Gene therapy decreases seizures in a model of Incontinentia pigmenti.

Objective: Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a genetic disease leading to severe neurological symptoms, such as epileptic seizures, but no specific treatment is available. IP is caused by pathogenic variants that inactivate the Nemo gene. Replacing Nemo through gene therapy might provide therapeutic benefits.

Various modifications of the intrahippocampal kainate model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy in rats fail to resolve the marked rat-to-mouse differences in type and frequency of spontaneous seizures in this model.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common type of acquired epilepsy in adults. TLE can develop after diverse brain insults, including traumatic brain injury, infections, stroke, or prolonged status epilepticus (SE). Post-SE rodent models of TLE are widely used to understand mechanisms of epileptogenesis and develop treatments for epilepsy prevention.

Two-component collagen nerve guides support axonal regeneration in the rat peripheral nerve injury model.

Progress in material development has enabled the production of nerve guides that increasingly resemble the characteristics of an autologous nerve graft. In the present study, 20 mm adult rat sciatic nerve defects were bridged with the collagen-based, two-component nerve guide 'Neuromaix', the commercially available NeuraGen® nerve tube or an autologous nerve graft. Neuromaix was able to support structural as well as functional regeneration across this gap.

Multimodality imaging of blood-brain barrier impairment during epileptogenesis.

Insult-associated blood-brain barrier leakage is strongly suggested to be a key step during epileptogenesis. In this study, we used three non-invasive translational imaging modalities, i.e.

The Axon Guidance Protein Semaphorin 3A Is Increased in the Motor Cortex of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative motor neuron disorder that leads to progressive paralysis of skeletal muscles and death by respiratory failure. There is increasing evidence that ALS is at least in part an axonopathy and that mechanisms regulating axonal degeneration and regeneration might be pathogenetically relevant. Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) is an axon guidance protein; it acts as an axon repellent and prevents axonal regeneration.

Chitosan-film enhanced chitosan nerve guides for long-distance regeneration of peripheral nerves.

Biosynthetic nerve grafts are developed in order to complement or replace autologous nerve grafts for peripheral nerve reconstruction. Artificial nerve guides currently approved for clinical use are not widely applied in reconstructive surgery as they still have limitations especially when it comes to critical distance repair. Here we report a comprehensive analysis of fine-tuned chitosan nerve guides (CNGs) enhanced by introduction of a longitudinal chitosan film to reconstruct critical length 15 mm sciatic nerve defects in adult healthy Wistar or diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats.

In vitro models for peripheral nerve regeneration.

The study of peripheral nerve repair and regeneration is particularly relevant in the light of the high clinical incidence of nerve lesions. However, the clinical outcome after nerve lesions is often far from satisfactory and the functional recovery is almost never complete. Therefore, a number of therapeutic approaches are being investigated, ranging from local delivery of trophic factors and other molecules to bioactive biomaterials and complex nerve prostheses.

Oligodendroglial markers in the cuprizone model of CNS de- and remyelination.

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system. Since many studies of demyelinating diseases focus their research on this cell type, there is growing interest for obtaining reliable markers that can specifically recognize oligodendroglia. Established markers are the myelin-associated neurite outgrowth inhibitor (NogoA), the transcription factor Olig2, and the antibody CC-1, the latter being directed against the protein adenomatous polyposis coli (APC).

[(18)F]FDG is not transported by P-glycoprotein and breast cancer resistance protein at the rodent blood-brain barrier.

Introduction: Transport of 2-[(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ([(18)F]FDG) by the multidrug efflux transporters P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) and breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) may confound the interpretation of [(18)F]FDG brain PET data. Aim of this study was to assess the influence of ABCB1 and ABCG2 at the BBB on brain distribution of [(18)F]FDG in vivo by performing [(18)F]FDG PET scans in wild-type and transporter knockout mice and by evaluating changes in [(18)F]FDG brain distribution after transporter inhibition.

Methods: Dynamic small-animal PET experiments (60min) were performed with [(18)F]FDG in groups of wild-type and transporter knockout mice (Abcb1a/b((-/-)), Abcg2((-/-)) and Abcb1a/b((-/-))Abcg2((-/-))) and in wild-type rats without and with i.

Pilocarpine-induced convulsive activity is limited by multidrug transporters at the rodent blood-brain barrier.

As a result of the growing availability of genetically engineered mouse lines, the pilocarpine post-status epilepticus (SE) model of temporal lobe epilepsy is increasingly used in mice. A discrepancy in pilocarpine sensitivity in FVB/N wild-type versus P-glycoprotein (PGP)-deficient mice precipitated the investigation of the interaction between pilocarpine and two major multidrug transporters at the blood-brain barrier. Doses of pilocarpine necessary for SE induction were determined in male and female wild-type and PGP-deficient mice.

Pilocarpine-induced epilepsy in mice alters seizure thresholds and the efficacy of antiepileptic drugs in the 6-Hertz psychomotor seizure model.

The 6-Hz psychomotor seizure model in mice is increasingly been used as a model for differentiation of anticonvulsant activity during development of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). It was previously proposed as a useful model of AED-resistant seizures, but more recent data have cast doubt on this proposal. The aim of the present study was to determine whether performing the 6-Hz test not in normal but epileptic mice renders the 6-Hz test more resistant to AEDs.

