Central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis has led to a significant improvement in the outcome of patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Liposomal cytarabine (Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Piscataway, NJ; Skye Pharma, San Diego, CA), an intrathecal (IT) preparation of cytarabine with a prolonged half-life, has been shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of neoplastic meningitis. Liposo...

The pharmacological treatment of Huntington's chorea has been based on the use of neuroleptic drugs, on the hypothesis that there is a functional dopaminergic hyperactivity in this illness (Agid, 1975). More recently, after the observation of reduced cholinergic and GABAminergic activity at the striatal level in brains of choreic subjects (McGeer et al., 1973; Stahl and Swanson, 1974; Bird and ...

I nterferon beta, the current cornerstone of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy, was shown to reduce the ratio of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9)–tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) in order to attenuate overactive proteolysis and inhibit leukocyte migration. Matrix metalloproteinases, a family of extracellular matrixdegrading enzymes, are involved in the pathogenesis of MS by faci...

e do well to place the physicochemical W step of amino acid transport on our metabolic diagrams, wherever it intervenes, on a par with the more purely chemical steps we assemble on such charts. This recommendation does not mean, as some suppose, that we merely insert the step of intestinal absorption between digestion and intermediary metabolism; it means that in addition we insert the step of ...

Rats were exposed to 1.3 gHz microwave energy to assess the uptake of several neutral polar substances in certain areas of the brain. A quantitative, radioactive isotope method, which uses an internal standard, was employed to measure the loss of test substances to brain tissue. Single, 20 min exposure, to either pulsed or continuous wave (CW) microwave energy induced an increase in the uptake ...

Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is the only FDA-approved drug for acute ischemic stroke treatment, but its clinical use is limited due to the narrow therapeutic time window and severe adverse effects, including hemorrhagic transformation (HT) and neurotoxicity. One of the potential resolutions is to use adjunct therapies to reduce the side effects and extend t-PA's therapeutic time...

To the Editor: We have read with great interest the November 1, 2005 article by Carson-Walter et al. (1) on plasmalemmal vesicle–associated protein 1 (PV-1; also called PLVAP) expression in malignant brain. The authors have shown that PLVAP is expressed in a subset of malignant and diseased brain tissue, is up-regulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor, ...

background: psychological and behavioral domains are important in coping with type ii diabetes. this study was conducted to assess supportive and coping obstacles in living with type ii diabetes among patients who visited hospitals affiliated to tehran university of medical sciences (tums). methods: this was a cross-sectional study with 600 subjects who participated in the study. data collectio...

Methotrexate (MTX) is the cornerstone of chemotherapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma, yet how the bloodbrain barrier (BBB) efflux transporters ABCG2 and ABCC4 influence the required high-dose therapy is unknown. To evaluate their role, we used four mouse strains, C57BL/6 (wild-type; WT), Abcg2, Abcc4, and Abcg2;Abcc4 (double knockout; DKO) to conduct brain microdialysis studies aft...

This review attempts to summarize and clarify our basic knowledge as to the various factors that potentially influence the risks imposed from chronic exposure to high atmospheric levels of manganese (Mn). The studies describe the interrelationship of the different systems in the body that regulate Mn homeostasis by characterizing specific, biological components involved in its systemic and cell...