Role of intracortical mechanisms in the late part of the silent period to transcranial stimulation of the human motor cortex

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) of the human motor cortex produce a silent period (SP) following motor evoked potentials (MEPs). The early part of the SP can be explained by decreased alpha motor neuron excitability, whereas the late part is presumably due to suprasegmental mechanisms. In order to determine the level of the suprasegmental contribution to the generation of SPs, we recorded excitatory and inhibitory responses to TMS, TES, and percutaneous electrical brainstem stimulation (PBS) in the voluntarily activated first dorsal interosseous muscle of the hand. Stimulus intensities were set so that PBS and TES induced MEPs with areas equal to or larger than those of MEPs obtained with TMS. This procedure revealed that SPs were 49% and 83% shorter with TES and PBS, respectively, than with TMS. As TMS is more effective than TES or PBS in activating cortical interneurons, these findings support the idea that a significant component of the SP arises from intracortical mechanisms.     

Erythropoietin production in healthy volunteers subjected to controlled hypobaric hypoxia: further evidence against a role for adenosine

Aims Objective of this study was to investigate whether adenosine modulates renal erythropoietin production.
Methods In the present study erythropoietin production was stimulated by hypobaric hypoxia by subjecting healthy volunteers to a simulated altitude of 4000  m in a low pressure chamber for 5.5  h. During exposure to hypoxia the subjects received i.v. in a randomized, single-blind, cross-over fashion the non-specific adenosine antagonist theophylline, the adenosine reuptake inhibitor dipyridamole and placebo.
Results Contrary to the working hypothesis, theophylline did not decrease and dipyridamole did not further boost erythropoietin concentrations.
Conclusions The results are in agreement with our earlier study using haemorrhage as a controlled physiological stimulus of erythropoietin production, and would question a major role for adenosine as a mediator of renal erythropoietin production.     

Extracellular characteristics of putative cholinergic neurons in the rat laterodorsal tegmental nucleus

The extracellular electrophysiological properties of neurons in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), a major source of cholinergic afferents to the thalamus, were studied in chloral hydrate-anesthetized rats. A combination of antidromic activation from the thalamus and histological verification of recording sites was used to correlate the identity of extracellular recordings in the rat LDT with cholinergic neurons in that region. All neurons antidromically activated by stimulation of the anteroventral thalamus were histologically verified to be within clusters of cholinergic (NADPH-d-positive) cells in the LDT or in the adjacent nucleus locus coeruleus (LC). The thalamically projecting LDT neurons had a homogeneous neurophysiological profile consisting of long duration action potentials (mean = 2.5 ms), slow conduction velocities (mean = 0.78 m/s), and lengthy chronaxie values (mean = 0.725 ms). The appearance and axonal characteristics of these neurons resembled those of noradrenergic LC neurons, but the two populations exhibited substantially different spontaneous activity patterns and sensory responsiveness. These characteristics may be useful in the preliminary identification of putative cholinergic neurons in vivo, and thereby provide a foundation for exploring the neuropharmacology, afferent modulation, sensory responsiveness and behavioral correlates of the brainstem cholinergic system.     

中药延胡索的炮制研究

本文采用容量法及电位测定法分别测定了延胡索生品及醋炒、醋蒸、醋煮、酒炒和盐炒5种延胡索炮制品中的总生物碱含量,另采用薄层扫描法及紫外分光光度法测定上述6种样品中的延胡索乙素含量,并对各种样品进行了小白鼠止痛试验。实验结果表明,延胡索用醋炮制或用酒炮制均能提高其水煎液中总生物碱和延胡索乙素的煎出量,并能增强其止痛作用,其中醋制法较为显著。实验结果与临床上多用醋制延胡索入药的经验相符合。     

Dopaminergic transmission in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus to produce acupuncture analgesia in correlation with the pituitary gland

Acupuncture analgesia (AA) caused by low frequency stimulation of the acupuncture point (AP) was abolished by hypophysectomy and adrenalectomy. Termination of the AA producing pathway from the AP to the pituitary gland was in the medial hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (M-HARN). The origin of the descending pain inhibitory system associated with AA was in the posterior HARN (P-HARN). AA in the hypophysectomized rats, and enhanced neuronal activity in the P-HARN that were abolished during acupuncture stimulation, were both restored by intraperitoneal microinjection of 0.5 mg/kg morphine or 0.1 micrograms beta-endorphin into the P-HARN during acupuncture stimulation. Of the analgesia produced by dopamine or beta-endorphin injected into the P-HARN, that caused by beta-endorphin disappeared after denervation of the M-HARN. The P-HARN neurons that responded to acupuncture stimulation also responded to iontophoretic dopamine, but not to iontophoretic morphine nor ultramicroinjected beta-endorphin. The transmission between the M-HARN and P-HARN may be dopaminergic, and beta-endorphin might presynaptically modulate this transmission. Reduction of sodium ions may have been the reason for abolition of AA after adrenalectomy.     

