OBJECTIVES: Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the parkinsonian variant of multiple system atrophy (MSA-P) are distinct neurodegenerative disorders that share similar clinical features of parkinsonism. The morphological alterations of these diseases have yet to be understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate gray matter atrophy in PD and MSA-P using regions of interest (ROI)-based measurements and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). METHODS: We studied 41 patients with PD, 20 patients with MSA-P, and 39 controls matched for age, sex, and handedness using an improved T1-weighted sequence that eased gray matter segmentation. The gray matter volumes were measured using ROI and VBM. RESULTS: ROI volumetric measurements showed significantly reduced bilateral putamen volumes in MSA-P patients compared with those in PD patients and controls (p<0.05), and the volumes of the bilateral caudate nucleus were significantly reduced in both MSA-P and PD patients compared with those in the controls (p<0.05). VBM analysis revealed multifocal cortical and subcortical atrophy in both MSA-P and PD patients, and the volumes of the cerebellum and temporal lobes were remarkably reduced in MSA-P patients compared with the volumes in PD patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both PD and MSA-P are associated with gray matter atrophy, which mainly involves the bilateral putamen, caudate nucleus, cerebellum, and temporal lobes. ROI and VBM can be used to identify these morphological alterations, and VBM is more sensitive and repeatable and less time-consuming, which may have potential diagnostic value.

Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungi play a crucial role in the growth of soybean; however, the planting system employed is thought to have an effect on AM fungal communities in the rhizosphere. This study was performed to explore the influence of continuous soybean cropping on the diversity of Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and to identify the dominant AM fungus during the seedling stage. Three soybean cultivars were planted under two and three years continuous cropping, respectively. The diversity of AM fungi in the rhizosphere soil at the seedling stage was subsequently analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The results showed that an increase in cropping years improved the colonization rate of AM in all three soybean cultivars. Moreover, the dominant species were found to be Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus species. The results of cluster analysis further confirmed that the number of years of continuous cropping significantly affected the composition of rhizospheric AM fungal communities in different soybean cultivars.