Yong Jun Wang

Burden of stroke in China.

Stroke is second leading cause of death in China, however, there are very few data available in the English literature to reflect the burden. We summarize the current epidemiological trends and estimate of the burden of stroke in recent reports available in Chinese.

Circulating MicroRNAs as Potential Risk Biomarkers for Hematoma Enlargement after Intracerebral Hemorrhage

MicroRNAs have recently been shown to regulate the downstream bioprocesses of intracerebral hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to investigate whether miRNAs can be used as biomarkers to predict secondary hematoma enlargement (HE) in patients with ICH.

Association of Molecular Markers With Perihematomal Edema and Clinical Outcome in Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose— Perihematomal edema contributes to secondary brain injury in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Increase of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and growth factors is considerably involved in blood–brain barrier disruption and neuronal cell death in ICH models. We therefore hypothesized that increased levels of these molecular markers are associated with perihematomal edema and clinical outcome in ICH patients. Methods— Fifty-nine patients with spontaneous ICH admitted within 24 hours of symptom onset were prospectively investigated. Noncontrast CT was performed on admission for diagnosis of ICH and quantification of initial hematoma volume. MRI was performed on day 3 to evaluate perihematomal edema. Concentrations of MMP-3, MMP-9, as well as vascular endothelial growth factor and angiopoietin-1 on admission were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Clinical outcome was assessed by modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. Results— Increased MMP-3 levels were independently associated with perihematomal edema volume (P<0.05). Cytotoxic edema surrounding the hematoma was seen in 36 (61%) cases on 3-day MRI. Cytotoxic edema did not correlate with the level of any of the biomarkers studied. Levels of MMP-3 ≥12.4 ng/mL and MMP-9 ≥192.4 ng/mL but not vascular endothelial growth factor and angiopoietin-1 predicted poor clinical outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale >3) independent of stroke severity and hematoma volume at baseline (odds ratio, 25.3, P=0.035; odds ratio, 68.9, P=0.023; respectively). Conclusions— MMPs 3 and 9 seem to be significantly involved in secondary brain injury and outcome after primary ICH in humans, and thus should be further evaluated as targets for therapeutic strategies in this devastating disorder.

Poststroke depression and risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year in a Chinese cohort study.

Background Studies show that poststroke depression (PSD) increases mortality risk at 1 year. However, whether PSD increases the risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year remains unclear. This study was to investigate whether PSD at 2 weeks following a stroke could increase risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year. Methods and Results This was a multi-centered prospective cohort study. A total of 2306 patients with acute stroke were enrolled in our study. PSD was diagnosed according to the criteria set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). The outcomes of recurrent stroke were followed up via face-to-face or phone interview. A total of 1713 patients had complete follow-up data, with 481 (28.1%) cases of PSD and 158 (9.2%) cases of cumulative recurrent stroke at 1 year. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a 49% increase of OR of recurrent stroke at 1 year in patients with PSD, compared to patients without PSD following a stroke (ORu200a=u200a1.49, 95%CI: 1.03–2.15). There was no significant correlation between anti-depressant drugs and the risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year following a stroke (ORu200a=u200a1.96, 95%: CI 0.95–4.04). Conclusions Based on the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, nearly 3 out of 10 hospitalized stroke patients in China were diagnosed with PSD at 2 weeks following a stroke. PSD is associated with a higher risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year. Our study did not find benefit of anti-depressant drugs in reducing such risk.

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein is a Strong Risk Factor for Death after Acute Ischemic Stroke among Chinese

