Hemiballismus following general anesthesia. A case report

Hemiballismus is characterized by the abrupt onset of violent proximal flinging movements, affecting the limbs, neck and trunk on one side of the body. It is caused by the lesion in the region of the contralateral subthalamic nucleus of the Luys. Usually it is a self-limiting disease, lasting 6-8 weeks. A 49-year-old man has been admitted to the hospital after flinging movements of his right arm and the right side of the trunk occurred. A few days earlier he had undergone general anesthesia prior to a dental procedure. There was trouble in waking the patient afterwards. The movements lasted a few days. MRI of the brain revealed ischemic lesions areas in T2-weighted images localized in the region of globus pallidus bilaterally. EEG was abnormal, and showed slowed background activity with slow waves in left temporal lobe. He was treated with haloperidol, clonazepam and vasoactive medications. In spite of administered treatment, hemiballic movements reappeared occasionally. Due to increased frequency of the movements the patient was hospitalized again two years later. The second MRI revealed changes described earlier and a new ischaemic focus in left parietal lobe. Continuation of treatment with haloperidol was administered.

Mapping of the nodulation loci sym9 and sym10 of pea ( Pisum sativum L.)

Several mutants defective in the nodulation process during rhizobial or endomycorrhizal endosymbiosis of pea have been identified previously. We have integrated the map positions of two such nodulation mutations, sym9 and sym10, into the molecular map of pea by applying molecular-marker techniques combined with bulked segregant analysis (BSA). Lines P2 and P54 were found to carry alleles of sym9, line P56 carried an allele of sym10. F2 populations were derived from crosses of P2, P54 and P56, to JI281 and JI15, two of the parental lines that have been used previously to generate a molecular map of pea. sym9 was located on linkage group IV by AFLP-BSA analysis and subsequently mapped by RFLP in both F2 populations, P2 x JI281 and P54 x JI281. RFLP-BSA analysis was applied to assign sym10 to linkage group I. The RFLP marker locus, chs2, co-segregates with sym10 in the F2 population of P56 x JI15.

Influence of salmon calcitonin on the analgesic effect of selective kappa-opioid agonist in mice

In the present study the relationship between calcitonin and kappa-opioid system was analysed. The possibility that salmon calcitonin (S-CT) exerts analgesic activity in mice as well as the influence of salmon calcitonin on the analgesic effect of kappa-opioid agonist, U-50, 488H were examined. The writhing test in mice was used as analgesic test. S-CT given alone intraperitoneally at a high dose produced antinociceptive effect. S-CT given at a subanalgesic dose increased the antinociceptive effect of kappa-opioid agonist, U-50, 488H. The obtained results suggest that the increase in the effectiveness of kappa-opioid receptor agonist may be one of the mechanisms involved in the analgesia induced by salmon calcitonin.

Genetic mapping and functional analysis of a nodulation-defective mutant (sym19) of pea (Pisum sativum L.)

The pea mutant line P55 is defective in root nodule formation, and this phenotype is controlled by a single recessive gene. Complementation analysis revealed that the mutation in P55 is allelic to sym19, which has previously been mapped to linkage group I. Detailed mapping revealed that the sym19 and ENOD40 loci are separated by 2.7 cM. We identified four recombination events, demonstrating that the nodulation defect caused by mutation of the sym19 locus cannot be due to mutation of ENOD40. RT-PCR experiments showed that P55 expresses ENOD12A, but there was little or no increase in the level of its transcript in response to Nod factor or infection with Rhizobium. To investigate this expression pattern further, transgenic peas carrying a pENOD12A-GUS reporter construct were made. One transgenic line was crossed with line P55, to generate F2 progeny homozygous for sym19 and carrying pENOD12A-GUS. In both WT and sym19 mutant lines, ENOD12A-GUS expression was induced at sites of lateral root emergence in uninoculated plants. In Nod+ plants pENOD12A-GUS was induced in response to Rhizobium leguminosarumn bv. viciae, but no such induction was seen in the Nod- (sym19) mutants.

Specificity of the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis obtained after mutagenesis in pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Within a set of 13 induced symbiotic pea (Pisum sativum L.) mutants, two distinct mutated genes sym25 and sym26, selected for ineffective nodulation have been counteracted in their effect by Rhizobium strains 254 and 94 respectively, thereby establishing an N₂ -fixing symbiosis. This suggests that mutagenesis can be a helpful tool in creating specificity systems such as those described in centres of origin and diversification of legume species.

Effects of dexmedetomidine on systemic and coronary hemodynamics in the anesthetized dog

In addition to central effects, which are the basis of their use in anesthesiology, alpha 2-adrenergic agonists have direct peripheral cardiovascular effects. Dexmedetomidine (DM) has been found to depress cardiac function in dogs, even after autonomic denervation. The present experiments evaluated the effects of DM on coronary flow, myocardial oxygen extraction, and cardiac function in intact, open chest dogs under enflurane anesthesia. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), the first derivative of systolic left ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax), and flow in the left anterior descending coronary artery (CBF) were measured and continuously recorded. Cardiac output (CO), plasma catecholamines (CA), hemoglobin and oxygen saturation in arterial, mixed venous, and coronary sinus blood were measured at intervals. Cardiac index (CI), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), regional coronary vascular resistance (CVR), and oxygen concentration differences across the systemic [C(a-v)O2], and coronary [C(a-cs)O2] circulations were calculated. DM doses of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 micrograms/kg were given IV at 20-minute intervals. Measurements and samples were taken at peak drug effects and just prior to the next dose. The alpha 2-antagonist atipamezole, 0.5 mg/kg, was given after the last dose of DM. DM caused immediate dose-dependent increases in SVRI, CVR, LVEDP, C(a-v)O2, and C(a-cs)O2, and decreases in HR, and CI, with recovery between doses. DP/dtmax declined after the first two doses and stabilized thereafter, as plasma CA fell to minimal levels. Atipamezole completely reversed all changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)