[Application of hybrid surgery in the clipping of large complex paraclinoid aneurysms]

Nine patients with large complex paraclinoid aneurysms were treated by hybrid surgery in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University between January 2016 and July 2021. Intraoperative angiography was conducted for real-time evaluation of the aneurysm and its clipping efficacy. A total of 8 aneurysms were clipped under temporary proximal control with balloon occlusion. Suction decompression was simultaneously applied in 2 of these cases. After surgery, 2 patients developed symptomatic cerebral infarction, 3 patients developed transient oculomotor nerve palsy, but no patients had vision deterioration. Postoperative follow-up showed that small neck residue occurred in 1 case, but with the rest of aneurysms were completely occluded without parent artery stenosis. Hybrid surgery was proved to be advantageous in real-time assessment of aneurysm morphology and clipping efficacy. Combination of temporary proximal balloon occlusion and suction decompression technique can help in reducing the difficulty of aneurysm exposure and remodeling, thereby improving the outcome and decreasing the complications.

A transcranial sonography study of brainstem and its association with depression in idiopathic generalized epilepsy with tonic-clonic seizures

Brainstem raphe (BR) hypoechogenicity in transcranial sonography (TCS) has been depicted in patients with depression. But, up to date, the association of BR alterations in TCS with depression in patients with epilepsy has never been reported. This study was to investigate the possible role of BR examination via TCS in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy with tonic-clonic seizures (IGE-TCS) and depression. Forty-six patients with IGE-TCS and 45 healthy controls were recruited. Echogenicity of the caudate nuclei (CN), lentiform nuclei (LN), substantia nigra (SN), and BR and widths of the lateral ventricle (LV) frontal horns and the third ventricle (TV) were assessed via TCS. The determination of depression was based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), and depression severity measured by Chinese version Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (C-NDDI-E) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). The width of TV in patients with epilepsy was found significantly larger than that in healthy controls (p = 0.001), but there was no significant difference in TV width between patients with IGE-TCS with and without depression. There were no significant differences between patients with IGE-TCS and healthy controls in LV frontal horn width, as well as in SN, CN, LN, and BR echogenicity. Here, it seems that patients with IGE-TCS were detected with smaller SN echogenic area compared with controls though they had no statistical significance. Patients with IGE-TCS with hypoechogenic BR had significantly higher C-NDDI-E and BDI-II scores than those with normal BR signal, and most patients with IGE-TCS with depression exhibited hypoechogenic BR, but few patients with IGE-TCS without depression exhibited hypoechogenic BR. In conclusion, BR echogenic signal alterations in TCS can be a biomarker for depression in epilepsy, but it might not be associated with epilepsy itself. The alterations of SN echogenic area and TV width in TCS may reflect a potential role of SN and diencephalon structure in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, which needs to be further elucidated.

Ventrolateral Periaqueductal Gray Matter Neurochemical Lesion Facilitates Epileptogenesis and Enhances Pain Sensitivity in Epileptic Rats

The ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter (vlPAG) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of migraine and few studies have shown that vlPAG might be involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. But its roles in epileptogenesis and comorbid relationship between migraine and epilepsy have never been reported. In this study, the impairments of vlPAG neuronal network during spontaneous recurrent seizure (SRS) development after status epilepticus (SE) were investigated, and the pain sensitivity as well as the SRS investigated after neurochemical lesion to vlPAG to determine the role of vlPAG in epileptogenesis and in migraine comorbidity with epilepsy. Neuronal loss and alterations of excitatory and inhibitory neural transmission within vlPAG accompanied the development of epileptogenesis induced by SE. On the other hand, neurochemical lesion to vlPAG enhanced frequency and duration of spontaneous seizure event and frequency of epileptiform inter-ictal spike discharges in electroencephalography (EEG), but decreased pain threshold in epileptic rats. This indicates an involvement of the pain regulating structure, vlPAG, in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. This may imply that vlPAG network alterations could be a possible underlying mechanism of the interactive comorbid relationship between epilepsy and migraine.

