[Lafora's disease: diagnosis by muscle biopsy (case report)].

A 16-year-old female patient had myoclonic epilepsy caused by Lafora's disease. Muscle biopsy showed a prominent splitting pattern in muscle fibers with the nicotinamide adenine nucleotide dehydrogenase-tetrazolium reductase reaction, hematoxylin-eosin, and PAS stains. This morphologic appearance of the tissue permits diagnosis using the benign technique of muscle biopsy.

[Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults. Protein profile of CSF and serum in 25 patients].

Twenty-five non-Hodgkin's adult patients of a cohort studied for detection of neurologic involvement were evaluated on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein profile. CSF and serum were collected in the same occasion. Blood-brain barrier and local synthesis of IgG were studied.

[Blood-brain barrier evaluation in bone marrow transplantation].

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) contributes to the central nervous system (CNS) immunological isolation. BBB has never been studied in patients who developed chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplants (BMT), from HLA identical related donors. BBB disruption was investigated through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins, quantitative and graphically, in order to detect the incidence and possible pathophysiology of the CNS involvement in chronic GVHD.

[Intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis evaluation in bone marrow transplantation].

The central nervous system involvement in chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD) has been suggested. Chronic GVHD resembles auto immune connective tissue disorders. In order to investigate the immunoglobulin intra blood brain barrier (BBB) synthesis during chronic GVHD, and contribute to understanding the pathophysiology of the disease, we studied 33 patients who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplants (BMT) from HLA identical related donors.

Immunoperoxidase for the detection of antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid in neurocysticercosis: use of Cysticercus cellulosae and Cysticercus longicollis particles fixed on microscopy slides.

The ORF strain of Cysticercus longicollis represents an important model for the study of heterologous antigens in the immunodiagnosis of neurocysticcreosis (NC). The immunoperoxidase (IP) technique was standardized using a particulate antigen suspension of Cysticercus longicollis (Cl) and Cysitcercus cellulosae (Cc). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were incubated on the antigen fixed to microscopy slides; the conjugate employed was anti-IgG-peroxidase and the enzymatic reaction was started by covering the slides with chromogen solution (diaminobenzidine/H2O2).

A Caucasian family with the 3271 mutation in mitochondrial DNA.

The second most common mutation associated with MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes) in Japan is the 3271 mutation. This mutation was found in a Brazilian family of Portuguese and Italian descent, indicating that this mutation also exists in a race other than Japanese. The propositus had mild clinical manifestations atypical of MELAS, suggesting that patients with the 3271 mutation exhibit heterogeneous phenotypic expression as seen in the 3243 mutation.