Comparison of whole blood and plasma potassium concentrations in dogs using the Reflovet system.

Background: The Reflovet system is designed for chemical analysis of whole blood. However, plasma or serum is recommended for potassium analysis because of possible interference from RBC potassium. Because RBC potassium concentration is low in most canine erythrocytes, however, there should be little or no interference.

Prevalence of orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension and the nature of the postural events related to a fall in blood pressure in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Methods: Blood pressure was measured first in a supine position after a rest of at least 15 minutes and every minute during 10 minutes of an active standing up procedure. Orthostatic hypotension was considered as present when a fall of at least 20 mm Hg of systolic blood pressure was recorded.

Levorotatory form of 5-hydroxytryptophan in Friedreich's ataxia. Results of a double-blind drug-placebo cooperative study.

Objective: To study the effect of the levorotatory form of 5-hydroxytryptophan on the cerebellar symptoms of Friedreich's ataxia.

Design: Cooperative double-blind study of the levorotatory form of 5-hydroxytryptophan vs placebo.

Setting: Twelve centers in research hospitals.

Abnormal vestibuloocular reflex cancellation in multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy but not in Parkinson's disease.

We have measured the gain of the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) in darkness and its cancellation by fixation in 37 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), 26 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 11 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and 19 normal volunteers. The capacity to cancel the VOR by fixation (VOR cancellation) was significantly reduced in the MSA and PSP patients compared with the PD and normal subjects (p < 10(-4)). A VOR cancellation < 90% (i.

Sublingual apomorphine: a new pharmacological approach in Parkinson's disease?

Apomorphine, a potent dopamine agonist with mixed D1 and D2 properties, has long been recognized to have antiparkinsonian effect. Its oral administration is limited by both its hepatic first pass metabolism and adverse side effects (nausea, vomiting, azotemia). It is now widely used by subcutaneous route for the treatment of severe "off" periods seen with levodopa treatment.

A randomised controlled study comparing bromocriptine to which levodopa was later added, with levodopa alone in previously untreated patients with Parkinson's disease: a five year follow up.

This pilot study was performed to compare the occurrence of long term motor complications in Parkinson's disease when the introduction of levodopa was delayed by an initial treatment with high doses of bromocriptine alone. The trial was a prospective randomised controlled study comparing 31 previously untreated patients with Parkinson's disease initially given bromocriptine alone to which levodopa was later added (group B/D) and 29 other previously untreated patients with Parkinson's disease immediately given levodopa alone (group D). The end point was the occurrence of the first motor complications (wearing off or dyskinesia).

Naltrexone, an opiate antagonist, fails to modify motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease.

One month of adjunct treatment with naltrexone (100 mg/day) was compared with placebo in a double-blind, randomized, cross-over design in two groups of patients with Parkinson's disease. The first group was composed of 10 patients with a moderate motor impairment insufficiently controlled by monotherapy with bromocriptine. The second group was composed of eight patients with L-dopa-induced peak-dose dyskinesia.

[Cognitive evaluation of patients with Alzheimer-type dementia by French revised version of the Hierarchic Dementia Scale].

The revised French version of the Hierarchic Dementia Scale (HDS) was assessed in 88 DAT patients (30 men, 58 women, mean age: 70, MMS from 0 to 26). The HDS consisted of 20 subtests which covered the entire range of cognitive functions; each subtest was hierarchically organized. This scale has been validated by the authors in 149 control subjects (Démonet et al.

Normal activation of the supplementary motor area in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing long-term treatment with levodopa.

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes in cortical motor areas were measured during a movement of the dominant right hand in 15 patients with Parkinson's disease deprived of their usual levodopa treatment, in 11 patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing long-term treatment with levodopa, and in 15 normal volunteers. The supplementary motor areas were significantly activated in the normal subjects and in the patients receiving levodopa but not in the patients deprived of levodopa. The contralateral primary sensory motor area was significantly activated in all three groups.

Migrating motor complex of the intestine and absorption of a biliary excreted drug in the dog.

The role of the migrating motor complex (MMC) of the small intestine in the absorption of an enterally administered marker (tolfenamic acid, TA) used to investigate enterohepatic recycling was studied in the fasted dog. TA was rapidly and extensively absorbed in the duodenum as well as in the ileum. In contrast, the conjugated form of TA (CTA) was not absorbed in the duodenum but only in the ileum, i.

Effect of side and rate of stimulation on cerebral blood flow changes in motor areas during finger movements in humans.