Terbinafine inhibits KSR1 and suppresses Raf-MEK-ERK signaling in oral squamous cell carcinoma cells

Terbinafine inhibits the proliferation of many types of cancer cells, but the underlying mechanism remains to be determined. By computer simulation, we found that kinase suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1) is a possible target of terbinafine. Treatment of human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) KB cells with either terbinafine or siRNA to knockdown KSR1 reduced proliferation and induced apoptosis, which was accompanied by suppression of the Raf-MEK-ERK pathway. In vivo, KSR1 expression was significantly associated with the clinical staging of OSCC and the smoking habit of patients. Kaplan Meyer survival analysis demonstrated that the cumulative survival time of patients without KSR1 expression was significantly longer than those with KSR1 overexpression. Our data provide the basis for developing terbinafine to treat OSCC.

Combinatorial transcriptional regulation: the interaction of transcription factors and cell signaling molecules with homeodomain proteins in Drosophila development

Patterning and cell fate specification during development require complex interplay among multiple families of transcription factors to establish, maintain, and coordinate transcriptional cascades. During these processes, homeodomain proteins and cell signaling proteins cooperate to generate tissue-and stage-specific responses. This review of physical and genetic interactions in Drosophila melanogaster development highlights the cross-talk among these protein families. Protein-protein association can modulate regulation by both signal transduction-regulated transcription factors and homeodomain proteins, as observed in Drosophila and other organisms. Enhancers or genes regulated by multiple transcription factors provide opportunities for protein-protein binding to modulate transcription factor function. Combinatorial regulation of several enhancers by homeodomain proteins and cell signaling-regulated transcription factors is discussed; detailed maps of the genetic interactions that pattern the embryonic midgut and the larval wing imaginal disc are used to illustrate the multiplicity of potential protein-protein interactions. These interactions potentially provide direct mechanisms for communication between transcription factors as well as for generating the requisite functional specificity.

Postnatal development of muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism in mouse cerebral cortex: sensitivity to ethanol

An enhanced coupling of cholinergic muscarinic receptors to phosphoinositide metabolism had been previously observed in brain from immature rat. This study reports that the postnatal development of muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism is also enhanced in cerebral cortex slices from immature Swiss-Webster and Balb-c mice, as compared to adults. Response to the agonist carbachol was lower on postnatal day 3, peaked between days 5 and 12 and then declined to adult levels. Density of muscarinic binding sites, measured with the M1 ligand [3H]telenzepine on postnatal day 7, was, on the other hand, only half of the adult value. Phosphoinositide hydrolysis stimulated by glutamate decreased with age, while that elicited by norepinephrine increased. These results are also similar to those previously reported in the rat. Ethanol has been found to inhibit muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism in rat brain in an age-dependent manner. This was confirmed in mouse brain, where ethanol inhibited this response in cerebral cortex of immature but not adult animals. These results indicate that the enhanced muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism, which coincides with the brain growth spurt, is similar in rats and mice. Mice may be a useful species in which to genetically manipulate muscarinic receptors to gain a better understanding of their potential role in brain development.

Long-lasting microencephaly following exposure to cocaine during the brain growth spurt in the rat

In utero exposure to cocaine has been shown to produce somatic and behavioral effects. As microencephaly is often present in children born from cocaine-addicted mothers, aim of the present study was to develop an animal model for cocaine-induced microencephaly. Rats were treated with cocaine (20, 30 or 50 mg/kg/day, s.c., each dose divided in two equal doses given 3 h apart) from postnatal day 4 through 10. None of the doses had any effect on growth, however, at 50 mg/kg, cocaine caused a significant decrease in brain weight, measured on day 12. The effect of cocaine was similar in male and female rats, and microencephaly was still present in 45-day-old animals. When the same dose of cocaine was given as a single daily injection, long-lasting microencephaly was also present, but it was accompanied by a decrease in body weight and significant toxicity. Ethanol (4 g/kg), used as a positive control, also caused microencephaly without affecting body weight, but, differently from cocaine, its effect was more pronounced in female animals. Blood and brain levels of cocaine and its metabolites norcocaine and benzoylecgonine were measured by HPLC during treatment (postnatal day 8). After administration of the 50 mg/kg dose, concentrations of cocaine were 1.92 micrograms/g in brain and 0.94 microgram/ml in blood. These levels are encountered in cases of cocaine overdoses and have been found in meconium of newborns from crack-addicted mothers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inhibition of muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism by cocaine, norcocaine and cocaethylene in rat brain

