Prevalence of Alternative Diagnoses and Implications for Management in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Patients.

Background: Following Bayes theorem, ventriculomegaly and ataxia confer only a 30% chance of idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). When coupled with positive responses to best diagnostic testing (extended lumbar drainage), 70% of patients recommended for shunting will not actually have NPH. This is inadequate clinical care.

Use of positive airway pressure in mild cognitive impairment to delay progression to dementia.

Study Objectives: The aim was to assess the relationship between continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy and cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of patients with MCI and OSA. CPAP therapy compliance was defined as average use of CPAP therapy for at least 4 hours per night.

Development of a culture system that supports adult microglial cell proliferation and maintenance in the resting state.

Microglial cells constitute what is considered to be a fixed macrophage population in the central nervous system (CNS), which are broadly implicated in the regulation of neuroinflammation. In the normal adult CNS, microglial cells exist in a resting state characterized by a minimal or negative expression of MHC class II and the co-stimulatory molecules CD80, CD86 and CD40 and exhibit a unique ramified morphology. Microglial cell activation is associated with many inflammatory and neurogenerative CNS pathologies and is characterized by the transformation of resting microglia into cells with a macrophage morphology and up-regulation of MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules.

Gamma delta T cell regulation of IFN-gamma production by central nervous system-infiltrating encephalitogenic T cells: correlation with recovery from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Interferon-gamma has been shown to be important for the resolution of inflammation associated with CNS autoimmunity. Because one of the roles of gamma delta T cells is the regulation of inflammation, we asked whether gamma delta T cells were able to regulate CNS inflammation using the autoimmune disease mouse model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We show that the presence of gamma delta T cells was needed to promote the production of IFN-gamma by both CD4 and CD8 T cells in the CNS before the onset of EAE.