Steroid-Responsive Epilepsia Partialis Continua with Anti-Thyroid Antibodies: A Spectrum of Hashimoto's Encephalopathy?

Background: When a neuropsychiatric symptom due to encephalopathy develops in a patient with anti-thyroid antibodies, especially when the symptom is steroid-responsive, Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) needs to be included in the differential diagnosis of the patient. Although HE is an elusive disease, it is thought to cause various clinical presentations including seizures, myoclonus, and epilepsia partialis continua (EPC).

Case Report: We present the case of a 33-year-old Japanese woman who acutely developed EPC in the right hand as an isolated manifestation.

Vitamin D(3) enhances ATRA-mediated neurosteroid biosynthesis in human glioma GI-1 cells.

Emerging evidence indicates that vitamin D (VD) is an important modulator of brain development and function. To investigate whether VD modulates neurosteroid biosynthesis in neural cells, we investigated the effect of VD(3) on steroidogenic gene expression in human glioma GI-1 cells. We found that VD(3) enhanced CYP11A1 and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase gene expression.

Physicochemical properties of monosodium glutamate-compounded tapioca starch exceeds those of simple heat-moisture treated starch.

Monosodium glutamate (GluNa)-compounded starch was prepared by heat-moisture treating a mixture of tapioca starch and GluNa. GluNa-compounded starch exhibited a higher gelatinization temperature and reduced swelling and solubility, essentially lower hardness of the granule center, and paste viscosity than those of the heat-moisture treated tapioca starch and the untreated starch. However, its appearance, unit chain length distribution, and α-amylase digestibility were similar to those of the heat-moisture treated tapioca.

[Home visiting nursing care for a terminal stage cancer patient with bed sore--coordination through exchanging of advice request memo as a useful tool].

Visiting nursing care service was provided to a 40s female patient, who had a terminal cancer with bed sore around the sacred bones. We started the nursing service when the patient was still cared at hospital. The nursing service we provided was coordinated by the certified nurse specialized in skin and excrement care and home visiting nurse.

Megadose vitamin C suppresses sulfoconjugation in human colon carcinoma cell line Caco-2.

Intake of high doses of vitamin C has known to modulate sulfoconjugation of drugs in the intestine, but the underlying mechanisms for this effect remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid (AA)) on sulfation of 1-naphthol using Caco-2 cells, a model of human intestinal cells. We found that high dose of AA inhibited the accumulation of 1-naphthyl sulfate in Caco-2 culture medium within 24h in a dose-dependent manner (IC(50)=42 mM).