Altered expression of DJ-1 and PINK1 in sporadic ALS and in the SOD1(G93A) ALS mouse model.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). DJ-1 and PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) are important proteins for the maintenance of mitochondrial function and protection against cell death. Mutations in the genes coding for these proteins cause familial forms of Parkinson disease.

Is switching from brand name to generic formulations of phenobarbital associated with loss of antiepileptic efficacy?: a pharmacokinetic study with two oral formulations (Luminal(®) vet, Phenoleptil(®)) in dogs.

Background: In human medicine, adverse outcomes associated with switching between bioequivalent brand name and generic antiepileptic drug products is a subject of concern among clinicians. In veterinary medicine, epilepsy in dogs is usually treated with phenobarbital, either with the standard brand name formulation Luminal(®) or the veterinary products Luminal(®) vet and the generic formulation Phenoleptil(®). Luminal(®) and Luminal(®) vet are identical 100 mg tablet formulations, while Phenoleptil(®) is available in the form of 12.

(R)-[(11)C]verapamil is selectively transported by murine and human P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier, and not by MRP1 and BCRP.

Introduction: Positron emission tomography (PET) with [(11)C]verapamil, either in racemic form or in form of the (R)-enantiomer, has been used to measure the functional activity of the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporter P-glycoprotein (Pgp) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). There is some evidence in literature that verapamil inhibits two other ABC transporters expressed at the BBB, i.e.

Tariquidar and elacridar are dose-dependently transported by P-glycoprotein and Bcrp at the blood-brain barrier: a small-animal positron emission tomography and in vitro study.

Elacridar (ELC) and tariquidar (TQD) are generally thought to be nontransported inhibitors of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), but recent data indicate that they may also be substrates of these multidrug transporters (MDTs). The present study was designed to investigate potential transport of ELC and TQD by MDTs at the blood-brain barrier at tracer doses as used in positron emission tomography (PET) studies. We performed PET scans with carbon-11-labeled ELC and TQD before and after MDT inhibition in wild-type and transporter-knockout mice as well as in in vitro transport assays in MDT-overexpressing cells.

Pattern of brain blood perfusion in tinnitus patients using technetium-99m SPECT imaging.

Background And Purpose: Tinnitus is associated with an increased activity in central auditory system as demonstrated by neuroimaging studies. Brain perfusion scanning using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was done to understand the pattern of brain blood perfusion of tinnitus subjects and find the areas which are mostly abnormal in these patients.

Materials And Methods: A number of 122 patients with tinnitus were enrolled to this cross-sectional study.

The anticonvulsant response to valproate in kindled rats is correlated with its effect on neuronal firing in the substantia nigra pars reticulata: a new mechanism of pharmacoresistance.

Resistance to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is a major problem in epilepsy treatment. However, mechanisms of resistance are only incompletely understood. We have recently shown that repeated administration of the AED phenytoin allows selecting resistant and responsive rats from the amygdala kindling model of epilepsy, providing a tool to study mechanisms of AED resistance.

A novel positron emission tomography imaging protocol identifies seizure-induced regional overactivity of P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier.

Approximately one-third of epilepsy patients are pharmacoresistant. Overexpression of P-glycoprotein and other multidrug transporters at the blood-brain barrier is thought to play an important role in drug-refractory epilepsy. Thus, quantification of regionally different P-glycoprotein activity in the brain in vivo is essential to identify P-glycoprotein overactivity as the relevant mechanism for drug resistance in an individual patient.

Differential histone deacetylase mRNA expression patterns in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important regulators of gene expression and cell differentiation. The HDAC inhibitors have recently been considered as potential novel neuroprotective drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A major limitation, however, lies in the broad spectrum of action of currently available HDAC inhibitors that may cause a variety of toxic side effects.

Nerve repair by end-to-side nerve coaptation: histologic and morphometric evaluation of axonal origin in a rat sciatic nerve model.

Objective: We compared the origin and quality of regenerating myelinated axons after end-to-side neurorrhaphy or end-to-end neurorrhaphy.

Methods: Transected adult rat tibial nerves were either end-to-end coapted or the distal stump was sutured to a perineurial window of the fibular nerve. Electromyographic recordings from the gastrocnemius muscle 8 weeks later revealed reinnervation by tibial nerve axons.

Schwann cells overexpressing FGF-2 alone or combined with manual stimulation do not promote functional recovery after facial nerve injury.

Purpose: To determine whether transplantation of Schwann cells (SCs) overexpressing different isoforms of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) combined with manual stimulation (MS) of vibrissal muscles improves recovery after facial nerve transection in adult rat.

Procedures: Transected facial nerves were entubulated with collagen alone or collagen plus naïve SCs or transfected SCs. Half of the rats received daily MS.

High seizure frequency prior to antiepileptic treatment is a predictor of pharmacoresistant epilepsy in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Purpose: Progress in the management of patients with medically intractable epilepsy is impeded because we do not fully understand why pharmacoresistance happens and how it can be predicted. The presence of multiple seizures prior to medical treatment has been suggested as a potential predictor of poor outcome. In the present study, we used an animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy to investigate whether pharmacoresistant rats differ in seizure frequency from pharmacoresponsive animals.