Perception of hunger and satiety induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

The effect of intracellular glucopenia induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) on changes in hunger ratings, blood glucose, plasms cortisol, and prolactin levels were examined in six female patients with primary anorexia nervosa, three patients with bulimia nervosa, and six age-and sex-matched volunteers. In the normal subjects, hunger ratings obtained by the linear visual analog technique increased significantly at 60 minutes after 2-DG infusion and remained elevated. In Patients with anorexia nervosa, however, hunger ratins paradoxically decreased significantly at 90 minutes. In normal subjects, the ingestion of a 20-minute lunch relieved hunger, but neither the anorexic patients nor bulimic patients felt satiety even after food intake. These results suggest that the perception of hunger induced by 2-DG in anorexia nervosa and that of satiety in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are disturbed.     

Effect of food deprivation on opioid receptor binding in the brain of lean and fatty Zucker rats

The effect of food deprivation on opioid receptor binding was studied in 6 brain regions of lean and fatty Zucker rats; using [3H]dynorphin A. There was no significant difference between lean and fatty rats fed ad libitum in binding parameters for any regions studied. Food deprivation increased Bmax and/or Kd for cortex, midbrain and striatum of lean rats, and the former two regions of fatty rats. These results suggest that food deprivation may influence opioid receptor binding in lean and fatty Zucker rats.     

Thyrotoxic graves’ disease with normal thyroidal technetium-99m pertechnetate uptake

We saw 24 thyrotoxic Graves' patients with normal thyroidal uptake of technetium-99m pertechnetate (99mTc) out of 201 untreated thyrotoxic Graves' patients seen over 4 years. The clinical and laboratory findings for these patients were studied and analysed. Thyroid uptake and scintigraphic examinations by means of 99mTc, TBII and TSab activity measurement clearly distinguished these patients from other thyrotoxic disorders (destruction-induced thyrotoxicosis and autonomously functioning thyroid lesions). Different from other disorders, these patients had not lower but normal thyroid uptake and also showed diffuse and discrete trapping into the enlarged glands. These patients had significantly smaller goiters, a lower serum thyroid hormone level, and lower TBII and TSab activity, when compared with other high 99mTc uptake groups with Graves' disease, and their condition could be easily controlled with small amounts of antithyroid drugs. Our study indicates that thyrotoxic Graves' disease with normal 99mTc uptake exists and 99mTc uptake study and TBII activity measurement is very useful for the diagnosis. The normal 99mTc uptake thyrotoxic Graves' patient might be early stage patients with general Graves' disease and their early discrimination from general Graves' patients is very advantageous for treatment and prognosis.     

Diffuse reduced uptake in 99m-Tc-HM-PAO SPECT and high level of neuron-specific enolase in cerebrospinal fluid in the early stage of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease]

We report an autopsy-diagnosed case of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) showing diffuse reduced uptake in SPECT and a high level of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A 75-year-old woman with a 3-month history of progressive gait ataxia and dementia was examined. Four months after onset of the disease, she developed an akinetic mutism with normal CT and MRI. She was admitted for further examination, and electroencephalography showed periodic synchronous discharges. NSE in the CSF showed a high level at 90.6 ng/ml, and SPECT showed diffuse reduced uptake in the supratentorial region, with relatively spared uptake in the cerebellum. She died 13 months after onset of the disease, and the autopsy diagnosis was CJD. SPECT data and the level of NSE in CSF seem to be useful for clinical diagnosis and pathogenetic analysis in the early stage of CJD.     

The effect of insulin on elder phenylketonuric patients.

The effect of insulin on blood phenylalanine, tyrosine and catecholamine levels was investigated in six phenylketonuric patients and eight normal controls. The plasma phenylalanine-tyrosine ratio was lower after insulin injection in five of six patients. In four patients the plasma catecholamine concentrations increased. The tyramine level was remarkably high one hour after insulin injection. Urinary homovanillic acid was elevated in four patients. It appeared that insulin treatment produced some therapeutic effects in patients with smaller phenylalanine-tyrosine ratios or elevated catecholamine levels.     

Enhanced Fos expression in rat lumbar spinal cord cultured with cerebrospinal fluid from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

School, Okayama, Japan The etiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains unknown although an existence of neurotoxic substances in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ALS patients have been postulated. In order to investigate a possible effect of CSF from ALS patients on cellular signaling in spinal neurons, we compared Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) in organotypic cultures of rat lumbar spinal cord after addition of CSF from ALS patients or another neurologic disease. Fos-LI was normally present predominantly in dorsal horn neurons, whereas only a few ventral horn neurons were positive for Fos-LI. The number of Fos-LI positive neurons significantly increased in dorsal horn with addition of CSF from ALS patients as well as glutamate at 100 μM. However, the increase was not observed with addition of CSF from other neurologic diseases. The increase in Fos-LI positive neurons in dorsal horn was reversed by a further supplement of MK801, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, but not of CNQX, an a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4- isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)/kainate antagonist. These results indicate that there may be substances in CSF from ALS patients that stimulate Fos expression in certain populations of spinal neurons via the NMDA receptors. [Neurol Res 1999; 21: 309-312]