Functional stereotaxy with magnetic resonance tomographic guidance

The paper summarizes experience with stereotactic operations by magnetic resonance imaging data by using a Russian OREOL stereotactic manipulator. It describes methods of preoperative preparation of patients by employing diagnostic magnetic resonance tomographs. A number of points of the procedure for identification and localization of deep target structures from magnetic resonance images in parkinsonism, temporal epilepsy and some mental disorders.     

Excitatory amino acid receptors and puberty

Glutamate is an important excitatory signal in the hypothalamus for the steroid-mediated preovulatory gonadotropin surge. Steroids may exert this action by regulating glutamate receptor levels or glutamate release, or both. Work in our laboratory found no changes in NMDA and kainate receptor binding in the hypothalamus of castrated or castrated plus steroid-replaced male and female rats. Likewise, we found that NMDA and kainate binding did not change over the onset of puberty in the female rat. A competitive quantitative RT-PCR assay using exogenous internal standards was used to measure NMDAR1, GluR1, and beta-actin mRNAs levels. NMDAR1 and GluR1 expression was examined in the preoptic hypothalamic area and in the medial basal hypothalamus at Postnatal Days 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, and 63. A transient increase in GluR1 mRNA levels in the preoptic hypothalamic area was observed on Day 20, with all other time points showing comparable levels. NMDAR1 levels in the POA and medial basal hypothalamus did not change significantly at any of the time points; in contrast, however, AMPA receptor binding levels were increased in the hypothalamus at the time of puberty in the female rat. Thus, in addition to the previously reported elevation of glutamate release rates in the hypothalamus at the time of puberty, AMPA receptors may also be elevated and play a role in mediating glutamate regulatory effects on the timing of puberty in the female rat.     

The effect of activated macrophage products on neurite growth in an organotypic culture of chick embryo sensory ganglia]

Murine peritoneal macrophages, activated by BCG vaccine, and human peripheral blood monocytes, activated by lipopolysaccharides, exerted neurite stimulating or neurite inhibiting effects in various periods of activation. The supernatants of these preparations were active in organotypic culture of chick embryo dorsal root ganglia. The inhibition of neurite growth on the 1st day of cultivation was followed by the neurite-stimulating effect. The fluctuation of neurite-inhibition and neurite-stimulation effect of macrophage supernatants suggest the availability of certain changes in cytokine composition in different periods of macrophage activation.     

Eye tracking in patients with unipolar and bipolar affective disorders in remission.

Examined patients (20–66 yrs old) with a history of recurrent affective disorder on a variety of smooth-pursuit and saccadic eye-tracking tasks and on psychomotor analogs of these tasks. The 25 unipolar and 24 bipolar Ss were compared to 24 schizophrenics; all Ss were in remission. Results indicate that the performance of the 2 affective-disorder groups was not significantly different from that of the controls on any of these tasks. Smooth-pursuit tracking error was greater for Ss receiving Li and for those with a higher frequency of prior episodes of the disorder. When the pursuit eye movements of these Ss were compared to those of the schizophrenics, the latter produced more tracking error than both affective-disorder groups but significantly so only with respect to unipolar Ss. Although findings are consistent with the interpretation that tracking dysfunction is not a trait characteristic of affective disorders, further investigations contrasting remitted patients with bipolar and schizophrenic disorders are needed to determine the specificity of deviant tracking to schizophrenia. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An artificial intelligent diagnostic system on differential recognition of hematopoietic cells from microscopic images

The endothelium participates actively in homeostatic mechanisms such as the regulation of vascular tone and maintenance of a nonthrombotic environment, as well as directing biological responses such as leukocyte trafficking to inflammatory sites. Disruption of these processes leads to disease. In the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome autoantibodies provoke the endothelium to develop a prothrombotic surface. In systemic vasculitides associated with presence of antineutrophil cytoplasm antibodies, it is likely that the autoantibodies incite premature neutrophil activation, disrupted neutrophil-endothelium interactions and endothelial damage. This review considers how normal endothelial functions may be subverted in disease and how active endothelial responses may contribute to disease.     

Structure-permeation relations of met-enkephalin peptide analogues on absorption and secretion mechanisms in Caco-2 monolayers

Due to the low effective permeabilities of peptides at many absorption sites, their structure-permeation relations are of high interest. In this work structure-permeation relations of Met-enkephalin analogues are presented using confluent Caco-2 cells as an in vitro permeation model. Four model peptides (Met-enkephalin, [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalin, [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalinamide, and metkephamid) were tested in terms of permeability, lipophilicity, charge, and molecular size. Permeability coefficients (P(eff)) across Caco-2 cells were low, 3.3 x 10(-8) to 9.5 x 10(-8) cm s-1, and were similar to typical paracellular markers. No correlation of permeability and the log(apparent octanol/buffer partition coefficient) was observed. A 40-fold increase of the permeability of metkephamid in the presence of 10 mM EDTA suggested a significant contribution of paracellular transport. Independent support for this conclusion was obtained by visualizing the pathway of the fluorescein isocyanate isomer I 1-metkephamid by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The fluorophore-labeled peptide was observed in the intercallular space only. Metkephamid permeabilities were found to be direction-specific. Permeabilities from basolateral to apical (b-to-a) were significantly higher (ca. 4-fold) than in the opposite (a-to-b) direction. The addition of verapamil equalized the permeabilities in the a-to-b and b-to-a directions, suggesting the involvement of a P-glycoprotein-mediated secretion mechanism. Similar observations were obtained with [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalinamide, but not with Met-enkephalin and [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalin. In contrast to the other analogues, metkephamid and [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalinamide are positively charged at neutral pH, as demonstrated by their isoelectric points (pl = 8.6 for [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalinamide and metkephamid and 5.3 for [D-Ala2]Met-enkephalin and Met-enkephalin). The data is in agreement with the literature showing that most compounds secreted by the P-glycoprotein transporter carry a positive charge.     

Brain biopotential mapping in emotional and cognitive pathology

The EEG rhythms spectral power and intracortical connections were studied in depressive and schizophrenic patients in four schematically outlined main cortical quadrants. In depressive patients two cortical quadrants--right anterior and left posterior ones appeared to be predominantly involved in negative emotions regulation. Alpha-rhythm spectral power and cortical connections in these areas were decreased, pointing to their relative hyperactivation and functional disturbances. Schizophrenics patients were divided into two groups--with the predominance of "positive" and "negative" symptoms. In the first group there was revealed the decrease of the most EEG rhythms spectral power only in parietal areas, on the second one--in all cortical areas. There was also the significant alpha-rhythm spectral power asymmetry, different in the two groups of schizophrenic patients. In "positive" schizophrenics the decrease of alpha-rhythm spectral power was revealed in parietal and occipital areas of the right hemisphere, and in "negative" ones--vice versa, these results pointing of the relatively higher activation of the right posterior quadrant in the former group and of the left posterior quadrant in the latter one. In the anterior cortical quadrants the intracortical connections were however higher in the left hemisphere in "positive" and in the right one--in "negative" schizophrenics. Thus, there are some contradictory results obtained by different methods in anterior and posterior cortical quadrants in each hemisphere, these results being of opposite directions in patients with "positive" and "negative" manifestations. "Region of interest" (ROI) in schizophrenics appeared to be predominantly the frontal and temporal ones, while the "Rhythm of interest"--beta2.