Late cerebral embolization after emboli-protected carotid artery stenting

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is nowadays considered as alternative therapeutic option to carotid endarterectomy for patients suffering from carotid artery disease. Recent studies and meta-analyses have demonstrated equal performance of carotid stenting to endarterectomy as regard as the overall adverse events (death/stroke rates), especially when periprocedural myocardial infarction and nerve pulses are also included. However, carotid stenting was inferior to endarterectomy when compared in terms of acute and late embolic events. In the present review, we collect all studies available in the published literature regarding the late embolic events. We mainly attempted to gather data regarding the silent embolic events occurring after the acute post-procedural period. We analyzed the results and reported the incidence of the problem. Finally, we aimed to identify possible causes and propose effective solutions to reduce the incidence of late embolic events.

N-Acetylcysteine reverses cocaine-induced metaplasticity

Cocaine addiction is characterized by an impaired ability to develop adaptive behaviors that can compete with cocaine seeking, implying a deficit in the ability to induce plasticity in cortico-accumbens circuitry critical for regulating motivated behavior. RWe found that rats withdrawn from cocaine self-administration had a marked in vivo deficit in the ability to develop long-term potentation (LTP) and depression (LTD) in the nucleus accumbens core subregion following stimulation of prefrontal cortex. N-acetylcysteine treatment prevents relapse in animal models and craving in humans by activating cystine-glutamate exchange and thereby stimulating extrasynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR). N-acetylcysteine treatment restored the ability to induce LTP and LTD by indirectly stimulating mGluR2/3 and mGluR5, respectively. Cocaine self-administration induces metaplasticity that inhibits the further induction of synaptic plasticity, and this impairment can be reversed by N-acetylcysteine, a drug that also prevents relapse.

Activator of G protein signaling 3 null mice: I. Unexpected alterations in metabolic and cardiovascular function

Activator of G protein signaling (AGS)-3 plays functional roles in cell division, synaptic plasticity, addictive behavior, and neuronal development. As part of a broad effort to define the extent of functional diversity of AGS3-regulated-events in vivo, we generated AGS3 null mice. Surprisingly, AGS3 null adult mice exhibited unexpected alterations in cardiovascular and metabolic functions without any obvious changes in motor skills, basic behavioral traits, and brain morphology. AGS3 null mice exhibited a lean phenotype, reduced fat mass, and increased nocturnal energy expenditure. AGS3 null mice also exhibited altered blood pressure control mechanisms. These studies expand the functional repertoire for AGS3 and other G protein regulatory proteins providing unexpected mechanisms by which G protein systems may be targeted to influence obesity and cardiovascular function.

Requirement for the POZ/BTB protein NAC1 in acute but not chronic psychomotor stimulant response

NAC1 is a novel member of the POZ/BTB (Pox virus and Zinc finger/Bric-a-bracTramtrack Broad complex) but varies from other proteins of this class in that it lacks the characteristic DNA-binding motif, suggesting a novel role. We have employed constitutive gene deletion to elucidate the role of NAC1 in vivo. Nac1 mutant mice are viable with no obvious developmental or physiological impairments. Previous studies suggest a role for NAC1 in cocaine-mediated behaviors. Therefore, we evaluated a variety of behaviors associated with psychomotor stimulant effects in Nac1 mutant mice. Acute locomotor activating effects of cocaine or amphetamine are absent in Nac1 mutant mice, however longer exposure to these psychomotor stimulants result in the development of behavioral sensitization. Acute rewarding properties of cocaine and amphetamine are also blunted in mutant mice, yet repeated exposure resulted in conditioned place preference similar to that observed in wild-type mice. Lastly, increases in extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, which accompany acute cocaine administration, are blunted in mutant mice, but following chronic cocaine extracellular dopamine levels are increased to the same extent as in wild-type mice. Together these data indicate involvement of NAC1 in the acute behavioral and neurochemical responses to psychomotor stimulants.

Use of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection after a primary drug screening in patients admitted to the emergency department

Two hundred fifty samples of patients admitted to the Emergency Department at the Hospital Municipal de Urgencias, Córdoba, Argentina for a drug screening by HPTLC, FPIA, spectrophotometric methods, and HPLC/DAD were randomly selected. The rate of positive screens was 34.0% with the following rate distribution: 12.0% alcohol, 13.6% nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), 2.0% anticonvulsants, 0.8% barbiturates, 0.4% narcotics, 0.4% antidepressants, 2.8% cocaine, and 2.0% cannabinoids. Psychoactive drugs (alcohol, cocaine, and cannabinoids) were detected in 43.9% of the patients admitted for traffic accidents, namely 35.71% alcohol, 2.38% alcohol-cocaine, 2.38% alcohol-cannabinoids, 2.38% cocaine-cannabinoids, and 2.38% alcohol-cocaine-cannabinoids. These results help identify the trend of use and/or abuse of drugs and its relationship with different causes of admission (accidents, overdose, and other pathologies), age, and gender.