Frontiers in neurology
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Frontiers in neurology · Jan 2014
ReviewMigraine associated with gastrointestinal disorders: review of the literature and clinical implications.
Recent studies suggest that migraine may be associated with gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel syndrome, and celiac disease. Here, an overview of the associations between migraine and GI disorders is presented, as well as possible mechanistic links and clinical implications. People who regularly experience GI symptoms have a higher prevalence of headaches, with a stronger association with increasing headache frequency. ⋯ Possible underlying mechanisms of migraine and GI diseases could be increased gut permeability and inflammation. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to investigate these mechanisms further in migraine patients. These mechanisms also give a rationale to investigate the effects of the use of pre- and probiotics in migraine patients.
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Frontiers in neurology · Jan 2014
UCH-L1 and GFAP Serum Levels in Neonates with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Single Center Pilot Study.
We examined two potential biomarkers of brain damage in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) neonates: glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; a marker of gliosis) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1; a marker of neuronal injury). We hypothesized that the biomarkers would be measurable in cord blood of healthy neonates and could serve as a normative reference for brain injury in HIE infants. We further hypothesized that higher levels would be detected in serum samples of HIE neonates and would correlate with brain damage on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and later developmental outcomes.? ⋯ Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 and GFAP should be explored further as promising serum biomarkers of brain damage and later neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates with HIE.
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Frontiers in neurology · Jan 2014
Brain tissue oxygenation and cerebral metabolic patterns in focal and diffuse traumatic brain injury.
Neurointensive care of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients is currently based on intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) targeted protocols. There are reasons to believe that knowledge of brain tissue oxygenation (BtipO2) would add information with the potential of improving patient outcome. The aim of this study was to examine BtipO2 and cerebral metabolism using the Neurovent-PTO probe and cerebral microdialysis (MD) in TBI patients. ⋯ Monitoring of BtipO2 adds important information in addition to traditional ICP and CPP surveillance. Because of the different metabolic responses to very low BtipO2 in the individual patient groups we submit that brain tissue oximetry is a complementary tool rather than an alternative to MD monitoring.
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Frontiers in neurology · Jan 2014
A parametric approach to shape field-relevant blast wave profiles in compressed-gas-driven shock tube.
Detonation of a high-explosive produces shock-blast wave, shrapnel, and gaseous products. While direct exposure to blast is a concern near the epicenter, shock-blast can affect subjects, even at farther distances. When a pure shock-blast wave encounters the subject, in the absence of shrapnels, fall, or gaseous products the loading is termed as primary blast loading and is the subject of this paper. ⋯ Also, the shock-blast profiles of a TNT explosion from ConWep software is compared with the profiles obtained from the shock tube. To conclude, our experimental results demonstrate that a compressed-gas shock tube when designed and operated carefully can replicate the blast time profiles of field explosions accurately. Such a faithful replication is an essential first step when studying the effects of blast induced neurotrauma using animal models.
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Frontiers in neurology · Jan 2014
Small-world characteristics of EEG patterns in post-anoxic encephalopathy.
Post-anoxic encephalopathy (PAE) has a heterogenous outcome which is difficult to predict. At present, it is possible to predict poor outcome using somatosensory evoked potentials in only a minority of the patients at an early stage. In addition, it remains difficult to predict good outcome at an early stage. ⋯ Our data might implicate that non-survivors have insufficient distribution and differentiation of neural activity for regaining normal brain function. These network differences, already present during hypothermia, might be further developed as early prognostic markers. The predictive values are however still inferior to current practice parameters.