Obesity induced by Borna disease virus in rats: key roles of hypothalamic fast-acting neurotransmitters and inflammatory infiltrates.

Human obesity epidemic is increasing worldwide with major adverse consequences on health. Among other possible causes, the hypothesis of an infectious contribution is worth it to be considered. Here, we report on an animal model of virus-induced obesity which might help to better understand underlying processes in human obesity.

Pathogenesis of equine herpesvirus-1 infection in the mouse model.

Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is a major equine pathogen causing respiratory diseases, abortions and severe neurological disorders. The basis of neurological disturbances is, as in other organs, infection of endothelial cells, followed by vasculitis, thrombosis and ischaemic damage of the parenchyma. Here, a murine model was used to explore the mechanism of entry to, and spread within the brain, the cell affinity of the agent and the modulating role of the immune defence, which are all factors governing the pathogenesis of the neurological disease.

Combined treatment of pediatric high-grade glioma with the oncolytic viral strain MTH-68/H and oral valproic acid.

The case of a 12-year-old boy with anaplastic astrocytoma of the left thalamus is reported. Postoperative irradiation and chemotherapy could not repress tumor progression; therefore, treatment was undertaken with an oncolytic virus, MTH-68/H, an attenuated strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and valproic acid (VPA), an antiepileptic drug, which also has antineoplastic properties. This treatment resulted in a far-reaching regression of the thalamic glioma, but 4 months later a new tumor manifestation, an extension of the thalamic tumor, appeared in the wall of the IVth ventricle, which required a second neurosurgical intervention.

Stephan Környey's contribution to the study of encephalitides.

A considerable part of Környey's work deals with the problem of encephalitides. HIs interest in this topic was roused by Heinrich Pette and in collaboration they studied the histopathology and pathogenesis of experimental and human poliomyelitis. On the basis of their findings they advocated the neural spread of the poliomyelitis virus.

Intracranial meningiomas developing at long intervals following low-dose X-ray irradiation of the head.

Five patients are reported who underwent X-ray epilation in childhood for tinea capitis and who developed meningiomas after about four decades. X-ray irradiation resulted in permanent alopecia in four of the five patients. In four patients the tumors were found on the convexity, one patient had a tuberculum sellae meningioma.

MTH-68/H oncolytic viral treatment in human high-grade gliomas.

Application of virus therapy to treat human neoplasms has over a three decade history. MTH-68/H, a live attenuated oncolytic viral strain of the Newcastle disease virus, is one of the viruses used in the treatment of different malignancies. Here we report on the administration of MTH-68/H to patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and most aggressive neuroectodermal neoplasm with a poor prognosis, averaging six months to a year.

Modulation of simian immunodeficiency virus neuropathology by dopaminergic drugs.

Drug abuse and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection seem to cause cumulative damage in the central nervous system (CNS). Elevated extracellular dopamine is thought to be a prime mediator of the reinforcing effects of addictive substances. To investigate the possible role of increased dopamine availability in the pathogenesis of HIV dementia, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected monkeys were treated with dopaminergic drugs (selegiline or L-DOPA).

Expression of Leu-19 (CD56, N-CAM) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) I in denervated and reinnervated human skeletal muscle.

Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM, Leu-19, CD 56) expression appears during muscle fiber regeneration and after denervation. Sarcolemma-associated nitric oxide synthase (NOS) I, however, disappears from denervated myofibers. The dynamics of expression of both proteins were studied in 5 cases of acute/subacute denervation, 28 cases of chronic denervation with and without collateral reinnervation, 5 cases of the intermediate type spinal muscular atrophy (SMA 2), and in 2 normal biopsies.

Enhancement of central nervous system pathology in early simian immunodeficiency virus infection by dopaminergic drugs.

Human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) at late stages of the disease is accompanied by neurological complications, including motor, behavioral and cognitive impairment. Using simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus monkeys, an animal model of HIV infection, we found that during the asymptomatic SIV infection dopamine (DA) deficits are early components of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. To investigate the role of the DA system in SIV infection and to restore the DA deficiency, we administered selegiline, an agent with DAergic and neuroprotective properties, to SIV-infected monkeys.

Calcineurin A and calbindin immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of G93A superoxide dismutase transgenic mice.

A qualitative immunohistochemical study was performed on calcineurin A- and calbindin-positive neurons in the spinal cord of transgenic mice, an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, carrying the G93A mutation of the Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase gene. The results show that calcineurin A-immunoreactive motoneurons are affected by the neurodegenerative process; in contrast, calbindin-positive cells are selectively spared. The findings suggest that calcineurin plays a role as an accessory factor responsible for selective vulnerability in the neurodegenerative process of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Clinicopathological study of atypical motor neuron disease with vertical gaze palsy and ballism.

