ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic consumption of the GABAB agonist baclofen on temperature perception in humans. We investigated temperature perception thresholds to detect warm and cold stimuli in a group of 21 patients with spinal cord injury, who were chronically consuming oral baclofen at different daily doses to treat spasticity. Temperature perception thresholds were assessed above the level of the lesion, using a psychophysical approach based on the ability of the subjects to perceive precisely quantified sensory stimuli (quantitative sensory testing, QST). The data were compared with a control group of healthy subjects, not receiving baclofen. We found that chronic baclofen consumption increased temperature perception thresholds for both cold and warm stimuli in a dose-dependent manner. Temperature perception thresholds did not depend on the level of the lesion nor on the duration of baclofen treatment, suggesting that our finding represent normal GABAB-mediated modulation in spared nervous structures. We conclude that GABAB therefore plays a role in temperature perception in humans.
Subject(s)
Baclofen/pharmacology , GABA Agonists/pharmacology , Sensory Thresholds/drug effects , Thermosensing/drug effects , Adolescent , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Physical Stimulation , Psychophysics/methods , Spinal Cord Injuries/drug therapy , Spinal Cord Injuries/physiopathologyABSTRACT
The case of a 39 years old woman with acute transverse myelitis manifested as a syndrome of the anterior spinal artery is presented. Etiologic investigation diagnosed a primary antiphospholipid syndrome because of the finding of significantly high titers of anticardiolipin antibodies discarding the presence of systemic lupus erythematosus for the lack of sufficient diagnostic criteria. The association between both clinical pictures is infrequent.
