Cerebral perfusion during anesthesia with fentanyl, isoflurane, or pentobarbital in normal rats studied by arterial spin-labeled MRI.

The influence of anesthetic agents on cerebral blood flow (CBF) was tested in normal rats. CBF is quantified with arterial spin-labeled MRI in rats anesthetized with either an opiate (fentanyl), a potent inhalation anesthetic agent (isoflurane), or a barbiturate (pentobarbital) using doses commonly employed in experimental paradigms. CBF values were found to be about 2.

Cerebral revascularization in trauma and carotid occlusion.

Cerebrovascular disruption frequently results from head and neck trauma. Injury to the extra- and intracranial carotid artery is uncommon but is associated with a high rate of death and permanent neurologic deficit. In this article, injuries to the carotid artery are reviewed with emphasis on the mechanisms, clinical manifestations, radiologic evaluation, and management of these traumatic lesions.

Evidence for a dimerisation state of the Bacillus subtilis catabolite repression HPr-like protein, Crh.

The Bacillus subtilis catabolite repression HPr (Crh) exhibits 45% sequence identity when compared to histidine-containing protein (HPr), a phosphocarrier protein of the phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate phosphotransferase system. We report here that Crh preparations contain a mixture of monomers and homodimers, whereas HPr is known to be monomeric in solution. The dissociation rate of dimers is very slow (t1/2 of about 10 hours), and the percentage of dimers in Crh preparations increases with rising temperature or protein concentration.

Assessment of the effect of 2-chloroadenosine in normal rat brain using spin-labeled MRI measurement of perfusion.

Adenosine analogs such as 2-chloroadenosine are potent cerebrovasodilators. Spin-labeled MRI was used to investigate the spatial distribution, dose-response, and timing of the effect of 2-chloroadenosine on cerebral blood flow (CBF) after intraparenchymal injection into rat brain. Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 10) were injected with 2-chloroadenosine at doses of 0.

Identification of a new form of lipid transfer protein (LTP1) in wheat seeds.

Recently, this laboratory has isolated from barley and beer extract an isoform of lipid transfer protein (LTP1), which was not fully sequenced (Jégou, S.; Douliez, J. P.

Base-type-selective high-resolution 13C edited NOESY for sequential assignment of large RNAs.

Extensive spectral overlap presents a major problem for the NMR study of large RNAs. Here we present NMR techniques for resolution enhancement and spectral simplification of fully 13C labelled RNA. High-resolution 1H-13C correlation spectra are obtained by combining TROSY-type experiments with multiple-band-selective homonuclear 13C decoupling.

Interstitial brain adenosine and xanthine increase during jugular venous oxygen desaturations in humans after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Adenosine decreases the cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen and increases cerebral blood flow, and it may play an important role in cerebrometabolic and cerebrovascular responses to hypoperfusion after traumatic brain injury. Jugular venous oxygen saturation is monitored after traumatic brain injury to assess brain oxygen extraction, and desaturations may reflect secondary brain insults. We hypothesized that brain interstitial adenosine and related purine metabolites would be increased during jugular venous oxygen saturation desaturations (<50%) and determined associations between the purines, lactate, and glucose to assess the role of adenosine during secondary insults in humans.

Disulfide bond assignment, lipid transfer activity and secondary structure of a 7-kDa plant lipid transfer protein, LTP2.

The 7-kDa lipid transfer proteins, LTP2s, share some amino-acid sequence similarities with the 9-kDa isoforms, LTP1s. Both proteins display an identical cysteine motif and, in this regard, LTP2s have been classified as lipid transfer proteins. However, in contrast with LTP1s, no data are available on their structure, cysteine pairings, lipid transfer and lipid binding properties.

Fatty acids bind to the fungal elicitor cryptogein and compete with sterols.

Cryptogein is a proteinaceous elicitor of plant defense reactions which also exhibits sterol carrier properties. In this study, we report that this protein binds fatty acids. The stoichiometry of the fatty acid-cryptogein complex is 1:1.

Lack of effect of induction of hypothermia after acute brain injury.

Background: Induction of hypothermia in patients with brain injury was shown to improve outcomes in small clinical studies, but the results were not definitive. To study this issue, we conducted a multicenter trial comparing the effects of hypothermia with those of normothermia in patients with acute brain injury.

Methods: The study subjects were 392 patients 16 to 65 years of age with coma after sustaining closed head injuries who were randomly assigned to be treated with hypothermia (body temperature, 33 degrees C), which was initiated within 6 hours after injury and maintained for 48 hours by means of surface cooling, or normothermia.

Adenovirus-mediated transfer and expression of beta-gal in injured hippocampus after traumatic brain injury in mice.

In models of focal cerebral ischemia, adenoviral gene transfer is often attenuated or delayed versus naive. After controlled cortical impact (CCI)-induced traumatic brain injury in mice, CA1 and CA3 hippocampus exhibit delayed neuronal death by 3 days, with subsequent near complete loss of hippocampus by 21 days. We hypothesized that adenoviral-mediated expression of the reporter gene beta-Galactosidase (beta-Gal) in hippocampus would be attenuated after CCI in mice.

Temperature rise during Er:YAG and Nd:YAP laser ablation of dentin.

