Subject(s)
Antiparkinson Agents/administration & dosage , Carbidopa/administration & dosage , Infusion Pumps/statistics & numerical data , Levodopa/administration & dosage , Parkinson Disease/drug therapy , Aged , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Administration Schedule , Duodenum/drug effects , Duodenum/metabolism , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/prevention & control , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Time , Time Factors , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
We have previously reported that genetic immunization with Tc13Tul antigen of Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas' disease, triggers harmful effects and non-protective immune responses. In order to confirm the role of Tc13 antigens during T. cruzi infection, herein we studied the humoral and cellular immune responses to the Tc13Tul molecule and its EPKSA C-terminal portion in BALB/c T. cruzi-infected mice or mice immunized with recombinant Tc13Tul. Analysis of the antibody response showed that B-cell epitopes that stimulate a sustained IgM production along the infection and high levels of IgG in the acute phase are mainly located at the Tc13 N- and C-terminal domains, respectively. DTH assays showed that T-cell epitopes are mainly at the Tc13 N-terminal segment and that they do not elicit an efficient memory response. Recombinant Tc13Tul did not induce IFN-gamma secretion in either infected or immunized mice. However, a putative CD8+Tc13Tul-derived peptide was found to elicit IFN-gamma production in chronically infected animals. Immunization with recombinant Tc13Tul did not induce pathology in tissues and neither did it protect against the infection. Our results show that in the outcome of T. cruzi infection the Tc13 family protein mainly triggers non-protective immune responses.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Protozoan/immunology , Chagas Disease/immunology , Trypanosoma cruzi/immunology , Animals , Antibodies, Protozoan/blood , Antibody Formation/immunology , Chagas Disease/prevention & control , Disease Models, Animal , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Immunity, Cellular/immunology , Immunoglobulin G/immunology , Immunoglobulin M/immunology , Interferon-gamma/biosynthesis , Interleukin-4/biosynthesis , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Random Allocation , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Tc13 is a trans-sialidase family protein of Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas' disease. Recently, in vitro studies had suggested that Tc13 might participate in the pathogenesis of the disease. In order to study the role of Tc13 antigens in an in vivo model, we administered plasmid DNA encoding a Tc13 antigen from the Tulahuén strain (Tc13 Tul) to BALB/c mice and evaluated the immunological and pathological manifestations as well as the capacity of this antigen to confer protection against T. cruzi infection. Tc13 Tul immunization did not elicit a detectable humoral immune response but induced specific memory T-cells with no capacity to produce IFN-gamma. Five months after DNA-immunization with Tc13 Tul, signs of hepatotoxicity and reactive changes in the heart, liver and spleen were observed in 40-80% of mice. When Tc13 Tul DNA-immunized animals were challenged with trypomastigotes, a significant decrease in parasitaemia in early and late acute phase was observed without modification in the survival rate. Surprisingly, Tc13 Tul-immunized mice chronically infected with T. cruzi showed a decrease in the severity of heart damage. We conclude that, in BALB/c mice, genetic immunization with Tc13 Tul mainly induces immune responses associated with pathology.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Protozoan/immunology , Chagas Disease/immunology , Gene Expression/physiology , Trypanosoma cruzi/immunology , Vaccines, DNA/immunology , Animals , Antibodies, Protozoan/blood , Antibody Formation/immunology , COS Cells , Chagas Disease/mortality , Chagas Disease/pathology , Chagas Disease/prevention & control , Chlorocebus aethiops , Female , Gene Expression/immunology , Immunity, Cellular/immunology , Interferon-gamma/biosynthesis , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Parasitemia/immunology , Parasitemia/prevention & control , Spleen/immunology , Spleen/pathology , Time Factors , Trypanosoma cruzi/geneticsABSTRACT
The electromyographic silent period following the motor potential evoked by cortical magnetic stimulation is decreased in parkinsonian patients. In this study we investigated whether the decrease in the silent period is connected only with parkinsonian symptoms. We evaluated the effect of apomorphine (a potent and rapid dopamine-agonist) on the changes in the peripheral and central silent period in 29 patients with Parkinson's disease and in two patients affected by multisystem atrophy (MSA). Apomorphine injection was found to induce a significant improvement in the central silent period in parkinsonian patients but not in the MSA patients, suggesting a relation between the clinical parkinsonian symptoms (akinesia and rigidity) and the silent period duration. The central silent period changes after apomorphine injection could be used as an adjunctive, safe and effective diagnostic tool to assess dopamine responsiveness of parkinsonian syndromes.
