Deep brain stimulation targets in drug-resistant epilepsy: Systematic review and meta-analysis of effectiveness and predictors of response.

Purpose: Anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT) is the only deep brain stimulation (DBS) target that is approved by the FDA for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Hippocampus (HC) and centromedian nucleus (CMN) have been reported as potential DBS targets for DRE. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and predictors of response among DRE patients treated with DBS in general and among ANT, HC and CMN DBS-targets.

Abnormal Neurologic Findings in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Without a History of Major Neurologic Events.

Background And Objectives: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) are prone to symptomatic neurologic complications. Previous studies reported accrual of neural injury starting at early age, even without having symptomatic neurologic events. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of abnormal neurologic findings in patients with SCD with no history of major symptomatic neurologic events.

Eye Segmentation Method for Telehealth: Application to the Myasthenia Gravis Physical Examination.

Due to the precautions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilization of telemedicine has increased quickly for patient care and clinical trials. Unfortunately, teleconsultation is closer to a video conference than a medical consultation, with the current solutions setting the patient and doctor into an evaluation that relies entirely on a two-dimensional view of each other. We are developing a patented telehealth platform that assists with diagnostic testing of ocular manifestations of myasthenia gravis.

A Digital Telehealth System to Compute the Myasthenia Gravis Core Examination Metrics.

Background: Telemedicine practice for neurological diseases has grown significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.Telemedicine offers an opportunity to assess digitalization of examinations and enhances access to modern computer vision and artificial intelligence processing to annotate and quantify examinations in a consistent and reproducible manner. The Myasthenia Gravis Core Examination (MG-CE) has been recommended for the telemedicine evaluation of patients with myasthenia gravis.

B Cells in Neuroinflammation: New Perspectives and Mechanistic Insights.

In recent years, the role of B cells in neurological disorders has substantially expanded our perspectives on mechanisms of neuroinflammation. The success of B cell-depleting therapies in patients with CNS diseases such as neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis has highlighted the importance of neuroimmune crosstalk in inflammatory processes. While B cells are essential for the adaptive immune system and antibody production, they are also major contributors of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine responses in a number of inflammatory diseases.

Neurological manifestations and complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The spectrum of neurological involvement in COVID-19 is not thoroughly understood. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review with meta-analysis and a sub-group comparison between severe and non-severe cases has been published. The aim of this study is to assess the frequency of neurological manifestations and complications, identify the neurodiagnostic findings, and compare these aspects between severe and non-severe COVID-19 cases.

Astrocytes Are Required for Oligodendrocyte Survival and Maintenance of Myelin Compaction and Integrity.

Astrocytes have been implicated in regulating oligodendrocyte development and myelination , although their functions remain less well defined. Using a novel approach to locally ablate GFAP+ astrocytes, we demonstrate that astrocytes are required for normal CNS myelin compaction during development, and for maintaining myelin integrity in the adult. Transient ablation of GFAP+ astrocytes in the mouse spinal cord during the first postnatal week reduced the numbers of mature oligodendrocytes and inhibited myelin formation, while prolonged ablation resulted in myelin that lacked compaction and structural integrity.

Dropped head syndrome due to neuromuscular disorders: Clinical manifestation and evaluation.

In this article, we discuss the clinical approach to patients with dropped head syndrome and identify the various neuromuscular causes of dropped head syndrome including muscle, neuromuscular junction, peripheral nerve and motor neuron etiologies. We aim to increase awareness of recognition the entity of dropped head syndrome and factors that may predict response to immunomodulating therapy in dropped head syndrome.

Emerging Cellular and Molecular Strategies for Enhancing Central Nervous System (CNS) Remyelination.

Myelination is critical for the normal functioning of the central nervous system (CNS) in vertebrates. Conditions in which the development of myelin is perturbed result in severely compromised individuals often with shorter lifespans, while loss of myelin in the adult results in a variety of functional deficits. Although some form of spontaneous remyelination often takes place, the repair process as a whole often fails.

Non-viral xylosyltransferase-1 siRNA delivery as an effective alternative to chondroitinase in an in vitro model of reactive astrocytes.

