Brain MR imaging in patients with hepatic cirrhosis: relationship between high intensity signal in basal ganglia on T1-weighted images and elemental concentrations in brain

In patients with hepatic cirrhosis, the globus pallidus and putamen show high intensity on T1-weighted MRI. While the causes of this high signal have been thought to include paramagnetic substances, especially manganese, no evidence for this has been presented. Autopsy in four cases of hepatic cirrhosis permitted measurement of metal concentrations in brain and histopathological examination. In three cases the globus pallidus showed high intensity on T1-weighted images. Mean manganese concentrations in globus pallidus, putamen and frontal white matter were 3.03 ± 0.38, 2.12 ± 0.37, and 1.38 ± 0.24 (μg/g wet weight), respectively, being approximately four- to almost ten-fold the normal values. Copper concentrations in globus pallidus and putamen were also high, 50 % more than normal. Calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium concentrations were all normal. The fourth case showed no abnormal intensity in the basal ganglia and brain metal concentrations were all normal. Histopathologically, cases with showing high signal remarkable atrophy, necrosis, and deciduation of nerve cells and proliferation of glial cells and microglia in globus pallidus. These findings were similar to those in chronic manganese poisoning. On T1-weighted images, copper deposition shows no abnormal intensity. It is therefore inferred that deposition of highly concentrations of manganese may caused high signal on T1-weighted images and nerve cell death in the globus pallidus. Received: 12 August 1996 Accepted: 17 December 1996     

Enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of striatal NMDA receptor subunits: effect of dopaminergic denervation and l-DOPA administration

Sensitization of striatal N-methyl- -aspartate receptors (NMDAR) has been linked to events leading to the motor response changes associated with the administration of dopaminomimetics to parkinsonian animals and patients. To determine whether tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDAR subunits contributes to the apparent long-term enhancement in synaptic efficacy of these receptors, we examined the effect of unilateral nigrostriatal dopamine system ablation with 6-hydroxydopamine followed by twice-daily treatment with -DOPA on the phosphorylation state of rat striatal NR2A and NR2B subunits. Three weeks of intermittent -DOPA administration produced a shortening in the duration of the rotational response to dopaminergic challenge and other changes mimicking those occurring in patients with Parkinson's disease. Concurrently, tyrosine phosphorylation of NR2A and especially of NR2B subunits increased ipsilateral to the lesion (20±5% and 46±7% of intact striatum, respectively; p<0.01) without attendant changes in subunit protein levels. Selective blockade of NR2B subunits with ACEA 10-1244, but not of NR2A subunits with MDL 100,453, reversed the -DOPA-induced response alterations. The intrastriatal injection of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, at a dose (2.0 μg) that normalized the response shortening, attenuated the NR2A and NR2B phosphorylation increase by about 12% and 24%, respectively (p<0.01). Taken together, these results suggest that augmented tyrosine phosphorylation of NR2B subunits, alone or in combination with the smaller rise in NR2A subunit phosphorylation, contributes to the apparent enhancement in striatal NMDAR sensitivity and thus to the plastic alterations in dopaminergic responses in -DOPA-treated parkinsonian rats.     

Is progression in postencephalitic parkinson's disease late and age-related?

Summary Follow-up data are presented of ten patients with autopsy-proven postencephalitic Parkinson's syndrome (PEP) (mean age at death: 56.0 years) with regard to motor and psychic deterioration over a period of institutional observation between 3 and 30 years. Four patients showed deterioration of their Hoehn-Yahr score of at least one grade. These patients did not differ statistically with respect to age of occurrence of lethargic encephalitis, interval to PEP, age at start of PEP, duration of survival with PEP, and age at death. Motor deterioration in these patients seems to be attributed more to inherent disease progression, rather than to an age-related process. Clinical and pathological evidence for this conclusion is presented.     

