Search NEL Online

Journal Article 2006; 27(3): 297-305 PubMed PMID: 16807525 Citation  Keywords:  Alzheimer Disease:cerebrospinal fluid, Amyloid beta-Peptides:cerebrospinal fluid, Biomarkers:cerebrospinal fluid, Brain:metabolism, Cerebrospinal Fluid:chemistry, Depressive Disorder, Major:cerebrospinal fluid, Female, Humans, Male, Neurotransmitter Agent.   

: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear and colourless fluid that surrounds the brain and spine. Due to the close proximity of CSF to the brain, pathological brain-processes are likely to be reflected in CSF. CSF can be obtained through lumbar puncture and is frequently performed in the differential diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Beyond clinical applications, CSF has been studied as part of different research-protocols. In this review, we will focus on CSF-analysis in Alzheimer Disease, major depression and schizophrenia. We will review both clinical applications as well as research applications in all three disorders. We will also assess new technological advances that have made it possible to study large numbers of proteins in CSF and how these advances may change CSF-analysis in the years to come....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Comparative Study 2006; 27(3): 315-320 PubMed PMID: 16807524 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Empathy, Exploratory Behavior:physiology, Female, Humans, Leadership, Male, Personality:physiology, Psychology, Adolescent, Reference Values, Saliva:physiology, Sex Factors, Social Dominance, Testosterone:physiology,.   

OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that gender - dependent differences in novelty seeking, leadership, and sympathy might correlate with testosterone titre. Since several studies report that the impact of testosterone on personality traits is more visible under emotional challenging situations, we harvested saliva testosterone upon an anticipated stressor (academic examination) and under basal conditions.

SETTING AND DESIGN: 19 female and 23 male adolescents (17 to 19 years of age) completed standardized questionnaires on sensation seeking, anxiety, and social interaction. Two weeks later, they had to write an anticipated, rigorous examination in mathematics in their school. Before and after the examination, saliva had been harvested from each subject and testosterone titre has been estimated.

METHODS: Saliva testosterone was quantified using a luminescence immunoassay (LIA). Each subject completed questionnaires on sensations seeking according to Zuckerman (SSS - V), anxiety (STAI), and social interactions.

RESULTS: Both genders showed an increase in their testosterone titre shortly after examination or announcement of test scores. A Spearman correlation coefficient indicated a significant correlation between testosterone titre and sensation seeking subscales in female but not in male subjects. Analysis of social interactions revealed that peers regarded male subjects, who had high testosterone titres, as leaders but not as likeable individuals, whereas they regarded female subjects, who had high testosterone titres, not as leaders but as highly likeable individuals.

CONCLUSION: Theses findings strongly suggest that testosterone has gender specific effects on novelty seeking, dominance, and sympathy....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Comparative Study 2006; 27(3): 339-343 PubMed PMID: 16807523 Citation  Keywords:  Acetylcholine:metabolism, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone:blood, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Behavior, Animal:drug effects, Blood Glucose:metabolism, Cholinesterase Inhibitors:administration & dosage, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Excitatory Amino Acid.   

OBJECTIVE: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis controls glucocorticoid secretion and is in turn controlled by a diverse set of afferents in the brain. However, the precise mechanisms underlying these actions remain to be elucidated. In our previous study, a lesion in the entorhinal cortex, which is the major provider of glutamatergic innervation to the hippocampus, significantly attenuated the elevation of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in plasma during immobilization stress. In the present study, we examined the effects of microinjections of glutamatergic agonists into the hippocampus on plasma ACTH and glucose concentrations. We also studied the interactions between glutamate and acetylcholine in this response in the hippocampus.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: NMDA and AMPA subtypes of glutamate agonists were microinjected into the rat hippocampus, and ACTH and glucose levels in plasma were measured. The interaction between cholinergic and glutamatergic systems was investigated pharmacologically.

RESULTS: Both the NMDA and AMPA subtypes of glutamate agonists induced elevations of plasma ACTH and glucose levels in a dose-dependent fashion. These responses were independent of those induced by activation of the hippocampal cholinergic system.

