Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase and c-fos expression in spinal cord neurons following noxious stimulation

To investigate nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase [NADPH-d] and fos expression in spinal cord dorsal horn neurons following noxious peripheral stimulation. Expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos and nitric oxide containing neurons one hour after unilateral formalin injection to the dorsal hind paw was investigated in rat lumbar spinal cord, using fos immunohistochemistry and NADPH-d histochemical techniques. The experiments were performed in 2004 and 2006 at Ege University Center for Brain Research in Izmir, Turkey. In 10 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, an increase in fos-immunoreactive neurons was observed ipsilateral, and NADPH-d positive neurons equally ipsi- and contralateral to the formalin injection site. Approximately 20% of fos-immunoreactive neurons were NADPH-d positive ipsilateral to the formalin injection, whereas no double labeling was observed in the contralateral side. Also, a close relation of NADPH-d positive processes with fos-immunoreactive nuclei were also observed. The results of this study support the hypothesis that nitric oxide synthase blocking agents may serve as a possible alternative in treatment of hyperalgesia following inflammation and peripheral nerve injury

Incidence and morphology of accessory head of the flexor pollicis longus muscle [Gantzer's muscle] in a Turkish population

To present the incidence, morphology, and the relationships of the accessory head of the flexor pollicis longus [Gantzer's] muscle [AHFPL] in a recent Turkish population. The study was performed on 52 upper extremities of 26 adult Turkish cadavers in the Department of Anatomy, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey in 2005. In our dissections, the prevalence and anatomical morphology of the AHFPL including muscle shape, origin and insertion point, and its relation to the anterior interosseous nerve [AIN] was examined. The AHFPL muscle was found in 27 upper extremities [51.9%]. It was bilateral in 10 cadavers [74%], and unilateral in 7 cadavers [26%]. The muscle shape was spindle in 19 [70.4%], and papillary in 8 [29.6%]. The AHFPL originated from the coronoid process of the ulna in 22 upper extremities [81.5%], and the medial epicondyle of the humerus in 5 cases [18.5%]. The AIN passed anterior to the AHFPL in one case [3.7%], lateral in 3 [11.1%], posterolateral in 8 [29.6%] and posterior in 15 [55.6%] cases. The knowledge of the morphology and the topography of the AIN and AHFPL is important for understanding the mechanism of the AIN syndrome. The results of this study show the mechanical compression due to the AHFPL may be a cause of the pronator and AIN syndromes