Arterial Hypertension Aggravates Innate Immune Responses after Experimental Stroke.

Arterial hypertension is not only the leading risk factor for stroke, but also attributes to impaired recovery and poor outcome. The latter could be explained by hypertensive vascular remodeling that aggravates perfusion deficits and blood-brain barrier disruption. However, besides vascular changes, one could hypothesize that activation of the immune system due to pre-existing hypertension may negatively influence post-stroke inflammation and thus stroke outcome.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and bone marrow mononuclear cells for stroke treatment in the aged brain.

Ischemic stroke swiftly induces a wide spectrum of pathophysiological sequelae, particularly in the aged brain. The translational failure of experimental therapies, might partially be related to monotherapeutic approaches, not address potential counter-mechanisms sufficiently or within the best time window. For example, therapeutic effects relying on stem/progenitor cell mobilization by granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), require approximately a week to become manifest, which is potentially beyond the optimal timing.

Spontaneous white matter damage, cognitive decline and neuroinflammation in middle-aged hypertensive rats: an animal model of early-stage cerebral small vessel disease.

Introduction: Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders. The progressive remodeling of brain microvessels due to arterial hypertension or other vascular risk factors causes subtle, but constant cognitive decline through to manifest dementia and substantially increases the risk for stroke. Preliminary evidence suggests the contribution of the immune system to disease initiation and progression, but a more detailed understanding is impaired by the unavailability of appropriate animal models.

[3-Tesla MRI of rare large cystic prostate carcinoma].

Magnetic resonance imaging of rare cystic prostate cancers using multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI, 3 Tesla) shows, especially in solid tumor masses, the criteria of ESUR-MR classification with a PI-RADS >3 ("probably malignant"). In association with additional morphological evidence of intracystic hemorrhage and evidence of villous tumor nodules and irregular septa on the cyst wall, further malignancy criteria are met. MRI complementary to TRUS may be useful for targeted biopsy in solid tumor areas.

Bone marrow cell transplantation time-dependently abolishes efficacy of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor after stroke in hypertensive rats.

Background And Purpose: We aimed to determine a possible synergistic effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BM MNC) after stroke in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Methods: Male spontaneously hypertensive rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and randomly assigned to daily injection of 50 μg/kg G-CSF for 5 days starting 1 hour after stroke (groups 1, 2, and 3) with additional intravenous transplantation of 1.5×10E7 BM MNC per kilogram at 6 hours (group 2) or 48 hours (group 3) after stroke, or control treatment (group 4).

Allometric dose retranslation unveiled substantial immunological side effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor after stroke.

Background And Purpose: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) showed robust neuroprotective and neuroregenerative properties after stroke in rodents but failed to meet study end points in patients. Because immunologic side effects of GCSF may have escaped preclinical testing because of nonallometric dose translation, we hypothesized those as possible reasons.

Methods: Stroke was induced in C57BL/6 mice by 45-minute filament middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Object-based analysis of astroglial reaction and astrocyte subtype morphology after ischemic brain injury.

The astrocytic response to ischemic brain injury is characterized by specific alterations of glial cell morphology and function. Various studies described both beneficial and detrimental aspects of activated astrocytes, suggesting the existence of different subtypes. We investigated this issue using a novel object-based approach to study characteristics of astrogliosis after stroke.

Labeling of human neural precursor cells using ferromagnetic nanoparticles.

Fetal human neural precursor cells (NPCs) are unique with respect to their capacity to proliferate and to preserve their potential to differentiate into neurons and glia. Human mesencephalic neural precursor cells (hmNPCs) provide a source for dopaminergic neurons. Preclinical and clinical research will benefit from reliable in vivo tracking of transplanted cells.

Take-off and landing forces and the evolution of controlled gliding in northern flying squirrels Glaucomys sabrinus.

Flying squirrels are well known for their ability to glide between trees at the top of a forest canopy. We present experimental performance and behavioural evidence that flight in flying squirrels may have evolved out of a need to control landing forces. Northern flying squirrels were filmed jumping from a horizontal branch to a much larger vertical pole.

Reliability of estimates of return rates as a measure of public attitudes to violence.

An analysis of letters placed in Mobile, Alabama and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (ns = 500 and 600) showed return rates among the several addresses were essentially uncorrelated (rs = -.11 to .08) so interpoll reliability is lacking.

Affiliation, community size, and person-positivity effect in return of lost letters.

A study using 1,008 "lost letters" was designed to test the hypotheses that returned responses would be greater in smaller rural communities than from cities, that addresses' affiliation with a group opposed to physical education in schools would reduce the return rate, and that a person-positivity effect would influence return rates. Community Size and Person-Positivity conditions were not significantly associated with different rates of return even though returned letters from the smaller rural communities were more frequent than those from the cities across addressee conditions. Findings seem to suggest no community bias in the willingness of people to help a stranger in need by returning a lost letter.

Abortion affiliation, urban size, and geographic bias of responses to lost letters.

A study using 1800 "lost letters" was designed to test the hypothesis that returned responses would be greater in smaller rural communities (population M = 964) than in a city (population = 60,591) or the suburbs (population = 195,847) unless the addressee was affiliated with a pro-abortion group. Returns to control, Committee For Free Abortion, and Committee Against Free Abortion affiliates were 37.2%, 24.

[The performance evaluation of patients with osteoporosis].

Osteoporosis causes fractures of bones and thus disabilities. Patients with osteoporosis experience limitations in daily life and profession life. Rating of the disease is a prerequisite of judging the capability to work and keep on professional life.

Endogenous nitrate synthesis in selected infectious diseases and ulcerative colitis.

Investigations into acute and chronic diarrheal patients confirmed the results of animal experiments on the role of cytotoxic activated macrophages in endogenous formation of nitrates. Because a number of inflammatory diseases did not cause a nitrate release in urine, blood, and saliva, the general importance of nitrates to characterize the initiation and course of inflammations must be questioned.

[Results of clinical and epidemiologic studies of the nitrate problem].

Small differences in nitrate intake with the drinking water are not reflected in nitrate contents of saliva and urine of test persons. A correlation of nitrate concentration in body fluids and cancer incidence can be expected hardly. Inflammatory diseases of the gut are frequently accompanied by enhanced endogenous nitrate synthesis and have an essential influence on total nitrate load of the human organism.

Effect of endurance exercise on somatomedin-C/insulin-like growth factor I concentration in male and female runners.

By means of 3 endurance exercises, the effect of a several-hour intensive somatic stress on the changes of the Sm-C/IGF-I concentration was tested during, immediately after and on the day following the exercise. Exp. 1: Marathon with 17 male sportsmen in 2 groups with different glucose supply.

Thyroid hormone metabolism under extreme body exercises.

In two runs over a distance of 75 km and 45 km as well as in a marathon (42.2 km), the thyroid hormones (T4, T3 and TSH in all runs and rT3 in two of them) were determined before and after the runs. The performance of the runners was analyzed, with their age considered in the analysis.

[Nitrate and nitrite content of the saliva, urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid in patients at an infection clinic].

In 254 patients of a ward for infectious diseases the authors demonstrated that inflammatory diseases are frequently accompanied by an increase in nitrate content of the blood, urine and saliva. This effect is especially evident in gastrointestinal disorders. Correlations of nitrate with indicators of the inflammatory process are, if at all, very weak.