Cognitive estimation impairment in Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment.

Intact executive functioning is believed to be required for performance on tasks requiring cognitive estimations. This study used a revised version of a cognitive estimations test (CET) to investigate whether patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were impaired on the CET compared with normal elderly controls (NECs). Neuropsychological tests were administered to determine the relationship between CET performance and other cognitive domains. AD patients displayed impaired CET performance when compared with NECs but MCI patients did not. Negative correlations between tests of working memory (WM) and semantic memory and the CET were found in NECs and AD patients, indicating that these cognitive domains were important for CET performance. Regression analysis suggests that AD patients were unable to maintain semantic information in WM to perform the task. The authors conclude that AD patients display deficits in working memory, semantic memory, and executive function, which are required for adequate CET performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attenuation of salicylate-induced tinnitus by Ginkgo biloba extract in rats

The effects of an extract from Ginkgo biloba, EGb 761, on tinnitus were tested using an animal model of tinnitus. Daily oral administration of EGb 761 in doses from 10 to 100 mg/ kg/day began 2 weeks before behavioral procedures and continued until the end of the experiment. Tinnitus was induced by daily administration of 321 mg/kg sodium salicylate s.c. (corresponding to 275 mg/kg/day of salicylate acid) in fourteen groups of pigmented rats, 6 animals/group. The results from salicylate- and EGb-761-treated animals were compared to control groups receiving either salicylate, saline, or EGb 761 only in doses of 100 mg/kg. Administration of EGb 761 resulted in a statistically significant decrease of the behavioral manifestation of tinnitus for doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg/ day.     

Correlation between cognitive brain function and electrical brain activity in dementia of Alzheimer type

Enterocytes were detached from various parts of the digestive tract of chickens by treatment with DTT or with hyaluronidase. Isolated enterocytes were exposed to suspensions of the V4 strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Removal of virus from the supernatant fluid was taken as evidence of binding of virus to enterocytes and residual virus was measured both by infectivity assay and by ELISA. Enterocytes from duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum, and rectum bound the virus; enterocytes from oesophagus, crop and proventriculus did not.     

高纯度银杏黄酮的制备

[目的]制备高纯度的银杏黄酮,探索一条规模化制备高纯度银杏总黄酮的工艺路线.[方法]用固相填料为ODS的色谱柱纯化银杏黄酮,考察梯度洗脱、浓缩温度、干燥温度对银杏黄酮含量的影响.[结果]甲醇∶0.5%磷酸=5∶5和7∶3(V∶V)的馏分为目标馏分,最佳浓缩温度和干燥温度为45 ℃,在最佳条件下,银杏黄酮质量百分含量≥90%,收率为78.3%.[结论]该试验获得了高纯度银杏黄酮,为高纯度的银杏总黄酮制备提供了一种高效的方法.     

Change in cognitive function in idiopathic Parkinson disease

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of Parkinson disease (PD) on cognitive function by determining the frequency and amount of change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance. DESIGN: During a 4-year period, 77 patients with idiopathic PD and 43 normal elders were administered a neuropsychological test battery twice at 2 years apart. RESULTS: A 4-point score difference on the MMSE was the amount that was statistically calculated to be a significant difference at the .05 probability level. Using this metric, 17 (22%) patients with PD had a change in their MMSE performance during a 2-year period. Fifteen individuals performed poorer, and 2 individuals improved. Using the same metric, no normal subjects changed in their MMSE performance. The groups of patients with PD who had a change and did not have a change in their MMSE performance were not characterized by significant differences in their years of education, duration of illness, age at onset, age at test time 1, estimated premorbid intelligence, Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression score at test time I, or Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score. The singular difference was the higher frequency of change that was found in subjects who were taking dopamine agonists at the second test time. CONCLUSION: A change in cognitive function in patients with PD, as measured by a change of 4 points or more in their MMSE performance, was observed in only 22% of a sample of 77 patients with idiopathic PD during a 2-year period.     

The effects of Alzheimer disease on driving-related abilities

Ten Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and 12 healthy elderly controls were evaluated on two tests of driving-related abilities: the Driver Performance Test (DPT) and the Driving Advisement System (DAS). Subjects were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests to determine if severity of dementia in AD correlates with driving performance. On the DPT, the AD patients scored in the average range in two of five skill areas (predicting the effects of a hazard, deciding how to avoid it); below average in two areas (searching for a hazard, executing evasive actions); and poorly in one area (identifying hazards). The elderly controls scored at an average level in all five skill areas. On the DAS, AD patients were significantly slower than the elderly controls on simple, two-choice, and conditional reaction time tests and were much slower than drivers in general. The AD patients' performances on two cognitive tests, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Category Fluency Test, correlated significantly with aspects of performance on the DPT and the DAS. Although these are preliminary results from a pilot investigation, they suggest that AD patients' driving-related abilities are adversely affected by the disease and that driving-related performance tests and neuropsychological tests may be useful in assessing the impact of AD on driving.     

