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Wen-yuan Wu

Publications and source records attributed to Wen-yuan Wu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

[Outcome and cognitive changes of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly: a follow-up study of 47 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cognitive changes and outcome of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the elderly and to explore the predictive factors of development from MCI into dementia. METHOD: A cross-sectional and longitudinal parallel cohort study design was conducted among 47 patients with MCI (MCI group), aged 72.4 +/- 7.1, and 50 sex, marital status, and professional structure-matched normal controls (NC group), aged 67.9 +/- 5.3, using the Neuropsychological Battery of Cognitive Assessment Instruments developed by World Health Organization (WHO-BCAI) and the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) to assess the cognitive function. Follow-up was conducted for 34.0 +/- 1.8 months. The diagnosis of dementia was based on the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV. RESULTS: Dementia was diagnosed in 13 of the 47 MCI patients with a prevalence rate of 27.7%, significantly higher than that in the NC group (2.0%, 1/50, P < 0.01). The mean total score of mini-mental status examination (MMSE) of the MCI group decreased by 2.2 +/- 3.7, significantly more than that of the NC group (1.0 +/- 1.9, P < 0.01). The mean total mental quotient (MQ) of the MCI group decreased by 12.6 +/- 17.3, significantly more than that of the NC group (3.9 +/- 8.4, P < 0.01). The values of MMSE and MQ of the 13 cases in the MCI group who developed into dementia patients decreased by 5.5 +/- 2.8 and 30.0 +/- 18.0 respectively. The WHO-BCAI assessment demonstrated that the scores of performance of verbal learning, verbal fluency, visual reasoning, trail making, sorting and spatial construct tests of the cases in the MCI group who developed into dementia patients were significantly poorer than those of the NC group (P < 0.01). Logistic analysis based on the baseline assessment suggested that the total score of MMSE and its subtest of orientation, score of orientation memory of WMS, and the scores of performance of trail making, attention, and delayed recall tested by WHO-BCAI were all statistically significant predictive factors for MCI converting into dementia (P < 0.01 or 0.05). The predictive accuracy rates of MMSE, WMS, and WHO-BCAI were 70.3%, 78.4% and 90.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: MCI diagnosed based on the criteria of pure MCI modified by the authors is indeed a transitional state from normal aging to dementia, especially Alzheimer's type of dementia. The cognitive change for MCI converting into dementia is characterized in the areas of orientation, attention, speech and executive function. These predictive factors for MCI to develop dementia are valuable in early detection and prevention of dementia in the elderly.

Adult↗

[Prefrontal and superior temporal lobe hyperactivity as a biological substrate of generalized anxiety disorders].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential mechanism of generalized anxiety disorders (GAD). METHODS: Ten GAD patients and 10 sex- and age-matched healthy persons underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 2 stages by block design: auditory presentation of the stimulation task. In experiment 1 emotionally neutral words were given and then alternated with a no word period for 8 cycles. In experiment 2 emotionally neutral words and threat-related words were given alternately for 8 cycles. The subjects were asked to listen carefully and then judge their subjective feeling in mind. By the end of experiment they were asked to fill in a state anxiety inventory (STAI-S) so as to calculate the STAI-S scores. RESULTS: The mean STI-S score of the patients in the experiment 1 was 57 +/- 5, significantly higher than that of the healthy persons (37 +/- 3, P < 0.01); and the mean STAI-S score in the experiment 2 of the patients was 66 +/- 6, significantly higher than that of the healthy persons (41 +/- 4, P < 0.01). The fMRI findings showed that in the experiment 1 the activated cerebral regions of the 2 groups were mostly overlapped, including bilateral superior temporal gyri (BA22/42) and middle temporal gyri (BA21), premotor areas (B46), and supplementary motor areas (BA6), and cerebellar hemisphere, and left inferior prefrontal gyrus (BA44/45). However, the activation intensity levels (mean T values) of the bilateral superior temporal gyri of the patients were both significantly higher than those of the control (for the left side: P = 0.051, and for the right side: P = 0.035). In addition, activation of the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (BA8/9) and bilateral inferior parietal lobules (BA39/40). In the experiment 2 activation of brain areas could be seen only in the patients, including bilateral superior temporal gyri, middle temporal gyri, inferior prefrontal gyri, inferior parietal lobules, anterior motor areas, supplemental motor areas, and anterior cingulate gyri (BA8/24/32), and left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. No significantly activated brain area could be shown in the control at the same stringent statistic level (P < 0.01, uncorrected); however, when the threshold value (P value) was reduced to 0.01, the left anterior cingulate gyrus (BA24/32), posterior cingulate gyrus (BA29/30), and inferior parietal lobules (BA40) were all significantly activated. CONCLUSION: Dysfunction of superior temporal lobe and dorsal prefrontal cortex, characterized by hyperactivity in response to outer stimuli, may play an important role in the psychopathologic mechanism of GAD.

