The role of cyclic guanosine 5' monophosphate (cGMP) in neurodegeneration of motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is still controversial. The aim of this study was to measure levels of cGMP in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with ALS, and to investigate whether there is a relationship between CSF ...

AIM: To determine the frequency and clinical and laboratory features of patients with multiple sclerosis characterized by uncommon cerebrospinal findings, ie, negative oligoclonal band or increased number of mononuclear cells in cerebrospinal fluid. METHODS: The retrospective analysis included medical records of 233 patients (158 women and 75 men) admitted to ...

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of neurotoxicity and aseptic meningitis in a patient receiving valacyclovir. CASE SUMMARY: An 86-year-old white man had started valacyclovir 1 g 3 times a day for a herpetic rash along the left side of his face. He subsequently presented with balance difficulties, constant frontal headaches, ...

We reviewed the clinical and demographic characteristics and outcomes for 13 immunocompromised patients with herpes simplex virus (HSV)-induced meningitis. Eleven patients were receiving chemotherapy for leukemia or lymphoma, and 10 had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Patients presented with acute febrile meningitis. The median white blood cell count at the onset of ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Many patients with neurosarcoidosis have disease that is refractory to corticosteroids or they are unable to tolerate high-dose corticosteroids because of detrimental side effects. We examined a short-course, pulse-dose regimen using cyclophosphamide to treat such patients. METHODS: We identified a population of patients with neurosarcoidosis refractory to standard therapy ...

OBJECTIVES: Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a key regulator cytokine that modulates the proliferation and maturation of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear progenitors. This study was designed to investigate and clarify the role of GM-CSF in 52 critically ill patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). METHODS: Serum levels of GM-CSF ...

Lack of growth factors and hypoxia are two recent hypotheses about mechanisms underlying motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. With this background, serum from 15 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 15 controls, and CSF from 15 patients and 10 controls were analysed for fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical potential of several markers of spinal cord ischemia in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum during aneurysm repair of the descending thoracic or thoracoabdominal aorta. DESIGN: Observational study of consecutive patients. Nonblinded, nonrandomized. SETTING: University hospital thoracic surgical unit. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven consecutive elective patients. INTERVENTIONS: Distal ...

Idarubicin (IDA), the 4-demethoxy analog of daunomycin, has had significant cytotoxicity in many malignancies. In previous reports, the alcohol metabolite of IDA, 4-demethoxydaunorubicinol (idarubicinol, or IDOL), had cytotoxic activity and the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. For this reason, the Pediatric Oncology Group conducted a Phase 2 trial of ...

The pathogenetic processes underlying schizophrenia are unknown, but the organic changes observed in the brain tissue of schizophrenic patients suggest the possibility of findings also in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients suffering from this disorder. In a recently published study micrometer-sized spherical particles in CSF were isolated from significantly ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe three unrelated children with a distinctive variant of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) characterized by microcephaly, severe mental and motor retardation, dyskinesia or spasticity, and occasional seizures. RESULTS: Neuroimaging showed bilateral calcification of basal ganglia and white matter. CSF glucose, protein, cell count, and interferon alpha were normal. Abnormal ...

In a sample of n = 133 non-related patients suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, Gm and Km typings have been carried out and compared with healthy controls from the same geographical area. All the Gm allotypes tested were found to be more preponderant in the patients than in the healthy controls ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-supported chemotherapy on normal red bone marrow MR imaging in breast cancer patients with focal bone metastases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen breast cancer patients who were examined before and after chemotherapy with T1-weighted-SE and long echo-time inversion-recovery turbo-spin-echo (long TE IR-TSE) ...

The leptomeningeal involvement of central nervous system is defined in the most centers by the presence of blast cells in the CSF or the presence of cranial-nerve palsies. Sometimes, cytology does not allow clear distinction between lymphoblasts and normal cells, and auxiliary methods to the precise identification of leukemic cells ...

BACKGROUND: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a pathologically heterogeneous group of presenile neurodegenerative disorders, with or without the deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau protein in affected brain regions. Mutations in the tau gene have been found in the familial form of FTD, linked to chromosome 17q21-22, showing a spectrum of tauopathy. OBJECTIVE: ...

Disseminated cryptococcosis mainly occurs in patients with cell-mediated immunity disorders. A case of disseminated cryptococcosis, in a patient with pituitary Cushing's disease, is reported. Cultures of blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and aspirates of a skin lesion all grew Cryptococcus neoformans. Despite antifungal treatment, with amphotericin-B, the patient died within 3 ...

