MK-801 enhances gabaculine-induced loss of the righting reflex in mice, but not immobility.

Purpose: gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are important targets for anesthetic action at the in vitro cellular level. Gabaculine is a GABA-trans-aminase inhibitor that increases endogenous GABA in the brain, and enhances GABA activity. We have recently shown that unconsciousness is associated with the enhanced GABA activity due to gabaculine, but that immobility is not.

Increased gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in mouse brain induce loss of righting reflex, but not immobility, in response to noxious stimulation.

Background: The general anesthetic state comprises behavioral and perceptual components, including amnesia, unconsciousness, and immobility. gamma-Aminobutyric acidergic (GABAergic) inhibitory neurotransmission is an important target for anesthetic action at the in vitro cellular level. In vivo, however, the functional relevance of enhancing GABAergic neurotransmission in mediating essential components of the general anesthetic state is unknown.

Riluzole, a glutamate release inhibitor, induces loss of righting reflex, antinociception, and immobility in response to noxious stimulation in mice.

Background: The general anesthetic state comprises behavioral and perceptual components, including amnesia, unconsciousness, analgesia, and immobility. In vitro, glutamatergic excitatory neurons are important targets for anesthetic action at the cellular and microcircuits levels. Riluzole (2-amino-6-[trifluoromethoxy]benzothiazole) is a neuroprotective drug that inhibits glutamate release from nerve terminals in the central nervous system.

An alternative approach to the monitoring of respiration by dynamic air-pressure sensor.

Monitoring and assessing of patient respiratory function during conscious sedation are important because many drugs used for conscious sedation produce respiratory depression and subsequent hypoventilation. The purpose of this study is to assess the value of a dynamic air-pressure sensor for respiratory monitoring of clothed patients. Eight clothed adult volunteers were reclined on a dental chair positioned horizontally.

Comparison of two methods for evaluating bone marrow metastasis of neuroblastoma: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for tyrosine hydroxylase and magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The presence of bone marrow (BM) metastasis and circulating tumor cells in patients with neuroblastoma is a significant prognostic factor at diagnosis and might antedate detection of a relapse by other diagnostic studies. In this study, the clinical value of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to amplify mRNA for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the clinical course of patients with advanced neuroblastoma, was evaluated.

Methods: Four patients with Stage 1, 4 or 4S neuroblastoma, were studied.

[A case of hypereosinophilic syndrome associated with paraplegia].

We report a 3-year-old girl with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome. She was admitted to our hospital because of fever, cough, significant eosinophilia (16,500/microliter) and an elevated serum IgE level (114,685 u/ml). After wheezes continued for several days, paraplegia, dysuria and dyschezia developed.

Propofol-induced anesthesia in mice is mediated by gamma-aminobutyric acid-A and excitatory amino acid receptors.

Unlabelled: To elucidate the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)(A) receptor complex and excitatory amino acid receptors (N-methyl-D-aspartate [NMDA] and non-NMDA receptors) in propofol-induced anesthesia, we examined behaviorally the effects of GABAergic and glutamatergic drugs on propofol anesthesia in mice. All drugs were administered intraperitoneally. General anesthetic potencies were evaluated using a righting reflex assay.

Persistence of TEL-AML1 transcript in acute lymphoblastic leukemia in long-term remission.

Background: It has recently been shown that t (12;21) (p13;q 22) is the most common molecular genetic abnormality in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We have analyzed this translocation in an attempt to evaluate its incidence and to monitor minimal residual disease (MRD) with t (12; 21) rearrangement by detection of TEL-AML1 transcript in patients with childhood ALL.

Procedure: All cryopreserved bone marrow samples were analyzed using a nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.

Clinical recovery time from conscious sedation for dental outpatients.

For dental outpatients undergoing conscious sedation, recovery from sedation must be sufficient to allow safe discharge home, and many researchers have defined "recovery time" as the time until the patient was permitted to return home after the end of dental treatment. But it is frequently observed that patients remain in the clinic after receiving permission to go home. The present study investigated "clinical recovery time," which is defined as the time until discharge from the clinic after a dental procedure.