Predictors of biochemical remission after transsphenoidal surgery in a large cohort of acromegaly patients.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to characterize the clinical characteristics and factors predictive of biochemical remission in patients with symptomatic acromegaly undergoing transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) at an academic tertiary care center, as defined by the 2022 Acromegaly Consensus Conference guidelines.

Methods: In this single institution, longitudinal, retrospective study, a large cohort of 158 patients with a preoperative diagnosis of acromegaly undergoing surgery at a large, academic, tertiary care center were examined. We excluded 38 patients as IGF-1 testing was performed less than 12 weeks postoperatively.

Intradural synovial cyst of the upper cervical spine: A rare cause of symptomatic cord compression.

Background: Synovial cysts are commonly observed soft-tissue masses of the spine, typically extradural and located in the lumbar region. We describe a very rare symptomatic case of a C1-C2 intradural synovial cyst.

Case Description: A 78-year-old female presented with progressive left side weakness, paresthesia, and hyperreflexia.

The brain parenchyma has a type I interferon response that can limit virus spread.

The brain has a tightly regulated environment that protects neurons and limits inflammation, designated "immune privilege." However, there is not an absolute lack of an immune response. We tested the ability of the brain to initiate an innate immune response to a virus, which was directly injected into the brain parenchyma, and to determine whether this response could limit viral spread.

Characterization of the Filum terminale as a neural progenitor cell niche in both rats and humans.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in a unique microenvironment within the central nervous system (CNS) called the NSC niche. Although they are relatively rare, niches have been previously characterized in both the brain and spinal cord of adult animals. Recently, another potential NSC niche has been identified in the filum terminale (FT), which is a thin band of tissue at the caudal end of the spinal cord.

The isolation, differentiation, and survival in vivo of multipotent cells from the postnatal rat filum terminale.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are undifferentiated cells in the central nervous system (CNS) that are capable of self-renewal and can be induced to differentiate into neurons and glia. Current sources of mammalian NSCs are confined to regions of the CNS that are critical to normal function and surgically difficult to access, which limits their therapeutic potential in human disease. We have found that the filum terminale (FT), a previously unexplored, expendable, and easily accessible tissue at the caudal end of the spinal cord, is a source of multipotent cells in postnatal rats and humans.

The postnatal human filum terminale is a source of autologous multipotent neurospheres capable of generating motor neurons.

Background: Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are undifferentiated and mitotic and can be induced to differentiate into neurons and glia, the building blocks of the nervous system. NPCs have great therapeutic potential for nervous system trauma and degenerative disorders. They have been identified in the mammalian central nervous system, but current sources are difficult to access surgically and come from regions that are critical for normal brain function.

Rhythmic patterns in phagocytosis and the production of reactive oxygen species by zebrafish leukocytes.

Multiple components of vertebrate immune systems have been shown to exhibit circadian fluctuations. While the zebrafish is currently generating a wealth of information on the molecular pacemakers that may control circadian rhythms, there have been no reports of rhythmic activity in zebrafish leukocytes. In this study, we found that phagocytosis and the production of reactive oxygen species by zebrafish leukocytes varied significantly throughout twenty-four hour periods.