An experimental study on the efferent connections of the amygdaloid complex in the cat

The amygdalofugal fibers were studied III the cat with the silver method of NAUTA-GYGAX. 1. The amygdalofugal fibers are distributed by way of the stria terminalis, the longitudinal association bundle, the inferior thalamic peduncle, and the medial forebrain bundle. 2. The amygdalofugal fibers running through the longitudinal association bundle arise in the lateral principal, intermediate principal nuclei and the lateral and possibly intermediate parts of the periamygdaloid cortex, and terminate in the lateral preoptic nucleus, the bed nucleus of the anterior commissure, the olfactory tubercle, the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, the nucleus accumbens, the medial and posterior septal nuclei and the basal part of the head of the caudate nucleus. In addition, there are scattered fibers coursing along the longitudinal association bundle proper. These fibers may have a widespread origin from the amygdaloid complex. The longitudinal association bundle contributes no fibers to the medial forebrain bundle. 3. The fibers, originating from the lateral principal, intermediate principal and medial principal nuclei, join the medial forebrain bundle to distribute widely in the lateral hypothalamic nucleus. A few fibers are seen to reach the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, and are considered to arise in the medial principal nucleus. 4. By way of the inferior thalamic peduncle some fibers from the amygdaloid complex course dorsally into the medial part of the dorsomedial thalamic nucleus at its caudal levels. They may arise widely from the amygdaloid complex. A few of them extend farther dorsally to reach the lateral habenular nucleus and the parataenial nucleus. They probably originate from the lateral principal nucleus. 5. The fibers forming the stria terminalis originate from the medial principal nucleus, the medial nucleus, the periamygdaloid cortex and the cortical nucleus, and are distributed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the lateral preoptic nucleus (preoptic component), as well as the medial preoptic nucleus, the anterior hypothalamic nucleus and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (supracommissural component). The cortical nucleus, particularly its caudal part, and possibly the medial part of the periamygdaloid cortex are regarded as the main sources of the stria terminalis fibers ending in the hypothalamic region. The intermediate principal and lateral principal nuclei do not appear to contribute fibers to the stria terminalis. 6. The ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus receives amygdalofugal fibers both from the medial principal nucleus by way of the medial forebrain bundle, and from the cortical nucleus via the stria terminalis. 7. In addition to intrinsic internuclear fibers within the amygdaloid complex, some of the fibers from the complex are distributed to the ventralmost part of the putamen, the medial part of the claustrum, the periamygdaloid cortex, the prepiriform area and the anterior amygdaloid area, but do not reach the hippocampus.</p

Lacrimal Sac Malignant Melanoma in 15 Japanese Patients: Case Report and Literature Review

Background. Primary malignant melanoma of the lacrimal sac is rare. A patient with lacrimal sac melanoma was presented, and 14 Japanese patients with lacrimal sac melanoma in the literature were reviewed. Case Presentation. A 78-year-old Japanese man was presented with painless swelling of the lacrimal sac on the left side. Dacryocystectomy revealed diffuse infiltration with large epithelioid cells, sometimes with pigments, which were positive for cocktail mix of antibodies to tyrosinase, melan A (MART-1), and HMB45, leading to pathological diagnosis of melanoma. One month later, positron emission tomography (PET) revealed 2 high-uptake sites (SUVmax = 10.29 and 15.38) at the levels of medial canthus and nasolacrimal duct, but no abnormal uptake in the other site of the body. The lesion had the BRAF V600E mutation. He began to take daily oral dabrafenib (BRAF inhibitor) and trametinib (MEK inhibitor), leading to no abnormal uptake on PET in half a year. He had stable disease in good physical status with small and weak uptake sites of lymph nodes on PET 1 year later. Results. In the review of 15 Japanese patients, including this patient, local recurrence was noted in 4 patients, regional lymph node metastasis only in 3, distant metastasis in 6, and no metastasis in 6. Five patients died within 2 years and the others were alive in short follow-up periods. Conclusions. Chemotherapy was the standard for local recurrence or metastasis. Emerging molecular target drugs, as shown in the present patient, would change the strategy for management of lacrimal sac melanoma

The role of a conserved guanosine residue in the hammerhead-type RNA enzyme

AbstractWe have designed a hammerhead-type RNA system which consists of three RNA fagments for normal and modified complexes which contain a non-cleavable substrate with 2'-O-methylcytidine and a guanosine-to-inosine replaced enzyme. Examination of the RNA-cleaving activity and conformational properties of the complexes suggests that the 2-amino group of a conserved guanosine residue in the loop region plays an important role for maintaining both the activity and loop conformation

Bilateral Optic Disc Swelling as a Plausible Common Ocular Sign of Autoinflammatory Diseases: Report of Three Patients with Blau Syndrome or Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndrome

The aim of this study is to describe bilateral optic disc swelling in three consecutive patients with Blau syndrome or cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome at a single institution. Case 1 was a 30-year-old woman receiving 25 mg etanercept twice weekly who had been diagnosed as early-onset sarcoidosis by biopsy of skin rashes at 5 months old and genetically diagnosed with Blau syndrome with CARD15/NOD2 mutation (N670K) at 13 years old. At 10 years old, she began to have uveitis with optic disc swelling in both eyes, resulting in macular degeneration and optic disc atrophy at 17 years old only when etanercept was introduced. Case 2 was a 21-year-old man receiving adalimumab every 2 weeks who had been diagnosed as early-onset sarcoidosis by biopsy of skin rashes at 1.5 years old and genetically diagnosed as Blau syndrome with CARD15/NOD2 mutation (C495Y) at 5 years old. At 8 years old, around the time of adalimumab introduction, he began to show bilateral optic disc swelling which continued until the age of 16 years when the dose of adalimumab was increased. Case 3 was a 20-year-old woman receiving canakinumab every 8 weeks for systemic symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, and abdominal pain and later for sensorineural hearing disturbance on both sides. She had been diagnosed genetically with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome with NLRP3 mutation (Y859C) at 7 years old. At 5 years old, she was found to have bilateral optic disc swelling, which continued until the age of 10 years when she began receiving canakinumab (IL-1β inhibitor). Bilateral optic disc swelling might be tentatively designated as a plausible common ocular feature, if it occurred, in autoinflammatory diseases to pay more attention to ophthalmic complications in rare diseases