Three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) is an important element in the quantitative evaluation of gait in subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD). Indexes, such as the Gait Deviation Index (GDI), have recently been proposed as a summary measure of gait. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the GDI and spatiotemporal variables in the quantification of changes in gait during a dual-task (DT) exercise. Fourteen patients with idiopathic PD and nine healthy subjects (CG) participated in the study. All subjects walked under two conditions: free walking and DT walking. The GDI was computed from the 3DGA data. The results show gait impairment during DT, a significant difference between groups regarding GDI and an interaction effect involving the group, side and task factors. The CG and PDG were different independent of interference and side, but interference was only different for the PDG group. The results also demonstrate that the GDI should be an appropriate outcome measure for the evaluation of the effects of DT on patients with Parkinson's disease.
Gait Disorders, Neurologic/diagnosis , Gait/physiology , Imaging, Three-Dimensional , Parkinson Disease/complications , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Aged , Attention/physiology , Brazil , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Gait Disorders, Neurologic/etiology , Humans , Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted , Male , Middle Aged , Parkinson Disease/diagnosis , Prospective Studies , Reaction Time , Reference Values , Severity of Illness Index , Spatial Behavior/physiology
To evaluate a potential insult in the cerebellum of pups exposed to maternal epileptic seizures during intrauterine life, female rats were subjected to pilocarpine-induced epilepsy. Pups from different litters were sacrificed at 1, 3, 7 and 14 post-natal days (PN) and neuroglobin (Ngb) and gliosis were analyzed in the cerebellum by Western blotting (WB) and RT-PCR. (14)C-l-leucine-[(14)C-Leu] incorporation was used to analyze protein synthesis at PN1. Nitric Oxide (NO) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) levels were also measured. Pups from naive mothers were used as controls. The mRNA level of Ngb was increased in experimental animals at PN1 ((**)p ≤ 0.001) and PN3 ((**)p ≤ 0.001), at PN7 ((***)p ≤ 0.0001) and at PN14 ((**)p ≤ 0.001) compared to the respective controls. The protein level of Ngb increased significantly in the experimental pups at PN1 ((*)p ≤ 0.05) and at PN3 ((**)p ≤ 0.001), when compared to the control pups at PN1 and PN3. At PN7 and PN14 no difference was found. The mRNA level of GFAP increased significantly about two times at PN3 ((*)p ≤ 0.05) and PN7 ((*)p ≤ 0.05) in the experimental pups when compared to the respective controls, but was unchanged in the other studied ages. Data showed that experimental pups at PN1 exhibited reduced (about 2 times, (*)p ≤ 0.05) total protein synthesis in the cerebellum when compared to control. No differences were found in the NO and TBARS levels. Our data support the hypothesis that an up-regulation of Ngb could be a compensatory mechanism in response to the hypoxic-ischemic insults caused by seizures in pups during intrauterine life.
Cerebellum/metabolism , Epilepsy/physiopathology , Globins/metabolism , Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Epilepsy/chemically induced , Female , Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/genetics , Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/metabolism , Globins/genetics , Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/metabolism , Muscarinic Agonists/pharmacology , Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics , Neuroglobin , Nitric Oxide/metabolism , Pilocarpine/pharmacology , Pregnancy , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances/metabolism , Up-Regulation
We investigated the effect of epileptic seizures during pregnancy on hippocampal expression of calcium-binding proteins in the offspring. Female Wistar rats were submitted to the pilocarpine model and mated during the chronic period. Seizure frequency was monitored over the entire pregnancy. Pups were perfused at postnatal days 6 and 13, and the brains processed for Nissl staining and immunohistochemistry for NeuN, calbindin, calretinin, and parvalbumin. Number of stained cells in the hippocampus was estimated through stereological methods. Our results showed a decrease in epileptic seizure frequency during pregnancy. No differences were observed in NeuN-positive, CR-positive cells, and Nissl-stained hippocampal neurons between the groups. However, there was a significant decrease in calbindin-positive cells (P=0.005) and a significant increase in parvalbumin-positive cells (P=0.02) in the experimental group when compared with the control group. These results suggest that seizures during pregnancy affect the development of specific hippocampal interneurons of the offspring.
Hippocampus/growth & development , Hippocampus/pathology , Interneurons/pathology , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/pathology , Seizures/pathology , Age Factors , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Calcium-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Cell Count/methods , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Male , Phosphopyruvate Hydratase/metabolism , Pilocarpine , Pregnancy , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/physiopathology , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Seizures/chemically induced
