Prevalence and treatment of LUTS in patients with Parkinson disease or multiple system atrophy.

The lower urinary tract is controlled by complex neural mechanisms not only in the periphery, but also in the central nervous systems (CNS). Thus, patients with a wide variety of neurological diseases often also have lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), including those with Parkinson disease (PD) or multiple system atrophy (MSA). LUTS are common comorbidities associated with both of these neurodegenerative diseases and are likely to impair patients' quality of life.

Official Japanese Version of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale: validation against the original English version.

Background: The Movement Disorder Society (MDS)-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease (PD) Rating Scale (UPDRS) (MDS-UPDRS) has been developed and is now available in English. Part of the overall program includes the establishment of official non-English translations of the MDS-UPDRS. We present the process for completing the official Japanese translation of the MDS-UPDRS with clinimetric testing results.

Blood pressure fluctuation and hypertension in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: Blood pressure (BP) abnormalities have been known in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The present study aimed at determining how the BPs of PD patients fluctuate in a day.

Methods: A total of 37 PD patients and 44 OD (other disease) patients, all of who were inpatients, were monitored every 30 min by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

Roles of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors in the control of micturition in rats.

Aims: Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that exerts numerous physiological effects in many organs. However, few studies have focused on the role of adenosine receptors in the control of micturition. Therefore, we examined the role of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors in the control of bladder activity in rats with normal or acetic acid (AA) irritated bladders.

Efficacy and safety of extended- versus immediate-release pramipexole in Japanese patients with advanced and L-dopa-undertreated Parkinson disease: a double-blind, randomized trial.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and trough plasma levels of pramipexole extended-release (ER) and pramipexole immediate-release (IR), and to assess the effects of overnight switching from an IR to an ER formulation, in L-dopa-treated patients with Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: After a 1- to 4-week screening/enrollment, 112 patients who had exhibited L-dopa-related problems or were receiving suboptimal L-dopa dosage were randomized in double-blind, double-dummy, 1:1 fashion to pramipexole ER once daily or pramipexole IR 2 to 3 times daily for 12 weeks, both titrated to a maximum daily dose of 4.5 mg.

BALB/c-Fcgr2bPdcd1 mouse expressing anti-urothelial antibody is a novel model of autoimmune cystitis.

We report the impact of anti-urothelial autoantibody (AUAb) on urinary bladder phenotype in BALB/c mice deficient of the FcγRIIb and PD-1. AUAb was present in serum samples from approximately half of the double-knockout (DKO) mice, as detected by immunofluorescence and immunoblots for urothelial proteins including uroplakin IIIa. The AUAb-positive DKO mice showed degeneration of urothelial plaque and umbrella cells, along with infiltration of inflammatory cells in the suburothelial layer.

Suppression of bladder overactivity by adenosine A2A receptor antagonist in a rat model of Parkinson disease.

Purpose: Overactive bladder is highly prevalent among patients with Parkinson disease. Adenosine is an important neurotransmitter in the central nervous system but it is not fully clarified how adenosine receptors regulate the micturition reflex. Thus, we examined the effect of an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist on the micturition reflex in a rat model of Parkinson disease.

Amantadine for dyskinesias in Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Dyskinesias are some of the major motor complications that impair quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of amantadine in Parkinson's disease patients suffering from dyskinesias.

Methods: In this multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial, 36 patients with Parkinson's disease and dyskinesias were randomized, and 62 interventions, which included amantadine (300 mg/day) or placebo treatment for 27 days, were analyzed.

Clinical efficacy of istradefylline (KW-6002) in Parkinson's disease: a randomized, controlled study.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of istradefylline at an oral dose of 20 mg or 40 mg once daily for 12 weeks in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with motor complications on levodopa therapy based on the change in the daily OFF time compared with placebo and to assess the safety at these doses. A total of 363 subjects were randomly assigned to receive 20 mg/day istradefylline (n = 119), 40 mg/day istradefylline (n = 125), or placebo (n = 119). The primary outcome variable was the change from baseline at endpoint in daily OFF time based on patients' ON/OFF diaries.

The effect of dopamine agonists: the expression of GDNF, NGF, and BDNF in cultured mouse astrocytes.

In Parkinson's disease, cell death is selectively induced in mesencephalic nigral dopaminergic neurons. At present, no disease modifying therapy or radical treatment has been found for this disease. Some dopamine agonists may have a neuroprotective action in cultured cells and animal models.

Early addition of selegiline to L-Dopa treatment is beneficial for patients with Parkinson disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical outcome of Parkinson disease (PD) patients treated with selegiline (with L-Dopa/decarboxylase inhibitor) in the early stage of the disease in comparison with that of late-stage use of selegiline.

Methods: The study and the reference groups were extracted from a large database of the registry of all selegiline users (4692) between year 1998 and 2003 according to the defined criteria. The study group consisted of 106 PD patients who received selegiline within 5 years from the onset of the disease and were followed up for 7 years in average.

Nationwide survey of acute juvenile female non-herpetic encephalitis in Japan: relationship to anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis.

Objective: To study the incidence and clinical features of acute juvenile female non-herpetic encephalitis (AJFNHE) in Japan.

