Potassium and sodium ions in the nerve tissue of emotionally overstrained rabbits

Measurement of K⁺ and Na⁺ concentrations in samples of individual brain nuclei and in ganglia of the autonomic nervous system from rabbits subjected to severe emotional stress (ES) through aperiodic stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei and electrocutaneous stimulation revealed significantly altered levels of these ions in locus ceruleus samples from animals predisposed to ES-induced cardiovascular disorders and in samples of neurons of the caudal part of the brainstem from those resistant to such disorders. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 118, No 8, pp. 129–131, August, 1994 Presented by K. V. Sudakov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Response of the locus coeruleus to asphyxia

To discover the mechanisms of function of the locus coeruleus (LC), methods of light and electron microscopy were used to study the responses of neurons of this nucleus to experimental asphyxia. Besides specific neuronal effects (taking place either directly through axons of LC cells or indirectly through the brainstem reticular formation), LC was shown to have a humoral effect on the brain structures. Two possible mechanisms of transmission of catecholamines synthesized in the soma of the LC cells into the bloodstream are postulated: through the cell membrane and subsequently through the basement membrane of the capillary and cytoplasm of the endothelial cell, and with the participation of glial elements.P. K. Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR S. S. Debov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 106–109, July, 1977.     

Current problems in diagnosis and treatment of hereditary disturbances of growth and development in children

The authors' long-term experience in diagnosing and treating childhood hereditary growth and developmental disturbances, such as genetic diseases of connective tissue, amino acid metabolic disturbances, rickets-like diseases, mitochondrial abnormalities, Rett syndrome, and fragile X syndrome is presented. The findings suggest that multimodality treatment is highly effective in treating children with hereditary growth and developmental disturbances in genetic care.     

The use of three-dimensional reconstruction in neuroroentgenology

The recent advent of spiral computed tomography (CT) and new fast impulse sequences in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) into diagnostic practice has expanded the range of brain and spinal diseases detected by these techniques. This has also expanded the field of use of three-dimensional images obtained on the basis of mathematical algorithms for processing CT and MRI data. At present, not only neurotraumatology and maxillofacial surgery are the main areas in applying three-dimensional models. Spatial representation of bulky formations of the brain, their mutual location with the adjacent anatomic structures (with ventricles of the brain) may be useful in choosing a surgical access and in planning the scope of a surgical intervention. CT- and MR-angiographies that are now successfully used in diagnosing vascular pathology, providing high-solution angiograms not only can be competitive with direct angiography, but can replace this sophisticated study for vascular stenotic processes in the neck. Moreover, analyzing the internal surface of the vascular wall on the basis of virtual endoscopy may be useful in direct surgical and endovascular interventions. The purpose of this study was to pool long-term experience in using three-dimensional images in the qualitative improvement of diagnostic methods in examining neurosurgical patients and to define the most promising lines of their use in neurosurgery as a whole.     

Metabolism of Subchondral Bone Tissue in Posttraumatic Osteoarthrosis in Rats

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine - In rats with modeled posttraumatic knee osteoarthrosis, negative changes in subchondral bone metabolism were revealed: a tendency to an increase in...