Reactive astrocytosis and the subsequent glial scar is ubiquitous to injuries of the central nervous system, especially spinal cord injury (SCI) and primarily serves to protect against further damage, but is also a prominent inhibitor of regeneration. Manipulating the glial scar by targeting chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) has been the focus of much study as a means to improve axon regeneration and subsequently functional recovery. In this study we investigate the ability of small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivered by a non-viral polymer vector to silence the rate-limiting enzyme involved in CSPG synthesis.

Just Add a Verse from the Quran: Effects of Religious Rhetoric in Gain- and Loss-Framed Anti-Alcohol Messages with a Palestinian Sample.

This experiment investigated the effects of message framing (gain vs. loss) and religious rhetoric (religious vs. non-religious) on the expression of anti-alcohol civic intentions with a sample (N = 80) of Palestinian young adults.

The neurotoxicity of gene vectors and its amelioration by packaging with collagen hollow spheres.

Over the last twenty years there have been several reports on the use of nonviral vectors to facilitate gene transfer in the mammalian brain. Whilst a large emphasis has been placed on vector transfection efficiency, the study of the adverse effects upon the brain, caused by the vectors themselves, remains completely overshadowed. To this end, a study was undertaken to study the tissue response to three commercially available transfection agents in the brain of adult Sprague Dawley rats.

The effect of intraluminal contact mediated guidance signals on axonal mismatch during peripheral nerve repair.

The current microsurgical gold standard for repairing long gap nerve injuries is the autograft. Autograft provides a protective environment for repair and a natural internal architecture, which is essential for regeneration. Current clinically approved hollow nerve guidance conduits allow provision of this protective environment; however they fail to provide an essential internal architecture to the regenerating nerve.

Single cyclized molecule versus single branched molecule: a simple and efficient 3D "knot" polymer structure for nonviral gene delivery.

The large research effort focused on enhancing nonviral transfection vectors has clearly demonstrated that their macromolecular structure has a significant effect on their transfection efficacy. The 3D branched polymeric structures, such as dendrimers, have proved to be a very effective structure for polymeric transfection vectors; however, so far the dendritic polymers have not delivered on their promise. This is largely because a wide range of dendritic polymer materials with tailored multifunctional properties and biocompatibility required for such applications are not yet accessible by current routes.

Single vesicle imaging indicates distinct modes of rapid membrane retrieval during nerve growth.

Background: During nerve growth, cytoplasmic vesicles add new membrane preferentially to the growth cone located at the distal tip of extending axons. Growth cone membrane is also retrieved locally, and asymmetric retrieval facilitates membrane remodeling during growth cone repulsion by a chemorepellent gradient. Moreover, growth inhibitory factors can stimulate bulk membrane retrieval and induce growth cone collapse.

Asymmetric endocytosis and remodeling of beta1-integrin adhesions during growth cone chemorepulsion by MAG.

Gradients of chemorepellent factors released from myelin may impair axon pathfinding and neuroregeneration after injury. We found that, analogously to the process of chemotaxis in invasive tumor cells, axonal growth cones of Xenopus spinal neurons modulate the functional distribution of integrin receptors during chemorepulsion induced by myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG). A focal MAG gradient induced polarized endocytosis and concomitant asymmetric loss of beta(1)-integrin and vinculin-containing adhesions on the repellent side during repulsive turning.

Spinal cord injury in vitro: modelling axon growth inhibition.

Over the past three decades, tremendous progress has been made in elucidating mechanisms underlying regenerative failure after spinal cord injury and in devising therapeutic approaches to promote functional nerve regeneration. Various in vitro assays have been developed using brain and/or spinal cord neuronal cells to study axon growth in conditions that represent the post-injury environment. This review outlines the current models used to dissect, analyze and manipulate specific aspects of spinal cord injury leading to axon growth inhibition.

Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions.

Collagen contains the unique imino acid hydroxyproline (HyPro), which is involved in the stabilization of this triple helical molecule. The concentration of HyPro is customarily used to calculate the total collagen content in a cell culture environment and in acid hydrolysates of normal and pathophysiological tissues. Radiolabelling, chromatographic and calorimetric assays have been developed over the years for the accurate determination of collagen content through HyPro estimation.