Effects of colchicine on myelination of rabbit optic nerve: a biochemical study.

The effects of intravitreous injections of colchicine on the myelination of the optic nerve were studied in rabbits at different times during development using biochemical and morphological techniques. Myelin basic protein concentrations and 2',3-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase activities were affected in a similar way by colchicine treatment and reflected the degree of myelination of the tissue. During early development, colchicine produced axonal degeneration and secondary demyelination (Wallerian degeneration).

Myelin proteins, glycoproteins, and myelin-related enzymes in experimental demyelination of the rabbit optic nerve: sequence of events.

Wallerian degeneration of the rabbit optic nerve was investigated by the technique of retinal ablation which precludes edema, hemorrhage, or macrophage infiltration. After 8 days of degeneration, marked degradation of axons and some myelin abnormalities appeared in the optic nerve, optic chiasma, and optic tract. Myelin lesions were maximal 32 days after retinal destruction.

Familial brain tumors: rhombencephalon-astrocytoma grade I in father and son.

This report presents a clinico-pathologic study of low-grade astrocytoma in father and son whose relatives had multiple sclerosis and Cockayne syndrome. The corresponding location within the rhombencephalon and the coincidence of tumor type probably imply that an endogenous genetic factor has influenced the astrocyte cell line.

Intracranial giant cell arteritis.

A case of giant cell arteritis of intracranial vessels diagnosed by autopsy is described. Giant cell arteritis of the proximal basal brain arteries was exceptionally marked in a man of 60 years. The clinical course, laboratory findings and the pathological alterations of the brain and intracranial blood vessels are described.