Vaccinia virus-induced smallpox postvaccinal encephalitis in case of blood-brain barrier damage.

Smallpox vaccination is the only currently effective mean to combat the threat of variola virus used as a bioterrorism agent, although it is responsible for a rare but serious complication, the postvaccinal encephalitis (PVE). Development of safer vaccines therefore is a high priority as the PVE physiopathology is not well understood to date. If vaccinia virus (VACV) is responsible for PVE by central nervous system (CNS) dissemination, trans-migration of the VACV across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) would be supposed to be essential.

Radiation-induced blood-brain barrier damages: an in vitro study.

A radiation-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown has been supposed to explain the acute radiation syndrome and the delayed brain radiation injury, but it has been clearly demonstrated only at high doses. In a previous study (Diserbo et al., 2002), we showed that non-lethal total body irradiation produced an early transient increase in BBB permeability in rats but the underlying mechanisms of radiation-induced BBB breakdown remain unclear.

Gulf War illness: Effects of repeated stress and pyridostigmine treatment on blood-brain barrier permeability and cholinesterase activity in rat brain.

After the first Persian Gulf War, many soldiers have complained of a variety of symptoms designated as "Gulf War Illness". Among several factors, implication of pyridostigmine (PB) in late cognitive dysfunction is highly likely. As a hypothesis to explain these behavioural disorders is a potentiation of the operational stress effects by pyridostigmine.

Repeated stress in combination with pyridostigmine Part II: changes in cerebral gene expression.

Organophosphates (OP) represent a potential threat in terrorism or during military conflicts. Due to its faculty to protect cholinesterase (ChE) activity against irreversible inactivation by OP, pyridostigmine bromide (PB) was used as a prophylaxis treatment during the first Persian Gulf War. To explain dysfunctions reported by Gulf War Veterans (GWV), it was suggested a potentiation of the operational stress effects by PB given to soldiers.

Repeated stress in combination with pyridostigmine Part I: long-term behavioural consequences.

Since their return from the first Persian Gulf War, some veterans have complained of a variety of symptoms that were designated as "Gulf War Illness" (GWI). Among other factors, pyridostigmine, used as a prophylaxis treatment against intoxication by nerve agents, has been proposed by many authors as a cause of late social and/or cognitive dysfunction related to GWI. One of the hypotheses placed to explain these behavioural disorders is that operational stress has modified the side effects of pyridostigmine given to soldiers.