Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: to treat or not to treat.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits and risks of oxcarbazepine (OXC) monotherapy in children with newly diagnosed, benign partial epilepsy based on clinico-electrical and neuropsychological evaluation over time.

Methods: The study was open label, prospective, multicenter based. A total of 39 children with BRE were involved in the study.

Molecular characterization of enteroviruses detected in Gyeong-Ju and Po-Hang provinces of Korea in 2003.

We identified and characterized enteroviruses by amplifying the partial VP1 gene from pediatric patients with aseptic meningitis and other enterovirus-related diseases from the Gyeong-Ju and Po-Hang provinces of Korea in 2003. We identified two strains each of coxsackievirus A (CA) 6, CA9, and CA10; three enterovirus 71 (EV71) strains; and six echovirus 30 (E30) strains. The three EV71 strains were characterized as genogroup C4.

Increased seizure susceptibility and up-regulation of nNOS expression in hippocampus following recurrent early-life seizures in rats.

This study aimed to determine the long-term change of seizure susceptibility and the role of nNOS on brain development following recurrent early-life seizures in rats. Video-EEG recordings were conducted between postnatal days 50 and 60. Alterations in seizure susceptibility were assayed on day 22 or 50 using the flurothyl method.

A case of infantile Alexander disease accompanied by infantile spasms diagnosed by DNA analysis.

Alexander disease (AD) is a rare leukodystrophy of the central nervous system of unknown etiology. AD is characterized by progressive failure of central myelination and the accumulation of Rosenthal fibers in astrocytes, and is inevitably lethal in nature. Symptomatically, AD is associated with leukoencephalopathy with macrocephaly, seizures, and psychomotor retardation in infants, and usually leads to death within the first decade.

Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and effect of celecoxib in flurothyl-induced neonatal seizure.

Endogenous PGE(2) dynamically regulates membrane excitability, synaptic transmission and plasticity. Neonatal seizures are associated with a number of activity-dependent changes in brain development including altered synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity as well as reduction in neurogenesis. Thus, it is reasonable to hypothesize that alteration of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression induced by neonatal seizure may influence brain development.

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression of tumor and stromal cells is associated with the progression of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced rat mammary tumors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the alteration of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in rodent mammary tumors. We examined iNOS expression by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary tumors. In Western blot analysis, invasive carcinomas showed strong expression of iNOS; however, carcinomas in situ, atypical tumors and normal mammary tissue revealed insignificant expression.