CONCLUSION: Stimulation by the NMDA and AMPA subtypes of glutamate receptors in the hippocampus induced elevations of plasma ACTH and glucose, and these responses were independent of the cholinergic system....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2006; 27(3): 333-337 PubMed PMID: 16807522 Citation  Keywords:  Female, Humans, Male, Monoamine Oxidase:genetics, Pain Measurement, Pain, Postoperative:genetics, Perception:physiology, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Reference Values, Sex Factors, Tonsillectomy,.   

OBJECTIVES: The monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) is an enzyme involved in metabolism of dopamine, benzylamine, phenylethylamine, tyramine and tryptamine. The A/G polymorphism in intron 13 of the MAO-B gene has been previously found to be associated with variability of the MAO-B enzyme activity. The aim of the present association study has been to examine the relationship between the A/G polymorphism in intron 13 and postoperative pain intensity.

METHODS: 284 subjects (105 males and 179 females) undergoing planned tonsillectomy were examined. The intensity of pain was evaluated using 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). A PCR method with allele specific primers for detection of A/G polymorphism was used.

RESULTS: We found a relationship between the A/G polymorphism in intron 13 of the MAO-B gene and average intensity of postoperative pain in male subjects. Higher average intensity of postoperative pain was detected in males with the G allele (3.96) in comparison with males with the A allele (3.45) and the difference was statistically significant (p<0,03).

CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate the relationship between the MAO-B polymorphism and postoperative pain intensity in the Czech male population. A potential role of MAO-B in the perception of pain intensity is discussed....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2006; 27(3): 321-326 PubMed PMID: 16807521 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Dissociative Disorders:complications, Epilepsy:complications, Female, Humans, Kindling, Neurologic:physiology, Male, Schizophrenia:complications, Schizophrenic Psychology, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic:complications, Stress, Psychological:compli.   

OBJECTIVES: According to recent evidence, trauma and stress are important etiological factors in pathogenesis of schizophrenia. However, the hypothetical influence of traumatic stress on epileptic-like (or kindling) phenomena in schizophrenia is at this time unclear.

METHODS: In order to discover the influence of trauma, 82 patients with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls were assessed for symptoms of dissociation, traumatic stress and psycho-sensory symptoms of epileptic origin.

RESULTS: We have found significant traumatization and dissociation in patients who met the cut-off score for psychosensory epileptic-like symptoms and also significant correlations among these measures have been found.

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest a certain role of epileptic-like phenomena in dissociative states in schizophrenia and are in accordance with rare intracranial EEG findings which suggest a certain role of epileptiform events in schizophrenia....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Case Reports 2006; 27(1-2): 288-289 PubMed PMID: 17159812 Citation  Keywords:  Adnexa Uteri:surgery, Anesthesia, General, Cystadenoma:complications, Female, Humans, Laparoscopy, Ovarian Neoplasms:complications, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic:surgery, Ultrasonography, Uterus:diagnostic imaging,.   

: Interstitial pregnancy is a rare condition of tubal pregnancy with a mortality rate of 2-2.5% [4] that can easily be misdiagnosed. The prevalence of interstitial pregnancy is 0.8% in normal population and it increased during the past few decades due to reproduction techniques development even up to 11% in groups of women after in vitro fertilization. A comprehensive MEDLINE and OLDMEDLINE search covering years 1950-2005 using query terms "interstitial", "pregnancy" and "adnexectomy" identified only 10 cases reported in worldwide literature. The first treatment of interstitial pregnancy used to be a resection of the uterus body via laparotomy. Along with the evolution of sensitive biochemical assays, imaging technologies and the development of operative techniques, the management of interstitial pregnancy became less invasive. We report a case of spontaneous left interstitial pregnancy after left adnexectomy due to left ovarian tumor of borderline malignancy....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 177-182 PubMed PMID: 16670672 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Antigens:genetics, Cell Count, Cerebral Cortex:cytology, Female, Immunohistochemistry, Leptin:pharmacology, Mice, Mice, Inbred ICR, Oligodendroglia:drug effects, Pregnancy, Proteoglycans:genetics, Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha:bi.   

