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Biography 2009; 30(6): 675-676 PubMed PMID: 20038930 Citation  Keywords:  Chronobiology Discipline:history, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Molecular Biology:history, Neuroendocrinology:history, Romania, United States,.   

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Case Reports 2009; 30(6): 700-704 PubMed PMID: 20038929 Citation  Keywords:  Dacryocystitis:drug therapy, Glucocorticoids:administration & dosage, Humans, Hypopituitarism:drug therapy, Lymphocytes:pathology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Methylprednisolone:administration & dosage, Middle Aged, Pulse Therapy, Drug, Treatment Ou.   

OBJECTIVE: Lymphocytic hypophysitis (LH) is a rare autoimmune disorder associated with lymphocytic cell infiltration of the pituitary. It is often detected in patients with other autoimmune systemic diseases such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, epinephritis, megaloblastic anemia, and Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Pituitary biopsy and invasive histopathological examination provide the most reliable evidence for LH diagnosis. However, because glucocorticoids are extensively used for the treatment of disease, pathological diagnosis is not always necessary. Here, we report a rare case of a male patient (50 y) with LH associated with dacryoadenitis that was successfully treated with high-dose of methylprednisolone.

RESULTS: The patient had a history of swollen lacrimal glands for two years. In addition, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a markedly thickened infundibular stem and an indiscernible signal in the posterior lobe of the pituitary. Biopsy of the lacrimal glands revealed reactive hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissue. After a high-dose of methylprednisolone pulse treatment (HDMPT), lacrimal gland swelling and infundibular stem thickness were reduced, and adenopituitary function improved within a short time period.

CONCLUSIONS: Although association of LH with dacryoadenitis is a rare, it can be effectively managed with HDMPT. In addition, response to HDMPT can avoid the more invasive diagnostic procedures, including surgical intervention and pituitary biopsies....

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Journal Article 2009; 30(6): 729-732 PubMed PMID: 20038928 Citation  Keywords:  Adiponectin:blood, Adult, Blood Glucose:metabolism, Female, Fetal Development:physiology, Humans, Insulin:blood, Insulin Resistance, Leptin:blood, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Trimester, First:metabolism, Ultrasonography, Prenatal,.   

OBJECTIVE: Fetal growth is determined by genetic factors and placental supply. There is evidence that insulin might contribute to the up-regulation of placental transporter activity. The dysregulation of adiponectin and leptin is found in insulin resistance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relation of maternal plasma cytokine and insulin concentrations in the first trimester of pregnancy to fetal growth.

METHODS: 55 women with singleton pregnancy, between 12th and 14th weeks of gestation, were included to the study. Plasma concentrations of adiponectin, leptin, insulin and glucose were analyzed together with fetal ultrasound measurements and neonatal birth weight. The HOMA-IR were calculated (fasting insulin (microU/ml) x fasting glucose (mmol/l/22.5) to assess the insulin sensitivity.

RESULTS: Mean concentrations of adiponectin, leptin and insulin were 15.29 +/- 13.83 microg/ml, 6.93+/-5.39 ng/ml and 43.59+/-26.28, respectively. The average insulin resistance defined by HOMA-IR was 1.35+/-0.8. The ratios of adiponectin to leptin, adiponectin to insulin and HOMA-IR were calculated. The percentiles of fetal crown-rump length (CRL) were negatively correlated with adiponectin plasma concentration (r=-0.32; p<0.05), with no relation to leptin and insulin plasma concentration. Correlations between fetus CRL percentile and the ratio of adiponectin to leptin concentration (r=-0.37; p<0.02) and adiponectin to HOMA-IR (r=0.35; p<0.05) were also observed. No association between adiponectin, leptin, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR and neonatal birth weight or birth weight percentile was found. The percentile of fetal CRL in the 1st trimester was positively correlated with neonatal birth weight percentile (r=0.3; p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study imply that maternal adiponectin concentration may play a role in early determination of fetal growth....

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Journal Article 2009; 30(6): 761-768 PubMed PMID: 20038927 Citation  Keywords:  Acoustic Stimulation, Age Factors, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Anxiety, Separation:immunology, Apoptosis:immunology, Body Weight, Cells, Cultured, Corticosterone:blood, Disease Models, Animal, Female, Immune Tolerance:physiology, Lymphocytes:cytology, Male.   

OBJECTIVES: Different inbred mouse strains but also each animal of the same strain show an individually different stress response which is influenced by genetic and environmental factors such as early life experiences. In this study, we investigated consequences of mild postnatal stress exposure on the stress coping style of adult BALB/c mice.

METHODS: We used a model of mild early life stress where neonatal mice were repeatedly separated from the dam staying with their siblings for 1-h each day during the first two postnatal weeks. The environment during maternal separation was adapted to the nest (bedding, 37 degrees C warm).

RESULTS: Adult female BALB/s mice that underwent the maternal separation protocol or were not isolated from the dam in early life were exposed to combined acoustic and restraint stress in adulthood. Repeated maternal separation which was performed under ambient conditions increased the stress coping ability of mice at the age of 12 weeks when exposed to this psychological stressors. By acoustic and restraint stress-induced alterations such as high corticosterone levels, an anti-inflammatory immune conditioning with an ex vivo hyperinducibility of interleukin-10 of splenocytes and a massive loss of body weight were significantly reduced in the maternally separated group compared with conventionally bred control mice.

