Down-regulation of hippocampal BDNF and Arc associated with improvement in aversive spatial memory performance in socially isolated rats.

Rats deprived of social contact with other rats at a young age experience a form of prolonged stress that leads to long-lasting changes in behavioral profile. Such isolation is thought to be anxiogenic for these normally gregarious animals, and the abnormal reactivity of isolated rats to environmental stimuli is thought to be a product of prolonged stress. We now show that isolation of rats at weaning reduced immobility time in the forced swim test, decreased sucrose intake and preference, and down-regulated both brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and activity-regulated cytoskeletal associated protein (Arc) in the hippocampus.

Utility of Tc 99m HMPAO SPECT in the early diagnosis of Rasmussen's syndrome.

Neuroradiological examinations are important in the diagnosis of Rasmussen's syndrome (RS), but they frequently result normal in the early phase of the disease. We performed Tc 99m HMPAO SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) on an 11-year, 5-month-old, right-handed girl, two months since the first seizure. SPECT showed a reduced uptake of HMPAO in the left temporal region despite normal results with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Cryptogenic temporal lobe epilepsy. semi-quantitative interictal 99mTc HMPAO SPECT: statistical correlation with clinical data and EEG.

The aim of our work was to identify clinical and electroencephalographic factors that are statistically correlated to 99mTc HMPAO hypofixation in cryptogenic temporal lobe epilepsy. We selected a homogeneous group of patients (28 males and 17 females) affected by temporal lobe epilepsy and having normal results on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were classified according to semeiological characteristics of the seizures, presence or absence of spikes on electroencephalography (EEG), age at onset, illness duration, and drug resistance.

[99mTc-MIBI scintrigraphy for detecting viable myocardium in patients with previous infarction and ventricular dysfunction].

Background: The detection of hibernating myocardium involved different imaging procedures, trying to predict the functional recovery of this tissue, which survives at a low metabolic rate in regions exposed to chronic ischemia.

Materials And Methods: A small group of patients with prior myocardial infarction and severe left ventricular dysfunction has been evaluated by echo-dobutamine and 99mTc-MIBI myocardial SPET. This radiopharmaceutical drug has been considered of low usefulness for the detection of viability.