This report describes a cocaine user who presented with polymorphonuclear pleocytosis in cerebrospinal fluid mimicking bacterial meningitis. Thorough investigation of the cerebrospinal fluid did not reveal evidence of bacteria or fungi. Clinical deterioration was observed in spite of empiric treatment with antibiotics. The patient had a favorable outcome after corticosteroid ...

INTRODUCTION: To compare cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum orosomucoid (alpha-1-acid glycoprotein-AAG) concentrations in various subgroups of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CSF and serum AAG concentrations, AAG quotient (i.e., CSF AAG/serum AAGx10(3)) and index were determined in a group of 59 patients with clinically definite or probable ...

OBJECTIVES: Excitotoxicity may play a role in neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Kynurenic acid (KYNA), an endogenous antagonist of excitatory amino acid receptors, may inhibit excitotoxic lesions. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of KYNA in ALS patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: KYNA was measured by ...

OBJECT: The clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of hydrocephalus associated with vestibular schwannoma were retrospectively analyzed to improve the perioperative management of the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in 236 patients with unilateral vestibular schwannomas. The patients' ages ranged from 17 to 83 years (mean 53.6 ...

In multiple system atrophy (MSA) and pure autonomic failure (PAF), orthostatic hypotension (OH) results from deficient noradrenaline release from sympathetic nerves during standing. Post-mortem findings have indicated loss of central noradrenergic cells in both diseases. The present study sought in vivo neurochemical evidence for central noradrenergic deficiency in patients with ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether CSF amyloid beta 1-42 (Abeta-42) and tau have predictive value for prognosis after head injury. METHODS: CSF samples were collected from 29 patients with severe head trauma between 1 and 284 days post-trauma. Abeta-42 and tau levels were measured using sandwich ELISA techniques and compared with ...

The tropical spastic paraparesis or human T-cell lymphotropic virus associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM), has been related with an overexpression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), especially MMP-9. Initial studies of reverse zymography with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from TSP/HAM patients, and controls showed the presence of TIMPs, endogenous MMP inhibitors. We determined in CSF ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of exogenous recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF; filgrastim) application on the neutrophils of patients at risk of sepsis following major trauma or operation. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Surgical intensive care unit and research laboratory of a university hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty-seven patients with systemic ...

A central sensitization has been advocated to explain chronic daily headache (CDH) due to sustained peripheral sensitization of allogenic structures responsible for sustained trigeminovascular system activation. Several mechanisms have been suggested to underlie central sensitization, but have been poorly investigated in CDH. They involve N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation and nitric ...

Increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau protein levels are generally considered to provide a sensitive marker of neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since a more pronounced cognitive decline has been described in older schizophrenic patients, it has been hypothesized that these patients might be at a higher risk of ...

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an infection caused by Taenia solium larval metacestodes in the central nervous system. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilaments (NFs) can be used as markers of glial and neuronal damage, respectively. We studied the GFAP and NFs of 68, 160 and 200 kDa in the ...

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous, idiopathic nasal meningoencephaloceles are herniations of arachnoid/dura and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through anatomically fragile sites within the skull base. Empty sella syndrome occurs when intracranial contents herniate through the sellar diaphragm filling the sella turcica with CSF and giving the radiographic appearance of an absent pituitary gland. The ...

Increasing evidence suggests an interaction of oxidative stress and the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. We studied levels of pentosidine and N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)-lysine (CML) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 15 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), 20 patients with ...

Little is known about the expression of mitogens and other tumour-related substances in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of glioma patients. The aim of the current study was to determine the presence of aberrant proteins in the CSF of patients with low-grade gliomas. Lumbar puncture was performed in 8 adult patients ...

The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between an index of central dopamine function and electroretinographic (ERG) blue cone amplitudes in cocaine-dependent patients. Thus, 17 recently abstinent cocaine-dependent patients had an ERG performed. They also had a lumbar puncture for determination of cerebrospinal (CSF) concentrations of the ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), also known as the scatter factor, is a potent mitogen for mature hepatocytes, and also has multifunctional effects on some cells in various organs. Recently, we have found expression and localization of HGF in white matter astrocytes in human brain tissues. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To assess the cutoff percentage of cells containing intracellular organisms (ICOs) in the microscopic examination of mini-lavage fluid for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and to study the accuracy of this diagnostic procedure on patients who have received previous antibiotic therapy (AT). DESIGN: Prospective clinical investigation. SETTING: ...

In order to investigate the possible role of oxidative RNA damage in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), the concentrations of the oxidative stress marker 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) were measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the serum of patients with PD and control subjects. The concentration of 8-OHG in CSF ...