The role of the dopaminergic projections in MFB self-stimulation

Psychophysical experiments indicate that the first stage of the reward pathway in medial forebrain bundle self-stimulation consists of small myelinated descending axons. Pharmacological experiments show that neuroleptics attenuate or abolish the rewarding effect. This had led to the hypothesis that the descending myelinated axons synapse on an ascending dopaminergic second stage projection. 2-Deoxy-[¹⁴C]glucose autoradiography in self-stimulating animals or animals receiving automatically administered rewarding stimulation after treatment with reward-blocking doses of pimozide reveals activation of a descending myelinated system but no stimulation-produced activation of an ascending dopaminergic projection system, even though the autoradiographic method reveals the mild elevations and depressions of activity in dopaminergic terminal fields consequent upon injections of neuroleptics and amphetamine, respectively, and the strong activation of the nigrostriatal projection produced by stimulating directly in the substantia nigra. When the effects of neuroleptics and clonidine are measured by the psychophysical method (that is, by lateral shifts in the rate-frequency function), it is found that both drugs produce only gradual and rather small attenuations of rewarding efficacy up to doses at which it is no longer possible to measure their effects. It is suggested that, for neuroleptics at least, the rewarding effect abruptly fails at these doses. It is further suggested that these drugs do not act on the rewarding pathway itself, but on the process by which the rewarding signal is converted to an enduring rewarding effect.     

显微手术治疗自发性基底节出血的临床研究

目的：探讨治疗自发性基底节出血的有效措施。方法：将1997年9月－2001年10月采用显微手术治疗的96例自发性脑出血患者，与1994年9月－1997年8月采用常规开颅清除血肿的88例同类患者，在术后血肿清除率，手术死亡率和致残率等方面作对比研究。结果：显微手术能显著提高血肿清除率（P＜0．05）、降低术后脑水肿反应发生率（P＜0．01），从而显著降低了手术死亡率（P＜0．05）和致残率（P＜0．05）。结论：显微手术是治疗自发性脑出血患者一种有效的手术方式。     

雌激素对去卵巢大鼠基底前脑NOS及Nestin阳性神经元的影响

目的 观察雌激素替代对去卵巢大鼠基底前脑一氧化氮合酶(NOS)及巢蛋白(Nestin)阳性神经元的影响。方法 将28只健康成年雄性SD大鼠随机分为4个处理组:去势24 h雌激素替代组、去势2周雌激素替代组、去势植物油替代组及假手术组。用组织化学及免疫组织化学染色方法观察基底前脑的内侧隔核(MS)、斜角带垂直支(vDB)及水平支(hDB)的NOS和Nestin阳性神经元数的变化。结果 去势行植物油替代可使MS、vDB的NOS阳性神经元数明显下降(P<0.01);去势24 h或2周行雌激素替代均可使以上亚区的NOS阳性神经元数明显升高至正常水平(P<0.01)。去势行植物油替代或雌激素替代对hDB的:Nestin阳性神经元数的影响趋势与NOS阳性神经元的相似(P<0.01),但对MS及vDB的Nestin阳性神经元数影响不大(P>0.05)。结论 去卵巢行雌激素替代可选择性地使基底前脑不同亚区NOS、Nestin阳性神经元数升高,这可能与雌激素高调了NOS和Nestin的表达有关。     

摘除松果体对大鼠学习记忆及基底前脑胆碱能系统的影响

目的　探讨松果体功能减退对大鼠学习记忆及基底前脑胆碱能系统的影响。方法　选用 3月龄SD大鼠 2 4只 ,随机分为对照组、去松果体组和褪黑素 (MT)组。手术摘除松果体。饲养 1个月后用Morris水迷宫测试学习记忆功能 ,同时用组织化学和免疫组化方法测定海马、前额叶皮质AchE纤维和内侧隔核、斜角带核的ChAT神经元的数量。结果　与对照组比较 ,去松果体组逃避潜伏期明显增加 ,海马、前额叶皮质AchE纤维数量明显减少 ,但内侧隔核、斜角带核的ChAT神经元数量变化不明显。结论　大鼠去松果体可引起大鼠学习记忆能力减弱 ,这可能与基底前脑胆碱能神经元的功能下降有关     

C基因型乙型肝炎病毒前C区及基本核心启动子突变与疾病进展的相关性研究

目的探讨HBV前C区（PreC）及基本核心启动子（BCP）突变与慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染者疾病进展的关系。方法收集88例慢性HBV感染者血清标本，包括36例无症状携带者（其中24例为HBV携带者，12例为HBsAg携带者）、36例慢性乙型肝炎（慢性乙肝）和16例肝硬化患者。所有标本均经型特异性引物PCR法鉴定为HBVC基因型，并用巢氏PCR法扩增HBVPreC和BCP基因片段，用PCR产物直接测序法测序，然后用ClustalW1．8软件进行序列分析。结果在50例HBeAg阳性患者中，无症状携带者、慢性乙肝和肝硬化组的T1762／A1764双突变率和T1846突变率分别为12．5％、42．1％、100％和0％、5．3％、28．6％，差异均有统计学意义（P值分别为0．03和0．02）。在38例HBeAg阴性HBV感染者中，无症状携带者、慢性乙肝和肝硬化组的T1762／A1764双突变率分别为16．7％、58．8％和66．7％，差异无统计学意义（P=0．08）。肝硬化组的C／G1753突变率显著高于无症状携带者及慢性乙肝组（分别为55．6％、8．3％、11．8％，P=0．01），其A1896突变率也高于无症状携带者组（分别为55．6％、8．3％，P=0．01）。结论HBVT1762／A1764双突变与C基因型HBV慢性感染者的疾病进展有关。     