OBJECTIVE: Leptin, which is an obese gene product, decreases appetite and increases energy expenditure in adults. In our previous study, leptin was found to maintain neural stem cells and/or progenitor cells, preferentially astrocyte/oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, whereas it reduces the proportion of oligodendrocyte lineage-restricted precursor cells. It has been reported that leptin-deficient (ob/ob) mice have lower levels of glial proteins than wild-type mice. These findings suggest that leptin affects the development of glial cells. In this study, therefore, we investigated oligodendrocyte development in the cerebral cortex of ob/ob and wild-type mouse embryos by histochemistry.

METHODS: We obtained ob/ob or wild-type (C57BL/6J) embryos on embryonic day (E) 18. We performed immunohistochemistry in the embryonic cerebrum with antibodies against NG2, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-alpha) and leptin receptor (Ob-R). In the cerebral cortex, we compared the number of the oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), which are immunopositive for NG2 and/or PDGFR-alpha, between ob/ob and wild-type embryos.

RESULTS: We revealed that ob/ob embryos had significantly more OPCs than wild-type embryos on E18. PDGFR-alpha-positive OPCs did not coexpress leptin receptor in the cerebral cortex.

CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that leptin inhibits differentiation of multipotent and/or glial progenitor cells into OPCs in the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex, but it does not directly act on OPCs....

Read abstract

Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 162-168 PubMed PMID: 16670671 Citation  Keywords:  Acromegaly:blood, Adult, Aged, Combined Modality Therapy, Female, Ghrelin, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neurosurgical Procedures, Octreotide:therapeutic use, Peptide Hormones:blood,.   

OBJECTIVES: Very little is still known about ghrelin in cases of GH hypersecretion. We decided to evaluate whether ghrelin concentrations in acromegalic patients differ according to the administered therapy (surgical and/or with long acting octreotide). We wanted to assess the correlation between serum ghrelin levels and 1) the treatment applied in the past or being applied at the time of our study 2) GH, IGF-1 and insulin concentrations.

MATERIAL: Serum ghrelin, GH, IGF-1 and insulin were measured in 42 acromegalic patients who had received surgical and/or long acting octreotide therapy or who hadn't receive any treatment at all. According to the applied treatment, we divided the patients into groups, as follows: 1) LAO/+/, surgery /-/, 2) LAO /+/, surgery /+/, 3) LAO /-/, surgery /-/, 4) LAO /-/, surgery /+/. Ghrelin was also evaluated in 18 control healthy subjects.

RESULTS: The difference between mean ghrelin level in the healthy subjects and acromegalic patients was not statistically significant (p=0.08). LAO /-/, surgery /-/ patients showed fasting ghrelin levels indistinguishable from those seen in healthy subjects (p=0.1). There wasn't any statistically significant difference between LAO /-/, surgery /-/ patients and LAO /-/, surgery /+/ group (p=0.14). Serum ghrelin levels in LAO /+/, surgery /+/ group were significantly lower from those observed in LAO /-/, surgery /+/ patients (p=0.006). A similar reduction in ghrelin levels was also found in patients LAO /+/ (both after and without surgery) compared to LAO /-/ patients (both after or without surgery) (p=0.001). Serum ghrelin levels showed a significant negative correlation with IGF-1 concentration and a tendency to a statistically significant correlation with GH in LAO /-/ group (p<0,05).

CONCLUSIONS: Ghrelin concentrations were significantly lower in acromegalic patients who had been receiving long acting somatostatin analogue treatment; there was no significant difference in serum ghrelin levels between patients who had and who had not undergone surgery. A significant negative correlation between ghrelin and IGF-1 and a tendency to such correlation between ghrelin and GH was observed in LAO /-/ group of patients....

Read abstract