[Simultaneous pulmonar, laryngeal and lingual affectation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis]. / Afectación simultánea pulmonar, laríngea y lingual por Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The incidence of tuberculosis has lately increased in developed countries. The most frequent affectation is the pulmonar one and in the ORL area the laryngeal. The lingual affectation is exceptional. We present a case of a man 39 years old, with bilateral pulmonar, left vocal cord and mobile tongue affectation, negative Mantoux, positive spit culture and presence of acido-alcohol resistent bacillus in lingual and laryngeal biopsies. After antituberculosis treatment during 6 months the laryngeal and lingual lesions disappeared. We have only found two cases published of simultaneous tuberculosis in these three localisations in the last 30 years.

Age-related changes of neuronal responsiveness to melatonin in the striatum of sham-operated and pinealectomized rats.

The age-related changes and the acute effects of intravenous melatonin on the activity of striatal neurons of 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 18-month-old sham-operated and pinealectomized rats were investigated. There was a decline in responsiveness from 3- to 18-months of age, although in sham-pinealectomized rats the responses were similar at 12 and 18 months; in pinealectomized rats, the neuronal responses were quite stable at early ages. In all age groups of sham-pinealectomized rats, neuronal firing decreased in most cells, and increased in only a small percentage of cells after intravenous melatonin injection (100 ng/kg). However, in pinealectomized rats, the injection of melatonin at the same doses significantly increased the firing rate of most neurons compared to that in sham-operated animals at all age-groups, while the number of neurons showing an inhibitory response decreased. These results indicate that melatonin may be involved in the modulation of the activity of striatal neurons and demonstrates an age-dependent reduction in striatal sensitivity to melatonin. They also suggest that other compounds of pineal origin may modulate the activity of motor control centers.

Pineal modulation of the rat caudate-putamen spontaneous neuronal activity: roles of melatonin and vasotocin.

The effects of microiontophoretic application of melatonin and melatonin plus vasotocin on spontaneously active neurons of caudate-putamen in sham-operated and pinealectomized rats were studied. Extracellular unit recordings showed that in sham-pinealectomized rats, melatonin ejection primarily produced inhibition of the responsive neurons (74.1%), whereas only 24.9% of the neurons were excited. Iontophoretic ejection of vasotocin or melatonin+vasotocin produced, in both cases, an inhibition of 100% of the responsive neurons. In pinealectomized rats, iontophoretic melatonin ejection produced a similar percentage of inhibition (46.1%) and excitation (53.8%) of the responsive neurons. The simultaneous ejection of melatonin+vasotocin further increased the percentage of inhibition (88.8%) compared with the melatonin only treated group. Moreover, iontophoretic ejection of vasotocin inhibited 100% of the responsive neurons in pinealectomized rats. The actions of melatonin and vasotocin seem to be specific, because their effects are dependent on the amount of these compounds ejected, i.e., the intensity of the ejection current. These results indicate that the pineal compounds melatonin and vasotocin are neuromodulators of spontaneous neuronal activity of the rat caudate-putamen.

Paradoxical effects of melatonin on spontaneous neuronal activity in the striatum of sham-operated and pinealectomized rats.

The acute effects of intravenous melatonin on spontaneously active striatal neurons in sham-operated and pinealectomized rats were studied. Extracellular recordings in a total of 76 neurons showed that only 19 did not modify their spontaneous activity after melatonin injection. In sham-pinealectomized rats, neural firing decreased in most cells (80% of neurons), and increased in only 5.7% of the neurons after indole administration (100 ng/kg body weight). However, in the group of rats pinealectomized 7 days earlier, the injection of melatonin (at the same dose as above) significantly increased the excitatory response (44%), while the number of cells showing inhibitory response decreased (17%). Moreover, a small percentage (4.9%) of neurons in pinealectomized rats displayed a biphasic response (initial decrease followed by an increased firing). These results demonstrate that aMT can modulate the activity of striatal neurons, and suggest that other compounds of pineal origin (e.g., vasotocin) may change effects of aMT on basal ganglia neurons.