ΔFosB is part of a homeostatic mechanism that protects the epileptic brain from further deterioration.

Activity induced transcription factor ΔFosB plays a key role in different CNS disorders including epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and addiction. Recent findings suggest that ΔFosB drives cognitive deficits in epilepsy and together with the emergence of small molecule inhibitors of ΔFosB activity makes it an interesting therapeutic target. However, whether ΔFosB contributes to pathophysiology or provides protection in drug-resistant epilepsy is still unclear.

Static perimetry in canthaxanthin maculopathy.

We performed threshold static perimetry on 19 patients who had ingested canthaxanthin; 11 had maculopathy and eight did not. Patients with no history of canthaxanthin ingestion served as controls. All patients had visual acuity of 6/9 or better.

[Retinopathy due to canthazanthine: 2. Predisposing factors].

A retrospective study of 14 cases of retinopathy due to canthaxanthine, a carotenoid recently used as a skin-tanning agent, revealed that several clinical factors were associated with an increased susceptibility to retinal deposits: focal epitheliopathy, ocular hypertension and, possibly, the concurrent use of beta-carotene. Age has already been established as such a factor.

[Canthaxanthine retinopathy: 1. Clinical study in 51 consumers].

Canthaxanthine, a non-provitamin A carotenoid, has been marketed in Canada since March 1979 as a skin-tanning agent. Fifty-one individuals who ingested from 3.6 to 66 g of the drug within a 24-month period were ophthalmologically evaluated.

[Maculopathy with golden particles].

This article describes two patients with a bilateral maculopathy due to the presence of numerous glistening yellow particles located mainly around the edge of the macular pit. This picture has apparently not been reported before. Further studies are needed to confirm a possibly toxic origin.

X-linked ocular albinism: relative value of skin biopsy, iris transillumination and funduscopy in identifying affected males and carriers.

In a group of 15 males with X-linked ocular albinism and 13 obligate carriers of the gene for the condition skin biopsy in a search for giant pigment granules with light microscopy and macromelanosomes with electron microscopy gave positive results more often than iris transillumination and funduscopy. Thus, skin biopsy should significantly improve the detection of both affected males and carriers.

A patterned macular dystrophy with yellow plaques and atrophic changes.

Three middle-aged male patients are described with a peculiar patterned dystrophy of the macula. The basic lesions are discrete yellow plaques typically confined to the macular area and radiating from the fovea. They appear to be located at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).