Rare Case of Posterior Reversible Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome Secondary to Acute Chest Syndrome.

We present a case of 29/m with a history of sickle cell disease who presented to the emergency department with sudden onset of chest, trunk, extremity, and back pain, consistent in quality and severity with the patient's usual pain crises. Soon after admission to the medical unit for acute chest syndrome (ACS), the patient developed sudden onset of hypertension associated with left sided hemiplegia, lethargy, dysarthria, aphasia, and left sided facial droop. Neuroimaging revealed that on MRI Brain there was multifocal extensive signal abnormality and a small focal areas of hemorrhage compatible with posterior reversible leukoencephalopathy syndrome (PRES).

Dorsal thoracic arachnoid web presenting as neuropathic pain: 'Scalpel' sign found on MRI.

Dorsal thoracic arachnoid webs are due to a deformity in the formation of arachnoid membrane in the spinal arachnoid space. These webs usually occur in the upper thoracic spine and are viewed on imaging as a pathogonomic 'scalpel' sign because of the resemblance on sagittal MRI to a surgical scalpel. We describe a case of a patient with a neuropathic pain presentation.

The actions of a charged melatonin receptor ligand, TMEPI, and an irreversible MT2 receptor agonist, BMNEP, on mouse hippocampal evoked potentials in vitro.

We have previously determined that melatonin modulates hippocampal synaptic transmission in a biphasic way: an initial depression was followed by a recovery/amplification phase. Here we describe the influence of two novel melatonin receptor ligands, BMNEP (N-bromoacetyl-2-iodo-5-methoxytryptamine) and TMPEI (N-[2-(2-Trimethylammoniumethyleneoxy-7-methoxy)ethyl]propionamide iodide), on the population spike (PS) and excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) recorded from mouse hippocampal slices. BMNEP, which specifically alkylates and constitutively activates the MT2 melatonin receptor, mimicked the first phase of melatonin's action by irreversibly depressing both the PS and EPSP.

Appearance of voltage-gated calcium channels following overexpression of ATPase II cDNA in neuronal HN2 cells.

ATPase II (a Mg2+-ATPase) is also believed to harbor aminophospholipid translocase (APTL) activity, which is responsible for the translocation of phosphatidylserine (PS) from the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane to the inner. To test this hypothesis we overexpressed the mouse ATPase II cDNA in the neuronal HN2 cells. In addition to a dramatic increase in APTL activity, we also made the unexpected observation that expression of the mouse ATPase II cDNA from the vector pCMV6 resulted in the appearance of calcium current.

Factors regulating the influence of melatonin on hippocampal evoked potentials: comparative studies on different strains of mice.

Factors regulating the influence of melatonin on the hippocampal glutamergic system in mouse hippocampal slices were evaluated. The sensitivity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons to melatonin (Sigma) was highest at 2 h following slice preparation and then declined with time. This pattern of sensitivity to melatonin correlated well with a reduced binding of melatonin to its receptors.