Cutting edge: functional role for proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 in NK cell-mediated natural cytotoxicity.

Protein tyrosine kinase activation is one of the first biochemical events in the signaling pathway leading to activation of NK cell cytolytic machinery. Here we investigated whether proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2), the nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinase belonging to the focal adhesion kinase family, could play a role in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Our results demonstrate that binding of NK cells to sensitive target cells or ligation of beta2 integrins results in a rapid induction of Pyk2 phosphorylation and activation.

Indomethacin increases the effect of isosorbide dinitrate on cerebral hemodynamic in migraine patients: pathogenetic and therapeutic implications.

Intracerebral vascular reactivity induced by the nitric oxide (NO) donor isosorbide dinitrate (IDN, 5 mg sublingually) is more major and longer-lasting in migraine patients who develop delayed headache in response to the drug. The headache is purportedly due to neuronally-mediated vascular mechanisms. Indomethacin inhibits prostaglandin synthesis, which is involved in NO generation.

Low dose of clozapine in the treatment of dopaminergic psychosis in Parkinson's disease.

Dopaminergic psychosis frequently complicates the pharmacological treatment of Parkinson's disease. Dose reduction of dopaminomimetic therapy or treatment with conventional neuroleptics improves psychosis but worsens parkinsonism. In an open-label 12-month trial, the clinical antipsychotic efficacy of the atypical neuroleptic clozapine was investigated in 36 parkinsonian patients (age range 46-85 years) with symptoms of dopaminergic psychosis including delusions, vivid dreams, hallucinations, frank paranoid delirium, and hypersexuality.

Strategies for treating patients with advanced Parkinson's disease with disastrous fluctuations and dyskinesias.

Patients with advanced Parkinson's disease often develop severe fluctuations and dyskinesias while receiving long-term levodopa therapy. These complications can prove increasingly difficult to control. Here we review our strategies for coping with such problems.

Crural amyotrophy associated with a parietal lesion: a case report.

The authors have observed a 33-year-old woman with a 3-year history of a clinical syndrome characterised by atrophy of the musculature of the left foot and leg with impaired motor function, associated with a paracentral cortical oligodendroglioma located in the right parietal region. Clinical, neuroradiological (MRI), electrophysiological (electromyography: EMG; motor evoked potential: MEP; median and tibial somatosensory evoked potential: m-SEP and t-SEP), and neuropsychological studies were performed every year for three years. Neurological examination showed an abnormal gait along with foot drop, pes cavus and pyramidal involvement.