Inhibition of cAMP-phosphodiesterase by biflavones of Ginkgo biloba in rat adipose tissue

This work compares the inhibition of cAMP-phosphodiesterase in rat adipose tissue by a mixture of Ginkgo biloba biflavones with the effect of individual dimeric flavonoids. The degree of enzyme inhibition by G. biloba biflavones was amentoflavone > bilobetin > sequoiaflavone > ginkgetin = isoginkgetin. Sciadopitysin was almost inactive.     

一株产银杏黄酮类成分内生菌的筛选

[目的]保护银杏资源,寻找生产黄酮类物质的内生菌.[方法]以健康银杏叶片、树根为材料,通过组织块分离法和划线分离法分离银杏内生菌;再以银杏黄酮类提取液为对照,对各发酵液进行薄层层析(TLC)分析,用Al(NO<,3>)<,3>-NaNO<,2>为黄酮类物质特异性显色剂.[结果]共筛选出8株内生菌.薄层层析检测表明,菌株07-Y8 的发酵产物有1条层析带,与银杏黄酮类提取液的层析带迁移率相当.[结论]菌株07-Y8 内生菌能分泌黄酮类或其类似化合物,这为银杏黄酮类成分的开发利用提供了新途径.     

Preserved cognitive skills in dementia of the Alzheimer type

OBJECTIVE: To describe preserved cognitive skills in patients with dementia. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Community clinic. PATIENTS: Five patients who met National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease and were claimed to retain a cognitive skill. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Standard neuropsychological tests and individualized measures of patient's skilled behaviors. For patients who remained skilled at games, performance was compared with that of normal controls in direct competition. For the patient-trombonist, raters compared premorbid and postmorbid recordings of his play. RESULTS: One patient continued to play the trombone in a Dixieland band, although he could not name well-known numbers that he played. Another continued to solve adult jigsaw puzzles. A third patient retained skill at canasta, the fourth at dominoes. The fifth patient remained a skillful contract bridge player, although he could not name the suits or articulate simple bidding rules. Four patients had impaired performance on standard anterograde and remote memory and naming tests but performed normally on pursuit rotor and letter fluency tests. Mini-Mental State Examination scores for these patients ranged from 10 to 22. One patient refused neuropsychological testing but displayed his skill. CONCLUSIONS: Together with previous studies of preserved piano playing or painting skills, our findings indicate that a broad range of complex cognitive abilities may be preserved in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type who cannot perform simpler actions.     

银杏叶黄酮提取工艺的优化

[目的]优化银杏叶总黄酮的提取工艺,为银杏黄酮的精制提供前提条件.[方法]采用紫外分光光度法测定银杏叶中总黄酮的含量;用单因素试验考察乙醇浓度、回流温度、提取时间对银杏黄酮收率的影响,优化提取条件.[结果]银杏叶中总黄酮含量为1.502 6mg/ml;最佳提取条件:70%乙醇为提取剂,回流温度为80℃,提取时间为3.0 h.[结论]该研究得到银杏黄酮最佳的提取工艺,为银杏叶黄酮的精制提供了前提条件.     

Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on the cochlear damage induced by local gentamicin installation in guinea pigs

Results from the CMA's 1998 Physician Resource Questionnaire are in, and they point to a serious decline in physician morale. The PRQ, the country's most important poll of physician attitudes, provides an annual "state-of-the-nation" message for the medical profession.     

Effect of chronic administration of Ginkgo biloba extract or Ginkgolide on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the rat

The hypersecretion of glucocorticoids during exposure to various stressors may induce or worsen pathological states in predisposed subjects. Therefore it is of interest to evaluate drugs able to reduce glucocorticoid secretion. It has recently been shown that chronic administration of a Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) inhibits stress-induced corticosterone hypersecretion through a reduction in the number of adrenal peripheral benzodiazepine receptors. The present study was designed to analyze the effect of EGb 761 and one of its components, Ginkgolide B on the biosynthesis and secretion of CRH and AVP, the hypothalamic neurohormones that regulate the pituitary-adrenal axis. Chronic administration of EGb 761 (50 or 100 mg/kg p.o. daily for 14 days) reduced basal corticosterone secretion and the subsequent increase in CRH and AVP gene expression. Under the same conditions, surgically-induced increase in CRH secretion was attenuated while the activation of CRH gene expression, ACTH and corticosterone secretion following insulin-induced hypoglycemia remained unchanged. Chronic i.p. injection of Ginkgolide B reduced basal corticosterone secretion without alteration in the subsequent CRH and AVP increase. However, the stimulation of CRH gene expression by insulin-induced hypoglycemia was attenuated by Ginkgolide B. These data confirm that the administration of EGb 761 and Ginkgolide B reduces corticosterone secretion. In addition, these substances act also at the hypothalamic level and are able to reduce CRH expression and secretion. However the latter effect appears to be complex and may depend upon both the nature of stress and substance (Ginkgolide B or other compounds of EGb 761).     

