Overall, this article highlights the benefits and promise of MEA technology as a high throughput, rapid screening method for toxicity testing. Published by Elsevier Inc.”
“A laboratory study of older adults with osteoarthritis and their spouses was conducted to examine the unique influence of
exposure to suffering on caregivers’ risk for impaired psychological and physical health. Spouses’ blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during 2 tasks designed to capture their partners’ suffering. First, spouses watched their partners (and a stranger) carry heavy logs across an 8-ft space for 3 min, a task that elicited buy Forskolin pain expression. Second, spouses spoke about their partners’ suffering (and also about a typical meal with their partners). Results showed that spouses’ BP and HR increased when watching and talking about their partners’ suffering, and exposure to a partner’s suffering was more physiologically stressful than to Mdivi1 mouse a stranger’s suffering. These findings suggest that heightened physiological stress caused by exposure to a loved one’s suffering may be one pathway to caregivers’ increased risk for cardiovascular disease.”
“Objective: To investigate the nature of parkinsonism associated with liver cirrhosis, which entails examination of the integrity of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system.
Methods: Consecutive patients who had concurrent liver cirrhosis and parkinsonism
Selleck Prexasertib were investigated with MRI and dopamine transporter (DAT) single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) using iodine I 123 [(123)I]-radiolabeled fluoropropyl (FP) 2-carbomethoxy-3-(4-iodophenyl) tropane (CIT).
Results: Five patients with liver cirrhosis were identified and confirmed to have concurrent parkinsonism. In all patients, MRI showed increased T1 signals, affecting basal ganglia bilaterally. DAT density was normal in four patients, and these patients had relatively non-progressive, levodopa-unresponsive parkinsonism. In one patient, striatal [(123)I]FP-CIT
uptake was reduced, similar to the pattern of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). This patient showed sustained response to levodopa treatment.
Conclusions: Our patients showed two different patterns of clinical and neuroradiological features, that is, atypical parkinsonism with normal DAT density, which is clearly differentiated from PD versus levodopa-responsive parkinsonism with reduced DAT density (classical PD). Further investigations using other markers of dopaminergic transmission and histopathological studies should be conducted to elucidate whether damage to the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system occurs in parkinsonism associated with liver cirrhosis. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“This paper compares the meanings and applications of concepts relevant to both the life course and the stress process frameworks.