Normal synthesis and expression of endothelial IIb/IIIa in Glanzmann's thrombasthenia

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is a bleeding disorder, inherited in an autosomal recessive way and characterized by an absence or deficiency of the platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa complex. Recently, we and others demonstrated that cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells synthesized a membrane protein complex similar to the platelet GP IIb/IIIa complex. In this article, we demonstrate that endothelial cells isolated from the umbilical vein of a newborn with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia, as compared with normal endothelial cells, show no difference in their ability to synthesize and express this GP IIb/IIIa complex. Our results indicate that Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is not accompanied by an "endotheliopathy."     

Maternal choline supplementation differentially alters the basal forebrain cholinergic system of young‐adult Ts65Dn and disomic mice

Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, is a multifaceted condition marked by intellectual disability and early presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathological lesions including degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) system. Although DS is diagnosable during gestation, there is no treatment option for expectant mothers or DS individuals. Using the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS that displays age‐related degeneration of the BFCN system, we investigated the effects of maternal choline supplementation on the BFCN system in adult Ts65Dn mice and disomic (2N) littermates at 4.3–7.5 months of age. Ts65Dn dams were maintained on a choline‐supplemented diet (5.1 g/kg choline chloride) or a control, unsupplemented diet with adequate amounts of choline (1 g/kg choline chloride) from conception until weaning of offspring; post weaning, offspring were fed the control diet. Mice were transcardially perfused with paraformaldehyde, and brains were sectioned and immunolabeled for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) or p75‐neurotrophin receptor (p75^NTR). BFCN number and size, the area of the regions, and the intensity of hippocampal labeling were determined. Ts65Dn‐unsupplemented mice displayed region‐ and immunolabel‐dependent increased BFCN number, larger areas, smaller BFCNs, and overall increased hippocampal ChAT intensity compared with 2N unsupplemented mice. These effects were partially normalized by maternal choline supplementation. Taken together, the results suggest a developmental imbalance in the Ts65Dn BFCN system. Early maternal‐diet choline supplementation attenuates some of the genotype‐dependent alterations in the BFCN system, suggesting this naturally occurring nutrient as a treatment option for pregnant mothers with knowledge that their offspring is trisomy 21. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:1390–1410, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Site‐Dependent Reference Point Microindentation Complements Clinical Measures for Improved Fracture Risk Assessment at the Human Femoral Neck

In contrast to traditional approaches to fracture risk assessment using clinical risk factors and bone mineral density (BMD), a new technique, reference point microindentation (RPI), permits direct assessment of bone quality; in vivo tibial RPI measurements appear to discriminate patients with a fragility fracture from controls. However, it is unclear how this relates to the site of the most clinically devastating fracture, the femoral neck, and whether RPI provides information complementary to that from existing assessments. Femoral neck samples were collected at surgery after low‐trauma hip fracture (n = 46; 17 male; aged 83 [interquartile range 77–87] years) and compared, using RPI (Biodent Hfc), with 16 cadaveric control samples, free from bone disease (7 male; aged 65 [IQR 61–74] years). A subset of fracture patients returned for dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) assessment (Hologic Discovery) and, for the controls, a micro‐computed tomography setup (HMX, Nikon) was used to replicate DXA scans. The indentation depth was greater in femoral neck samples from osteoporotic fracture patients than controls (p < 0.001), which persisted with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and height (p < 0.001) but was site‐dependent, being less pronounced in the inferomedial region. RPI demonstrated good discrimination between fracture and controls using receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) analyses (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.79 to 0.89), and a model combining RPI to clinical risk factors or BMD performed better than the individual components (AUC = 0.88 to 0.99). In conclusion, RPI at the femoral neck discriminated fracture cases from controls independent of BMD and traditional risk factors but dependent on location. The clinical RPI device may, therefore, supplement risk assessment and requires testing in prospective cohorts and comparison between the clinically accessible tibia and the femoral neck. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.     

MDS clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease

This document presents the Movement Disorder Society Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Parkinson's disease (PD). The Movement Disorder Society PD Criteria are intended for use in clinical research but also may be used to guide clinical diagnosis. The benchmark for these criteria is expert clinical diagnosis; the criteria aim to systematize the diagnostic process, to make it reproducible across centers and applicable by clinicians with less expertise in PD diagnosis. Although motor abnormalities remain central, increasing recognition has been given to nonmotor manifestations; these are incorporated into both the current criteria and particularly into separate criteria for prodromal PD. Similar to previous criteria, the Movement Disorder Society PD Criteria retain motor parkinsonism as the core feature of the disease, defined as bradykinesia plus rest tremor or rigidity. Explicit instructions for defining these cardinal features are included. After documentation of parkinsonism, determination of PD as the cause of parkinsonism relies on three categories of diagnostic features: absolute exclusion criteria (which rule out PD), red flags (which must be counterbalanced by additional supportive criteria to allow diagnosis of PD), and supportive criteria (positive features that increase confidence of the PD diagnosis). Two levels of certainty are delineated: clinically established PD (maximizing specificity at the expense of reduced sensitivity) and probable PD (which balances sensitivity and specificity). The Movement Disorder Society criteria retain elements proven valuable in previous criteria and omit aspects that are no longer justified, thereby encapsulating diagnosis according to current knowledge. As understanding of PD expands, the Movement Disorder Society criteria will need continuous revision to accommodate these advances. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society     

Phase synchronization measurements using electroencephalographic recordings: what can we really say about neuronal synchrony?

Phase synchrony analysis is a relatively new concept that is being increasingly used on neurophysiological data obtained through different methodologies. It is currently believed that phase synchrony is an important signature of information binding between distant sites of the brain, especially during cognitive tasks. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings are the most widely used recording technique for recording brain signals and assessing phase synchrony patterns. In this study, we address the suitability of phase synchrony analysis in EEG recordings. Using geometrical arguments and numerical examples, employing EEG and magnetoencephalographic data, we show that the presence of a common reference signal in the case of EEG recordings results in a distortion of the synchrony values observed, in that the amplitudes of the signals influence the synchrony measured, and in general destroys the intended physical interpretation of phase synchrony.