Senile delirium with special reference to situational factors and recurrent delirium.

Factors initiating senile delirium were examined in 129 elderly inpatients (65 years or older). Sixty-eight patients were males and 61 females, with a mean age of 76.3 years. Delirium developed in most cases on the first two days of admission in the hospital, and the admission appeared to be a key factor precipitating delirium in about 30% of the patients. Delirium resolved or improved in 80% of the patients, but usually persisted in patients with dementia. Senile delirium tended to reappear repeatedly in patients whose episode of delirium lasted for more than 2 weeks, was associated with dementia, or had a prior history of delirium.

Two autopsy cases of Pick's disease with neurofibrillary tangles.

Two cases of presenile dementia were presented. Both showed "stehende Redensarten" and aphasia. Histopathologically, besides Pick features--temporal lobe atrophy, fibrillary gliosis of the temporal white matter and neuronal loss in the 2--3 cortical layers--, Alzheimer features--neurofibrillary tangles and granulo-vacuolar degeneration--were found in both cases. But no senile plaques were found. Pseudocalcerous deposits were observed in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum. Atypical cases with both Pick's and Alzheimer's diseases in the literature were classified into four groups according to the extent of the features of each disease. Sensory aphasia, which is relatively unusual in Pick's disease, was correlated to the atrophy of left T1, and similar cases in the literature were reviewed.

Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites and cyclic nucleotides in chronic schizophrenic patients with tardive dyskinesia or drug-induced tremor.

Lumbar CSF HVA, MHPG, 5HIAA, cAMP, and cGMP were measured in 12 chronic schizophrenics with tardive dyskinesia before and 3 weeks after sodium valproate (VPA) or cyproheptadine treatment. HVA levels significantly decreased and cAMP and cGMP levels significantly increased during the administration of VPA or cyproheptadine. There were no significant correlations between the degree of improvement in tardive dyskinesia and the changes of amine metabolities or cyclic nucleotides. None of the pretreatment values for CSF amine metabolites or cyclic nucleotides were different from those of 15 chronic schizophrenics without tardive dyskinesia as controls. Decrease of HVA and increase of cGMP during the treatment might indicate the normalization of dopaminergic-cholinergic imbalance in the brain. Furthermore, significantly low levels of 5HIAA were observed in the patients with drug-induced tremor. It is suggested that neuroleptic-induced tremor may be attributed to serotonergic dysfunction in the brain.

[Correlation between seizure susceptibility and brain catecholamine levels. An experimental study using a kindling preparation].

Correlation between the kindled seizure susceptibility and brain monoamine levels was investigated in the hippocampal and amygdaloid kindled cats. Increase of interictal discharge (IID) frequency and morphological change of IID into self-sustained discharge appeared following reserpine administration. alpha-MPT also increased the IID frequency. These changes in reserpine- and alpha-MPT-treated cats were suppressed completely by the administration of L-DOPA, suggesting that depletion of norepinephrine and dopamine exacerbate the kindled seizure susceptibility. In a second experiment, the assay study of brain catecholamine showed significant and parallel depletion of both norepinephrine and dopamine in the hippocampal kindled cat brain. It is concluded that catecholamine may play an inhibitory role in the establishment and neurohumoral control of the kindled seizure susceptibility.

Partial purification of a morphological transforming factor from pig brain.

A protein that changes one type of embryonic rat brain cell in culture from a primitive morphology to one resembling mature glial cell has been purified 400-fold from pig brain. The procedure includes differential centrifugation, ethanol treatment, trypsin digestion and column chromatography with Sephadex G-200 and Sepharose 4B. Although not completely homogeneous, the protein is biologically active at a concentration of 1-10(-8) M. It has a molecular weight of 350 000 and is heat labile. It is inactivated by the extremes of pH and by 8 M urea. The isoionic point is lower than neutrality. The activity is resistant to DNAase, RNAase, periodate and trypsin, but is susceptible to pronase digestion.

Effects of various cerebral metabolic activators on glucose metabolism of brain.

The effects of various metabolic activators on the glucose metabolism of the perfused cat brain have been investigated. (1) When the perfusion is done with the blood containing cytidine monophosphate, the glucose metabolism of the brain is enhanced, as compared to the perfusion with the blood without cytidine monophosphate. There is no marked change in the cerebral metabolic rate and in the contents of intermediate metabolite of glucose in the brain. (2) Citicoline enhances the incorporation of blood glucose into the brain and its metabolism in the brain. It increases slightly the cerebral blood flow rate and decreases the accumulation of lactate in the brain. (3) Either Pyrithioxin or Meclophenoxate has no effect on the glucose metabolism of the brain nor on the cerebral metabolic rate.

Brain cells in culture: morphological transformation by a protein.

One type of elmbryonic rat brain cell having an epithelioid morphology in the monolayer culture can be transformed by brain extract into cells having extensive processes resembling mature astrocytes. The transforming factor is a protein with a molecular weight of 350,000. A partially purified sample showed that it is active at a concentration as low as 1 x 10(-8)M. The transforming actvity is high in adult brains but low in embryonic brains and tumors of the nervous systems.