Experimental neurology
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Experimental neurology · Dec 2010
Neurophysiological and neuropathological characterization of new murine models of chemotherapy-induced chronic peripheral neuropathies.
Cisplatin, paclitaxel and bortezomib belong to some of the most effective families of chemotherapy drugs for solid and haematological cancers. Epothilones represent a new family of very promising antitubulin agents. The clinical use of all these drugs is limited by their severe peripheral neurotoxicity. ⋯ The electrophysiological studies revealed that all the compounds caused a statistically significant reduction in the caudal NCV, while impairment of the digital NCV was less severe. This functional damage was confirmed by the histopathological observations evidencing axonal degeneration in the sciatic nerve induced by all the drugs associated with pathological changes in DRG induced only by cisplatin and bortezomib. These results confirm the possibility to use our models to combine the study of the antineoplastic activity of anticancer drugs and of their toxic effects on the peripheral nervous system in the BALB/c mouse strain.
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Experimental neurology · Dec 2010
Deep brain stimulation of the lateral cerebellar nucleus produces frequency-specific alterations in motor evoked potentials in the rat in vivo.
The cerebral cortex is tightly and reciprocally linked to the cerebellum and the ascending dentato-thalalmo-cortical pathway influences widespread cortical regions. Using a rodent model of middle cerebral artery stroke, we showed previously that chronic, 20 Hz stimulation of the contralateral lateral cerebellar nucleus (LCN) improved motor recovery, while 50 Hz stimulation did not. Using motor evoked potentials (MEP) elicited by intracortical microstimulation, we now show the effect of LCN stimulation on motor cortex excitability as a function of pulse frequency in propofol-anesthetized rats. ⋯ However, the effect varied as a function of both repeated trials within the block and LCN stimulation frequency, such that 40 Hz and 50 Hz stimulation showed a reduced effect over time. Stimulation at 100 Hz produced a transient increase in MEP amplitude in some animals; however the overall effect across the block was a trend towards reduced cortical excitability. These results suggest that direct stimulation of the LCN can yield frequency-dependent changes in cortical excitability and may provide a therapeutic approach to modulating cortical activity for the treatment of strokes or other focal cortical lesions, movement disorders and epilepsy.