Relationships between neuropathology and cognitive functioning in temporal lobectomy patients.

Cognitive functions were examined before operation and 4 weeks after operation with respect to pathology in 40 patients who underwent temporal lobectomy for epilepsy. Hippocampal sclerosis was associated with febrile convulsions, an earlier onset of regular seizures, poorer preoperative intelligence and with a tendency towards greater cognitive improvement across the operation than found in patients with tumour-like malformations or non-specific pathology. Damage to the amygdala was associated with a poorer outcome for the retention in memory of verbal and non-verbal material.

Can cancer chemotherapy enhance the malignant behaviour of tumours?

Cancer chemotherapy is currently undergoing an intensive reappraisal because of its unimpressive performance against the major common cancers. There are a number of possible reasons for this lack of success; one considered here is that under some circumstances anti-neoplastic drug treatment actually increases the malignant behaviour of tumours. Support for this idea comes mainly from experimental studies in which drug treatments increased metastatic spread.

Enhanced experimental metastatic capacity of a murine melanoma following pre-treatment with anticancer drugs.

The effect of in vitro pretreatment of B16 murine melanoma cells with various cancer chemotherapeutic agents on their subsequent experimental metastatic capacity has been examined. Methotrexate, cytosine arabinoside, 5-azacytidine and aphidicolin all produced significant increases in the number of lung nodules formed following the i.v.

Enhancement of experimental metastasis by pretreatment of tumour cells with hydroxyurea.

The effect of treatment with hydroxyurea (HU), on subsequent experimental metastasis formation by cells of 3 murine melanoma lines has been examined. In vitro treatment of B16-F1, B16-F10 and K-1735-clone 19 cells with 0.1 mM or 0.

Clonal variation in the sensitivity of a murine mammary carcinoma to melphalan.

The sensitivity to melphalan of clones derived from individual lung colonies produced by i.v. injection of cells of the MT murine mammary carcinoma (caMT) and its melphalan-resistant sub-line (MTME16) has been examined.

Development of drug resistance in a murine mammary tumour.

The development of resistance to melphalan, cis-platinum and cyclophosphamide has been examined in the MT murine mammary carcinoma. A gradual decrease in therapeutic response was detected using growth delay and clonogenic cell survival during repeated drug treatment. A slow rate of resistance development, a gradual change in the slope of the dose-survival curves and the inability of 180 mg kg-1 cyclophosphamide to bring about a reduction in tumour response at a faster rate than 60 mg kg-1 cyclophosphamide suggest that resistance development was not due to the selection of a pre-existing highly drug resistant sub-population of tumour cells.

The new Maudsley series of temporal lobectomy. I: Short-term cognitive effects.

Cognitive effects of temporal lobectomy for the relief of focal seizures were examined in 59 adult cases (29 left and 30 right). Verbal and non-verbal intelligence and memory were tested pre-operatively and four weeks post-operatively. Slight, non-significant differences between left and right cases pre-operatively were added to by slight, non-significant differences in change across the operation, to produce some significant post-operative differences--right cases being significantly higher on verbal IQ and lower on non-verbal IQ, for example.

Investigation of everyday memory in normal subjects using the Subjective Memory Questionnaire (SMQ).

This study examined memory for everyday events by method of self-report using the Subjective Memory Questionnaire (SMQ). The purpose of the study was to repeat and extend existing normative data. The SMQ was found to be adequately reliable, but this finding needs to be replicated in a large sample of subjects.

Alpha-adrenoceptor number and function in rat cortex after ethanol and immobilization stress.

Alpha-Adrenoceptor number and function were assessed in rat cortex after ethanol and immobilization stress. Rats subjected to immobilization stress for 2 h/day/7 days showed a significant reduction in alpha 2-adrenoceptors in cortex ( [3H]clonidine binding) but no change in alpha 1-adrenoceptors ( [3H]prazosin binding). The inhibitory effect of clonidine (500 nM) on 3H efflux from cortical slices preincubated with [3H]norepinephrine was reversed in the stressed animals.