10 research outputs found
Cerebrospinal fluid sodium rhythms
Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sodium levels have been reported to rise during episodic migraine. Since
migraine frequently starts in early morning or late afternoon, we hypothesized that natural sodium chronobiology
may predispose susceptible persons when extracellular CSF sodium increases. Since no mammalian brain sodium
rhythms are known, we designed a study of healthy humans to test if cation rhythms exist in CSF.
Methods: Lumbar CSF was collected every ten minutes at 0.1 mL/min for 24 h from six healthy participants. CSF
sodium and potassium concentrations were measured by ion chromatography, total protein by fluorescent
spectrometry, and osmolarity by freezing point depression. We analyzed cation and protein distributions over the
24 h period and spectral and permutation tests to identify significant rhythms. We applied the False Discovery Rate
method to adjust significance levels for multiple tests and Spearman correlations to compare sodium fluctuations
with potassium, protein, and osmolarity.
Results: The distribution of sodium varied much more than potassium, and there were statistically significant
rhythms at 12 and 1.65 h periods. Curve fitting to the average time course of the mean sodium of all six subjects
revealed the lowest sodium levels at 03.20 h and highest at 08.00 h, a second nadir at 09.50 h and a second peak
at 18.10 h. Sodium levels were not correlated with potassium or protein concentration, or with osmolarity.
Conclusion: These CSF rhythms are the first reports of sodium chronobiology in the human nervous system. The
results are consistent with our hypothesis that rising levels of extracellular sodium may contribute to the timing of
migraine onset. The physiological importance of sodium in the nervous system suggests that these rhythms may
have additional repercussions on ultradian functions
Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood-Related Neural and Behavioural Phenotypes in Na+,K+-ATPase α3 Missense Mutant Mice
Missense mutations in ATP1A3 encoding Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3 have been identified as the primary cause of alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), a motor disorder with onset typically before the age of 6 months. Affected children tend to be of short stature and can also have epilepsy, ataxia and learning disability. The Na(+),K(+)-ATPase has a well-known role in maintaining electrochemical gradients across cell membranes, but our understanding of how the mutations cause AHC is limited. Myshkin mutant mice carry an amino acid change (I810N) that affects the same position in Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3 as I810S found in AHC. Using molecular modelling, we show that the Myshkin and AHC mutations display similarly severe structural impacts on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3, including upon the K(+) pore and predicted K(+) binding sites. Behavioural analysis of Myshkin mice revealed phenotypic abnormalities similar to symptoms of AHC, including motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment. 2-DG imaging of Myshkin mice identified compromised thalamocortical functioning that includes a deficit in frontal cortex functioning (hypofrontality), directly mirroring that reported in AHC, along with reduced thalamocortical functional connectivity. Our results thus provide validation for missense mutations in Na(+),K(+)-ATPase α3 as a cause of AHC, and highlight Myshkin mice as a starting point for the exploration of disease mechanisms and novel treatments in AHC