Disproportionate pupillary involvement in diabetic autonomic neuropathy.

Objective: To study the degree of pupillary impairment in diabetic and non-diabetic autonomic neuropathy.

Methods: We retrospectively sampled from all patients who underwent comprehensive autonomic testing and infrared pupillometry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Composite autonomic severity score (CASS) and pupillary indices from the average of at least three pupillary response curves were recorded.

Dynamic pupillometry as an autonomic testing tool.

Objective: To determine normal values for pupillometry indices in healthy control subjects and to examine these indices in patients with autonomic dysfunction and healthy controls.

Methods: Infrared video pupillometry was used to investigate the pupil response to a brief light flash in 79 healthy controls, 28 patients with normal autonomic function (composite autonomic severity score, CASS < 2), and 26 patients with moderate to severe autonomic failure (CASS > 4) seen in our autonomic laboratory from January 2008 to June 2011. In six subjects, we examined the effects of varying light stimulus intensity and light stimulus duration.

A Unique Manifestation of Pupillary Fatigue in Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy.

Objective: To demonstrate a unique abnormality of the pupillary light reflex in patients with autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy (AAG).

Design: Case series.

Setting: Autonomic clinics at 2 university hospitals (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center).

Pathways for plasmalemmal repair mediated by PKA, Epac, and cytosolic oxidation in rat B104 cells in vitro and rat sciatic axons ex vivo.

Plasmalemmal repair (sealing) is necessary for survival of damaged eukaryotic cells. Ca(2+) influx through plasmalemmal disruptions activates pathways that initiate sealing, which is commonly assessed by exclusion of extracellular dye. These sealing pathways include PKA, Epac, and cytosolic oxidation.