[Standardized bicycle ergometry test in mitochondrial myopathies. Indications, interferences and clinical parameters].

Exercise tests are widely used as simple, non-invasive screening methods in the differential diagnosis of metabolic myopathies. Exercise protocols have not been standardized with regard to duration of the test, workload, or monitored metabolic parameters. Potentially interfering parameters such as gender or maximal isometric force of the individuals have not been investigated.

Stages and syndromes of neuroborreliosis.

To ascertain the varieties of neuroborreliosis, 330 patients were identified at the Departments of Neurology in Würzburg and Giessen from 1979 to 1994. Patients who fullfilled at least one of three strict case definitions based on clinical and laboratory criteria were included in the study. Ninety-one per cent of the patients had second-stage neuroborreliosis (duration of symptoms < or = 6 months).

Relationship between the Borrelia burgdorferi specific immune response and different stages and syndromes in neuroborreliosis.

One hundred untreated neuroborreliosis patients were investigated by IgG/IgM immunoblot to find out if different stages and syndromes are characterized by different patterns of their Borrelia burgdorferi specific immune responses in CSF and serum. Stage III (n = 10) was characterized by a broad, highly specific intrathecal immune response (the mean number of IgM bands in CSF was 3.1 and of IgG bands 6.

A pilot study investigating the effects of orally administered pentoxifylline on selected immune variables in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is probably mainly mediated by T-helper 1 (TH1)-lymphocytes. TH1-function can be down-regulated in vitro and in animal experiments by pentoxifylline. Therefore, we included 20 multiple sclerosis patients in an open label pilot trial of pentoxifylline.

Circulating adhesion molecules and tumor necrosis factor receptor in multiple sclerosis: correlation with magnetic resonance imaging.

Adhesion molecules are important in T-cell trafficking to sites of inflammation. We determined levels of circulating vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), L-selectin, and E-selectin in the serum of 147 patients with definite multiple sclerosis of the remitting-relapsing or secondary progressive type. Soluble VCAM-1 and L-selectin concentrations were increased compared to levels in a large group of control subjects.

[Risk of endocrine activation in interventions of paragangliomas in the head-neck area].

The intracytoplasmatic glycolytic enzyme neuron-specific enolase (NSE) can be found in cells of endocrine tissue and their derived tumours. The enzyme is not secreted but released if cells are destroyed, i.e.

Meningoradiculitis and encephalomyelitis due to Borrelia burgdorferi: a follow-up study of 72 patients over 27 years.

In 1987, follow-up studies were conducted on 72 patients who had had meningoradiculitis and encephalomyelitis (8 patients) due to Borrelia burgdorferi 5-27 years previously. These patients had not been treated with antibiotics, either during the acute disease or during the interval prior to follow-up studies. The patients had exhibited the typical symptoms of Bannwarth's syndrome during the acute phase.

[Seizure prevention using carbamazepine following severe brain injuries].

In this article the efficacy of carbamazepine for seizure prophylaxis in severe head injuries is tested. In addition, conditions with high risk of seizures requiring prophylactic regimen, were defined. One hundred and thirty-nine patients above 15 years of age with severe head injuries were included in the study.

[T3, T4, TSH and circulating antithyroglobulin antibodies in myasthenia gravis].

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare neuromuscular disease which is known to be associated with hyperthyroidism at high frequency (3-10%). These investigations, however, are basing on studies of the basal metabolic rate, protein bound iodine (PBI) and the thyroidal radioiodine uptake. In our study (104 MG patients, 104 control subjects) we wanted to evaluate thyroid function on the basis of T3, T4, TBG and TSH radioimmunoassays and in addition we looked for the presence of circulating antithyroglobulin antibodies (Tab) and antimicrosomal antibodies (Mab).

Thyroid function and circulating antithyroid antibodies in myasthenia gravis.

Evaluation of thyroid function in 104 patients with myasthenia gravis by T3, T4, TBG, and TSH radioimmunoassays and the TRH-stimulation test in 47 patients disclosed thyrotoxicosis in 5.7%, preclinical hyperthyroidism probably due to autonomously functioning thyroid tissue in about 10% of patients stimulated with TRH, hypothyroidism in 1.9%, and preclinical hypothyroidism in 3.

[Myoglobin radioimmunoassay: experience of the diagnosis of skeletal muscle disorders (author's transl)].

Serum myoglobin was measured by a sensitive radioimmunoassay in healthy controls and in patients with skeletal muscle disorders such as polymyositis and Duchenne type muscular dystrophy. The serum myoglobin levels were closely related to the serum creatine kinase (CK) activity, thus indicating that myoglobin is a useful adjunct in the assessment of muscle cell damage.

Demonstration of oligoclonal immunoglobulin G in Guillain-Barré syndrome and lymphocytic meningoradiculitis by isoelectric focusing.

Isoelectric focusing (IEF) of serum and CSF revealed oligoclonal IgG in 13 out of 16 patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), in 10 of them in serum only and in 3 in serum and CSF. Seventeen out of 19 patients with lymphocytic meningoradiculitis (LMR) showed oligoclonal IgG, 12 of them in CSF only. These findings, together with additional results, mean that in GBS oligoclonal IgG is synthesized mainly outside the CNS and in LMR within the CNS.

Serum myoglobin in primary and secondary skeletal muscle disorders.

Serum myoglobin was measured by a sensitive radioimmunoassay in healthy controls and patients with primary and secondary skeletal muscle disorders. The results indicate that serum myoglobin is a useful parameter in the assessment of muscle damage.

A simplified radioimmunological method for the determination of human beta-endorphin in cerebrospinal fluid.

Human beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive substances (beta h-EI) in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were determined radioimmunologically. The cross reactivity of the antibodies to human beta-endorphin (beta h-E) amounted to 40% for human beta-lipotropin (beta h-LPH) whilst it was less than 1% for leu- and metenkephalin, alpha- and gamma-endorphin, fraction I and II [5], substance P and alpha-MSH. Prior to radioimmunological determination, an adsorbtion of beta h-EI from CSF with silicic acid was carried out and followed by a desorbtion, using a mixture of aceton/hydrochloric acid.

Thyroid function in multiple sclerosis.

Thyroid function was studied in 112 MS patients and 175 controls on the basis of T3, T4, T.B.G.

Effect of furosemide (lasix) on acute severe experimental cerebral edema.

The effect of furosemide (Lasix) therapy on a standardized experimental cerebral edema, induced in rats by applying a cooling stamp to the right side of the skull over the right coronal suture by means of a stereotactic instrument, was examined. The hemispherically separated water and electrolyte contents of the brain were analyzed after 24 h. Following furosemide therapy, the behavior of these edema parameters was compared statistically with dexamethasone, glycerol and albumin.

Comparison of the effects of surgical decompression and resection of local edema in the therapy of experimental brain trauma. Investigation of ICP, EEG and cerebral metabolism in cats.

The effect of decompressive trepanation was compared to that of surgical resection of the traumatized tissue in the course of traumatic brain edema in standardized experimental brain trauma. Following a right parietal cold injury, the following parameters were monitored continuously in 12 cats: ventricular pressure, epidural pressure over both hemispheres, arterial and central venous pressure and heart rate. The EEG was evaluated continuously, using a computer (power spectra).