Background and purpose: Elevated plasma C‐reactive protein (CRP) has been suggested as a risk factor for ischemic stroke (IS) and coronary ischemic disease. Evidence has shown that high‐sensitivity CRP (hs‐CRP) is related to a worsening prognosis after IS, but hs‐CRP was rare in a large‐sample study in a Chinese population. We investigated the associations between hs‐CRP and outcome of Chinese patients after acute IS. Methods: Seven hundred and forty‐one consecutive acute IS patients (74.9% male, mean age 60.9 years), with baseline characteristics and hs‐CRP measured within 24 h after hospitalization, were admitted in this study. We also prospectively followed up for clinical outcome and death 3 months after disease onset. hs‐CRP was divided into two categories: hs‐CRP >3 mg/L and hs‐CRP ≤3 mg/L. Survival analysis using multivariable Cox regression was performed to analyze the association between hs‐CRP and stroke outcomes after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: Compared with low hs‐CRP, patients with high hs‐CRP (>3 mg/L) had a significantly higher rate of all‐cause death (0.71% vs. 10.00%; P < 0.001) at 3 months after stroke onset. High hs‐CRP was an independent risk factor for all‐cause death (HR, 6.48; 95% CI, 1.41 to 29.8; P= 0.016), as well as history of atrial fibrillation (HR, 5.24; 95% CI, 1.83 to 15.0; P= 0.002), no statin therapy during hospitalization (HR, 4.56; 95% CI, 2.18 to 9.55; P < 0.001), high homocysteine (>15.1 mmol/L) (HR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.26 to 5.60; P= 0.01); fasting glucose (>6.1 mmol/L) (HR, 9.14; 95% CI, 3.34 to 25.0; P < 0.001), NIHSS at admission (HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.35 to 4.09; P= 0.003) and history of coronary heart disease (CHD) (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.06 to 5.17; P= 0.035). Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed a higher risk of death for patients with hs‐CRP >3 mg/L (P= 0.016). Conclusion: Elevated plasma hs‐CRP independently predicted risk of all‐cause death within 3 months after acute IS in Chinese patients.

Depression after minor stroke: the association with disability and quality of life--a 1-year follow-up study.

Minor stroke is characterized by mild neurological functional impairment and relatively good outcome. Little is known about the association between post‐stroke depression (PSD) and outcomes of minor stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PSD and disability and quality of life (QoL) at 1u2009year after minor ischemic stroke.

Recurrent stroke was associated with poor quality of life in patients with transient ischemic attack or minor stroke: Finding from the CHANCE trial

To examine the health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke and assess the impact of recurrent stroke on HRQOL.

Heterozygote Genotypes at rs2222823 and rs2811712 SNP Loci are Associated with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Han Chinese Population

With developments of etiology of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and genome‐wide association study (GWAS) of stroke, the genetic studies of CSVD are focused on genes related to blood‐brain barrier (BBB) and aging. The project aims to investigate the association between CSVD and susceptibility loci and candidate genes.

A and MdMYB1 allele-specific markers controlling apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) skin color and suitability for marker-assisted selection

Pre-selection for fruit skin color at the seedling stage would be highly advantageous, with marker-assisted selection offering a potential method for apple pre-selection. A and MdMYB1 alleles are allele-specific DNA markers that are potentially associated with apple skin color, and co-segregate with the Rf and Rni loci, respectively. Here, we assessed the potential application of these 2 alleles for marker-assisted breeding across 30 diverse cultivars and 2 apple seedling progenies. The red skin color phenotype was usually associated with the MdMYB1-1 allele and A(1) allele, respectively, while the 2 molecular markers provided approximately 91% predictability in the Fuji x Cripps Pink and Fuji x Gala progenies. The results obtained from the 30 cultivars and 2 progenies were consistent for the 2 molecular markers. Hence, the results supported that Rf and Rni could be located in a gene cluster, or even correspond to alleles of the same gene. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that red/yellow dimorphism is controlled by a monogenic system, with the presence of the red anthocyanin pigmentation being dominant. In addition, our results supported that the practical utilization of the 2 function markers to efficiently and accurately select red-skinned apple cultivars in apple scion breeding programs.

Development and characterization of 60 microsatellite markers in the abalone Haliotis diversicolor.

The abalone, Haliotis diversicolor, is one of the most important mariculture species in southern China. We developed 60 new polymorphic microsatellite markers for H. diversicolor and characterized them in 30 individuals from a cultured population in Sanya, China. All 60 markers were found to be polymorphic. The number of alleles ranged from two to nine per locus, with an average of 4.12/locus. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.10 to 0.88 and from 0.07 to 0.87, respectively. Forty-four loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These 44 microsatellite markers should be useful for genome mapping and population genetic studies.