Premature Centromere Division of Metaphase Chromosomes in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: Relation to Gender and Age

Chromosomal alterations are a feature of both aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study examined if premature centromere division (PCD), a chromosomal instability indicator increased in AD, is correlated with aging or, instead, represents a de novo chromosomal alteration due to accelerating aging in AD. PCD in peripheral blood lymphocytes was determined in sporadic AD patients and gender and age-matched unaffected controls. Metaphase nuclei were analyzed for chromosomes showing PCD, X chromosomes with PCD (PCD,X), and acrocentric chromosomes showing PCD. AD patients, regardless of age, demonstrated increased PCD on any chromosome and PCD on acrocentric chromosomes in both genders, whereas an increase in frequency of PCD,X was expressed only in women. This cytogenetic analysis suggests that PCD is a feature of AD, rather than an epiphenomenon of chronological aging, and may be useful as a physiological biomarker that can be used for disease diagnosis

Transcortical sensory aphasia with preserved spontaneous speech and naming - A case study

The basic features of transcortical sensory aphasia are disturbance of auditory understanding of speech, anomia and preserved ability of repeating language stimuli. Spontaneous speech of patients with this aphasia is fluent, paraphasic and semantically scarce. In this paper we report a case of a 57-year-old patient, right-handed with a lesion of the temporo-parietal part of the left hemisphere whose aphasia differed from classical form of transcortical sensory aphasia in preserved naming and semantically coherent speech. It has been assumed that this type of aphasia results from dissociation between phonologic and semantic processing of linguistic symbols, where the phonemic-phonologic processes are preserved, while the approach from the receptive lexicon to semantic system is affected, i.e., areas responsible for semantic processing to linguistic information

Agrammatism as a isolation form of the acquired language disorder

A 52-year-old right-handed women with suddenly disorder of verbal communication, accompained by depression and impairment of memory has been presented. The results of language function examination have shown agrammatism, nonfluent and dysprosodic speech. Besides, the patient had memory and problem solving deficits

Agrammatism as a isolation form of the acquired language disorder

A 52-year-old right-handed women with suddenly disorder of verbal communication, accompained by depression and impairment of memory has been presented. The results of language function examination have shown agrammatism, nonfluent and dysprosodic speech. Besides, the patient had memory and problem solving deficits

Transcortical sensory aphasia with preserved spontaneous speech and naming - A case study

The basic features of transcortical sensory aphasia are disturbance of auditory understanding of speech, anomia and preserved ability of repeating language stimuli. Spontaneous speech of patients with this aphasia is fluent, paraphasic and semantically scarce. In this paper we report a case of a 57-year-old patient, right-handed with a lesion of the temporo-parietal part of the left hemisphere whose aphasia differed from classical form of transcortical sensory aphasia in preserved naming and semantically coherent speech. It has been assumed that this type of aphasia results from dissociation between phonologic and semantic processing of linguistic symbols, where the phonemic-phonologic processes are preserved, while the approach from the receptive lexicon to semantic system is affected, i.e., areas responsible for semantic processing to linguistic information

Clinical patterns of speech-language disorders in thalamic aphasias

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristic symptom cluster and the course of aphasia in 12 patients with single left thalamic lesion verified by CAT scan. The testing of language disorder was performed by standard linguistic tests for aphasia in the acute stage and one month after the insult. Although this clinical syndrome varied greatly it was possible to point out some common characteristics. Spontaneous speech was fluent, easily articulated, grammatically correct, with preserved melodic line. Word finding and understanding were impaired. The impaired comprehension and naming were prominent in all patients with different severity. Repetition skills were intact. During the naming testing patients accomplished better results after semantic help than after phonetic help. Verbal paraphasia errors appeared more frequently (9,78) than neologistic (2,22) and literal paraphasias (1,78). Results of the language fluency tests were worse during semantic categorization tests (5,50) than during animal naming (9,89). On the basis of these facts it was presumed that aphasia in patients with dominant thalamic lesion was the result of lexico-semantic language disorder. It was statistically proved that recovery from aphasia in these cases tended to be significant and rapid

