Anti-interleukin-6 antibodies attenuate inflammation in a rat meningitis model.

Objectives: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of humans and animals with bacterial meningitis. This study's hypothesis was that anti-IL-6 antibodies will attenuate meningeal inflammation in a rat model of bacterial meningitis.

Methods: 14 male Sprague-Dawley rats were inoculated intracisternally (IC) with 0.

Polysymptomatic syndromes and autonomic reactivity to nonfood stressors in individuals with self-reported adverse food reactions.

This study compared symptom reports and cardiovascular reactivity of a group of 24 individuals recruited from the community who reported a cognitive or emotional symptom caused by at least one food (food-sensitivity reporters, FSR) vs those of 15 controls (C) without a history of food, chemical, drug, or inhalant sensitivities. The main findings were: 1) FSR indicated sensitivities not only to foods, but also to environmental chemicals, drugs, and natural inhalants, as well as significantly more symptoms than C in multiple systems; 2) more FSR than C noted recent state depression and anxiety, as well as higher trait anxiety on the Bendig form of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale; 3) however, on multiple regression analysis, not only depression, but also the number of sensitivities (foods, chemicals, drugs, inhalants), accounted for part of the variance in total number of symptoms (38 and 17%, respectively), whereas none of the affective measures accounted for any of the variance in total number of sensitivities over all subjects; 4) after controlling for depression and anxiety, FSR still showed a trend toward poorer performance on a timed mental arithmetic task (p = 0.16); and 5) FSR and C showed opposite patterns of heart rate change to two different stressful tasks (mental arithmetic and isometric exercise) (group by task interaction, p < 0.

Plasma homocysteine in vascular disease and in nonvascular dementia of depressed elderly people.

Depression among elderly people with reversible cognitive loss often manifests with concomitant vascular disease and can also precede the development of nonvascular degenerative dementia. Little is known about etiological factors for reversible or irreversible dementias in older depressed people. The amino acid homocysteine (HC), which is both a vascular disease risk factor and a precursor of the excitotoxic amino acids cysteine and homocysteic acid, could play a role in the pathophysiology of such individuals.

Fischer and Lewis rat strains differ in basal levels of neurofilament proteins and their regulation by chronic morphine in the mesolimbic dopamine system.

We studied levels of neurofilament (NF) proteins in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and other regions of the central nervous system, of two genetically inbred rat strains, Lewis (LEW) and Fischer (F344) rats. These strains represent genetically divergent populations of rats that have been used to study possible genetic factors involved in a variety of biological processes, including drug addiction: compared to F344 rats, LEW rats show a much higher preference for several classes of drugs of abuse. We found 30-50% lower levels of three NF proteins, NF-200 (NF-H), NF-160 (NF-M), and NF-68 (NF-L), in the VTA of LEW compared to F344 rats by use of immunolabeling and Coomassie blue staining.

Brief communication. Vitamin B1, B2, and B6 augmentation of tricyclic antidepressant treatment in geriatric depression with cognitive dysfunction.

This was a 4-week randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study to assess augmentation of open tricyclic antidepressant treatment with 10 mg each of vitamins B1, B2, and B6 in 14 geriatric inpatients with depression. The active vitamin group demonstrated significantly better B2 and B6 status on enzyme activity coefficients and trends toward greater improvement in scores on ratings of depression and congnitive function, as well as in serum nortriptyline levels compared with placebo-treated subjects (Ss). Without specific supplementation, B12 levels increased in Ss receiving B1/B2/B6 and decreased in placebo Ss.