Nerve conduction studies in the early diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the importance of split-hand phenomenon

Aim: The heterogeneity of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) clinical phenotypes leads to difficulties in early diagnosis. The ‘split hand’ sign is defined as the thenar muscles that are more prominently affected by hypothenar. In this study, the results of the initial nerve conduction study of the patients were compared with those of the controls in order to increase the findings supporting early diagnosis. Material and Method: Seventy-five patients who were diagnosed with ALS in our clinic were included in the study. The initial ENMG findings of the patients were compared with those of 70 healthy controls: Distal motor latency (DML), the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude, velocity in the motor conduction of median, ulnar, peroneal and tibial nerves; distal latency, amplitude, velocity in sensorial conduction were evaluated. Ulnar/median DML and ulnar/median CMAP amplitude ratios were examined. Results: In ALS group, DMLs of the median, ulnar, peroneal, and tibial nerves were significantly longer, and CMAP amplitudes were significantly smaller than those of the controls. The sensory conductions of the median, ulnar, and sural nerves were not statistically different between the groups. The ulnar/median DML ratio of the patients was lower than the ratio of controls (0.73/0.80;p=0.003); while the ulnar/median CMAP amplitude ratio was greater (1.40/1.11; p=0.002). Conclusion: Prolonged DML and reduced amplitudes were observed in the motor nerve conduction of ALS patients in the early period. The results of the present study also support the presence of split-hand phenomenon even in early period of limb-onset ALS (both upper and lower). These findings suggest that nerve conduction studies and electrophysiologically detected split-hand sign are important clues for the early diagnosis of ALS in case of heterogeneous clinical phenotype

Lacosamide Increases Absence Seizures and Anxiety-Like Behavior in WAG/Rij Rat Model

Objective:The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of antiepileptic drug lacosamide on spontaneous absence seizures and anxiety in genetic absence-epilepsy WAG/Rij rats.Methods:Tripolar electrodes were placed in the cortex of WAG/Rij rats in each group using a stereotaxic instrument. Saline (4 mL/kg) was administered to the rats in the control group, while 5, 10, 25, and 50 mg/kg lacosamide was administered intraperitoneally to the rats in lacosamide groups. After lacosamide injections, elect roenc ephal ograp hy recording was taken for 180 minutes. Then, the open field test was performed for 5 minutes.Results:The total number and duration of spikes and wave discharges increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner after lacosamide injection in all lacosamide groups compared to the control group (P < .001). In addition, the seizure activity of rats in all groups began to increase 10 minutes after lacosamide injections (P < 0.001). Intermittent loss of clinical righting reflex was observed after absence seizures and convulsions also developed. Epileptic seizure activity with simultaneous sharp spikes was observed in the elect roenc ephal ograp hy recording, and a dose-dependent seizure activity increase was observed (P < .001). All lacosamide groups had significantly lower values for the number of squares crossed, number of rearing, and duration of grooming in the open field test compared to the control group.Conclusion:It was found in the present study that absence seizures in WAG/Rij rats increased in a dose-dependent manner after lacosamide treatment. Anxietylike behaviors were also increased by lacosamide treatment

A Dyskinesia Case Induced by Pramipexole, Pregabalin and Gabapentin After Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Drug-induced dyskinesias can be seen occasionally in clinical practice. Here we present a 70-year-old patient who developed a noticeable dyskinesia after the use of pramipexole, gabapentin, pregabalin respectively for the restless legs syndrome. Prior to this condition, he had been hospitalized in intensive care unit for the myocardial infarction required cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and he had been discharged with no neurological deficits. The case presented here is a good example indicating the importance of being alert for drug-induced dyskinesias after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, even though everything else seems righ

The Importance of Hypothermia in the Effects of Paracetamol on the Electrical Activity of the Brain in Pentylenetetrazole Induced Experimental Status Epilepticus in Rats

Objectives:Paracetamol is a commonly used analgesic and antipyretic agent. In studies investigating the effects of paracetamol on seizure activity, to our knowledge, the hypothermic effect has not been evaluated in studies investigating the hypothermic effects of paracetamol, its activity on seizures has not been evaluated. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of paracetamol on seizure and intracranial temperature simultaneously in rats.Methods:Status epilepticus (SE) was induced with pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). In the control group (Group I), SE was induced with PTZ and paracetamol was not administered. Paracetamol was administered in Group II and after 30 minutes, PTZ was injected. Paracetamol was injected immediately after PTZ injection in Group III. Electrocorticography recording was taken for 120 min in all groups and the intracranial temperature was measured.Results:In groups given paracetamol, the spike frequency was significantly lower than that of the control group for 120 min. In paracetamol-treated groups (Groups II and III), the intracranial temperature statistically decreased from the baseline at 30 minutes and hypothermia developed. Both the spike frequency and the intracranial temperature in Group II were statistically significantly lower than those of Group III at 60th min while at the 120th minute, the values for Group III were determined to be lower than those for Group II.Conclusion:The parallel decrease in spike frequency and intracranial temperature suggests that paracetamol reduces intracranial temperature to prevent epileptic activity. Rather than being a prodrug, paracetamol may be an effective drug in the treatment of status epilepticus

Bioactive compounds and physical attributes of Cornus mas genotypes through multivariate approaches