CONCLUSIONS: Mild maternal separation in early life modifies the stress coping style of adult female BALB/c mice to a more stress-resistant phenotype which shows reduced repeated stress-induced immune suppression and weight loss and is linked to reduced release of glucocorticoids after stress exposure....

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Comparative Study 2009; 30(6): 774-778 PubMed PMID: 20038926 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Agoraphobia:complications, Anxiety:complications, Depression:complications, Dissociative Disorders:complications, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Panic Disorder:complications, Personality Inventory, Severity of Illness Index, Y.   

OBJECTIVE: According to recent findings, clinical symptoms of the patients suffering from panic disorder are related to dissociation. The aim of our study is to examine if the dissociation, can influence the intensity of psychopathology in patients suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia and compare the levels of dissociation in the patients and healthy subjects.

METHODS: 41 patients suffering from panic disorder (70.1% females) and 66 healthy controls (77.3% females) were included in the study. The patients were psychiatrically assessed and the subjective intensity of symptoms was evaluated using Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. All participants were assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).

RESULTS: The two groups didn't differ in demographic variables like age, gender and education. Level of the psychological dissociation assessed with the DES was correlated with the severity of subjective anxiety symptoms (p<0.0001), but not with the severity of depression symptoms. Patients did not have significantly higher mean score on the DES than healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the level of psychological dissociation in panic disorder patients is associated with the severity of anxiety but not depressive symptoms....

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Journal Article 2009; 30(6): 757-760 PubMed PMID: 20038925 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle Tonus:physiology, Muscle, Skeletal:physiology, Narcolepsy:physiopathology, Polysomnography, REM Sleep Parasomnias:physiopathology, Retrospective Studies, Sleep, REM:physiology,.   

OBJECTIVE: While there are a number of observations/quantifications indicating a greater proportion of REM sleep without atonia (RWA) in narcolepsy, the intra-night distribution of this parameter has not been evaluated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients (15 men and 19 women; mean age 44.9 +/- 18.9) with narcolepsy-cataplexy were included in this retrospective study. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by MSLT, video-polysomnography and HLA typing. Polysomnographic recordings were scored with particular regard to REM sleep without atonia (RWA) across all the nocturnal REM periods. RWA scoring was done according to a standard method.

RESULTS: The analysis showed a significant increase in the proportion of REM sleep without atonia during successive nocturnal REM periods in narcoleptic patients (p<0.01). No correlation was found between the percentage of RWA and the severity or duration of the disease, no age effect was documented.

CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates for the first time an increasing amount of RWA during the night suggesting enhanced nocturnal REM sleep motor disturbance....

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Case Reports 2009; 30(6): 705-708 PubMed PMID: 20038924 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Deglutition, Family Conflict:psychology, Female, Foreign Bodies:diagnosis, Humans, Needles, Self-Injurious Behavior:diagnosis, Suicide, Attempted:psychology,.   

: Self-harm represents a serious and pathological behavior that occurs most notably during adolescent years and currently seems to be a problem that is on the increase. Self-harm is a self destructive behavior which most frequently takes the form of cutting and burning. Relative to suicidal behavior, self-harm, in and of itself, is not intended to be lethal and tends to be repeated and addictive. However, in cases of self-harm the risk of suicidal behavior cannot be ignored. This presentation is a case study of a girl who engaged in an unusual form of self-harm, by swallowing needles....

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Journal Article 2009; 30(6): 694-699 PubMed PMID: 20038923 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Cell Membrane:physiology, Humans, Lipid Bilayers, Membrane Proteins:physiology, Neuronal Plasticity:physiology, Neurons:physiology, Synapses:physiology,.   

: Lipoid character of plasma membrane namely the presence of polyenic fatty acids enables to interact with membrane proteins and in certain extent also to modulate their function. During the development, molecules of membrane fatty acids become more and more complex, and the ratio of polyenic fatty acids/saturated fatty acids in the brain rises, while the concentration of monoenic fatty acids remained relatively stable. This phenomenon is apparent also in the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids OMEGA-3 in plasma of newborns which correlates with the birth weight. Plasma membrane reflects local specializations of nerve cells. Its composition varies in functionally specialized regions called domains. Specialized domains of nerve cells determine the function of dendrites, soma, axon, axon hillock ect. Premature weaning of laboratory rats results in structural changes and in the increase of excitability of neuronal circuits in hypothalamus, septum and hippocampus which indicate the possibility of membrane composition changes. In synapses, transport proteins of synaptic vesicles, act together with the specific proteins of the presynaptic membrane. Membrane proteins determine the release of neurotransmitter at different conditions of synaptic activity, and they can contribute to the recovery of neurotransmitter content after the repeated hyperactivity. In the model of experimental kindling, repeated seizures bring about decreases and distribution changes of synaptic vesicles....

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