Cerebral Protective Effect of Zonisamide

We have been studying the cerebral protective effect of various anticonvulsants and have elucidated the relationship between various types of anticonvulsants and their protective effects. The present study was carried out to evaluate the cerebral protective effect of Zonisamide (ZNS: 1,2-benzisoxazole-3-methanesulfonamide) known to be clinically effective against refractory epilepsy. Experiments on the following effects of ZNS were conducted in mice; 1) the effect of ZNS on the survival time after hypoxia, 2) its effect on the duration of the gasping movement induced by decapitation, and 3) its effect on the cerebral trauma of Manaka\u27s model. The effect of ZNS on delayed neuronal death after a transient cerebral ischemia was studied in the gerbils by means of histological examination of the neuronal density in hippocampal CA1 sections. In the ZNS-treated group; 1) protective effects against hypoxia, ischemia, and trauma were confirmed, and 2) delayed neuronal death in hippocampal CA1 sections was suppressed significantly. In summary, ZNS clearly demonstrated its cerebral protective effect in animal models. Thus, anticonvulsants like ZNS and PHT, with an action to block the propagation of discharges are considered to possess a protective action, suggesting their future applicability for protection against various forms of cerebral damage in the acute phase

Ways of improving three-dimensional CT angiography images of cervical and cerebral vascular lesions

We evaluated various ways of improving the image clarity of three-dimensional CT angiography (3D-CTA) for the diagnosis of cervical and cerebral vascular disease in sixty-seven patients (36 males and 31 females). The mean age was 61.4 years, with a rang of 17 to 89 years. The patients were examined with a helical CT scanner (TCT-X vision GX) after intravenous bolus injection of 90 ml nonionic contrast medium (300 mgI/ml) at the rate of 3ml/sec. Intracranial and cervical 3D-CTA were performed 60 and 12 times, respectively. Our findings were as follows : 1. Reduction of the pre-scanning delay time from 18 to 10 sec after the injection of the contrast medium eliminates much of the cavernous sinus from the image and makes it easier to distinguish the intracavernous internal carotid artery in intracranial 3D-CTA. In cervical 3D-CTA, reduction of the pre-scanning delay time from 15 to 9 sec delays imaging of the jugular vein and makes it easy to distinguish the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. 2. A subtraction image on 3D-CTA is useful for detecting of vascular lesions adjacent to bone, such as lesions on the internal carotid artery. 3. By producing a stereo picture, a closer three-dimensional relationship between the vascular lesion and the vessel circumference organization can be recognized. 4. Vascular lesions can be clearly visualized from inside the artery using a 3D-CT endoscopic image. We were able to obtain a great deal of detailed information from 3D-CTA images with these modifications and we believe they enhance diagnostic accuracy of the technique

ジョクソウ ニ タイスル ラップ リョウホウ ノ ココロミ : ポリエンカビニリデンセイ ショクヒン ホウソウヨウ フィルム オ モチイタ ジョクソウ チリョウ

A food wrap film was used as a part of therapeutic materials for 34 decubitus ulcers in 29 patients, 15 males and 14 females, who were hospitalized in our departments from June 2000 to May 2001. Basic diseases of the patients consisted of 10 cerebrovascular diseases, 4 cephalic injury sequelae, 3 spinal diseases, 3 femur fractures, and 9 other diseases. Treatment of the decubitus ulcers was done everyday mostly according to Toriyabe’s method. Firstly, the bedsore was rinsed with physiological saline without applying pressure. Then, the ulcer including surrounding skin was covered with plastic food wrap (polyvinylidene chloride food wrapping film). Edge of the film was fixed to the skin with non-woven fabric tape. The results were evaluated by measuring two-dimensional sizes of the ulcers every two to four weeks. Reduction rate of the ulcer was calculated following formula : ((1-present size (maximal diameter×perpendicular size)/original size (maximal diameter×perpendicular size)×100)) (%) in 19 lesions followed more than one month. An average reduction rate was 43.7% at 3 months and 87.9% at 7 months after starting the food wrap film therapy. Moreover, 3 lesions got complete healing during the observation period. We strongly recommend the food wrap film therapy for the treatment of decubitus ulcers because it is simple to handle and extremely inexpensive, as well as effective