This in vitro study compared temperature rises during cavity preparation with an Er:YAG laser, Nd:YAP laser, and a high-speed handpiece. Eighteen teeth were sectioned longitudinally and divided into six groups: group 1 was treated with a carbide bur on a high-speed dental handpiece; group 2 was treated with an Er:YAG laser with an energy of 140 mJ, a pulse repetition rate of 4 Hz; and group 3 was treated with an Nd:YAP laser with an energy of 240 mJ, a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz. In these groups no water cooling was used.

Metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma of the dura mater.

A 70-year-old man with known metastatic prostate carcinoma to the long bones of the lower extremities, presented with a several day history of lethargy and confusion. CT was interpreted as showing bilateral acute and chronic subdural hematomas (SDH). Upon opening the dura, a yellowish, firm tumor was layered over the frontal convexity.

Isoflurane improves long-term neurologic outcome versus fentanyl after traumatic brain injury in rats.

Despite routine use of fentanyl in patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI), it is unclear if it is the optimal sedative/analgesic agent. Isoflurane is commonly used in experimental TBI. We hypothesized that isoflurane would be neuroprotective versus fentanyl after TBI.

NMR and CD conformational studies of the C-terminal 16-peptides of Pseudomonas aeruginosa c551 and Hydrogenobacter thermophilus c552 cytochromes.

The 16-amino acid sequences of the C-terminal helices of the homologous bacterial cytochromes c551 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and C552 from Hydrogenobacter thermophilus were synthesized and their solution structure studied. Circular dichroism and NMR experiments in aqueous solution have shown the presence of alpha-helices and 3(10)-helices. The populations of helical structures in phosphate buffer, pH 3.

Binding of two mono-acylated lipid monomers by the barley lipid transfer protein, LTP1, as viewed by fluorescence, isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular modelling.

The binding of two mono-acylated lipid monomers by plant lipid transfer proteins (LTP1s) presents an attractive field of research that could help our understanding of the functional role of this protein family. This task has been investigated in the case of barley LTP1 because it is known to exhibit a small cavity in its free state. The titration with lipids could not be followed by fluorescence with the native protein.

Excitatory amino acid concentrations in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid after severe traumatic brain injury in infants and children: the role of child abuse.

Background: Excitotoxicity is an important mechanism in secondary neuronal injury after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Excitatory amino acids (EAAs) are increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in adults after TBI; however, studies in pediatric head trauma are lacking. We hypothesized that CSF glutamate, aspartate, and glycine would be increased after TBI in children and that these increases would be associated with age, child abuse, poor outcome, and cerebral ischemia.

The effect of cerebrospinal fluid drainage on cerebral perfusion in traumatic brain injured adults.

Cerebrospinal fluid drainage is a first line treatment used to manage severely elevated intracranial pressure (> or = 20 mm Hg) and improve outcomes in patients with acute head injury. There is no consensus regarding the optimal method of cerebrospinal fluid removal. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether cerebrospinal fluid drainage decreases intracranial pressure and improves cerebral perfusion and to identify factors that impact treatment effectiveness.

Evaluation of combined fibroblast growth factor-2 and moderate hypothermia therapy in traumatically brain injured rats.

Both the exogenous administration of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) or the induction of moderate hypothermia have been shown to attenuate histopathology and improve functional outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Since combined therapeutic strategies may be more beneficial than single therapies, we examined the potential synergistic effect of FGF-2 combined with moderate hypothermia treatment induced 10 min after TBI on functional and histological outcome following controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury. Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to one sham and four CCI treatment groups: Sham+vehicle (VEH); FGF-2 (45 microg/kg/h for 3 h i.

Effect of neutropenia and granulocyte colony stimulating factor-induced neutrophilia on blood-brain barrier permeability and brain edema after traumatic brain injury in rats.

Objective: Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) has been used to increase systemic absolute neutrophil count (ANC) in patients with severe traumatic brain injury to reduce nosocomial infection risk. However, the effect of increasing systemic ANC on the pathogenesis of experimental traumatic brain injury has not been studied. Thus, we evaluated the effect of systemic ANC on blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage and brain edema after traumatic brain injury in rats.

Purification and structural characterization of LTP1 polypeptides from beer.

We report on the purification of lipid transfer proteins (LTP) from barley seeds and beer with the aim of investigating the chemical modifications that occur during the brewing process. In seeds, the well-known LTP of 9 kDa (LTP1) has been found together with a second form named LTPb that displays comparable amino acid composition but was not fully sequenced. These two forms have been recovered in beer with marked chemical modifications including disulfide bond reduction and rearrangement and especially glycation by Maillard reaction.

Amyloglucosidase hydrolysis of high-pressure and thermally gelatinized corn and wheat starches.

The study of glucose production using amyloglucosidase as a biocatalyst was carried out using high-pressure and thermally gelatinized corn and wheat starches. For corn starch, the measured initial rate of glucose production obtained from thermal gelatinization is faster than that obtained from the two high-pressure treatments, but the equilibrium yield of glucose was found to be similar for the three treatments. High-pressure treatments of wheat starch significantly improve the equilibrium yield of glucose compared with those obtained from the thermally gelatinized wheat starch.