The radiology of gangliogliomas and ganglioneuromas of the central nervous system

Summary Plain film changes, pneumographic and angiographic features of four cases of gangliogliomas of the central nervous system are reported. The confusing pathology and nomenclature is discussed. Radiologic features include bone changes consistent with slow growth, absence of tumor vascularity and frequent involvement of the temporal lobe in the younger age group.

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Die Röntgendiagnostik der Gangliogliome und Ganglioneurome des Zentralnervensystems

Zusammenfassung Die Befunde der Nativ-Diagnostik, der Pneumographie und der Angiographie in 4 Fällen von Gangliogliomen des Zentralnervensystems werden geschildert. Auch ist die unterschiedliche Pathologie und Nomenklatur beschrieben. Langsames Wachstum der Geschwulst, Fehlen einer pathologischen Tumor-Vaskularisierung und der häufige Sitz im Temporallappen im jugendlichen Alter sind ein besonderes Merkmal dieser Geschwulst.

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Radiologie des ganglio-gliomes et des ganglio-neuromes du systeme nerveux central

Résumé Les auteurs raportent les modifications visibles sur les radiographies simples et les caractérististiques pneumographiques et angiographiques dans quatre cas de ganglioglisme du système nerveux central. Ils discutent la pathologie confuse et la nomenclature. Les caractéristiques radiologiques comprennent des altérations osseuses en rapport avec un développment lent, avec l'absence de vascularisation tumorale et l'envahissement fréquent du lobe temporal chez les malades les plus jeunes.

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Presented at the Fifty-fifth Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Chicago, Illinois, November 30th-December 5th, 1969.

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This work was supported by USPHS Grants 1F11NB 2045, 2F11NB1755 and 05290-09.     

Effect of Polyphenols Intake on Obesity-Induced Maternal Programming

Excess caloric intake and body fat accumulation lead to obesity, a complex chronic disease that represents a significant public health problem due to the health-related risk factors. There is growing evidence showing that maternal obesity can program the offspring, which influences neonatal phenotype and predispose offspring to metabolic disorders such as obesity. This increased risk may also be epigenetically transmitted across generations. Thus, there is an imperative need to find effective reprogramming approaches in order to resume normal fetal development. Polyphenols are bioactive compounds found in vegetables and fruits that exert its anti-obesity effect through its powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Polyphenol supplementation has been proven to counteract the prejudicial effects of maternal obesity programming on progeny. Indeed, some polyphenols can cross the placenta and protect the fetal predisposition against obesity. The present review summarizes the effects of dietary polyphenols on obesity-induced maternal reprogramming as an offspring anti-obesity approach.     

Does neonatal morphine use affect neuropsychological outcomes at 8 to 9 years of age?

Morphine is widely used to treat severe pain in neonatal intensive care unit patients. Animal studies suggest adverse long-term side effects of neonatal morphine, but a follow-up study of 5-year-old children who participated in a morphine-placebo controlled trial as newborns found no such effects on the child’s general functioning. This study indicated that morphine may negatively affect response inhibition, a domain of executive functions. Therefore, we performed a second follow-up study in the same population at the age of 8 to 9 years, focused on the child’s general functioning in terms of intelligence, visual motor integration, and behavior and on executive functions. Children in the morphine group showed significantly less externalizing problems according to the parents but more internalizing behavior according to the teachers, but only after adjustment for intelligence quotient (IQ), potential confounders using a propensity score, and additional open-label morphine. Morphine-treated children showed significantly fewer problems with executive functions in daily life as rated by parents for the subscales inhibition and organization of materials and for planning/organizing as rated by the teachers. After adjustment for IQ and the propensity score, executive functioning as rated by the parents remained statistically significantly better in the morphine-treated group. The influence of the additional morphine given was not of a significant influence for any of the outcome variables. Overall, the present study demonstrates that continuous morphine infusion of 10 μg/kg/h during the neonatal period does not harm general functioning and may even have a positive influence on executive functions at 8 to 9 years.     

Reliable analysis of phenylalanine and tyrosine in a minimal volume of blood

ObjectivesPhenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn error of phenylalanine metabolism due to a defect in phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). Treatment principle is to reduce phenylalanine concentration sufficiently to prevent neuropathological effects. Dietary management is performed and the effect of treatment is monitored by regular analysis of phenylalanine and tyrosine. The aim of the study was to develop a rapid method to routinely measure both metabolites in minimal bloodspot volume (1.5 mm Ø, corresponding with a volume of 1.3 μL blood).MethodWhole blood was spiked with phenylalanine and tyrosine at 24 different concentrations. Dried blood spots (DBS) were prepared, after which punches of 1.5 mm Ø and 6 mm Ø (corresponding with a volume of 12.4 μL) were taken. Additionally, punches of both sizes were prepared from DBS of PKU-patients (n = 77). All samples were analyzed by tandem mass-spectrometry and results between both punches were compared.ResultsA good correlation between concentrations of phenylalanine and tyrosine in 1.5 and 6 mm punches was found (r² = 0.9917 and r² = 0.9892, respectively). Analysis of phenylalanine and tyrosine in punches of PKU-patients (n = 77) showed similar results and fitted within the procentual range of the between run variation.ConclusionWe developed an accurate and rapid method to analyze phenylalanine and tyrosine concentrations in a 1.5 mm Ø bloodspot punch with an estimated whole blood volume of 1.3 μL. This technical improvement does not only result in a 10 fold reduction in required patients' material, but also in a 30–60 min time saving in sample preparation.     

