Journal of the neurological sciences
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We investigated the sequential patterns of changes in dopamine uptake sites, D1 and D2 receptors in the brain of animals lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine using quantitative receptor autoradiography. The rats were unilaterally lesioned in the medial forebrain bundle and the brains were analyzed at 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks postlesion. Degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway caused a significant loss of dopamine uptake sites in the ipsilateral striatum, substantia nigra (SN) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the lesioned animals. ⋯ Our findings also suggest that the up-regulation in dopamine D2 receptors is more pronounced than that in dopamine D1 receptors in the brain after 6-hydroxydopamine treatment. Furthermore, our results support the existence of dopamine D2 receptors on the neurons of SN and VTA. Thus, our findings provide insights into the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.
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The provision of high quality care for people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is challenging. The physical and psychological health needs experienced in this progressively disabling disease necessitate input from many disciplines. In order to integrate the delivery of care, the preferred model for MND is a disease-specific team. ⋯ Disease-specific teams act as an educational resource and stimulate awareness of the condition. Teams should undertake clinical research, to strengthen their practice and demonstrate their effectiveness. Effective teamwork, whether in a clinical or research team, requires issues of responsibility, leadership, interprofessional rivalry and communication to be addressed.
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The expression of nitric oxide synthase was studied in human postmortem cervical spinal cord from four individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and four individuals who had died from non-neurological causes. A novel autoradiographic method employing [3H]nitro-L-arginine, a potent inhibitor of the enzyme, as the binding ligand, was used. The expression was quantified in four discrete subregions of the grey matter, and in the dorsal and ventral white matter. ⋯ Saturation analysis of the binding indicated a single population of high affinity binding sites in all subregions in the control tissue. However, in the ALS tissue, in all subregions, the presence of two populations of binding sites with different ligand binding affinities were indicated. It is possible therefore that the expression of an inducible isotype of nitric oxide synthase may contribute to the neuropathic changes seen in ALS.
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Comparative Study
Brain death and transcranial Doppler: experience in 130 cases of brain dead patients.
Diagnosis of brain death requires confirmation of the clinical diagnosis by appropriate tests, generally electroencephalography (EEG) and angiography. The diagnostic limitations or logistical problems inherent to these tests indicate the need to develop other more appropriate methods. The results obtained with transcranial Doppler (TCD) led us to conduct this prospective study of TCD recordings in brain dead patients. ⋯ Data from previous studies and the results of this study indicate that TCD is a very sensitive and safe method for diagnosing cerebral circulatory arrest. TCD may be used as a confirmatory test alongside EEG and angiography. TCD is more widely applicable than EEG and may be earlier and safer than angiography.
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Comparative Study
New method to measure central motor conduction time using transcranial magnetic stimulation and T-response.
Measuring central motor conduction time (CMCT) is one of the useful methods to detect an impaired level of the spinal segment in cervical myelopathy patients. We modified a new technique to calculate the CMCT using tendon reflex latency (T-response) and investigated its accuracy. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) following transcranial stimulation were recorded in 19 patients with cervical myelopathy caused by a single level of spinal cord compression. ⋯ The prolongation of CMCT was observed only in ADM in patients with C4-5 or C5-6 cord compression. Measurement of the CMCT using T-responses was useful in proximal limb muscles. Comparison of the CMCT in Biceps and ADM could allow us to better detect the functional level diagnosis for compressive cervical myelopathy.