Subject(s)
Antiparkinson Agents/pharmacology , Apomorphine/pharmacology , Cerebral Cortex/drug effects , Cerebral Cortex/physiopathology , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Aged , Electromagnetic Fields , Electromyography , Evoked Potentials, Motor/drug effects , Female , Humans , Male , Motor Cortex/drug effects , Motor Cortex/physiopathology , Multiple System Atrophy/physiopathology , Somatosensory Cortex/drug effects , Somatosensory Cortex/physiopathologyABSTRACT
We studied 49 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) by a neuropsychological battery examining the temporo-spatial orientation, short-term memory, comprehension, non-verbal intelligence, long-term memory and anomia and the Auditory Event-Related Potentials. In the patients the latencies of the N100 and N200 waves were prolonged and the amplitude of the P300 wave was reduced compared with controls. No difference was found in the ERP of patients with and without cognitive deficits. Equally, no correlation was found between the ERP, the cognitive impairment, the length or the severity of the disease evaluated by Hoehn-Yahr's and Webster's scales.
Subject(s)
Evoked Potentials, Auditory/physiology , Parkinson Disease/physiopathology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Anomia/physiopathology , Cognition/physiology , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Dementia/physiopathology , Event-Related Potentials, P300/physiology , Female , Humans , Intelligence/physiology , Male , Memory/physiology , Memory, Short-Term/physiology , Middle Aged , Neuropsychology , Orientation/physiology , Reaction Time/physiology , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
We followed up 107 patients experiencing a first-ever ischemic stroke after having been affected by essential hypertension for at least one year, in order to analyze the phenomenon of post-stroke blood pressure lowering. Of the 82 patients still surviving after three months of follow-up, 44 (54%) had normal arterial blood pressure values. There were no significant differences between these normotensive patients and the 38 with high blood pressure in terms of cerebrovascular risk factors or disability, but blood pressure normalized in 34 of the 54 patients experiencing a carotid stroke (63%) and in only 10 of the 28 experiencing vertebrobasilar stroke (36%) (p = 0.035). These data may offer a starting point for further studies of the neurogenesis of arterial hypertension.
Subject(s)
Blood Pressure/physiology , Brain Ischemia/physiopathology , Cerebrovascular Disorders/physiopathology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The dorsal nerve of the penis is involved in sexual function. Until now, the nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the dorsal nerve of the penis has been measured by dividing the distance between the stimulating and the recording electrodes by the latency to the negative peak of the action potential. With the penis stretched with a 1 lb weight, the NCV in normal men was 33 m/sec +/- 3.8. Measuring the NCV in this way, we became aware that when we decreased the distance between the stimulating and the recording electrodes, the velocity decreased. Furthermore these different measurements were linearly related. Taking this into account, we calculated the NCV with mathematical formula. In normal people, it turned out to be faster than reported previously.
Subject(s)
Neural Conduction/physiology , Penile Erection/physiology , Penis/innervation , Action Potentials/physiology , Adult , Electric Stimulation/methods , Humans , Male , Reaction Time/physiology , Reference Values , Reflex/physiologyABSTRACT
High altitude climbing without supplementary oxygen is a common sporting practice and athletes have been extensively evaluated with respect to possible brain functional impairment during its performance. Little is known on the contrary about long-term effects of hypoxia on the central nervous system. We evaluated, at sea level, a group of 10 high-altitude climbers with a battery of neuropsychological tests before and 75 days after the ascent. Our results suggest the occurrence of an impairment of memory performance after return to sea-level at least in some subjects, while speech and certain practical abilities were unchanged.
