Circadian profile of salivary melatonin secretion and its concentration after epileptic seizure in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy--preliminary report.

Background: The results of a few previous studies assessing melatonin concentration in epileptic patient are ambiguous. This study aimed at: (1) comparing the circadian profile of salivary melatonin excretion in epileptic patients with that in healthy subjects and with circadian frequency profile of seizures and (2) assessing the effect of epileptic seizure upon salivary melatonin concentration.

Methods: The study included thirty patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy aged from 22 to 45 years (mean age 37.

Progesterone therapy in women with epilepsy.

Background: Progesterone with its anti-seizure effect plays a role in the pathophysiology of catamenial epilepsy which affects 31-60% of epileptic women. In this study, an attempt to treat women suffering from catamenial epilepsy with progesterone, as an adjuvant drug, was made.

Methods: The treatment was given to 36 women aged 20-40 years (mean age: 30.

Cerebral vasoreactivity in hypocapnia and hypercapnia in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 with or without arterial hypertension.

Background And Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an in-dependent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The origin of diabetic microangiopathy is multifactorial; it affects all layers of the artery wall, causing endothelial and vasoreactivity impairment. The incidence of cerebral vasoreactivity failure in diabetic patients without stroke history is not precisely determined yet.

Frequency of the C677T variant of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene in patients with migraine with or without aura - a preliminary report.

Background And Purpose: The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of the C677T variant in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene in patients with migraine with or without aura and to find an association between this variant and vascular lesions in magnetic resonance imaging of the head, presence of patent foramen ovale (PFO) and increased level of homocysteine.

Material And Methods: Ninety-one patients with migraine, aged 19-57, were investigated in this study. The MTHFR C677T variant was genotyped in this group and levels of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12 were measured.

[Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis - case report].

We present a patient with multiple sclerosis, diagnosed at the age of 16.5, in whom mental and orientation disturbances, strange behaviour as well as bizarre dyskinesias of the face and extremities occurred at age 20. After several days, tonic-clonic status epilepticus developed.

Development of Guillain-Barré syndrome in a patient with multiple sclerosis during treatment with glatiramer acetate.

Some observations suggest that in some patients with multiple sclerosis demyelination may affect the central and peripheral nervous systems at the same time. The influence of immunomodulatory therapy on peripheral nervous system damage in these patients is still unknown. We present a 43-year-old male patient with multiple sclerosis diagnosed at the age of 35 in whom flaccid tetraparesis with dysaesthesia preceded by paraesthesias of four limbs occurred one year after starting glatiramer acetate.

Seizure frequency and bioelectric brain activity in epileptic patients in stable and unstable atmospheric pressure and temperature in different seasons of the year--a preliminary report.

Background And Purpose: An epileptic seizure is a sum of exogenous and endogenous factors affecting an epileptic focus. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature on the increase in the frequency of seizures and changes in EEG in epileptic patients.

Material And Methods: The study included 30 epileptic patients (aged 19-54) reporting the influence of changes in weather conditions on the increase in the frequency of seizures for at least 2 years.

[Serum levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 in patients with multiple sclerosis during intravenous immunoglobulin infusion].

Unlabelled: Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy is a recognized treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and its efficacy in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been proven in a few double-blind studies. IVIG has several effects on the immune system that could have a beneficial influence on disease process in MS and one of these effects are significant changes in serum levels of circulating cytokines after IVIG infusions. As interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) play important role as pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, in vivo modulation of these cytokines may account for immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effect of IVIG therapy.

[Carbamazepine-induced systemic lupus erythematosus--a case report].

Epileptic seizures may be an early symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus, while at the same time some of the epileptic drugs, namely carbamazepine (CBZ), phenytoin (PHT), valproic acid (VPA), ethosuximide (ETM), primidone (PRM), lamotrigine (LTG), zonisamide (ZNS) can cause lupus. A separate clinical problem is the fact that few cases of systemic lupus have as yet been identified by giving antiepileptic drug. We present the case of a 30-year-old woman with frequent simple partial seizures and few secondarily generalized seizures since the age of 18.

[The effect of a single electroconvulsive shock on pituitary-thyroid-adrenal-gonadal axis function in men with severe depression--preliminary report].

Introduction And Aim: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment of severe depression but its mechanism of action is still unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of first ECT on serum hormone concentrations in patients with severe depression.

Material And Method: Serum concentrations of prolactin (PRL), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), thyrotrophin (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), cortisol (F), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), estradiol (E2), progesterone (P) and testosterone (T) were estimated by RIA or IRMA in 5 men (mean age 34.

[Changes of cerebral blood flow in the basilar artery system in patients with neurogenic syncope].

Unlabelled: Syncope is a short loss of consciousness caused by a transient decrease of global cerebral blood flow. Neurally mediated syncope is associated with vasodilatory response and bradycardia. The Doppler ultrasonography was used to evaluate changes of the basilar artery blood flow mean velocity and pulsatility index during orthostatic challenge and CO2 reactivity testing in patients with neurally mediated syncope and a negative result of the Tilt Test.