Aphasia Arising from left thalamic haemorrhage

A patient, aged 58, with sudden loss of speech and right-sided haemiparesis is described. CT brain showed intracerebral haemorrhage in the left thalamus. The examination of speech function established aphasia characterized by anomia, comprehension disorders, paraphasia, perseveration, reduction of spontaneous speech, dyslexia and agraphia. Relation between thalamic aphasia and cortical aphasic syndromes is discussed. The obtained results are in agreement with the theory that emphasizes a specific role of thalamus in verbal communication.Приказан је болесник, стар 58 година, код којег је дошло до наглог губитка говора и десностране слабости. Преглед мозга компјутеризованом томографијом је показао интрацеребралну хеморагију у пределу левог таламуса. Испитивањем говорних функција показала се клиничка слика афазије у којој доминирају аномија, оштећено разумевање, парафазије, персеверације, редукција спонтаног говора, тешкоће у читању и аграфија. Разматран је однос таламичке афазије и кортексних афазичких синдрома. Добијени резултати допринос су теорији која наглашава специфичну улогу таламуса у акту вербалне комуникације

Aphasia Arising from left thalamic haemorrhage

A patient, aged 58, with sudden loss of speech and right-sided haemiparesis is described. CT brain showed intracerebral haemorrhage in the left thalamus. The examination of speech function established aphasia characterized by anomia, comprehension disorders, paraphasia, perseveration, reduction of spontaneous speech, dyslexia and agraphia. Relation between thalamic aphasia and cortical aphasic syndromes is discussed. The obtained results are in agreement with the theory that emphasizes a specific role of thalamus in verbal communication.Приказан је болесник, стар 58 година, код којег је дошло до наглог губитка говора и десностране слабости. Преглед мозга компјутеризованом томографијом је показао интрацеребралну хеморагију у пределу левог таламуса. Испитивањем говорних функција показала се клиничка слика афазије у којој доминирају аномија, оштећено разумевање, парафазије, персеверације, редукција спонтаног говора, тешкоће у читању и аграфија. Разматран је однос таламичке афазије и кортексних афазичких синдрома. Добијени резултати допринос су теорији која наглашава специфичну улогу таламуса у акту вербалне комуникације

Beneficial Effects of Ceftriaxone Against Pentylenetetrazole-Evoked Convulsions

Although considered to be generally safe, a number of P-lactam antibiotics have been associated with epileptic seizures in humans. Furthermore, some P-lactam antibiotics, including ceftriaxone, are used to evoke convulsions under experimental conditions. Recently it was demonstrated that ceftriaxone increased expression of the glutamate transporter (GLT1) and its biochemical and functional activity in the brain of rodents. GLT1 regulates extracellular concentrations of glutamate, an excitatory amino acid involved in the pathogenesis of seizures and epilepsy. Because of its rapid transfer of glutamate into neurons and adjacent glial cells, GLT1 diminishes glutamate toxicity. We investigated whether ceftriaxone (200 mg/kg body wt) administered intraperitoneally (ip) for 6 days could modify the convulsant effects of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ, 100 mg/kg ip) in inbred male BALBcAnNCR and C57 black (BL)/6 mice aged 4 and 12 weeks. Ceftriaxone pretreatment provided significant protective effects against PTZ-evoked generalized clonic convulsions (GCCs), generalized clonic-tonic convulsions (GCTCs), and convulsion-induced mortality during a period of 30 mins after PTZ administration. The incidence of GCCs, GCTCs, and death was statistically significantly lower for BALBcAnNCR mice of both ages, particularly younger mice. The latency time for each of the three parameters was significantly greater, with the exception of GCCs in adult mice. Protective effects of ceftriaxone were also noticed in adult C57BL/6 mice but not in prepubertal C57BL/6 mice. This is the first demonstration of anticonvulsant effects of ceftriaxone or any other P-lactam antibiotic, which are not uniform across the mouse population. Our results provide new insight into the effects of ceftriaxone, which need further investigation. Exp Biol Med 233:1389-1394, 2008Ministry or Science of the Republic of Serbia [143057