ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To identify possible differences in the mean midsagittal corpus callosum (CC) total and subdivision areas in treatment-resistant schizophrenia and depression (TRS and TRD) patients. METHOD: Areas of the total CC and its five equidistant subregions (from CC1 to CC5) obtained by parallel grid partitioning schemes were manually segmented from brain MRI of 42 TRS, 45 TRD patients and 30 healthy controls. The intracranial volume (ICV) normalized areas were calculated and compared between groups. RESULTS: When compared with controls, patients with TRS had reduced ICV and a larger CC5, and TRD patients had a smaller CC4 while no significant difference in CC total area in patients with TRS or TRD was found. Multiple individual segments and total CC areas were significantly larger in TRS than TRD patients after normalization. CONCLUSION: Patients with TRS and TRD have different CC morphological characteristics, and therefore there may be aberrant interhemispheric connectivity in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder patients.
Subject(s)
Agenesis of Corpus Callosum , Corpus Callosum/physiopathology , Depressive Disorder, Major/drug therapy , Depressive Disorder, Major/physiopathology , Drug Resistance , Schizophrenia/drug therapy , Schizophrenia/physiopathology , Adolescent , Adult , Antipsychotic Agents/classification , Antipsychotic Agents/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Severity of Illness Index , Young AdultABSTRACT
Severe qualitative and quantitative alterations of the autonomic system inervating the heart and other organs have been demonstrated in experimental and natural Chagas' disease. These facts led us to search for the presence of antibody to neurons in 230 chagasic sera by an indirect immunofluorescence technique. Our results indicated that 83% of the chagasic patients presented IgG antibodies and 7% IgM antibodies to neurons. All control sera were negative. The demonstrated antibody to neurons presented cross-reaction against neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) and also against neurons of different species.
Subject(s)
Antibodies/analysis , Chagas Disease/immunology , Neurons/immunology , Absorption , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/immunology , Chronic Disease , Complement Fixation Tests , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Hemagglutination Tests , HumansABSTRACT
The cryopeservation of the "PF" strain of T. cruzi at -196 degree C has not changed its effectiveness in protecting mice against a posterior infection with a virulent Trypanosoma cruzi strain. The cryopeservation technique utilized seems to be efficient and of practical and rapid examination.