Methods: Blood samples were collected from 27 multiple sclerosis patients, and compared with 58 age- and gender matched healthy individuals. All patients were tested negative for anti-aquaporin 4. DNA was extracted from the blood and genotyped for 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms rs12044852, rs2300747 and rs1335532 of gene CD58 by real-time PCR.
Results: The majority of multiple sclerosis patients were female (85.2%). The general mean age of onset was 30.5 years. Genotyping results showed that frequencies of the alleles were between 40 and 50% for MS patients and healthy individuals. Association (allelic model) between multiple sclerosis and CD58 gene polymorphism alleles rs12044852 (p = 0.410), rs2300747 (p = 0.881) and rs1335532 (p = 0.407) were indistinct.
Conclusions: The impact of the CD58 gene polymorphism was not prominent in this pilot study, implying that genetic composition contributing to multiple sclerosis may be different between different populations, thus results in a heterogeneity of disease manifestation and distribution.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited 12 kratom-dependent subjects and 13 healthy men to participate in this study. Addiction, craving, depression, and cognitive scores were assessed. All subjects received a single bolus injection of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 with 914.1 MBq ± 65.5 of activity (mean ± SD). The brain SPECT-CT images were reconstructed using 3D ordered subset expectation maximization (3D-OSEM) along with attenuation correction (AC), scatter correction (SC), and resolution recovery (RR) with an iteration number of four and a subset of 10. The Cohen's Kappa interrater-reliability between two raters, the standardized uptake value of body weight (SUVBW), and the asymmetrical index percentage (AI%) were evaluated.
RESULTS: Kappa statistics showed a fine agreement of abnormal 99mTc-TRODAT-1 uptake in the striatum region for the kratom-dependent group with the κ value of 0.69 (p = 0.0001), and the percentage of agreement for rater 1 and rater 2 was 56% and 64%, respectively. There was a reduction in average SUV in kratom-dependent subjects compared to healthy control subjects in the left caudate and left striatum (0.938 vs. 1.251, p = 0.014, and 1.055 vs. 1.29, p = 0.036, respectively). There was a significant difference in the AI% of the caudate region between the kratom-dependent group and the normal group (33% vs. 14%, p = 0.019).
CONCLUSION: Our findings signify that kratom addiction, may cause a change in DAT level and the results can be confirmed using 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT-CT.