RESUMO
Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a nonischemic cardiomyopathy with transient apical ballooning of the left ventricle and reduced ejection fraction that can be caused by severe emotional or physical stress, with diverse clinical presentations. This case describes a patient who went into cardiac arrest at a casino after winning the lottery. She was found to have Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, in the setting of uncontrolled hyperthyroidism. This is a very unique case of TTS presenting with cardiac arrest, and is also an uncommon example of TTS triggered by a positive rather than negative emotional life event.
RESUMO
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron cell death. However, not all motor neurons are equally susceptible. Most of what we know about the surviving motor neurons comes from gene expression profiling; less is known about their functional traits. We found that resistant motor neurons cultured from SOD1 ALS mouse models have enhanced axonal outgrowth and dendritic branching. They also have an increase in the number and size of actin-based structures like growth cones and filopodia. These phenotypes occur in cells cultured from presymptomatic mice and mutant SOD1 models that do not develop ALS but not in embryonic motor neurons. Enhanced outgrowth and upregulation of filopodia can be induced in wild-type adult cells by expressing mutant SOD1. These results demonstrate that mutant SOD1 can enhance the regenerative capability of ALS-resistant motor neurons. Capitalizing on this mechanism could lead to new therapeutic strategies.
