The effect of apomorphine on regional cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia

A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of the effects of apomorphine on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during a prefrontal cortex activation task was undertaken to explore the role of dopamine on cortical function. The subjects were eight drug-free, chronically psychotic patients; six patients had schizophrenia. In each, apomorphine increased the relative prefrontal flow. The results suggest that enhanced prefrontal dopamine activity may reverse deficits in prefrontal cortex metabolism in schizophrenia.     

Contribution of ambulatory EEG recording (Medilog 9000) in a population of epileptics

Thirty-four epileptic patients, aged 9 to 36, were submitted to A/EEG between May 1987 and July 1988. All patients had a thorough clinical and EEG work-up including long-term conventional EEG, afternoon polygraphic sleep recording and, in some cases, full-night EEG and video monitoring. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group I included 19 patients (18 with symptomatic partial epilepsy (SPE) and 1 with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) in whom no seizure had ever been recorded in spite of EEG recordings averaging a total of 16 hrs 10 min, awake and asleep); group II included 15 subjects (6 with SPE, 5 with IGE, 3 with symptomatic GE and 1 with undetermined epilepsy) in whom one or several seizures had been recorded. A/EEG was performed in order to: 1) obtain better clinical and EEG characterization of seizures, 2) study the circadian distribution of seizures, 3) verify the efficacy of drug treatment and, 4) establish the epileptic or non-epileptic nature of some ictal events. The results of A/EEG were considered positive in 52.63% of group I patients and in 93.33% of group II patients. The authors discuss the specific advantages of A/EEG vs conventional EEG: recording of seizures with random occurrence, of seizures accompanied by falls, checking the remission of seizures.     

A comparison of sensory loss tests and histopathology in the diagnosis of leprosy

Three different sensory loss tests, for anaesthesia to light touch, for diminished pain sensation and for loss of thermosensation, were compared with histopathological examination results in the diagnosis of suspected tuberculoid leprosy in 120 individuals with 126 lesions. Though none of the 3 tests used in this study was found to be strikingly superior to any of the others, the results indicate potentially important differences in their usefulness in different subgroups of suspected patients. The methodological problems inherent in such studies are discussed.     

Sites in the male primate brain at which testosterone acts as an androgen

Quantitative autoradiographic analysis was used to identify regions in the brain of the male primate where androgen binding sites may be involved in the actions of testosterone. Three days after castration, adult male rhesus monkeys received a subcutaneous injection of either dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP, 20 mg, n = 6), testosterone propionate (TP, 100 mg, n = 2), or oil vehicle (control males, n = 4). Three hours later, 5 mCi [3H]testosterone was administered as an i.v. bolus. At 60 min, brains were rapidly removed and the left halves were used for autoradiography. In control males, highest percentages of labeled neurons (20-84% using a rigorous Poisson criterion) were observed in the ventromedial, arcuate and premammillary nuclei (n.) of the hypothalamus, medial preoptic n., bed n. of stria terminalis, intercalated mammillary n., lateral septal n. and the medial, cortical and accessory basal n. of the amygdala. Pretreatment with DHTP eliminated labeling in androgen target tissues of the genital tract, and reduced the percentages of labeled neurons to 4-22% of control values in the arcuate, lateral septal, premammillary and intercalated mammillary n., indicating that in these regions testosterone acted predominantly at androgen binding sites. However, in the medial preoptic n., the ventromedial hypothalamic n. and the accessory basal amygdaloid n., DHTP pretreatment resulted in much less blocking which, together with other data, suggested that in these sites, testosterone's actions involved aromatization and interaction with estrogen-binding sites.     

Dissociation of GFAP intermediate filaments in EAE: observations in the lumbar spinal cord

Acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the Lewis rat is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease of central nervous system myelin. The lesion has been characterized by breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, edema, and periventricular infiltration of macrophages and lymphocytes. At the early stage of the disease, the astrocytes show a marked increase in immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). A corresponding increase in GFAP content, however, cannot be demonstrated. Electron microscopic examination of the early lesion shows a typical reactive astrocytic response expressed by an enlarged watery cytoplasm, particularly at the level of the processes surrounding neurons and blood vessels and in the neuropil itself. The astroglial processes contain numerous glycogen particles (aggregates and single particles). Glial filaments are also conspicuous and are arranged in small bundles or loose thin filaments adjacent to the bundles. The glial filaments that normally appear as tight bundles have expanded and appear less dense. We suggest that the increase in GFAP immunostaining of the astrocytes in the early lesion is due in part to edema, which causes dissociation of the filaments and thereby exposes more antigenic sites to the antibodies.     

The modern diagnosis of gonorrhea

Modern identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae may be either accomplished by direct detection of gonococcal antigen, i.e. without microbiological culturing, or, following culturing, by rapid culture confirmation. The direct detection of gonococcal antigen in an enzyme immuno-assay (Gonozyme) shows reduced specifity especially with mixed microbial flora, and decreased sensitivity with small numbers of organisms. Culture confirmation may be achieved by a rapid sugar degradation test (API----quadFERM+), by specific enzyme detection using chromogenic substrates (Gonochek II), or by demonstration of protein I specific for Neisseria gonorrhoeae by means of monoclonal antibodies (Mikrotrak, Phadebact monoclonal GC, Gonogen II). Detection of protein I is highly sensitive and specific in both the tests of immunofluorescence and coagglutination.     

Effects of sensory and motor functioning on adult intellectual performance

This study examined longitudinal health and intelligence data to determine whether sensory or motor deficits account for some of the age-related intellectual changes that are commonly seen from midlife onward. Although sensory and motor functioning did not account for the age-related decrements in performance on speeded, visual perceptual tasks found for this sample in previous work, we did find that hearing deficits added error variance to performance estimates on two verbal subtests of the Wechsler scales.