Auditory dysfunction.

Hearing impairment, although uncommon, may occur in patients with a vertebrobasilar artery occlusion disease. The pathogenesis may be an ischemic lesion involving the auditory pathways in the pons and midbrain, the cochlear nucleus, cochlear nerve or the cochlea. The AICA and IAA are the main arteries that supply the peripheral audiovestibular structures of the inner ear and central audiovestibular pathways of the middle cerebellar peduncle and lateral pons.

Fibroblast growth factor-2 levels are elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients.

In recent years a role has been recognized for fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 in the pathogenesis of demyelination and the failure of remyelination in experimental models of multiple sclerosis (MS). FGF-2 levels were determined using a sensitive immunoassay in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 20 patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), 40 patients with relapsing-remitting (R-R) MS, and 30 patients with secondary progressive (SP) MS, correlated with MRI measures. Control CSF samples were obtained from 20 subjects who underwent lumbar puncture for diagnostic purposes and for whom all instrumental and laboratory analyses excluded systemic and nervous system diseases.

Expression of ionotropic glutamate receptor GLUR3 and effects of glutamate on MBP- and MOG-specific lymphocyte activation and chemotactic migration in multiple sclerosis patients.

The present study was aimed at confirming the presence of GluR3 on T lymphocytes and to assess the effect of glutamate on proliferative responses to myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and chemotactic migration to CXCL12/stromal cell-derived factor-1, RANTES, and MIP-1alpha in 15 control subjects and 20 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients (10 in a stable clinical phase and 10 during relapse). T lymphocytes of control subjects and MS patients express both mRNA and protein of GluR3 receptors, as shown by RT-PCR and immunoblot analyses. An up-regulation was evident during relapse and in patients with neuroradiological evidence of disease activity.