Ischemic stroke and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in pregnancy.

Maternal ischemic stroke and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) are dreaded complications of pregnancy and major contributors to maternal disability and mortality. This chapter summarizes the incidence and risk factors for maternal arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) and CVST and discusses the pathophysiology of maternal AIS and CVST. The diagnosis, treatment, and secondary preventive strategies for maternal stroke are also reviewed.

mTOR and S6K1 drive polycystic kidney by the control of Afadin-dependent oriented cell division.

mTOR activation is essential and sufficient to cause polycystic kidneys in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and other genetic disorders. In disease models, a sharp increase of proliferation and cyst formation correlates with a dramatic loss of oriented cell division (OCD). We find that OCD distortion is intrinsically due to S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) activation.

A survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices on Zika virus in new York City.

Background: Over 900 travel-associated Zika virus cases have been identified in New York City (NYC), New York. A survey was administered in NYC adapted from the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey on Zika virus developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Methods: A standardized, self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample in Manhattan and the Bronx from June 30th, 2016 to October 21st, 2016.

Malaria inhibits surface expression of complement receptor 1 in monocytes/macrophages, causing decreased immune complex internalization.

Complement receptor 1 (CR1) expressed on the surface of phagocytic cells binds complement-bound immune complexes (IC), playing an important role in the clearance of circulating IC. This receptor is critical to prevent accumulation of IC, which can contribute to inflammatory pathology. Accumulation of circulating IC is frequently observed during malaria, although the factors contributing to this accumulation are not clearly understood.

A preliminary 6-month prospective study examining self-reported religious preference, religiosity/spirituality, and retention at a Jewish residential treatment center for substance-related disorders.

Although there is a substantial amount of research suggesting that higher levels of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) are associated with better treatment outcomes of substance-related disorders, no studies have explored this relationship at a faith-based residential treatment center. The objective of this prospective study is to explore the relationship between R/S, self-reported religious preference, and retention at a Jewish residential treatment center for substance-related disorders. Using the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, R/S levels were assessed for 33 subjects at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months.

Single-cell Tsc1 knockout during corticogenesis generates tuber-like lesions and reduces seizure threshold in mice.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by mutations in Tsc1 or Tsc2 that lead to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) hyperactivity. Patients with TSC suffer from intractable seizures resulting from cortical malformations known as tubers, but research into how these tubers form has been limited because of the lack of an animal model. To address this limitation, we used in utero electroporation to knock out Tsc1 in selected neuronal populations in mice heterozygous for a mutant Tsc1 allele that eliminates the Tsc1 gene product at a precise developmental time point.

Hippocampal volume change in the Alzheimer Disease Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment trial.

Numerous clinical studies suggest a link between elevated cholesterol and increased risk of Alzheimer disease (AD), and the preponderance of data suggests that statin therapy may reduce the risk of AD later in life. The first clinical investigation of statin therapy in patients with AD, the AD Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment (ADCLT) trial, found that atorvastatin 80 mg/day was associated with improvements relative to placebo on some, but not all, cognitive measures after 6 months and 1 year of therapy. We report here findings from a pilot ADCLT substudy showing a nonsignificant reduction in total hippocampal volume with 1 year of atorvastatin therapy compared with placebo, driven by a highly significant reduction in right hippocampal volume with atorvastatin therapy.

Relationship of cognitive measures and gray and white matter in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To examine the relationship between commonly used screening cognitive measures with gray and white matter integrity in patients with mild to moderate AD.

Background: New neuroimaging techniques, such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM), make it possible to study the relationship between structural brain integrity and cognitive functioning in AD.

Methods: Gray and white matter integrity was evaluated using VBM in fifteen patients with mild to moderate AD.

Cholesterol, copper and Abeta in controls, MCI, AD and the AD cholesterol-lowering treatment trial (ADCLT).

Cholesterol clearly plays an influential role in promoting the production of amyloid beta (Abeta) and possibly the progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The AD Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment trial (ADCLT; 1 year duration) tested atorvastatin and found significant benefit on measures of cognition and depressive symptoms in treated patients (N = 32) compared to placebo (N = 31). We assessed the circulating levels of Abeta(1-40), Abeta(1-42), ceruloplasmin (copper chaperone), apolipoprotein E and HDL-cholesterol in blood collected at each clinical visit during the ADCLT.

Atorvastatin therapy lowers circulating cholesterol but not free radical activity in advance of identifiable clinical benefit in the treatment of mild-to-moderate AD.

Cholesterol-induced production of amyloid beta (Abeta) as a putative neurotoxin in Alzheimer's disease (AD), along with epidemiological evidence, suggests that statin drugs may provide benefit in treatment of the disorder. We tested the effect of once daily atorvastatin calcium (80 mg; two 40 mg tablets) on cognitive and/or behavioral decline in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. The study was designed as a pilot intention-to-treat, proof-of-concept, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized (1:1) trial with a 1-year exposure to study medication employing last-observation-carried-forward (LOCF) ANCOVA as the primary statistical method of assessment.

Atorvastatin for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: preliminary results.

Background: Laboratory evidence of cholesterol-induced production of amyloid beta as a putative neurotoxin precipitating Alzheimer disease, along with epidemiological evidence, suggests that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may favorably influence the progression of the disorder.

Objective: To determine if treatment with atorvastatin calcium affects the cognitive and/or behavioral decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.

Design: Pilot intention-to-treat, proof-of-concept, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized (1:1) trial with a 1-year exposure to once-daily atorvastatin calcium (80 mg; two 40-mg tablets) or placebo using last observation carried forward analysis of covariance as the primary method of statistical assessment.

[Contribution of fluorescence immunocytochemistry (uCyt+TM) in the postoperative surveillance of bladder cancer].

Objective: To assess 1) the value of fluorescence immunocytochemistry (uCyt+ test, DiagnoCure Inc., Quebec) in the detection of recurrent bladder tumour after transurethral resection (TUR) and 2) the predictive value of a positive uCyt+ test in patients with negative cystoscopy.

Material And Methods: This study was based on 132 patients with a mean follow-up of 21.

A position paper: based on observational data indicating an increased rate of altered blood chemistry requiring withdrawal from the Alzheimer's Disease Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment Trial (ADCLT).

Recruitment for the inaugural double-blind placebo-controlled trial investigating a cholesterol-lowering treatment for benefit in Alzheimer's disease (AD) (ADCLT) ended after obtaining 98 informed consents. Suspension of recruitment of the ADCLT occurred in concert with initiation of two separate multicenter trials testing similar hypotheses. Although occurring at very low rates (<2%), altered-chemistry adverse events requiring discontinuation of therapy (withdrawal AEs) are not unexpected with use of cholesterol-lowering statins.