Anxiety Disorders↗

[Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor in human prostate cancer and its significance].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in primary prostate cancer and its clinical significance. METHODS: Expressions of COX-2 and VEGF were detected by immunohistochemical assay in tissues of 40 prostate cancer and 10 benign prostatic hyperplasia samples. RESULTS: COX-2 and VEGF levels in prostate cancer were much higher than those in BPH. The degrees of cancer malignancy and invasion positively correlated with the expressions of COX-2 and VEGF. COX-2 level positively correlated with VEGF level. CONCLUSION: The abnormal expression of COX-2 plays an important role in the development of primary prostate cancer. COX-2 and VEGF are good molecular markers of prostate cancer which are hopeful to be used for the assistant diagnosis and the prediction of prognosis of prostate cancer.

Aged↗

[The neuropsychological test battery for elderly people].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a Chinese T-score norm of neuropsychological test battery for the elderly (NTBE). METHODS: 903 normal elderly people over 60 years old from Shanghai, Beijing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Shandong and Liaoning were evaluated by using NTBE which includes tests of auditory verbal learning, sorting, cancellation, language, motor, visual function, construction, trail making 1 and 2, etc. RESULTS: Age and education greatly affected the score of NTBE, but gender did not. Based on these facts, the 903 normal subjects were divided into 12 subgroups, according to the age and the years of education they had received. The raw scores of NTBE were transformed to standard score and normalized standard score, and then these scores were transformed to a total T score (Mean = 100, SD = 10). Using another normal elderly sample (n = 474) to analysis, the correlation between the raw scores and the total T score was significant. Using NTBE to diagnose 110 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 63 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, the sensitivity and specificity were 66% and 91% for MCI, and 79% and 96% for AD. CONCLUSION: The T norm of the NTBE is suitable for Chinese elderly, and can be a useful instrument for diagnosing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗

[Heterogeneity of aging brain: a preliminary comparative study of functional magnetic resonance imaging in elderly people].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the heterogeneity of aging brain. METHODS: Blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 10 subjects meeting the standards of successful aging (SA), 9 subjects meeting the standards of usual aging (UA), and 9 subjects meeting the criteria of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), all age, and sex-matched, under stimulation of verbal fluent test (VFT). The activation level of different regions of interest (ROI), laterality index, and the activation level of occipital lobe were analyzed. RESULTS: The achievement in VFT of the SA group was greater than that of the UA group, and much greater than that of the MCI group with significant differences between any 2 groups (all P < 0.05) except in the task of "names of vegetables". The activation volume of the SA group was greater than that of the UA group, and much greater than that of the MCI group. The main activated regions of the SA and UA groups included left precuneus, anterior cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, and bilateral occipital lobes. The main activated regions of the MCI group included the bilateral prefrontal lobe. The intensity of activation was not significantly different between the SA and UA groups, however, was significantly different between the SA and MCI groups and between the UA and MCI groups. The laterality index (LI) was 0.46 in the SA group, significantly higher than those of the UA group (-0.12) and MCI group (-0.06) (both P < 0.01), however, without a significant difference between the UA group and MCI group. The activation of left prefrontal lobe in the SA group was more obvious than that in the UA group, and much more obvious than that in the MCI group with a significant difference between the UA and MCI groups as well (all P < 0.01). The activation volume of the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in the SA group was 787 voxels, significantly greater than that in the UA group (292 voxels) and MCI group (0 voxel) (all P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Heterogeneity exists in the course of aging, associated with complicated brain mechanism. The activation level of DLPFC and LI may be used as sensitive indexes in evaluation of the brain function of the elderly.

Activities of Daily Living↗