Previous studies reported that β-amyloid peptides (Aβ) were observed in nasal mucosa of postmortem human samples. In the model mouse of Alzheimer's disease (AD), nasal Aβ levels positively correlate with insoluble Aβ levels in the brain. However, it is difficult to measure Aβ content in human nasal smears. Here we have reported a novel and sensitive method of measuring Aβ42 content in the human nasal cavity. We collected nasal smears by cotton swab from the mucosa of the inferior nasal concha and common nasal meatus of 13 normal volunteers with an age range of 30-78 years. The swabs were put into microtubes and the protein content extracted with 700 μL of 80% formic acid. Ten microliters of the extract solution was removed from each sample to assay protein levels. The remaining 690 μL was incubated at 70℃ for one hour, transferred to a centrifugal filter device, and centrifuged for one hour at 14000 g to remove larger protein complexes and cellular debris. The filtrates were concentrated to 20 μL, and then neutralized by adding 480 μL of 1 M Tris. Finally, the Aβ42 protein concentrations were measured using a commercially available ELISA kit, with the samples from five volunteers assayed for Aβ42 content without pretreatment. Our novel method for collecting and assaying nasal mucosal smears enabled us to measure Aβ42 content in both the inferior nasal concha and the common nasal meatus of all cases examined here, despite the levels being under detection limits (0.5 pmol/L) without pretreatment. The mean levels of Aβ42 per total protein in the inferior nasal concha and common nasal meatus of normal controls were 6.24 ± 3.70 fmol/g and 2.10 ± 0.77 fmol/g, respectively. Thus, there was significantly more Aβ42 content per total protein in the inferior nasal concha than in the common nasal meatus (P<0.01). Thus, this method would be useful for AD screening.

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by a number of functional abnormalities including disruptions to language. Recently, abnormal connectivity in the brain has been reported as a neuronal basis of functional impairments in ASD. Using tractographical analysis of the arcuate fasciculus (AF) by Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), we attempted to clarify the neuropsychological basis for the language impairment in ASD by investigating thirteen school-aged children with ASD and eleven age- and IQ-matched control subjects. As a result of the DTI examination, no statistically significant differences in the values of fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and mean diffusivity were found. In both TD and ASD groups, the FA score of the AF was higher in the left hemisphere than it was in the right. We revealed that in children with ASD, the FA values of the left AF showed a positive correlation between age, verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ), and full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ). In addition, a negative correlation was found between RD values on the left AF with VIQ, FSIQ, and age in children with ASD. This is the first report to reveal a correlation between microconnectivity of the AF and VIQ in children diagnosed with ASD. Therefore, these findings suggest that the altered microstructural integrity of the AF may be related to verbal ability in ASD.

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Postoperative intracranial infection is a common clinical problem. As the development of neuroimaging and the appearance of powerful antibiotics, there is a great progress in the treatments and diagnoses of intracranial inflammations, however, the morbidity and mortality of intracranial inflammations is still high. In this paper, we make the statistics for the morbidity and mortality of 11578 postoperative intracranial infection cases, studying the reason and prevention experiences of several kinds of intracranial inflammations closely related to neurosurgery.

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Intracerebral transplantation is a new therapy of neurological disorders. Among them the intracerebral transplantation of stem cells is a hot spot of international medical research. There are many methods of intracerebral transplantation of stem cells such as intraparenchymal transplantation, transplantation by the blood circulation injection, transplantation by cerebrospinal fluid injection and so on. The three methods have different characters and each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. In addition to this, the blood-brain barrier limits the use of the intracerebral transplantation of stem cells. Therefore several measures should be taken to increase the permeability of blood-brain barrier. This article will discuss the methods of the intracerebral transplantation of stem cells and openning methods of the permeability of blood-brain barrier.

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