Focal cognitive deficits in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

It is widely accepted that the natural history of Alzheimer type-dementia is accurately described by a relatively fixed, invariant sequence of stages of behavioral, cognitive, and neurological symptoms. This stage-wise deterioration model is examined and found wanting. The evidence shows that there is no generalization about the inevitable ordering of symptoms that has not been contradicted by reports in the literature. Two alternatives to the stage-wise model are discussed, both of which reject the notion of a homogeneous disintegration of function and take as a goal the delimitation of a set of symptom domains that define and differentiate patients. Of these 2 alternatives, the subgroups model and the multiple components model, the latter seems to accord best with the available data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cardinal features of cognitive and noncognitive dysfunction and the differential efficacy of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease patients

The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS), frequently used in clinical trials to assess overall pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), comprises two subscales. The cognitive subscale (ADAS-COG) consists of 11 items, and the noncognitive subscale consists of 9 items. Factor analyses were carried out on ADAS-COG and ADAS-NONCOG item scores from the most recent and largest (n = 663) placebo-controlled, multicenter, 30-week study (970-61) of tacrine in patients with AD conducted by the clinical research group at Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research. Through factor analyses the primary dimensions of variation in the ADAS-COG and ADAS-NONCOG were defined. Obliquely rotated three principal factors of ADAS-COG and three principal factors of ADAS-NONCOG have been interpreted as three cardinal features of cognitive function corresponding to memory, language, and praxis, and three cardinal features of noncognitive function corresponding to agitation, depression, and lack of concentration. Reliably defined factors of ADAS-COG enabled comparisons of longitudinal changes in cognitive dysfunction. Factor scores at week 30, adjusted to baseline factor scores, were used to compare the effects of tacrine with those of placebo on cognitive cardinal features. Additionally, the effect of concurrent depression on cardinal features of cognitive dysfunction was evaluated by gender.     

Impaired sensory and cognitive olfactory function in questionable Alzheimer's disease.

The possibility of olfactory function being affected at a very early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was investigated by comparing patients with questionable AD with normal controls on odor and taste detection and short-term odor- and visual-recognition memory, including familiarity ratings. Taste and vision were studied for comparison. The questionable AD patients compared with the controls had higher thresholds for odor but not for taste, performed significantly poorer on recognition memory for odors and visual stimuli, and tended to be less familiar with odors but not with visual stimuli. The poor odor recognition memory was not found to be explained by poor odor sensitivity but may partly be due to poor long-term memory reflected by the familiarity ratings. Although further research is required, the findings indicate that performance on olfactory mediated tasks may contribute to early diagnosis of AD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

银杏不同部位叶片叶绿素荧光参数动态变化规律研究

[目的]探讨银杏不同部位叶片叶绿素荧光参数动态变化规律.[方法]以华北地区人工栽培的银杏为试材,研究了其不同部位叶片叶绿素荧光参数的日、季节动态变化规律.[结果]银杏叶片叶绿素荧光参数Fo、Fm、Ft、Ft/Fm、Fm/Fo、Ft/Fo的日变化呈明显的先减小后增大的动态规律,一般在中午12:00达到最低值,向阳叶片的NPQ在中午时分达到最大值.银杏阴生叶的荧光参数Fm、Fv、Ft/Fm、Fm/Fo、Fy/Fo明显高于阳生叶,但NPQ最高峰出现时刻早于阳生叶,且峰值高于阳生叶,表明银杏阴生叶可能具有更为灵敏的热耗散机制.与阳生叶相比,在不同测定时期阴生叶具有更高的PSⅡ潜在活性和内禀光能转换效率.[结论]为保护银杏资源提供了理论依据.     

Inhibitory effect of the leaf extract of Ginkgo biloba L. on oxidative stress-induced platelet aggregation

The effect of the leaf extract of Ginkgo biloba L. on platelet aggregation induced by oxidative stress was studied. The extract caused a dose-dependent inhibition of platelet aggregation stimulated with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) and Fe2+. Similar inhibitory activity was observed when platelets were exposed to H2O2 and Fe2+. Synergistic aggregation induced by a combination of t-BHP and Fe2+ or H2O2 and Fe2+ in association with suboptimal concentration of collagen or U46619, was prevented by the extract. However, the extract failed to inhibit aggregation in response to collagen, thrombin or U46619. Ginkgolides A, B and C inhibited platelet-activating factor-induced aggregation, but not oxidant-induced aggregation. These data suggest that the suppressive effect of the extract is specific on platelet aggregation stimulated by oxidative stress, and that this effect is involved in the mechanism related to its protective effect upon cerebral or myocardial injuries.