IV Thrombolysis for central retinal artery occlusion - Real-world experience from a comprehensive stroke center.

Objectives: Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is a stroke of the retina potentially amenable to intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). We aimed to determine feasibility of an emergency treatment protocol and risk profile of IVT for CRAO in a comprehensive stroke center (CSC).

Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational cohort study including patients with acute CRAO admitted to a CSC over 4 years.

Deciphering the Enigma of the Histone H2A.Z-1/H2A.Z-2 Isoforms: Novel Insights and Remaining Questions.

The replication independent (RI) histone H2A.Z is one of the more extensively studied variant members of the core histone H2A family, which consists of many replication dependent (RD) members. The protein has been shown to be indispensable for survival, and involved in multiple roles from DNA damage to chromosome segregation, replication, and transcription.

MeCP2-E1 isoform is a dynamically expressed, weakly DNA-bound protein with different protein and DNA interactions compared to MeCP2-E2.

Background: MeCP2-a chromatin-binding protein associated with Rett syndrome-has two main isoforms, MeCP2-E1 and MeCP2-E2, differing in a few N-terminal amino acid residues. Previous studies have shown brain region-specific expression of these isoforms which, in addition to their different cellular localization and differential expression during brain development, suggest that they may also have non-overlapping molecular mechanisms. However, differential functions of MeCP2-E1 and E2 remain largely unexplored.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) affects the hippocampal levels of histone variant H2A.Z-2.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is caused by prenatal exposure to ethanol and has been linked to neurodevelopmental impairments. Alcohol has the potential to alter some of the epigenetic components that play a critical role during development. Previous studies have provided evidence that prenatal exposure to ethanol results in abnormal epigenetic patterns (i.

Factor VIII in Acute Cerebral Ischemia Pilot Study: Biomarker in Patients With Large Vessel Occlusion?

We conducted a prospective serial laboratory cohort study to assess the correlation of factor VIII (FVIII) levels in response to thrombolysis in patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Patients with AIS with anterior circulation LVO were eligible for enrollment if treated within 4.5 hours from last seen normal with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).

Right timing in formative program evaluation.

Since many educational researchers and program developers have limited knowledge of formative evaluation, formative data may be underutilized during the development and implementation of an educational program. The purpose of this article is to explain how participatory, responsive, educative, and qualitative approaches to formative evaluation can facilitate a partnership between evaluators and educational researchers and program managers to generate data useful to inform program implementation and improvement. This partnership is critical, we argue, because it enables an awareness of when to take appropriate action to ensure successful educational programs or "kairos".

Ischemic stroke after use of the synthetic marijuana "spice".

Objectives: To report and associate acute cerebral infarctions in 2 young, previously healthy siblings with use of the street drug known as "spice" (a synthetic marijuana product, also known as "K2"), which they independently smoked before experiencing acute embolic-appearing ischemic strokes.

Methods: We present history, physical examination, laboratory data, cerebrovascular imaging, echocardiogram, ECG, and hospital course of these patients.

Results: We found that in both siblings spice was obtained from the same source.

Microglial activation is required for Abeta clearance after intracranial injection of lipopolysaccharide in APP transgenic mice.

Inflammation has been argued to play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Mice transgenic for mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) develop progressive amyloid deposition, gliosis, and cognitive impairment. Paradoxically, intracranial administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to promote neuroinflammation results in a reduction in amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) burden concurrent with the inflammatory response.

Diverse microglial responses after intrahippocampal administration of lipopolysaccharide.

Inflammation has been argued to play a primary role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease by contributing to the development of neuropathology and clinical symptoms. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain obscure. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates the innate immune response and triggers gliosis when injected into the central nervous system.

Dysregulation of Na+/K+ ATPase by amyloid in APP+PS1 transgenic mice.

Background: The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is comprised of extracellular amyloid plaques, intracellular tau tangles, dystrophic neurites and neurodegeneration. The mechanisms by which these various pathological features arise are under intense investigation. Here, expanding upon pilot gene expression studies, we have further analyzed the relationship between Na+/K+ ATPase and amyloid using APP+PS1 transgenic mice, a model that develops amyloid plaques and memory deficits in the absence of tangle formation and neuronal or synaptic loss.

Passive immunotherapy against Abeta in aged APP-transgenic mice reverses cognitive deficits and depletes parenchymal amyloid deposits in spite of increased vascular amyloid and microhemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Anti-Abeta immunotherapy in transgenic mice reduces both diffuse and compact amyloid deposits, improves memory function and clears early-stage phospho-tau aggregates. As most Alzheimer disease cases occur well past midlife, the current study examined adoptive transfer of anti-Abeta antibodies to 19- and 23-month old APP-transgenic mice. METHODS: We investigated the effects of weekly anti-Abeta antibody treatment on radial-arm water-maze performance, parenchymal and vascular amyloid loads, and the presence of microhemorrhage in the brain.

Lovastatin modulation of microglial activation via suppression of functional CD40 expression.

Recent studies have shown that the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) possess antiinflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, distinct from their action of lowering serum lipid levels. Moreover, results of epidemiological studies suggest that long-term use of statins is associated with a decreased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interestingly, lovastatin (one of the most commonly used anticholesterol drugs) treatment of vascular-derived cells has been reported to antagonize activation of the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway, and it is well known that the JAK/STAT pathway plays a central role in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-induced microglial CD40 expression.

Passive amyloid immunotherapy clears amyloid and transiently activates microglia in a transgenic mouse model of amyloid deposition.

The role of microglia in the removal of amyloid deposits after systemically administered anti-Abeta antibodies remains unclear. In the current study, we injected Tg2576 APP transgenic mice weekly with an anti-Abeta antibody for 1, 2, or 3 months such that all mice were 22 months at the end of the study. In mice immunized for 3 months, we found an improvement in alternation performance in the Y maze.

Trans polyunsaturated fatty acids have more adverse effects than saturated fatty acids on the concentration and composition of lipoproteins secreted by human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

The objective of this study was to assess the relative long-term effects of linoleic (cis, cis 18:2), linolelaidic (trans, trans 18:2), and palmitic (16:0) acids on hepatic lipoprotein production in HepG2 cells. All fatty acids increased the mass of triglycerides (TG) in the medium and the incorporation of [(3)H]-glycerol into secreted TG; the increase was more pronounced with linoleic acid than with linolelaidic and palmitic acids. The net accumulation in the medium of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I was not affected by the fatty acids tested and moderate changes in that of apoB resulted in apoB/apoA-I mass ratios of 1.

A polymorphic gene nested within an intron of the tau gene: implications for Alzheimer's disease.

A previously undescribed gene, Saitohin (STH), has been discovered in the intron between exons 9 and 10 of the human tau gene. STH is an intronless gene that encodes a 128-aa protein with no clear homologs. The tissue expression of STH is similar to tau, a gene that is implicated in many neurodegenerative disorders.