Sonography of Responsive Versus Nonresponsive Ectopic Pregnancies.

This case series describes changes in size, vascularity, and cul-de-sac fluid in 30 patients with ectopic pregnancies who were treated with systemic methotrexate. Pretreatment and posttreatment transvaginal sonography of the ectopic pregnancies was performed with color Doppler imaging, and the images were assessed for changes in size, vascularity, and cul-de-sac free fluid. There was a trend for nonresponders to show increased vascularity on serial examinations, although this finding was also seen in a single responder. There was also a trend for nonresponders with increased vascularity to be associated with a greater increase in ß-human chorionic gonadotropin levels and responders with decreased vascularity to be associated with a greater decrease in ß-human chorionic gonadotropin levels.

Identification of the sites of tau hyperphosphorylation and activation of tau kinases in synucleinopathies and Alzheimer's diseases.

OBJECTIVE: Most neurodegenerative diseases contain hyperphosphorylated Tau [p-Tau]. We examined for the first time epitopes at which Tau is hyperphosphorylated in Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease, and also select Tau kinases. METHODS: Postmortem frontal cortex from Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimer's disease and striata from Parkinson's disease, were analyzed by immunoblots using commercially available antibodies against 20 different phospho-epitopes of Tau. Major Tau kinases were also screened. Results in diseased tissues were compared to nondiseased controls. RESULTS: In Alzheimer's disease, Tau was hyperphosphorylated at all the 20 epitopes of p-Tau. In dementia with Lewy bodies, p-Tau formation occurred at 6 sites sharing 30% overlap with Alzheimer's disease, while in Parkinson's frontal cortex, an area which does not degenerate, Tau hyperphosphorylation was seen at just 3 epitopes, indicating 15% overlap with Alzheimer's disease. In Parkinson's disease striatum, an area which undergoes considerable neurodegeneration, Tau was hyperphosphorylated at 10 epitopes, sharing 50% overlap with Alzheimer's disease. Between frontal cortex of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, there were only two p-Tau epitopes in common. In striata of Parkinson's disease, there were 3 clusters of Tau hyperphosphorylated at 3 contiguous sites, while two such clusters were detected in dementia with Lewy bodies; such clusters disrupt axonal transport of mitochondria, cause microtubule remodeling and result in cell death. p-GSK-3ß, a major Tau kinase, was activated in all brain regions examined, except in dementia with Lewy bodies. Activation of other Tau kinases was seen in all brain regions, with no clear pattern of activation. INTERPRETATION: Our studies suggest that the three neurodegenerative diseases each have a signature-specific profile of p-Tau formation which may be useful in understanding the genesis of the diseases and for the development of a panel of specific biomarkers.