Methods: A nationwide questionnaire on patients with severe non-herpetic encephalitis of unknown etiology with a prolonged clinical course or death was sent to the departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, and Emergency and Critical Care at all hospitals with 200 beds or more in Japan.

Results: The recovery rate was 25% (1,279 out of 5,030 departments) and 90 patients were enrolled in this study.

High risk factors for valvular heart disease from dopamine agonists in patients with Parkinson's disease.

An association between ergot-derived dopamine agonists and asymptomatic valvular heart disease in Parkinson's disease has been established. For safe use of these agonists, it is important to specify those at high risk for valvular heart disease among patients with Parkinson's disease. We performed a nested case-control study of 223 patients with Parkinson's disease.

Degeneration of dementia with Lewy bodies measured by diffusion tensor imaging.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of dementia. It is thought to involve impairment of the visual association area. In this study, we applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine the microstructural interruption of visual association areas in patients with DLB.

Ropinirole is effective on motor function when used as an adjunct to levodopa in Parkinson's disease: STRONG study.

We report the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-week study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ropinirole, 0.75 to 15.0 mg/day, as an adjunct to levodopa.

Placebo-controlled, double-blind dose-finding study of entacapone in fluctuating parkinsonian patients.

We conducted a multicenter randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind parallel-group study in Japanese Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with wearing-off motor fluctuations to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of entacapone as an adjunct to concomitant treatment with levodopa and a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (DCI). We randomized 341 patients to receive entacapone 100 or 200 mg or placebo per dose of levodopa/DCI for 8 weeks. The primary efficacy variable was on time change while awake, determined by patients' diaries.

Dopaminergic mechanisms controlling urethral function in rats.

Aims: To investigate the role of dopamine receptor subtypes in the control of urethral activity.

Methods: Simultaneous recordings of intravesical and urethral perfusion pressure (UPP) were performed in rats under urethane anesthesia. Changes in coordinated activity of the bladder and urethral sphincter were examined following intravenous (i.

Resistin concentrations in murine adipose tissue and serum measured by a new enzyme immunoassay.

Objective: In an attempt to clarify the conflicting data on resistin mRNA expression and protein analysis by western blotting in adipose tissue and serum, we developed a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for direct measurement of mouse resistin.

Research Methods And Procedures: We developed polyclonal antibodies directed to the N (21 to 40) and C (79 to 91) termini of mouse resistin. Then, affinity-purified anti-C-terminal resistin immunoglobin G (IgG) was biotinylated.

Neuroprotection and enhanced recovery with edaravone after acute spinal cord injury in rats.

Study Design: The effect of edaravone, a novel free radical scavenger, was assessed functionally and histologically using a rat spinal cord contusion model.

Objective: To investigate the effect of edaravone on neuroprotection after spinal cord injury in rats.

Summary Of Background Data: The spinal cord injury results in immediate physical damage (primary injury), followed by a prolonged neural tissue disorder (secondary injury).

The effect of tau genotype on clinical features in FTDP-17.

The clinical phenotype of frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) varies. This variability is seen not only between kindreds with different mutations but also in families sharing the same mutation. Inheritance of tau haplotype (H1) and genotype (H1/H1) has been established as a risk factor for some neurodegenerative disorders with parkinsonism.

Production of NGF, BDNF and GDNF in mouse astrocyte cultures is strongly enhanced by a cerebral vasodilator, ifenprodil.

Ifenprodil, a non-competitive NMDA-receptor antagonist, has been shown to exhibit marked cytoprotective activities in animal models for focal ischemia and Parkinson's disease. To test the hypothesis that the cytoprotective effect is due to the release of neurotrophic factors (NTFs), we examined the effects of ifenprodil on the NTF contents in mouse astrocyte cultures. The results revealed that ifenprodil strongly enhanced the production of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in these cultures.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphisms in Japanese patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple system atrophy.

We studied two genetic polymorphisms (240C/T and 480G/A) of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene in Japanese patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 172), Parkinson's disease (PD, n = 327), and multiple system atrophy (MSA, n = 122), as well as controls (n = 275). The distribution of the 240 C/T polymorphism was significantly different between AD patients and controls, whereas there was no difference in the genotype of the two polymorphisms between MSA and controls or between PD and controls. Our data suggest that BDNF might play a role in AD.

Glutathione-S-transferase-1 and interleukin-1beta gene polymorphisms in Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease.

We studied genetic polymorphisms in the glutathione-S-transferase-1 (GST-1) gene region and the interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) promoter region in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD, n = 361), as well as controls (n = 257). Although we have confirmed the previous results, in a larger sample, that the IL-1beta genotype has affected the age at onset of PD patients, no contribution of the GST-1 gene polymorphism was observed in the allele frequency or the onset age of the disease in Japanese persons.

Influence of a tumor necrosis factor gene polymorphism in Japanese patients with multiple system atrophy.

We studied promoter region polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 genes in Japanese patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) (n=122) and normal controls (n=277). The frequency of the TNF-1031C, a high producer allele of TNF, was increased significantly in MSA patients compared with controls (chi2=12.36, P=0.