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Biomedical subjects

Q L Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Q L Chen.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease differ in Chinese and American patients.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is similar across ethnic groups. To our knowledge, no comparison of behavioral symptoms has been addressed. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive study compares neuropsychiatric symptoms of Chinese subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at tertiary care centers in Taiwan and Hong Kong against Caucasian subjects in Los Angeles, California. We compared the frequency and severity of symptoms and caregiver responses to neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). We hypothesized that Chinese patients do not seek care unless they have high severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms and that Caucasian Americans do not wait for behavioral disturbances to develop before coming to medical attention. RESULTS: The Caucasian sample had the highest mean educational level and mildest Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale distributions of all four groups. Older age and lower educational levels contributed to higher CDR scale scores, which in turn correlated with higher total NPI scores. Only one of the Chinese samples had a higher frequency of severe neuropsychiatric symptoms than the Caucasian sample. Chinese caregivers reported anxiety and delusions more frequently (58.1%) than Caucasians (37.3% and 39.6%; chi(2), p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). Caucasians reported appetite changes (47.3%) and apathy (59.2%) more frequently than the Chinese samples (chi(2), p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Caregivers at all four centers were distressed by behaviors qualified as severe. CONCLUSION: We found support for our hypothesis, in that Chinese subjects presented during a more severe stage of dementia than American subjects, but the delay in seeking care could not be correlated with significant differences in neuropsychiatric profiles of the demented subjects. Other barriers to dementia care warrant investigation.

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PubMed2002

Effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease on Chinese and American caregivers.

BACKGROUND: In Chinese culture, extended family support, acceptance of age-related cognitive changes and filial tradition of caring for elders may decrease caregiver burden and distress in the context of dementia. OBJECTIVE: To study cross-regional and cross-cultural differences in symptom-related caregiver distress due to the behavioral problems of Chinese and American patients with Alzheimer's disease. METHOD: Caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan (n = 89), Chinese University of Hong Kong (n = 31) and the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Los Angeles, California (n = 169) reported the neuropsychiatric symptoms of patients and their corresponding distress on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. RESULT: Presence or absence of distress due to the neuropsychiatric symptoms of the patients with Alzheimer's disease was assessed. The three centers differed significantly in the proportions of caregivers with distress caused by depression (p < 0.05) and apathy (p < 0.001). UCLA had higher proportions of caregivers with depression-related distress than Taipei. UCLA caregivers were also more stressed by apathy than caregivers in Taipei and Hong Kong. Logistic regression further supported the findings that depression-related and apathy-related caregiver distress differed between Chinese and American caregivers (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results were surprising, in that American and Chinese (Taipei and Hong Kong) caregivers exhibited similar distress or lack of distress in response to delusions, hallucinations, agitation, anxiety, euphoria, disinhibition, irritability, aberrant motor behavior, sleep and appetite symptoms of Alzheimer's disease patients. Chinese caregivers were less affected by depression and apathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease than Caucasian caregivers.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

[Expression of platelet-derived growth factor-b and transforming growth factor-beta 1 in the alveolar macrophages of allergic rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of alveolar macrophages in airway remodeling in asthma. METHOD: Sixteen Wistar rats were divided into two groups: control group and asthmatic group. The expressions of platelet-derived growth factor-b (PDGF-b) and transforming growth factor-beta. (TGF-beta 1) in the alveolar macrophages of allergic rats were detected by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. RESULTS: The expression of TGF-beta 1 in alveolar macrophages in allergic group was increased in both protein level (P < 0.05) and TGF-beta 1 mRNA(P < 0.01); but the expression of PDGF-b had no difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The alveolar macrophages may involve in the airway remodeling of asthma.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Validation study of the Chinese version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (CNPI).

BACKGROUND: More validated instruments for assessment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are required to facilitate local dementia research. METHOD: The psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the neuropsychiatric inventory (CNPI) were tested in a sample of 62 dementia outpatients. The concurrent validity was tested by measuring the Spearman correlation between CNPI subscales with the appropriate subscales of BEHAVE-AD and the Chinese Hamilton rating scale of depression (CHDS). The internal consistency reliability, false-negative rates of the screening questions of CNPI and inter-rater reliability were determined. RESULT: Most CNPI behavioral domains achieved significant correlation with the corresponding BEHAVE-AD and CHDS subscales. Cronbach alpha for the overall reliability was 0.84. The false-negative rates of the screening question were acceptable except for the dysphoria, sleep and appetite domains. The inter-rater reliability was satisfactory with intraclass correlation coefficient of all subscales above 0.9. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated the applicability of the CNPI in assessing the neuropsychiatric manifestations of dementia in the Chinese community.

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PubMed1999

FRAXAC1 and DXS548 polymorphisms in the Chinese population.

The fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited form of mental retardation. Haplotype studies using FRAXAC1 and DXS548 polymorphic markers flanking the fragile site have demonstrated linkage disequilibrium at the FMR1 locus. We investigated the association of the FRAXAC1, DXS548 and CGG alleles between normal subjects and mentally retarded (MR) patients of unspecified cause who do have fragile X syndrome. We have evaluated the FRAXAC1 site in 390 normal subjects and 321 MR patients and the DXS548 site in 146 normal and 319 MR subjects. Both FRAXAC1 and DXS548 alleles were determined by application of the polymerase chain reaction. When compared with Caucasians, the normal Chinese population has a different FRAXAC1 allele distribution. There are more AC18 repeat alleles and fewer AC19 repeat alleles. The DXS548 allele distributions were similar between Chinese and Caucasians. The same distribution pattern of FRAXAC1 alleles was found in both normal subjects and MR patients, but there were significant differences in the distribution patterns of DXS548 alleles. The FMR1 CGG-DXS548 and FRAXAC1-DXS548 haplotype distribution between normal subjects and MR patients also differed significantly. Our results suggest a possible association between DXS548 alleles and non-FRAXA mental retardation.

Alleles↗
PubMed1999

Trinucleotide CGG repeat in the FMR1 gene in Chinese mentally retarded patients.

The fragile X syndrome of mental retardation is related to the number of trinucleotide CGG repeats at the 5'-untranslated region of the FMR1 gene located on the X-chromosome. We have studied X-chromosomes from 649 unaffected Chinese subjects and 324 patients with mild mental retardation. All study subjects were unrelated. The CGG repeat number was analysed by electrophoresis of a polymerase chain reaction followed by gel transfer and hybridisation with a 32P-labeled (CCG)5 probe. The DNA samples having detectable CGG expansion were further analysed by Southern blot analysis with probe StB12.3 after restriction digestion by EcoR I and Eag I. For the unaffected Chinese subjects, a different distribution pattern of CGG allele size from Caucasians was observed. It was a bimodal pattern and the CGG repeat number ranged from 19 to 54. The most common CGG repeat allele was 29 compared with 30 in Caucasians. The second mode appeared at 36 repeats. There was mild statistical difference in the repeat patterns between the mentally retarded patients and unaffected subjects, although the essential features were similar. Among the mentally retarded patients, one male had an unmethylated full mutation and one female had a full mutation. The fragile X prevalence was 0.6%, which is lower than two previous studies in Chinese mentally retarded patients utilising cytogenetic analysis. Our results indicate that a large-scale screening program would be worthwhile to determine the prevalence of the fragile X syndrome in the Chinese population.

China↗
PubMed1998

CGG repeat interruptions in the FMR1 gene in patients with infantile autism.

We determined the CGG repeat length and AGG interruptions in the FMR1 gene in normal Chinese subjects and patients with infantile autism and mild mental retardation. Genomic DNA was investigated by PCR and Southern hybridisation for CGG repeat number and PCR with Mnl I restriction analysis for AGG interruption. Both the normal subjects and the patients with autism have 53 CGG repeats in FMR1, and the majority have two interspersed AGG. Our normal Chinese subjects have a similar number of interspersed AGG as other populations. When compared with the normal subjects, the autism patients have less AGG interruptions and a different pattern of AGG distribution. There was a significant difference in the CGG configurations between normal subjects and patients with autism. The latter had less interspersed AGG, as in fragile X patients, but they did not have fragile X. A study on mentally retarded patients with no infantile autism should also be carried out to ascertain whether mental retardation alone may have contributed to such AGG pattern.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1995

[Effects of lesion or stimulation of pituitary gland and hypothalamic arcuate nucleus on pain modulation in rats].

Relationship between pituitary gland and hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) in the modulation of pain threshold was investigated in Wistar rats with method of focal lesion and stimulation of pituitary gland. Experimental results indicated that electrolytic lesion of the pituitary intermediate and anterior lobes resulted in a decrease of pain threshold and disappearance of the analgesia immediately produced by ARC stimulation. Stimulation of the same area of pituitary gland could induce a delayed analgesia, which could be blocked by ARC lesion.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[The analgesia effect and plasma corticosterone reaction during stress in adult rats treated neonatally with monosodium glutamate].

In the present investigation, it was found that the number of beta-endorphin (beta-END)-immunoreactive neurons of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) in MSG-treated rats decreased by 60.7%. No significant differences in the baseline pain threshold and the baseline corticosterone (CS) level were observed between the MSG-treated group and the control group. After electrical foot shock for 30 min, the analgesia effect was decreased significantly (P < 0.001) in MSG-treated rats, while the CS levels of both MSG-treated rats and control rats were increased remarked (P < 0.01). The results suggest that the beta-END neurons of ARC were involved in analgesia, but not in CS reaction during stress.

Animals↗