Extracellular GABA assisting in organizing dynamic cell assemblies to shorten reaction time to sensory stimulation.

Until recently, glia, which exceeds the number of neurons, was considered to only have supportive roles in the central nervous system, providing homeostatic controls and metabolic supports. However, recent studies suggest that glia interacts with neurons and plays active roles in information processing within neuronal circuits. To elucidate how glia contributes to neuronal information processing, we simulated a sensory neuron-glia (neuron-astrocyte) network model.

A case of Niemann-Pick disease type C with neonatal liver failure initially diagnosed as neonatal hemochromatosis.

Background: Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) is a lysosomal lipid storage disease with mutation of NPC1/NPC2 genes, which transport lipids in the endosome and lysosome, and various neurological symptoms. NPC patients also develop hepatosplenomegaly or liver disorder in the neonatal period, and 10% suffer severe liver failure. Neonatal hemochromatosis (NH) is a liver disorder characterized by hepatic and extrahepatic siderosis.

Occupancy of adenosine A receptors by istradefylline in patients with Parkinson's disease using C-preladenant PET.

Istradefylline, an adenosine A receptor (AR) antagonist, is effective as an adjunct to levodopa and can alleviate "off" time and motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The present study aimed to calculate occupancy rates of ARs by administrating istradefylline 20 mg or 40 mg, which is the currently approved dose for PD in Japan. Additionally, AR availability was compared between patients with PD and healthy controls.

Abscopal effect following radiation monotherapy in breast cancer: A case report.

Radiotherapy has been found to be valuable for the control and eradication of local foci in various malignant tumors. The abscopal effect is determined as a systemic antitumor response at a distance from the irradiation site invoked by local irradiation. We herein present an extremely rare case of breast cancer in a 64-year-old woman, in whom the abscopal effect was observed after radiotherapy induced an antitumor response in all metastatic lesions, without any combination therapy.

Clinical and Echocardiographic Impact of Tafazzin Variants on Dilated Cardiomyopathy Phenotype in Left Ventricular Non-Compaction Patients in Early Infancy.

Background: Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a cardiomyopathy morphologically characterized by 2-layered myocardium and numerous prominent trabeculations, and is often associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Variants in the gene encoding tafazzin (TAZ) may change mitochondrial function and cause dysfunction of many organs, but they also contribute to the DCM phenotype in LVNC, and the clinical and echocardiographic features of children with this phenotype are poorly understood.

Methods and results: We enrolled 92 DCM phenotype LVNC patients and performed next-generation sequencing to identify the genetic etiology.

Longitudinal effects of aging on F-FDG distribution in cognitively normal elderly individuals.

Previous studies of aging effects on fluorine-18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) distribution have employed cross-sectional designs. We examined aging effects on F-FDG distribution using both cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments. We obtained two F-FDG positron emission tomography scans at two different time points from 107 cognitively normal elderly participants.

Reliable radiosynthesis of 4-[B]borono-2-[F]fluoro-L-phenylalanine with quality assurance for boron neutron capture therapy-oriented diagnosis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish a reliable and routine method for the preparation of 4-[B]borono-2-[F]fluoro-L-phenylalanine (L-[F]FBPA) for boron neutron capture therapy-oriented diagnosis using positron emission tomography.

Methods: To produce L-[F]FBPA by electrophilic fluorination of 4-[B]borono-L-phenylalanine (L-BPA) with [F]acetylhypofluorite ([F]AcOF) via [F]F derived from the Ne(d,α)F nuclear reaction, several preparation parameters and characteristics of L-[F]FBPA were investigated, including: pre-irradiation for [F]F production, the carrier F content in the Ne target, L-BPA-to-F ratios, separation with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using 10 different eluents, enantiomeric purity, and residual trifluoroacetic acid used as the reaction solvent by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Results: The activity yields and molar activities of L-[F]FBPA (n = 38) were 1200 ± 160 MBq and 46-113 GBq/mmol, respectively, after deuteron-irradiation for 2 h.

Transient Pulmonary Interstitial Lesions in Aquaporin-4-positive Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder.

We herein report the case of a 76-year old man with aquaporin-4-Immunoglobulin-G (AQP4-IgG)-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), in whom transient interstitial pulmonary lesions developed at the early stage of the disease. Chest X-ray showed multiple infiltrative shadows in both upper lung fields, and computed tomography revealed abnormal shadows distributed randomly in the lungs. Surgical lung biopsy showed features of unclassifiable interstitial pneumonia, characterized by various types of air-space organization, which resulted in obscure lung structure.

Fingolimod-associated PML with mild IRIS in MS: A clinicopathologic study.

Objective: To clarify the clinical, neuropathologic, and virologic characteristics of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and its immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in a patient with fingolimod-treated MS.

Methods: A case study.

Results: A 34-year-old patient with MS using fingolimod for 4 years had a gradual progression of right hemiparesis and aphasia with a new subcortical white matter lesion in the precentral gyrus by initial MRI.

MOG-IgG-Associated Optic Neuritis, Encephalitis, and Myelitis: Lessons Learned From Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder.

Antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) have been found in some cases diagnosed as seronegative neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). MOG-IgG allowed the identification of a subgroup with a clinical course distinct from that of NMOSD patients who are seropositive for aquaporin-4-IgG antibodies. MOG-IgG is associated with a wider clinical phenotype, not limited to NMOSD, with the majority of cases presenting with optic neuritis (ON), encephalitis with brain demyelinating lesions, and/or myelitis.

11C-Methionine Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Versus 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Residual or Recurrent World Health Organization Grades II and III Meningioma After Treatment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the assessment of positron emission tomography-computed tomography using C-methionine (MET PET/CT) for World Health Organization (WHO) grades II and III meningiomas; MET PET/CT was compared with PET/CT using F-fluorodeoxy glucose (FDG PET/CT).

Methods: This study was performed in 17 cases with residual and/or recurrent WHO grades II and III meningiomas. Two neuroradiologists reviewed both PET/CT scans.

Severe aquaporin 4-IgG-positive neuromyelitis optica with disseminated herpes zoster in a pregnant woman successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin.

A 26-year-old, 17-week pregnant woman developed aquaporin-4-IgG-positive severe longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis during the course of disseminated herpes zoster and became quadriparetic. She was unresponsive to high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone but became able to walk without assistance after intravenous immunoglobulin. One and a half months later, left optic neuritis developed but her vision improved with intravenous immunoglobulin.

Reappraisal of Percutaneous Transluminal Laser Angioplasty.

Background And Aims: We devised a technique to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with laser, i.e. percutaneous transluminal laser angioplasty (PTLA).

Perceptual judgments via sensory-motor interaction assisted by cortical GABA.

Recurrent input to sensory cortex, via long-range reciprocal projections between motor and sensory cortices, is essential for accurate perceptual judgments. GABA levels in sensory cortices correlate with perceptual performance. We simulated a neuron-astrocyte network model to investigate how top-down, feedback signaling from a motor network (Nmot) to a sensory network (Nsen) affects perceptual judgments in association with ambient (extracellular) GABA levels.

Delayed Postoperative Spinal Epidural Hematoma after Cervical Laminoplasty.

A 56-year-old man underwent cervical laminoplasty for cervical spondylosis. On the 7th postoperative day, he suddenly felt severe neck pain, and tetraplegia developed rapidly over 1.5 hrs.

A mutant HCN4 channel in a family with bradycardia, left bundle branch block, and left ventricular noncompaction.

We found that a female infant presenting with left bundle branch block and left ventricular noncompaction carries uninvestigated gene mutations HCN4(G811E), SCN5A(L1988R), DMD(S2384Y), and EMD(R203H). Here, we explored the possible pathogenicity of HCN4(G811E), which results in a G811E substitution in hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 4, the main subunit of the cardiac pacemaker channel. Voltage-clamp measurements in a heterologous expression system of HEK293T cells showed that HCN4(G811E) slightly reduced whole-cell HCN4 channel conductance, whereas it did not affect the gating kinetics, unitary conductance, or cAMP-dependent modulation of voltage-dependence.

Age-Related Decrease in Male Extra-Striatal Adenosine A Receptors Measured C-MPDX PET.

Adenosine A receptors (ARs) are widely distributed throughout the entire human brain, while adenosine A receptors (ARs) are present in dopamine-rich areas of the brain, such as the basal ganglia. A past study using autoradiography reported a reduced binding ability of AR in the striatum of old rats. We developed positron emission tomography (PET) ligands for mapping the adenosine receptors and we successfully visualized the ARs using 8-dicyclopropylmethyl-1-C-methyl-3-propylxanthine (C-MPDX).

Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: 2017 revisions of the McDonald criteria.

The 2010 McDonald criteria for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis are widely used in research and clinical practice. Scientific advances in the past 7 years suggest that they might no longer provide the most up-to-date guidance for clinicians and researchers. The International Panel on Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis reviewed the 2010 McDonald criteria and recommended revisions.

History and Evolution of Laminoplasty.

Techniques of expansive laminoplasty for degenerative cervical myelopathy and ossified posterior longitudinal ligament are described, focusing on the history of the surgical procedure. Laminectomy was the only approach for posterior decompression before Japanese orthopedic surgeons introduced laminoplasty from the 1970s to the 1980s to overcome the poor outcomes of laminectomy. Recent laminoplasty techniques offer less invasive maneuvers to the posterior cervical muscle structures to reduce axial neck pain and to obtain better functional outcome, but every operation is carried out based on the unchanged initial concept.

Improved Perceptual Learning by Control of Extracellular GABA Concentration by Astrocytic Gap Junctions.

Learning of sensory cues is believed to rely on synchronous pre- and postsynaptic neuronal firing. Evidence is mounting that such synchronicity is not merely caused by properties of the underlying neuronal network but could also depend on the integrity of gap junctions that connect neurons and astrocytes in networks too. In this perspective, we set out to investigate the effect of astrocytic gap junctions on perceptual learning, introducing a model for coupled neuron-astrocyte networks.