Effects of an aqueous extract of North American ginseng on MOG(35-55)-induced EAE in mice.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, in which the release of reactive oxygen species by infiltrating immune cells contributes to demyelination. American ginseng ( Panax quinquefolius ) is a natural health product with numerous beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ginseng could influence the course of the disease experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS.

Targeting vascular changes in lesions in multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

What is the origin of the complex vascular changes that exist in the CNS lesions of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)? From the beginning of the study of the pathological changes in MS in the 19th century, lesions were seen to be associated with veins. On a microscopic level, there have been numerous pathological changes to these vessels including altered structure and permeability, fibrinolysis, iron-related alterations and collagen deposition. Vascular changes in inflammatory conditions outside the CNS are well documented and we hypothesize that angiogenesis (the generation of new blood vessels from existing) is an integral process of lesion development and spread in MS.

Thalidomide derivatives for the treatment of neuroinflammation.

The precise mechanism-of-action of thalidomide remains uncertain and might differ between diseases and under different clinical condition. With implications in the treatment of a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, as well as for use as an anticancer agent, alone or in combination with established therapeutics, it is clear that thalidomide and its derivatives deserve further scrutiny. In particular, thalidomide was shown to be effective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune inflammatory disorder, called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Iron-oxide labeling of hematogenous macrophages in a model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and the contribution to signal loss in fast imaging employing steady state acquisition (FIESTA) images.

Purpose: To determine the contribution of blood-derived macrophages to the signal loss observed in MR images of inflammatory lesions in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Materials And Methods: A relapsing-remitting form of EAE was induced in transgenic mice that express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) specifically in hematopoietic cells of the myelomonocytic lineage. Animals were injected with Feridex, a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticle, 24 hours prior to in vivo MRI.

MRI and multinuclear MR spectroscopy of 3,200-year-old Egyptian mummy brain.

Objective: Our objective was to present the MR and MR spectroscopy imaging findings of a 3,200-year-old preserved brain from an Egyptian mummy.

Materials And Methods: In this work, the morphology of the intact specimen was examined by MRI at 1.5 T.

Pathology-guided MR analysis of acute and chronic experimental allergic encephalomyelitis spinal cord lesions at 1.5T.

Purpose: To directly correlate spinal cord pathology of guinea pigs with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) to the MRI data obtained at 1.5T.

Materials And Methods: Spinal cords from EAE animals were imaged in vivo with the following MRI sequences: T2-FSE, PD-FSE, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR)-FSE, T2-CSE, T1-CSE, T1-CSE + gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA), PD-CSE, and short-tau inversion recovery (STIR)-FSE.

In vivo 4.0-T magnetic resonance investigation of spinal cord inflammation, demyelination, and axonal damage in chronic-progressive experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.

Purpose: To image and dissect the lumbar spinal cord of guinea pigs with chronic-progressive experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (CP-EAE) and directly correlate the pathology to the magnetic resonance (MR) image data obtained at 4 T and determine if these MR contrasts can accurately differentiate a specific type of pathology from control tissue.

Materials And Methods: The amount of inflammation, demyelination, and axonal pathology were quantified in the whole cord cross sections. The signal intensities (SIs) for 228 individual regions of interest (ROIs) (normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and tissue containing inflammation with or without demyelination) were measured directly from the corresponding area on the MR images.

The cost of angiography procedures: OHIP gets a bargain.

Objective: To determine the costs for 1000 randomized interventional angiographic procedures.

Methods: An 9-page paper form was used to manually record the consumables, technologist time, room occupancy time and recovery room time for 80 different procedures collected over a 2-year period. The average cost for expendables per procedure was calculated for procedures that occurred 5 or more times.