The Associative Pattern Between Segmental Arterial Damage and Complete Neurological Disorder After Spinal Cord Injury: A Case-Control Study.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of vascular trauma surrounding the thoracic spine following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is unknown. The potential for neurologic recovery is uncertain in many cases; in some cases, neurologic assessment is not possible, for example, in severe head injury or early intubation, and detection of segmental artery injury may help as a predictive factor. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of segmental vessel disruption in two groups, with and without neurologic deficit. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study, with a group SCI American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) E and a group SCI ASIA A. All patients had a high-energy thoracic or thoracolumbar fracture from T1 to L1. Patients were matched 1:1 (one ASIA A matched with one ASIA E) according to the fracture type, age, and level. The primary variable was the assessment of the presence/disruption of the segmental arteries, bilaterally, around the fracture. Analysis was performed twice by two independent surgeons in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: Both groups had 2 type A, 8 type B, and 4 type C fractures. The right segmental artery was detected in 14/14 (100%) of the patients with ASIA E and in 3/14 (21%) or 2/14 (14%) of the patients with ASIA A, according to the observers, p=0.001. The left segmental artery was detectable in 13/14 (93%) or 14/14 (100%) of the patients ASIA E and in 3/14 (21%) of the patients ASIA A for both observers. All in all, 13/14 of the patients with ASIA A had at least one segmental artery undetectable. The sensibility varied between 78%to 92%, and the specificity from 82% to 100%. The Kappa Score varied between 0.55 and 0.78. CONCLUSION: Segmental arteries disruption was common in the group ASIA A. This may help to predict the neurological status of patients with no complete neurological assessment or potential for recovery post-injury.

A systemic lupus erythematosus patient with thunderclap headache: reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome.

Headaches are common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It is important to identify the exact cause of headaches in SLE to avoid unnecessary steroid or immunosuppressive therapy like in neuropsychiatric SLE. A 35-year-old woman with SLE suddenly developed severe headache. Magnetic resonance angiography showed multifocal segmental narrowing of cerebral arteries, suggestive of central nervous system vasculitis. However, lack of abnormal enhancement in vessel wall imaging indicated reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) rather than central nervous system vasculitis. The patient was treated with oral nimodipine and she recovered over a period of two months. Following magnetic resonance angiography on day 90 was normal. Herein we report a case of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome in an SLE patient with literature review.

Regulation of the nisin operons in Lactococcus lactis N8.

The antibiotic peptide nisin produced by Lactococcus lactis is used as a food preservative due to its activity against spores and vegetative cells of Gram-positive bacteria. The post-translational maturation of this secreted peptide includes dehydration of serine and threonine residues, lanthionine formation and a proteolytic processing of 23 amino acids from the N-terminus. Mutations in the nisZ, nisB and nisP genes of the biosynthetic nisZBTCIPRK nisin operon were made by gene replacement or integration of a plasmid. The mutations caused a drastic decrease of the transcription from the promoters upstream of the nisZBTCIPRK and nisFEG operons resulting in loss of nisin production and nisin immunity. The transcription of the nisin operons and nisin immunity could be partially restored by adding nisin to the growth medium of the cells. Nisin induction of the mutant strains also increased the level of the putative immunity NisI protein. These results showed that the nisZBTCIPRK operon is positively autoregulated and that the nisFEG operon is in the same regulon.

The codon usage of the nisZ operon in Lactococcus lactis N8 suggests a non-lactococcal origin of the conjugative nisin-sucrose transposon.

An 11.6 kb area downstream from the structural gene of nisin Z in the conjugative nisin-sucrose transposon of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis N8 was cloned and sequenced. Analysis of the sequence revealed eight open reading frames, nisZBTClPRK, followed by a putative rho-independent terminator (delta G degrees = -4.7 kcal/mol). The C-terminal hydrophilic domain of the NisK protein is homologous to the C-termini of several histidine kinases of bacterial two-component regulator systems, such as SpaK from Bacillus subtilis and KdpD and RcsC of Escherichia coli. The nisin Z biosynthetic genes were highly similar with the genes of the nisin A operons having, however, a 0-3% difference in the amino acid sequences of the individual proteins. The codon usage of eleven genes within the same conjugative transposon was calculated and found to be strikingly different from that of other lactococcal genes. This, together with the low GC-content (32%) compared to the 38% (G+C) of the lactococcal chromosome in general strongly suggests a non-lactococcal origin of this transposon.

Characterization of a birch (Betula pendula Roth.) embryogenic gene, BP8.

We have isolated the birch homologue (BP8) for the carrot embryogenic gene DC8 by heterologous hybridization. The birch BP8 gene encodes a putative protein of 53 kDa, showing 52% sequence identity with the DC8 gene at the amino acid level. The putative BP8 protein contains 20 repeats of 11 amino acids and thus belongs to the group of LEA proteins isolated from such plants as carrot, cotton and wheat. Northern hybridization of mRNA isolated from birch cells representing different stages of somatic embryogenesis and non-embryogenetic material with a PB8 probe gave no signals, suggesting a low expression level of the BP8 gene.