Cornelian cherry fruits are quite rich in bioactive compounds. Natural colour, rich flavonoids and anthocyanins and high antioxidant activity have made the fruits a natural drug. In the present study, antioxidant activity, total flavonoids and total phenolics of naturally growing 18 cornelian cherry genotypes with different phenotypic characteristics were determined. Size and shape parameters of the genotypes were also determined with the image-processing method; sphericity, elongation and shape index were calculated and shapes of two-dimensional fruit images were compared with elliptic Fourier analysis. Antioxidant activity, total flavonoid contents and total phenolic amounts of the genotypes were varied between 55.062 and 152.420 mmol TE. kg(-1), 286.40 and 2,882.80 mg QE. kg(-1), and 2,644.80 and 12,959.00 mg GAE. kg(-1), respectively. Multivariate variance analysis conducted based on physical characteristics revealed that six genotypes were different from the others. Shape analysis with Elliptic Fourier method revealed that the majority of present cornelian cherry genotypes had an oval appearance and a small portion of them had a drop-like appearance. According to discriminant analysis and Hotelling's pair-wise comparison tests, there were five different shape groups for present genotypes. A single genotype was placed into one of these groups, thus it was determined that this genotype was totally different in shape from the others

Bioactive compounds and physical attributes of Cornus mas genotypes through multivariate approaches

Cornelian cherry fruits are quite rich in bioactive compounds. Natural colour, rich flavonoids and anthocyanins and high antioxidant activity have made the fruits a natural drug. In the present study, antioxidant activity, total flavonoids and total phenolics of naturally growing 18 cornelian cherry genotypes with different phenotypic characteristics were determined. Size and shape parameters of the genotypes were also determined with the image-processing method; sphericity, elongation and shape index were calculated and shapes of two-dimensional fruit images were compared with elliptic Fourier analysis. Antioxidant activity, total flavonoid contents and total phenolic amounts of the genotypes were varied between 55.062 and 152.420 mmol TE · kg−1, 286.40 and 2,882.80 mg QE · kg−1, and 2,644.80 and 12,959.00 mg GAE · kg−1, respectively. Multivariate variance analysis conducted based on physical characteristics revealed that six genotypes were different from the others. Shape analysis with Elliptic Fourier method revealed that the majority of present cornelian cherry genotypes had an oval appearance and a small portion of them had a drop-like appearance. According to discriminant analysis and Hotelling's pair-wise comparison tests, there were five different shape groups for present genotypes. A single genotype was placed into one of these groups, thus it was determined that this genotype was totally different in shape from the others

Biochemical composition and shape-dimensional traits of rosehip genotypes

In the present study, the biochemical composition and shape and dimensional traits of 25 rosehip (Rosa canina) genotypes were investigated. The shape and dimensional traits were determined by image processing technique. Seed-propagated rosehip genotypes belonging to R. canina were collected from the natural flora of Mesudiye (Ordu) and Talas (Kayseri) districts. Antioxidant activity (39.510-72.673 mmol center dot kg(-1)), total flavonoids (287.80-1,686.20 mg quercetin equivalent (QE) center dot kg(-1)) and total phenolics (38,519.40-79,080.60 mg gallic acid equivalent center dot kg(-1)) of the genotypes exhibited large variations. Width (12.2 mm) and thickness (12.5 mm) of fruits averages were found to be close to each other. The genotypes exhibited fruit lengths between 12.0 mm and 29.5 mm. Average projected area at horizontal orientation (179.7 mm(2)) was greater than the projected area at vertical orientation (120.4 mm(2)). Sphericity average was calculated as 71.4%. According to principal component (PC) analysis, the most important dimensional traits discriminating genotypes from each other were identified as surface area, geometric mean diameter and volume. In terms of shape attributes, distinctive differences were observed in sphericity, circularity, elongation and surface closure rates (SCR) of the genotypes. According to elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA), genotypes look like a sphere. In terms of shape, there were long, spherical, flat bottomed, pointed bottomed and asymmetric-looking genotypes indicating how environment and genotype affect the fruit shape. The greatest shape variation was transverse contraction and expansion. According to the clustering analysis for shape attributes, rosehip genotypes were classified into six groups. Dendrogram, scatter plots of linear discriminant analysis and paired comparison test results put forth the shape differences of the genotype successfully

Efficacy and safety profile of COVID-19 vaccine in cancer patients: A prospective, multicenter cohort study

Aim: To compare the seropositivity rate of cancer patients with non-cancer controls after inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (CoronaVac) and evaluate the factors affecting seropositivity. Method: Spike IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were measured in blood samples of 776 cancer patients and 715 non-cancer volunteers. An IgG level >= 50 AU/ml is accepted as seropositive. Results: The seropositivity rate was 85.2% in the patient group and 97.5% in the control group. The seropositivity rate and antibody levels were significantly lower in the patient group (p < 0.001). Age and chemotherapy were associated with lower seropositivity in cancer patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study highlighted the efficacy and safety of the inactivated vaccine in cancer patients. Clinical Trials Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov) Plain language summary Cancer patients are at high risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and of developing the associated disease, COVID-19, which therefore puts them in the priority group for vaccination. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of CoronaVac, an inactivated virus vaccine, in cancer patients. The immune response rate, defined as seropositivity, was 85.2% in the cancer patient group and 97.5% in the control group. The levels of antibodies, which are blood markers of immune response to the vaccine, were also significantly lower in the patient group, especially in those older than 60 years and receiving chemotherapy. These results highlight the importance of determining the effective vaccine type and dose in cancer patients to protect them from COVID-19 without disrupting their cancer treatment.Oncological Clinical Research Association (ONKAD