二十四员大环双核铜(Ⅱ)配合物的合成及其对超氧化物歧化酶的模拟--Ⅱ配合物的歧化超氧离子的活性

用核黄素光照法测定自合成的2，6-二乙酰基吡啶缩3-氧杂戊烷1，5-二胺大环，H20、im^-、N3^-及SCN^-为桥基的双核铜（Ⅱ）配合物的超氧化物歧化酶活性，它们均在10^-5-10^-7mol/L的浓度范围内具有50%以上抑制率。     

树突状细胞激活的肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞体外对自体肝癌细胞杀伤活性的研究

目的探讨树突状细胞(DC)激活的肿瘤浸润性淋巴细胞(TIL)体外对自体肝癌细胞杀伤活性.方法从肝癌患者外周血获取DC,应用粒/巨噬细胞集落刺激因子(GM-CSF)、白细胞介素-4(IL-4)和肿瘤抗原激活DC,然后用DC来激活TIL,观察TIL在体外对自体肝癌细胞的杀伤活性.结果DC激活的TIL具有很高的对自体肝癌细胞杀伤活性,杀伤率为(89.39±3.05)%,明显高于未经DC激活的TIL、CD激活的T淋巴细胞和未经DC激活的T淋巴细胞对自体肝癌细胞的杀伤率.结论肝癌患者外周血DC能诱导TIL产生高效而特异的抗肝癌免疫.     

Maximal oxygen uptake,anthropometry and physical activity in a randomly selected sample of 8 and 13 year old children in Sweden

Summary Maximal oxygen uptake was assessed in 101 randomly selected 8 and 13 year old children. In both age groups a significantly higher aerobic capacity was found in boys than in girls, both in absolute terms and when maximal oxygen uptake was related to body weight, lean body mass and lean leg volume. Among girls, maximal oxygen uptake per kg body weight was lower in the older than in the younger (p<0.05). Estimation of spontaneous physical activity, by means of a questionnaire and the actometry method, indicated that physical activity was greater in children with a high than in those with a low aerobic capacity.     

慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能及其与日常生活能力的比较研究

目的 :了解慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能和日常生活能力状况 ,探讨此类患者在额叶执行功能和记忆方面的神经心理功能障碍及其特征。方法 :采用简易智力状态检查 (MMSE)、日常生活能力量表 (ADL)、威斯康星卡片分类测验 (WCST)及韦氏记忆量表 (WMS)对 31例慢性老年精神分裂症和 31例正常对照组进行比较研究。结果 :慢性老年精神分裂症组MMSE得分明显低于正常对照组 (P <0 .0 1) ;而该组ADL总分明显高于正常对照组(P <0 .0 5 )。除非持续错误外 ,慢性老年精神分裂症患者的威斯康星卡片分类测验和韦氏记忆量表的各项测验成绩均差于对照组 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论 :慢性老年精神分裂症患者认知功能的障碍决定了患者日常生活能力的减退 ;这类患者有明显的额叶执行功能障碍和记忆障碍     

Characteristics of neuronal activity in prefrontal cortex during performance of spatial delayed reactions in monkeys

Several types of neurons were differentiated on the basis of a study of neuronal activity in various parts of the cortex near the sulcus principalis during the execution of spatial delayed reactions by monkeys. It was established that the different types of neurons are represented in different numbers in. different parts of the cortex near the sulcus principalis. The determination of several factors influencing the activity of these neurons and the comparison of data on their quantitative representation in the anterior, middle, and posterior parts of the cortex near the sulcus principalis with the existing behavioral data obtained after local ablations of identical regions of the brain made it possible to postulate that neurons belonging to the different types are involved in the analysis of different processes and represent different functional units.Translated from Fiziologicheskii. Zhurnal SSSR imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 71, No. 12, pp. 1488–1494, December, 1985.