The case of a 38-year-old patient with rapidly progressing motor neuron disease, complicated by major dysfunction of the extrapyramidal system and of vertical gaze is described. Neuropathological examination revealed a degenerative process that severely affected the lower motor neurons, as well as the neurons of the pars compacta of the substantia nigra, the nucleus of Darkschewitsch, the nucleus interstitialis of Cajal, the colliculi superiores, and the pallidum. The long tracts were unaffected at all levels of the brain stem and spinal cord.

Abundant defective viral particles budding from microglia in the course of retroviral spongiform encephalopathy.

A pathogenetic hallmark of retroviral neurodegeneration is the affinity of neurovirulent retroviruses for microglia cells, while degenerating neurons are excluded from retroviral infections. Microglia isolated ex vivo from rats peripherally infected with a neurovirulent retrovirus released abundant mature type C virions; however, infectivity associated with microglia was very low. In microglia, viral transcription was unaffected but envelope proteins were insufficiently cleaved into mature viral proteins and were not detected on the microglia cell surface.

Effects of Selegiline in a retroviral rat model for neurodegenerative disease.

Upon inoculation into neonatal rats, murine leukemia virus (MuLV) NT40 causes a non-inflammatory degeneration of the central nervous system. While microglia cells appear to be the major target cells within the brain parenchyma for neurovirulent MuLV, degenerating neurons do not express retroviral gene products. In order to protect rats from neuronal damage we treated retrovirally infected rats once with monoamine oxidase (MAO) B inhibitor Selegiline which--under different conditions--exerts neuroprotective effects.

Herpes simplex virus encephalitis: cranial magnetic resonance imaging and neuropathology in a mouse model.

We performed a long-term magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study in a mouse model of herpes simplex virus encephalitis. Mice were infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strain F. A 1.

[Effect of ACTH on long-term outcome of muscle regeneration after nerve injuries].

An experimental investigation was performed to examine the influence of ACTH on the long-term results of muscle regeneration after nerve repair. Twenty albino-rabbits ("White Russians") served as the animal model. The epi-perineural neurorrhaphy of the fibular nerve was carried out under microscopic control with 11x0 sutures.

Absence of nitric oxide synthase I despite the presence of the dystrophin complex in human striated muscle.

Recently, it has been shown that in human striated muscle the signalling enzyme, brain-type nitric oxide synthase I (NOS I), is associated with the sarcolemma and complexes with dystrophin and/or members of the dystrophin complex. In order to find out whether there exists a regular association between NOS I and the complex, muscle biopsies from patients with various muscle disorders were analysed by enzyme histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. In patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and to a lesser extent in those with Becker-type dystrophy, NOS I and dystrophin complex components were absent or drastically reduced in the sarcolemma region.

A mouse model of herpes simplex virus encephalitis: diagnostic brain imaging by magnetic resonance imaging.

Herpes simplex virus encephalitis is a severe sporadic encephalitis in man with high mortality and morbidity. A critical step in the establishment of therapy is early diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive, accurate diagnostic test for the detection of central nervous system disease.

Muscular involvement in Behçet's disease: case report and review of the literature.

Acute necrotizing myositis is described in a 22-yr-old man with clinically diagnosed Behçet's disease. Light microscopic examination revealed a prominently granulocytic-monocytic infiltration of the muscle with severe necrosis. An infectious (bacterial, fungal or parasitic) etiology could be excluded by specific staining techniques and by immunohistochemistry.

[Loss of innervation of the anterior cruciate ligament in idiopathic gonarthrosis].

This study quantifies the neurological structures of the ACL from proximal to distal in the zones A, B and C. 37 knee cadavers of healthy patients were analyzed to determinate the innervation for each age decade. This investigation was undertaken with high specific immuno-histologic sections (APAAP method).

Nitric oxide synthase I (NOS-I) is deficient in the sarcolemma of striated muscle fibers in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggesting an association with dystrophin.

Previously, we have demonstrated the expression of the brain-type nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I) in the sarcolemmal region of somatic and visceral striated muscle fibers in a variety of mammalian species through the use of enzyme histochemical and immunochemical techniques. Here we report that NOS-I protein and its NADPH diaphorase (NADPHd) activity are co-localized in the sarcolemma of human skeletal muscles. NOS-I immunolabeling and NADPHd activity showed no significant variation between type I and II fibers.