PURPOSE: To determine the significance of leukemic blasts or traumatic lumbar puncture (TLP) in diagnostic CSF of children enrolled in the Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM) Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia-BFM-95 trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 2,021 patients were retrospectively evaluated according to initial central nervous system (CNS) status. Patients were classified as ...

Central nervous system involvement occurs less than 5% of patients with brucellosis. A prospective analysis of 73 patients with brucellosis identified 13 (17.8%) neurobrucellosis cases from February 2001 to May 2002. 10 patients had chronic meningitis and 3 acute meningitis. Two patients had only psychiatric disorders. Cranial nerve involvement was ...

Invasive monitoring for intractable epilepsy is useful when the epileptogenic focus is in question even after an extensive noninvasive presurgical evaluation, or when the epileptogenic focus is located in or near eloquent cortex. From June 1989 to June 2001 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 64 children with intractable epilepsy ...

The main objective was to investigate the acetylcholinesterase E (AChE) activity in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with three common dementia disorders. We also wanted to investigate the influence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) epsilon4 allele possession and CSF-tau level on the CSF-AChE activity in these patients. The study included ...

Penetration of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by artesunate and DHA was assessed in six adults with cerebral or severe malaria. Lumbar punctures were performed on admission and during convalescence, at 15 min (patient 1), 30 min (patient 2), 45 min (patient 3), 60 min (patient 4), 90 min (patient 5), and ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether gray and white matter volumes are preferentially reduced and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) increased with starvation in patients with anorexia nervosa compared with healthy controls and to determine what changes occur with weight normalization. METHOD: Whole intracranial volumes of patients and controls were segmented into gray ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between aseptic meningitis and anti-U1RNP antibody in patients diagnosed with CTD. METHODS: Fourteen patients with aseptic meningitis were selected from among patients with CTDs who had visited our hospital. We analyzed their medical records to clarify the clinical and immunological features of aseptic meningitis. RESULTS: ...

This study reports an extraordinarily severe and prolonged course of neuroornithosis with generalized status epilepticus as an initial symptom. Direct invasion of the central nervous system by Chlamydophila psittaci was confirmed by the demonstration of specific DNA in the patient's cerebrospinal fluid. The patient recovered slowly under administration of doxycycline.

It has been suggested that the immunological properties of cytokine primed PBSC may reflect the presence of altered levels of cellular components. In this study the changes induced in blood dendritic cell (DC) subsets following G-CSF mobilisation are analysed. Analysis of normal donors (n = 64) demonstrated considerable individual variation ...

FUNDAMENTALS AND OBJECTIVE: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the prototype of demyelinating disease, but recently, it has been shown that the existence of axonal lesions contribute to irreversible central nervous system damage in this disease. Tau proteins are considered to be important for maintaining the stability of axonal microtubules involved in ...

OBJECT: The goal of this study was to determine the effect of hydrocephalus on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production rates in patients with acute and chronic hydrocephalus. METHODS: The authors studied CSF production both in patients presenting with acute and chronic hydrocephalus, and patients with Parkinson disease (PD) of a similar ...

OBJECTIVE: The phenomenon of delayed neurological deficit after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair was first reported in the late 1980s. The mechanism may be reduced collateral circulation during periods of hypotension, cord edema, or reperfusion injury. Few patients with delayed-onset neurological deficit have recovered from this devastating complication. The experience with ...

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of community-acquired spontaneous bacterial meningitis (CASBM) in adult diabetic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a period of 15 years, 47 adult diabetic patients with CASBM were identified. The clinical characteristics, laboratory data and therapeutic outcome of these 47 patients were statistically ...

PURPOSE: Whether status epilepticus of nonconvulsive epileptic seizures is harmful still remains controversial. To investigate this, the presence and/or extent of neuronal damage in patients with absence status epilepticus (ASE) and patients with complex partial status epilepticus (CPSE) was examined and compared. METHODS: Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in CSF was examined ...

BACKGROUND: The urokinase plasminogen activator system has the potency to promote leukocyte recruitment and blood-CSF barrier breakdown, and thus may play an important pathophysiologic role in bacterial meningitis. METHODS: CSF and serum concentrations of urokinase-plasminogen activator (urokinase [uPA]), uPA receptor (uPAR), and PA inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were quantified by ELISA in ...

Four patients, aged 10 to 44 years, with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks and intracranial hypotension developed intracranial hypertension after treatment of their CSF leaks. The leak was at the spinal level in all patients (thoracic level, 2; lumbar level, 1; and undetermined, 1). One patient responded to an epidural ...