Acute methotrexate-induced encephalopathy--causal relation to homozygous allelic state for MTR c.2756A>G (D919G)?

Methotrexate (MTX) is widely used in the treatment of hematological diseases. The typical side-effects of high-dose MTX chemotherapy on the CNS range from asymptomatic white matter changes to severe CNS demyelination. MTX neuro - toxicity has been described to be associated with homocysteine and folate levels as well as genetic variants affecting methionine metabolism.

Rasagiline alone and in combination with riluzole prolongs survival in an ALS mouse model.

Rasagiline is an antiapoptotic compound with neuroprotective potential. We examined its neuroprotective effect alone and in combination with the putative glutamate release blocker riluzole in the G93A model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS). Endpoints of experimental treatment were survival and motor activity.

Role of pontine nuclei damage in smooth pursuit impairment of progressive supranuclear palsy: a clinical-pathologic study.

We performed a quantitative study of the pontine nuclei in the basis pontis and a semiquantitative study of extrapontine structures involved in smooth pursuit in four patients with severe impairment of horizontal smooth pursuit and histopathologically confirmed diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). There were only slight changes in the extrapontine structures involved in smooth pursuit, but there was a significant neuronal loss--massive in three patients and mild in one patient--in all nuclei of the basis pontis. Our results suggest that degenerative lesions affecting the pontine nuclei are largely responsible for the horizontal smooth pursuit impairment in PSP.

Cholinergic markers in ALS spinal cord.

We analyzed binding sites for quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) and hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) by quantitative slice autoradiography and the activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in spinal cord of 5-7 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the ventral horn, QNB binding sites were markedly reduced (38% of controls; P less than 0.001), whereas HC-3 binding sites were only moderately affected (76%, P less than 0.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: changes of noradrenergic and serotonergic transmitter systems in the spinal cord.

Noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in discrete subdivisions of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal cord segments obtained at autopsy of 4 subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 7 control patients. NA concentrations in thoracic and lumbar spinal cord of ALS patients were 2- to 4-fold higher compared with values obtained in control patients. 5-HT levels were unchanged at the cervical and thoracic level and slightly above normal in lumbar spinal cord, while the concentration of 5-HIAA was lowered in cervical and thoracic, but within the control range, in lumbar spinal cord.