Search results for "neuron"
showing 10 items of 2611 documents
Leprosy: report of a case with severe peripheral neuropathy
2009
Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, with cutaneous and neurological manifestations. Leprosy is very rare in Europe but some cases are reported, especially among people coming from endemic areas. Here, we report a case of Hansen's disease and emphasize the importance of a prompt diagnosis and treatment also in non-endemic areas.
REM sleep behavior disorder and periodic leg movements during sleep in ALS
2017
Objective To assess sleep characteristics and the occurrence of abnormal muscle activity during sleep, such as REM sleep without atonia (RSWA), REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods A total of 41 patients with ALS and 26 healthy subjects were submitted to clinical interview and overnight video-polysomnography. Results A total of 22 patients with ALS (53.6%) reported poor sleep quality. Polysomnographic studies showed that patients with ALS had reduced total sleep time, increased wakefulness after sleep onset, shortened REM and slow-wave sleep, and decreased sleep efficiency, compared t…
Acute neuromuscular responses to short and long roundhouse kick striking paces in professional Muay Thai fighters.
2019
International audience; BACKGROUND: Muay Thai fighters strongly rely on the use of the roundhouse kick due to its effectiveness (i.e. power) and implications on the final score. Therefore, different striking tempos at full power are used during training as a method to enhance kicking power. However, the neuromuscular responses are unknown. Thus, the goal of this study was to investigate neuromuscular responses to a single bout of shorter (every second = H1) and longer (every 3s = H3) kick striking time intervals, measured with the countermovement jump (CMJ).METHODS: Nine professional Muay Thai fighters participated in this randomized, cross-over trial. CMJs were measured on force plates bef…
Plasticity of synaptic ribbons of the rat pineal gland in vitro — Minor effects of electrical stimulation
2003
Synaptic ribbons (SRs) of mammalian pinealocytes exhibit day/night changes in number and size, changes that are apparently regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus via postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibres. Since the neural control of SR changes is far from clear and as pinealocytes produce action potentials, we undertook to investigate whether electrical stimulation affects SR changes. Isolated rat pineal glands removed during the daytime were kept in vitro for 0, 30, 60, 90 or 120 min, with or without continuous electrical stimulation (1 mA, 1 Hz), followed by the quantification of SR profiles (SRPs) by transmission electron microscopy. SRs were categorised as to whether they lay less t…
Nicotine receptors do not modulate the 3H-noradrenaline release from the isolated rat heart evoked by sympathetic nerve stimulation.
1982
Isolated rat hearts with the right sympathetic nerves attached were perfused at a constant flow rate of 7 ml/min with Tyrode's solution. (-)-3H-Noradrenaline (final concentration 10–13.9 nM) was infused for 10 min to label the noradrenaline stores. After wash-out the sympathetic nerves were stimulated electrically (3 Hz, 180 impulses, 1 ms, 20–30 mA) three times (S1–S3) at intervals of 15 min. 3H-Noradrenaline and its metabolites were determined by liquid scintillation counting according to Graefe et al. (1973). Both, nicotine 50 μM and p-aminophenethyltrimethylammonium (PAPETA) 30 μM, enhanced the 3H-noradrenaline overflow in the absence of nerve stimulation. The effect of PAPETA was bipha…
Differential effects of calcium channel antagonists (omega-conotoxin GVIA, nifedipine, verapamil) on the electrically-evoked release of [3H]acetylcho…
1990
Electrically-evoked release of [3H]acetylcholine from autonomic neurons (myenteric plexus), motoneurons (phrenic nerve) and the central nervous system (neocortex) was investigated in the presence and absence of the calcium channel antagonists omega-conotoxin GVIA, nifedipine and verapamil, whereby the same species (rat) was used in all experiments. Release of [3H]acetylcholine was measured after incubation of the tissue with [3H]choline. omega-Conotoxin GVIA markedly reduced (70%) the evoked release of [3H]acetylcholine from the myenteric plexus of the small intestine (IC50: 0.7 nmol/l) with a similar potency at 3 and 10 Hz stimulation. An increase in the extracellular calcium concentration…
Uptake of [3H]dopamine into dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurones of the isolated neurointermediate lobe of the rat hypophysis. Effects of desipram…
1983
The isolated neurointermediate lobe (NIL) of the rat hypophysis accumulates [3H]dopamine from the incubation medium. Column chromatographic analysis showed that 92% of the tissue radioactivity was contained in the catecholamine fraction. [3H]Dopamine represented 70% and [3H]noradrenaline 30% of the [3H]catecholamines. Desipramine (1 microM) prevented the formation of [3H]noradrenaline without affecting the storage of [3H]dopamine. Nomifensine (10 microM) blocked the storage of [3H]dopamine and [3H]noradrenaline. Thus, in the NIL, [3H]dopamine is taken up into dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurones. In the latter, [3H]dopamine is converted to [3H]noradrenaline, indicating a significant dopa…
Functional and neurochemical changes of the gastrointestinal tract in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease.
2009
Patients with Parkinson’s disease develop motor disturbances often accompanied by peripheral autonomic dysfunctions, including gastrointestinal disorders, such as dysphagia, gastric stasis and constipation. While the mechanisms subserving enteric autonomic dysfunctions are not clearly understood, they may involve the enteric dopaminergic and/or nitrergic systems. In the present study, we demonstrate that rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons develop a marked inhibition of propulsive activity compared to sham-operated controls, as indicated by a 60% reduction of daily fecal output at the 4th week of observation. Immunohistochemical data revealed …
Elevation of striatal urate in experimental models of Parkinson's disease: a compensatory mechanism triggered by dopaminergic nigrostriatal degenerat…
2014
Epidemiological studies have indicated an inverse association between high uricemia and incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD). To investigate the link between endogenous urate and neurotoxic changes involving the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system, this study evaluated the modifications in the striatal urate levels in two models of PD. To this end, a partial dopaminergic degeneration was induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in mice, while a severe dopaminergic degeneration was elicited by unilateral medial forebrain bundle infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in rats. Urate levels were measured by in vivo microdialysis at 7 or 14 days from toxin exposure. The resu…
Pigment variant of neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis
1995
A 6-year-old girl had progressive ataxia, and visual disturbances resulting in blindness. She died in her sleep at age 22 years. She shared with her sister and paternal relatives bilateral pes cavus deformities and impaired deep-tendon reflexes which suggested Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Her sister, who also had both polyneuropathy and a progressive central nervous system (CNS) disease, did not have pigmentary retinopathy. At autopsy, the patient was found to have neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis (NCL) marked by intraneuronal accumulation of autofluorescent granular lipopigments in ballooned perikarya and conspicuous extraneuronal pigmentation of subcortical grey matter, but without axonal s…