The interaction of cocaine, its metabolites norcocaine and benzoylecgonine, and cocaethylene, which is formed following a combined cocaine and ethanol exposure, with muscarinic receptor binding and phosphoinositide metabolism was investigated in brain from immature rats. Cocaine and norcocaine inhibited binding of [3H]telenzepine and carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism in cerebral cortex, while benzoylecgonine was devoid of any inhibitory activity. Cocaethylene was the most potent inhibitor of both binding and phosphoinositide metabolism. The effect of cocaine was more pronounced at the muscarinic receptors, but a small inhibition of histamine--and serotonin--stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism was also observed.

Biomarkers in environmental medicine: alterations of cell signalling as early indicators of neurotoxicity

Many environmental and occupational chemicals are known to affect the central and/or peripheral nervous system, causing changes that may result in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Because of the limited accessibility of the mammalian nervous tissue, new strategies are being developed to identify biochemical parameters of neuronal cell function, which can be measured in easily obtained tissues, such as blood cells, as potential markers of the chemically-induced alterations occurring in the nervous system. This review includes a comparative analysis of the effects of mercurials on calcium signalling in the neuroadrenergic PC12 cells and rat splenic T lymphocytes in an attempt to characterize this second messenger system as a potential indicator of subclinical toxicity. The suitability of neurotransmitter receptors in blood cells, such as the sigma binding sites, as biological markers of psychiatric disorders is also discussed.

Interaction of ethanol with muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism during the brain growth spurt in the rat: role of acetaldehyde

The developing brain is extremely sensitive to the neurotoxicity of ethanol; however, the mechanism(s) of its developmental neurotoxicity are still elusive. In the developing rat brain, ethanol exerts an age-, brain region-, and receptor-specific inhibitory effect on muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism, which may be linked to some of the neurotoxic effects of ethanol found in children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Since some studies have suggested that the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde may mediate, at least in part, the developmental effects of ethanol, in the present study we have examined whether acetaldehyde would inhibit carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide metabolism in brain slices from immature rats. We also tested propionaldehyde, the corresponding aldehyde of n-propanol, another alcohol shown to cause microencephaly and to affect phosphoinositide metabolism in the developing rat. Neither acetaldehyde nor propionaldehyde, at concentrations up to 1 mM, had any inhibitory effect on this system, while the two alcohols did, as previously reported. These results suggest that ethanol itself may be the primary agent responsible for its developmental neurotoxicity.

Effects of inorganic and organic mercury on intracellular calcium levels in rat T lymphocytes

The importance of cytosolic free calcium level ([Ca2+]i) in lymphocyte activation prompted us to investigate changes in [Ca2+]i in T cells caused by mercury compounds, which have been shown to have immunomodulatory and immunotoxic properties. Using fura-2 as fluorescent Ca2+ indicator, we found that both methyl-mercury (MeHg; 0.02-2 microM) and inorganic mercury (HgCl2; 0.01-1 microM) increased [Ca2+]i in lymphocytes from rat spleen in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of MeHg was rapid and the increase of Ca2+ level was sustained in time, while HgCl2 caused a slow rise in [Ca2+]i. The effects of mercury compounds did not appear to be associated with alterations of membrane integrity, since there was no significant difference in the extent of MnCl2 quench between control and mercury-treated cells. However, HgCl2 (1 microM) and MeHg (2 microM) appeared to cause membrane damage at longer incubation times (15 min). When cells were incubated in Ca(2+)-free medium (in the presence of 1 mM EDTA) MeHg still increased [Ca2+]i, though to a lesser extent, while HgCl2 had no effect. Heparin, an inhibitor of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-induced Ca2+ mobilization partially blocked this rise of [Ca2+]i, while carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydraxone (CCCP), an inhibitor of mitochondrial function, had a lesser effect. When added together, heparin and CCCP almost completely block the response to MeHg. These results suggest that MeHg and HgCl2 exert their effects of [Ca2+]i in different ways: MeHg-induced increases in [Ca2+]i are due to influx from outside the cells as well as to mobilization from intracellular stores, possibly the endoplasmic reticulum, and, to a minor extent, the mitochondria; on the other hand, HgCl2 causes only Ca2+ influx from the extracellular medium.