We measured, using single photon emission computed tomography, the regional CBF (rCBF) changes in the motor areas of 24 right-handed normal volunteers during the performance of a motor task consisting of sequential finger-to-thumb opposition. Twelve of them performed the task with their right and their left hands consecutively with a fast frequency and large amplitude. The other 12 subjects performed the task with their right hand only at a slow frequency and small amplitude.

Effects of yohimbine on plasma catecholamine levels in orthostatic hypotension related to Parkinson disease or multiple system atrophy.

Different pathophysiological mechanisms may underly orthostatic hypotension (OH) observed in neurological degenerative disorders. The present study investigates the responses to the pharmacological activation of sympathetic pathways induced by yohimbine (0.2 mg/kg orally) through measurements of plasma catecholamine levels in parkinsonian patients with (n = 9) or without OH (n = 11), in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) plus OH (n = 9), and in controls (n = 6).

Lack of yohimbine effect on ambulatory blood pressure recording: a double-blind cross-over trial in parkinsonians with orthostatic hypotension.

Yohimbine is an alpha 2-adrenergic antagonist which has been proposed for the treatment of orthostatic hypotension (OH). We investigated in a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial the effects of yohimbine (2 mg tid) on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) using ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure (AMBP) in 17 patients (69 +/- 5 years) with Parkinson's disease (PD) suffering from non drug-induced OH. At the end of each sequence of 4 weeks, mean systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP and HR (+/- SD), BP variability (coefficient of variation of the mean) and nychtemeral rhythm were calculated for day-time (09:00-19:00 h) and night-time (23:00-06:00 h).

[Ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure in orthostatic hypotension of Parkinson disease].

Ambulatory recordings of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate were performed using a Spacelabs device during day and night periods in parkinsonian patients with (n = 19) or without (n = 19) orthostatic hypotension. In patients with orthostatic hypotension, the average blood pressure during the night (systolic BP: 137 +/- 5 mmHg; diastolic BP: 80 +/- 3 mmHg) was higher (p < 0.05) than during the diurnal period (systolic BP: 121 +/- 3 mmHg; diastolic BP: 76 +/- 2 mmHg).

The anatomy of phonological and semantic processing in normal subjects.

We assessed brain activation of nine normal right-handed volunteers in a positron emission tomography study designed to differentiate the functional anatomy of the two major components of auditory comprehension of language, namely phonological versus lexico-semantic processing. The activation paradigm included three tasks. In the reference task, subjects were asked to detect rising pitch within a series of pure tones.

Parkinson's disease and weight loss: a study with anthropometric and nutritional assessment.

In order to investigate a putative weight loss in patients with Parkinson's disease, an anthropometric and biochemical study was undertaken. We compared body weight and indexes of fat [body mass index (BMI), tricipital skinfold] and lean [midarm muscle area (MMA), calf circumference] mass in men and women suffering from idiopathic Parkinson's disease with normal controls. We found that women suffering from Parkinson's disease exhibited a significant weight loss (-8.

Ambulatory blood pressure in patients with Parkinson's disease without and with orthostatic hypotension.

Non-invasive ambulatory recordings of blood pressure and heart rate were performed using a Spacelabs device during day and night periods in patients with Parkinson's disease with (n = 19) or without orthostatic hypotension (n = 19). In patients with orthostatic hypotension, the average systolic and diastolic blood pressure during the night (137 +/- 5/80 +/- 3 mmHg) was higher (p less than 0.05) than during the day period (121 +/- 3/76 +/- 2 mmHg).

Supplementary and primary sensory motor area activity in Parkinson's disease. Regional cerebral blood flow changes during finger movements and effects of apomorphine.

We have measured with single-photon emission tomography the regional cerebral blood flow changes that occurred in the supplementary motor areas and in the primary sensory motor areas during sequential finger-to-thumb opposition movements of the right hand in seven akinetic patients with Parkinson's disease and in nine normal volunteers. Parkinsonian patients were studied before ("off" condition) and after a subcutaneous injection of apomorphine hydrochloride which was able to switch them "on" (on condition). In normal volunteers and parkinsonian patients in the on condition, regional cerebral blood flow significantly increased in the supplementary motor areas and in the contralateral primary sensory motor cortex but not in the ipsilateral primary sensory motor cortex.

Cerebral blood flow correlates of word monitoring in sentences: influence of semantic incoherence. A spect study in normals.

The aim of this study was to assess the cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes induced by the semantic incoherence of sentences whose words were to be monitored by the subjects. According to Marslen-Wilson and Tyler, word processing would be parallel (global) in semantically coherent sentences, and serial (local) in semantically incoherent ones. We hypothesized that, in comparison with the parallel mode, the serial mode of word processing would result in a preponderant activation of the frontal lobes and/or of the left hemisphere, hence in a flow increase in these regions.