Normal mitochondrial respiratory function is essential for spatial remote memory in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) with pathogenic mutations has been found in patients with cognitive disorders. However, little is known about whether pathogenic mtDNA mutations and the resultant mitochondrial respiration deficiencies contribute to the expression of cognitive alterations, such as impairments of learning and memory. To address this point, we used two groups of <it>trans</it>-mitochondrial mice (mito-mice) with heteroplasmy for wild-type and pathogenically deleted (Δ) mtDNA; the "low" group carried 50% or less ΔmtDNA, and the "high" group carried more than 50% ΔmtDNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both groups had normal phenotypes for not only spatial learning, but also memory at short retention delays, indicating that ΔmtDNA load did not affect learning and temporal memory. The high group, however, showed severe impairment of memory at long retention delays. In the visual cortex and dentate gyrus of these mice, we observed mitochondrial respiration deficiencies, and reduced Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent kinase II-α (α-CaMKII), a protein important for the establishment of spatial remote memory.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicated that normal mitochondrial respiratory function is necessary for retention and consolidation of memory trace; deficiencies in this function due to high loads of pathogenically mutated mtDNA are responsible for the preferential impairment of spatial remote memory.</p

A mechanism of the large-scale damping in the CMB anisotropy

We present a mechanism through which a certain class of short-distance cutoff affects the CMB anisotropies at large angular scales. Our analysis is performed in two steps. The first is given in an intuitive way, using the property of the inflationary universe that quantum fluctuations of an inflaton field become classical after crossing the Hubble horizon. We give a condition for a cutoff to yield a damping on large scales, and show that the holographic cutoff introduced in the preceding paper (hep-th/0307029) does satisfy the condition. The second analysis is carried out by setting an initial condition such that each mode of inflaton starts as the vacuum fluctuation of the Hamiltonian when being released from the constraint of cutoff. The first intuitive discussion is then shown to be correct qualitatively.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, final version, to appear in Nuclear Physics

Early open surgery for the accidental insertion of a hemodialysis catheter into the carotid artery: a case report

Insertion of a hemodialysis catheter into the internal jugular vein is a commonly performed procedure for intermittent hemodialysis. However, arterial misplacement of the hemodialysis catheter can occur and lead to serious complications, such as major stroke due to intra-arterial thrombus. Here, we report a case in which open surgery was performed to avoid major stroke following the accidental insertion of a hemodialysis catheter into the common carotid artery. We suggest that early open surgery should be performed as soon as possible if the accidental insertion of a hemodialysis catheter into the carotid artery is recognized

Improvement of obsessive–compulsive disorder after pallidothalamic tractotomy for cervical dystonia

Abstract A 30‐year‐old woman with tardive dystonia in the cervical region from long‐term antipsychotic meds was treated with radiofrequency ablation of the right pallidothalamic tract in the fields of Forel. The patient showed improvement in both cervical dystonia and obsessive–compulsive disorder after the procedure, with 77.4% improvement in cervical dystonia and 86.7% improvement in obsessive–compulsive disorder. Although the treatment site in this case was intended to treat cervical dystonia, the lesion was located in the optimal stimulation network for both obsessive–compulsive disorder and cervical dystonia, suggesting that neuromodulation of this region could potentially treat both simultaneously

Deletion-Mutant mtDNA Increases in Somatic Tissues but Decreases in Female Germ Cells With Age

The proportions of mutant and wild-type mtDNA are crucial in determining the severity of mitochondrial diseases. It has been generally considered that deletion-mutant mtDNA has replication advantages and accumulates with time. Here, we examine the tissue-by-tissue proportions of mutant mtDNA with a 4696-bp deletion (ΔmtDNA) and wild-type mtDNA in mitochondrial disease model mice (mito-mice). Comparison of the proportions of ΔmtDNA in each tissue at various ages showed that the rate of accumulation of ΔmtDNA differed among tissues. The heart, skeletal muscles, kidney, liver, testis, and ovary showed increases in the proportion of ΔmtDNA with age, but the pancreas, spleen, brain, and blood showed only a slight or no increase in proportion. In contrast to the somatic tissues, however, the germ cells of female mito-mice and resultant offspring showed a strong decrease in ΔmtDNA with maternal age. The decrease was so acute that some offspring showed complete disappearance of ΔmtDNA, even though their elder brothers and sisters had high proportions of ΔmtDNA. Female germ cells have a machinery that prevents the inheritence of defective mtDNA to the following generation since germ cells are kept for a long time until they are ovulated