Relationship between apoptosis and proliferation in secondary tumors of the brain

A correlation between apoptosis and proliferation in astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas, but not in glioblastomas, has been previously reported. An index for apoptosis and proliferation was established for each tumor in a series of 20 brain metastases, and its correlation was studied using the Spearman rank correlation test. Apoptosis index (AI) ranged between 1 and 78% (mean ± SD: 11.48 ± 16.4). Proliferation index (PI) ranged between 2.4 and 21% (mean ± SD: 8.23 ± 4.8). When the relationship between AI and PI was studied, a clear correlation was found (r: 0.8965, 95% CI: 0.74–0.95; P < 0.0001). Therefore, it is concluded that a clear correlation exists between proliferation and apoptosis in secondary tumors of the brain.     

In vivo multiple-mouse imaging at 1.5 T.

A multiple-mouse solenoidal MR coil was developed for in vivo imaging of up to 13 mice simultaneously to screen for tumors on a 1.5 T clinical scanner. For the coil to be effective as a screening tool, it should permit acquisition of MRIs in which orthotopic tumors with diameters >2 mm are detectable in a reasonable period of time (<1 hr magnet time) and their sizes accurately measured. Using a spin echo sequence, we demonstrated that this coil provides sufficient sensitivity for moderately high resolution images (156-176 microm in plane-resolution, 1.5 mm slice thickness). This spatial resolution permitted detection of primary brain tumors in transgenic/knockout mice and orthotopic xenografts. Brain tumor size as measured by MRI was correlated with size measured by histopathology (P < 0.001). Metastatic tumors in the mouse lung were also successfully imaged in a screening setting. The multiple mouse coil is simple in construction and may be implemented without any significant modification to the hardware or software on a clinical scanner.     

Alcohol and drug use following traumatic brain injury: A prospective study

Primary objectives: To establish pre-morbid alcohol and drug use in persons with TBI, relative to controls, investigate how patterns of substance use change over time following TBI and identify factors associated with heavy post-injury substance use.

Methods and procedures: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification test (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) was completed by 121 hospital inpatients with TBI, documenting pre-injury alcohol and drug use, and 133 demographically similar controls. Participants with TBI completed these measures and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) again 1 and 2 years post-injury and 76 also completed them at 3 years.

Results: Participants with TBI showed similar levels of drug and alcohol use to controls pre-injury, with 31.4% of the TBI group and 29.3% of controls drinking at hazardous levels. Alcohol and drug use declined in the first year post-injury, but increased by 2 years post-injury, with only 21.4% of participants with TBI reporting abstinence from alcohol and 25.4% drinking at hazardous levels. Only 9% showed a drug problem, but 24% had returned to some drug use. Those showing heavy alcohol use post-injury were young, male and heavy drinkers pre-injury. Drug and alcohol use was similar at 3 years post-injury.

Conclusions: More active intervention is needed to reduce alcohol and drug use following TBI.     

Memory outcome at 5 years post-childhood traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: This study seeks to extend previous findings by documenting memory performance in a sample of 70 children at 5 years post-injury. It was anticipated that increasing injury severity would be associated with decreased performance on working and complex memory tasks. It was also expected that injury severity would significantly predict memory, but that the time from insult to subsequent testing would be associated with an increased relationship to non-injury factors.

Research design: Participants were assessed at 5 years post-injury, aged between 6-14 years, using measures of immediate, working and complex memory.

Methods and procedures: The sample comprised 18 children who had sustained a severe TBI, 24 with a moderate TBI, 11 with a mild TBI and 17 healthy controls, matched for age, gender and socio-economic-status.

Results: Results indicated that severe TBI was associated with decreased complex auditory-verbal memory performance, although children with TBI did not display impairment on immediate, working or complex visual-spatial memory. While injury severity significantly predicted complex memory outcome, non-injury factors failed to significantly predict either working or complex memory performance.

Conclusions: Future research should be engineered towards further clarifying what influences recovery from childhood TBI in the elongated post-injury period.     