Conservation of DNA photolyase genes in group II nucleopolyhedroviruses infecting plusiine insects

DNA photolyase genes (phr) encode photoreactive enzymes, which are involved in the repair of UV-damaged DNA. Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) specific photolyase genes are present in nucleopolyhedroviruses isolated from Chrysodeixis chalcites (ChchNPV) and Trichoplusia ni (TnSNPV), insects belonging to the Plusiinae (Noctuidae). To better understand the occurrence and evolution of these genes in baculoviruses, we investigated their possible conservation in other group II NPVs, which infect plusiine insects. A PCR based strategy using degenerate phr-specific primers was designed to detect and analyze possible photolyase genes. Six additional Plusiinae-infecting NPVs were analyzed and all, except Thysanoplusia oricalcea NPV A28-1, which is a group I NPV, contained one or more phr-like sequences. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all photolyase genes of the tested Plusiinae-infecting baculoviruses group in a single clade, separated into three subgroups. The phylogeny of the polyhedrin sequences of these viruses confirmed that the analyzed viruses also formed a single clade in group II NPVs. We hypothesize that all plusiine group II NPVs contain one or more photolyase genes and that these have a common ancestor.     

Matrix metalloproteinase 3 haplotypes and dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The Rotterdam Study

Evidence by post-mortem and animal studies suggests that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) through degradation of amyloid beta. We investigated in 5999 elderly whether MMP3-haplotypes are associated with cognitive performance over time, dementia and AD. We also explored the association of MMP-3 haplotypes with changes in hippocampal volume and severity of periventricular and subcortical white matter lesions (WML). There was no association between any individual polymorphism or MMP-3 haplotypes and performance in MMSE over time, dementia or AD, and there was no association between MMP-3 genotypes or haplotypes with hippocampal volume or severity of periventricular or subcortical WML. These associations did not differ between strata of APOE4 genotype. Our observations do not suggest that variation in the MMP3 gene is causally involved in dementia or AD.     

A critical role for CD63 in HIV replication and infection of macrophages and cell lines

HIV infection typically involves interaction of Env with CD4 and a chemokine coreceptor, either CCR5 or CXCR4. Other cellular factors supporting HIV replication have also been characterized. We previously demonstrated a role for CD63 in early HIV infection events in macrophages via inhibition by anti-CD63 antibody pretreatment. To confirm the requirement for CD63 in HIV replication, we decreased CD63 expression using CD63-specific short interfering RNAs (siRNA), and showed inhibition of HIV replication in macrophages. Surprisingly, pretreatment with CD63 siRNA not only silenced CD63 expression by 90%, but also inhibited HIV-1 replication in a cultured cell line (U373-MAGI) which had been previously shown to be insensitive to CD63 monoclonal antibody inhibition. Although the anti-CD63 antibody was previously shown to inhibit early HIV infection events only in macrophages, we now show a potential role for CD63 in later HIV replication events in macrophages and cell lines. Further delineation of the role of CD63 in HIV replication may lead to development of novel therapeutic compounds.     

Altered amygdala and hippocampus function in adolescents with hypercortisolemia: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of Cushing syndrome

Chronic elevations of endogenous cortisol levels have been shown to alter medial temporal cortical structures and to be accompanied by declarative memory impairments and depressive symptoms in human adults. These effects of elevated endogenous levels of cortisol have not been directly studied in adolescents. Because adolescents with Cushing syndrome show endogenous elevations in cortisol, they represent a unique natural model to study the effects of prolonged hypercortisolemia on brain function, and memory and affective processes during this developmental stage. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we compared 12 adolescents with Cushing syndrome with 22 healthy control adolescents on amygdala and anterior hippocampus activation during an emotional faces encoding task. None of these adolescents manifested depressive symptoms. Encoding success was assessed using a memory recognition test performed after the scan. The fMRI analyses followed an event-related design and were conducted using the SPM99 platform. Compared to healthy adolescents, patients with Cushing syndrome showed greater left amygdala and right anterior hippocampus activation during successful face encoding. Memory performance for faces recognition did not differ between groups. This first study of cerebral function in adolescents with chronic endogenous hypercortisolemia due to Cushing syndrome demonstrates the presence of functional alterations in amygdala and hippocampus, which are not associated with affective or memory impairments. Such findings need to be followed by work examining the role of age and related brain maturational stage on these effects, as well as the identification of possible protective factors conferring resilience to affective and cognitive consequences in this disease and/or during this stage of cerebral development.