, no. 3, pp. 779-787, 2020
Authors: Qin, Wei | Jia, Xiangfei | Wang, Fen | Zuo, Xiumei | Wu, Liyong | Zhou, Aihong | Li, Dan | Min, Baoquan | Wei, Cuibai | Tang, Yi | Xing, Yi | Dong, Xiumin | Wang, Qi | Gao, Yining | Li, Ying | Jia, Jianping
Article Type: Research Article
Abstract: Evidence has shown that aberrant angiogenesis is an integral part of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Angiogenesis is a complex process requiring successive activation of a rather large series of factors. The aim of this study was to determine which angiogenesis molecule(s) abnormalities were changed in plasma of AD subjects and whether plasma levels of angiogenesis factors were associated with cognitive function and risk of AD. Discovery-phase antibody arrays were used to detect plasma concentrations of 55 angiogenesis-related factors. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) in a large cohort were further performed to identify the association of plasma angiogenesis factors with AD. We found …that plasma angiogenin (ANG) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4) levels were higher in patients with AD than those in normal subjects. Significantly higher ANG and TIMP-4 were observed in the severe AD group relative to the mild AD. There were different levels of plasma ANG and TIMP-4 compared with vascular dementia and other dementias. Age or gender had no major effects on levels of these proteins. Plasma ANG and TIMP-4 levels tended to be higher in ApoE ε4 carriers compared with non-carriers, but not significantly. A multiple regression analysis after adjusting for covariates revealed correlations between plasma ANG and TIMP-4 and the MMSE and CDR. Higher plasma ANG and TIMP-4 levels were associated with significant AD risk. These results demonstrate that plasma ANG and TIMP-4 may reflect the severity of cognitive function impairment, and higher levels were associated with risk of AD. Show more
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, angiogenin, plasma, risk, TIMP-4
DOI: 10.3233/JAD-142409
Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 245-252, 2015