神经生长因子治疗颅脑损伤52例

本文报告用水囊引产胎儿脑黑质制备的神经生长因子(NGF)治疗52例颅脑损伤的临床观察结果:显效率91%。有效率100%,轻、中型患者疗效明显,显效率100%。其中头昏头痛,语言障碍,精神异常,大小便失禁,肢体功能障碍都有明显疗效。而且对儿童和病程短者效果更佳。认为治疗机理可能是 NGF 能预防神经元坏死,促进神经元及其纤维增生有关。结果表明,NGF 在治疗脑外伤及其后遗症中疗效确切,在颅外伤及其后遗症中可广为应用。     

新生鼠和成年鼠脑7种微量元素含量的比较

利用高频电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法（ICP－AES）测定Sprunge－Dawley大鼠新生期大脑皮层、海马、小脑、间脑和脑桥等部位的锌、铁、铜、锰、铬、锶、钼等7种微量元素的含量，并与成年动物做了比较。结果表明：（1）新生期大鼠全脑7种微量元素含量的多寡依次为：锌、铁、铬、锶、锰、铜、钼；成年期时钢跃居第四位，总含量低于新生期。（2）脑内不同部位微量元素的含量不同。新生大鼠海马和小脑内多数元素含量高于其他脑区，钼在间脑和海马中含量较高。成年鼠皮层、海马微量元素含量较高，皮层内铜、锶、钼含量最低。     

Conditions of Alzheimer-type dementia in the old-old and oldest-old patients with special reference to extreme conditions of brain aging

A neuropathological study on 1540 consecutive autopsy brains ranging from 60 to 107 years of age revealed the following points. (1) Of the of the demented cases of the plaque-predominant type, 93% were complicated with multiple tiny cortical infarcts. They showed a tendency for dementia to develop before or after the appearance or worsening of a systemic disorder such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory infection and cancer. However, there was no case showing Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD). (2) The plaque-predominant type might be an extreme condition of brain aging in terms of senile plaques (SP). It is likely that although the pathological appearance of SP alone is not responsible for dementia, its coexistence with multiple cortical infarcts could be the cause of dementia. Therefore, this type should be distinguished from ATD. (3) Primary hippocampal degeneration could also be an extreme condition of brain aging in terms of neurofibrillary tangles. This condition was different pathologically from the hippocampal lesion in ATD. (4) Several characteristics of old-old and oldest-old patients were clarified.     

The use of a priori knowledge to quantify short echo in vivo 1h mr spectra

In vivo ¹H MR spectra of the prefrontal cortex acquired with the stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) TE = 20 ms sequence were quantified to determine relative levels of cerebral metabolites. A priori knowledge of spectra from individual metabolites in aqueous solution was incorporated into a frequency domain quantification technique. The accuracy and precision of modeling these metabolites were investigated with simulated spectra of varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and relative metabolite levels. The efficacy of modeling in vivo data was tested by quantifying 10 repeated measures of two consecutively acquired in vivo spectra (an 8?cm³ volume of interest (VOI) and a 4?cm³ VOI positioned within the 8?cm³ VOI) on the same normal subject. The differences in levels of glutamate (Glu), phosphocreatine plus creatine (PCr+Cr) and choline-containing compounds (Cho₁ between spectra from the 8? and 4?cm³ VOIs corresponded with the expected differences observed in the proportions of gray matter within the VOIs (estimated from ¹H images). Correcting for the T₁ and T₂ relaxation, the estimated concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, PCr+Cr, Cho₁, Glu, and glutamine were consistent with previous in vivo and in vitro reports.     

Functional mri of human brain activation combining high spatial and temporal resolution by a cine flash technique

Functional mapping of human brain activation has been accomplished at high spatial and temporal resolution (voxel size 4.9 μl, temporal increment 100 ms). The approach was based on oxygenation-sensitive long-echo time FLASH MRI sequences synchronized to multiply repeated cycles of visual stimulation in a CINE acquisition mode. This high temporal resolution revealed that stimulus-related signal intensity changes in human visual cortex display an initial latency followed by increases extending over several seconds. Furthermore, the temporal characteristics of the complete CINE MRI signal time course depended on the absolute and relative durations of activation and control periods and, for example, caused an apparent absence of a poststimulation “undershoot” phenomenon. Complementing hyperoxygenation due to rapid hemodynamic adjustments, these results suggest signal intensity modulation by enhanced oxygen consumption and concomitant deoxygenation during prolonged and/or repetitive stimulation.