The intra-cortical trajectory of the coeruleo-cortical projection in the rat: A tangentially organized cortical afferent

Cortical and sub-cortical lesions in the rat were used to analyze the intracortical trajectory of the noradrenergic axons, which were visualized by aldehyde-induced catecholamine histofluorescence and by immunohistochemistry using an antibody directed against rat dopamine-β-hydroxylase. Following subcortical lesions there is a slowly progressive reduction in the density of cortical noradrenergic axons, indicating that they undergo asynchronous anterograde degeneration. By 2 weeks after transection of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle, no dopamine β-hydroxylase-immunoreactive fibers are detectable in the ipsilateral cortex. Neither transection of the cingulum bundle, nor parasagittal incisions through the dorsal cortex lateral to the cingulum, diminished the noradrenergic innervation of medial or dorso-lateral cortex. A cortical lesion medial to the cingulum bundle markedly reduced the density of noradrenergic fibers in cingulate cortex caudal to the lesion, but did not affect the innervation of dorso-lateral cortex. In contrast, dorso-lateral frontal incisions and decortication (frontal lobotomy) produced a marked ipsilateral decrease in the noradrenergic fiber density throughout the remaining dorso-lateral cortex, while sparing the innervation of cingulate and infra-rhinal cortex.These results demonstrate that the dorso-lateral cortex is innervated by noradrenergic fibers in the medial forebrain bundle that reach the frontal pole, turn dorsally over the anterior portion of the forceps minor and continue caudally within the deep layers of frontal and dorso-lateral cortex, supplying the noradrenergic innervation throughout their trajectory. The medial cortex is innervated by a separate group of noradrenergic fibers that ascend through the septum, curve over the genu of the corpus callosum, and run caudally in the supracallosal stria.The present results show that the cingulum bundle is not a major intra-cortical noradrenergic pathway and does not provide branches that contribute significantly to the innervation of dorsal or lateral cortex. Thus the medial and lateral cortex can be selectively and differentially denervated of noradrenergic fibers and a coarse topographic order exists in the noradrenergic innervation of cortex. Since noradrenergic fibers travel long distances within the cortical grey matter, a small lesion of frontal cortex can have far-reaching effects on the innervation of distant, more caudal regions of cortex. The coeruleocortical projection has properties that differ from those of the best characterized cortical afferents and may be a useful model for the study of other ascending monoamine systems. The tangential, intracortical trajectory of the noradrenergic fibers would confer upon the coeruleo-cortical system the capacity to modulate neuronal activity simultaneously through a vast expanse of neocortex. A formulation of cortical organization is presented which integrates the tangential organization of the coeruleo-cortical projection with the concept of columnar organization of cortex.     

Matrix metalloproteinase expression in basal cell carcinoma: relationship between enzyme profile and collagen fragmentation pattern

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) with collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activities are up-regulated in basal cell carcinoma. In the present study we demonstrate that the major collagenolytic enzyme detected is MMP-1 (interstitial collagenase) while gelatinolytic enzymes include both MMP-2 (72-kDa gelatinase A) and MMP-9 (92-kDa gelatinase B). Significant fractions of all three enzymes are present as active forms. In spite of the fact that high levels of gelatinolytic enzymes are present, the major fragmentation products resulting from digestion of intact type I collagen are the 1/4 and 3/4 fragments (products of MMP-1-mediated digestion). Thus, it appears that the gelatinolytic enzymes are not capable of degrading the collagen fragments as rapidly as they are produced. Since previous studies have demonstrated that interaction of interstitial fibroblasts with high molecular weight fragments of type I collagen leads to increased MMP production, the present results suggest a mechanism underlying altered function of stromal elements in the connective tissue adjacent to the growing neoplasm.