Impairments in the early consolidation of spatial memories via group II mGluR agonism in the mammillary bodies.

mGluR2 receptors are widely expressed in limbic brain regions associated with memory, including the hippocampal formation, retrosplenial and frontal cortices, as well as subcortical regions including the mammillary bodies. mGluR2/3 agonists have been proposed as potential therapeutics for neurological and psychiatric disorders, however, there is still little known about the role of these receptors in cognitive processes, including memory consolidation. To address this, we assessed the effect of the mGluR2/3 agonist, eglumetad, on spatial memory consolidation in both mice and rats. Using the novel place preference paradigm, we found that post-sample injections of eglumetad impaired subsequent spatial discrimination when tested 6 h later. Using the immediate early gene c-fos as a marker of neural activity, we showed that eglumetad injections reduced activity in a network of limbic brain regions including the hippocampus and mammillary bodies. To determine whether the systemic effects could be replicated with more targeted manipulations, we performed post-sample infusions of the mGluR2/3 agonist 2R,4R-APDC into the mammillary bodies. This impaired novelty discrimination on a place preference task and an object-in-place task, again highlighting the role of mGluR2/3 transmission in memory consolidation and demonstrating the crucial involvement of the mammillary bodies in post-encoding processing of spatial information.

The value of intraoperative PTH measurements in patients with mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

PURPOSE: Intraoperative parathyroid hormone (ioPTH) measurement has facilitated a move to minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. Patients are referred for surgery earlier with milder hypercalcaemia and smaller tumours. Whilst previous research has shown that glands size can affect ioPTH kinetics in patients with multiple gland disease, the dynamics of ioPTH in patients with mild hyperparathyroidism (HPT) has not been studied. We therefore investigated the relationship between biochemical parameters and parathyroid adenoma weight, and determined the dynamics and accuracy of ioPTH assay in patients with milder hypercalcaemia undergoing parathyroidectomy. METHODS: Patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for single gland disease from January 2004 to March 2011 were divided prospectively into two groups according to preoperative serum calcium: patients with a preoperative calcium ≥ 2.85 mmol/L (11.4 mg/dL) and <2.85 mmol/L were grouped as severe and mild hypercalcaemia, respectively. Correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relationship between biochemical markers of calcium homeostasis and ioPTH measurements with respect to parathyroid gland weight. RESULTS: There was a weak correlation of preoperative serum calcium (r = 0.248, r = 0.207), PTH (r = 0.392, r = 0.275), and baseline ioPTH (r = 0.516, r = 0.244) with parathyroid gland weight in severe (n = 113) and mild groups (n = 190), respectively. No correlation between the magnitude in ioPTH drop with parathyroid gland weight at 5 or 10 min post-excision for either group was observed. Success rates (post-operative normocalcaemia) were similar for each group (99.1 % severe, 98.9 % mild). CONCLUSION: This prospective study provides evidence that ioPTH assay is a valuable tool in predicting adequate tissue removal in patients with milder and more severe hypercalcaemia due to single gland primary HPT.

Strategies for advancing transfusion medicine and cellular therapies: taking control of our future.

This special edition of TRANSFUSION is dedicated to those colleagues in the transfusion medicine and cellular therapy field who have wondered about what the future holds for their chosen professions. Each of the six peer-reviewed Think Tank articles included in this special edition focuses on an administrative issue that is critical to the survivability and enhancement of the industry. Each issue is examined from two perspectives: Where are we now? And where are we heading?