ABSTRACT
Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), a MRI multi-shell diffusion technique, has offered new insights for the study of microstructural changes in neurodegenerative diseases. Mainly, the present study aimed to determine the connection between NODDI-derived parameters and changes in white matter (WM) abnormalities at early stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Spinal cords from ALS mice (G93A-SOD1 mice) were scanned in a Bruker Avance III HD 17.6T magnet. Fluorescent axonal-tagged mice (YFP, G93A-SOD1 mice) were used for quantitative histological analysis. NODDI showed a decrease in intra-cellular volume fraction (-24%) and increases in orientation dispersion index (+35%) and isotropic volume fraction (+33%). In addition, histoathological results demonstrated a reductions in axonal area (-11%) and myelin content (-29%). A histological decrease in WM intra-axonal space (-71%) and an increase in the extra-axonal compartment (+22%) were also detected. Our studies demonstrate that NODDI may be a suitable technique for detecting presymptomatic spinal cord WM microstructural degeneration in ALS.
Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/pathology , Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Neurites/pathology , Spinal Cord/pathology , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/diagnostic imaging , Animals , Disease Models, Animal , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Spinal Cord/diagnostic imaging , White Matter/diagnostic imaging , White Matter/pathologyABSTRACT
Western natural science, arising from philosophical secularism, is a potent perpetuator of secularism. Greeks view of reality, was paradoxically strengthened by Christian denigration of nature and reason and by the later, successive European stances of anti-theologism, anti-metaphysicism and scientism. Islam, by seeing the unity of reason-intuition and nature- ghayb posits scientific and spiritual meaning in nature. Western secular science has produced spiritual and natural crises while the holistic, Islamic science resolves them. The desecularisation and Islamisation of society together with the resolution of science-generated crises demands a fundamental criticism of western science and the emergence of a healthier science.
Subject(s)
Islam/history , Science/history , History, Modern 1601-ABSTRACT
Bekh-e-Karafs has been reported to be effective in a number of ailments in Unani system of medicine. The aqueous extract of the drug was screened for C.N.S. depressant, anti-convulsant and analgesic activities. The central depressant and analgesic activities of the drug were found to be significant while anti-convulsant activity was found to be insignificant. The results are reported here.
