Sweet liking in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Pleasant tastes and odors are considered phylogenetically old natural rewards and their hedonic evaluation is regarded as a good indicator of the reward system function. The primary aim of the present study was to compare pleasantness ratings of sucrose solutions (1-30%, w/w) and sweet liking/disliking status in 20 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in 20 age-matched healthy controls. In addition, basic sensory aspects of gustatory (intensity ratings, electrogustometric thresholds) and olfactory function (identification abilities in the Sniffin' Stick test) were assessed in both groups. The number of odors rated as pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral was also compared. As expected, the PD patients showed a significant impairment in olfactory identification abilities. There were no differences between the PD patients and controls in electrogustometric thresholds. Rated intensity of higher sucrose concentrations did not differ between the groups. The PD patients tended to rate water taste as more intense in comparison with the controls. Pleasantness ratings of sucrose solutions, the proportion of subjects rating 30% sucrose as the most pleasant (sweet likers), and the number of odors rated as pleasant did not differ between the study groups. The present results suggest that PD does not lead to any obvious alterations in pleasantness ratings of chemosensory stimuli. The study requires replication in larger samples.

[Aortic dissection and carotid arteries dissection complicated by ischaemic stroke in a patient with cystic medial necrosis]. / Rozwarstwienie aorty oraz tetnic szyjnych wspólnych i wewnetrznych powiklane udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu u osoby ze zwyrodnieniem torbielowatym blony srodkowej.

We present a case of a 62-year-old man who was admitted in grave condition to the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology because of ischaemic stroke. Neurological examination re- vealed left-sided pyramidal hemiparesis. Computed tomography (CT) showed the ischaemic focus in the right cerebral hemisphere. Clinical examination and ultrasound examination revealed dissection of the aortic arch and extracranial arteries. Aortic dissection was confirmed in echocardiography and chest CT. The patient remained comatose and died after 7 days. Post-mortem examination identified dissection of the aortic arch, brachiocephalic truncus, common carotid arteries, internal carotid arteries and dissection extending along the whole aorta into both iliac arteries. This examination also showed a massive haemopericardium and a scar in the heart muscle after myocardial infarction. Microscopic examination identified cystic medial necrosis. This type of dissection is very rarely described.

[Dopamine agonists--clinical applications beyond Parkinson's disease]. / Agonisci dopaminy--zastosowania kliniczne poza choroba Parkinsona.

Contemporary experience and results of clinical trials concerning dopamine agonist application in the treatment of many different diseases (apart from Parkinson's disease) are presented in the paper. A basic clinical recommendation for agonists is restless legs syndrome. In this syndrome almost all agonists give a considerable subjective and objective improvement. Treatment of atypical parkinsonism (MSA, PSP, CBD) in the majority of patients is ineffective. The author also presents promising results of treatment with agonists in such diverse diseases as hyperkinetic syndromes, cocaine dependence, drug-resistant depression and erectile dysfunction (apomorphine). Dopamine partial agonists (e.g. aripiprazol) are recommended in the modern treatment of schizophrenia.

Sneddon's syndrome as a disorder of small arteries with endothelial cells proliferation: ultrastructural and neuroimaging study.

We report a 18-year-old female patient with livedo reticularis and neurological disturbances. CT scan showed two big ischemic focuses in the pons, moreover MRI revealed small disseminated ischemic focuses in the pons and deep structures of both brain hemispheres. MRA demonstrated no changes in the big extracranial and intracranial arteries. Since the clinical data and neuroimaging results suggested Sneddon's syndrome, the skin and skeletal muscle biopsy was taken to examine. The immunohistochemical and ultrastructural investigations of the skin biopsy revealed a significant reduction of the lumen of the capillaries and small to medium-sized arteries. Cells surrounding the vascular lumen, frequently with multilayer arrangement and their nuclei placed perpendicularly to the lumen, were CD31, CD34, and sporadically SMA positive. At the ultrastructural level, these proliferating cells showed typical features of endothelial cells: abundant intermediate filaments and Weibel-Palade bodies. Between the endothelial cells some junctions were detached as well in the capillaries as in the small arteries. The smooth muscle cells of the small arteries were electron denser than usual and their cytoplasmic protrusions penetrated to the endothelial cells. The ultrastructural picture of some vessels with a considerably narrow lumen was typical of vessels newly formed during angiogenesis. Neuroimaging including TC, MRI, MRA besides histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural evaluation may be useful for diagnosis of Sneddon's syndrome.

Depressive symptoms and taste reactivity in humans.

Animal studies suggest that induction of depression-like states may alter preference for sweet tastants. A major goal of the present study was to search for correlations between depressive symptoms measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and taste responses to sweet and bitter substances. Thirty-three nonclinical volunteers rated intensity and pleasantness of chocolate and vanilla milk as well as of sucrose- and quinine-soaked filter paper disks. Reactivity to citric acid (sour) and sodium chloride (salty) was also tested with the paper disk methodology. Taste detection thresholds were assessed by means of electrogustometry. A weak inverse relationship was found between the BDI scores (range: 3-33) and rated intensity of paper disks soaked in 60% sucrose. No correlations were found between depressive symptoms and intensity, pleasantness or identification of the other samples. Similarly, there was no relationship between the BDI scores and responses to chocolate and vanilla milk. BDI scores were not associated with electrogustometric thresholds. These data suggest that depressive symptoms may not influence taste reactivity in nonclinical population.

[Current perspectives in the treatment of Huntington's chorea]. / Wspólczesne perspektywy terapeutyczne w plasawicy Huntingtona.

Huntington's chorea (HD) is a degenerative condition of the central nervous system of genetic origin, inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. The mechanism of the genetic defect is already known, it is a dynamic mutation in the ITI5 gene situated on chromosome 4 p 16.3 coding the protein huntington. The disease is progressive and leading to lethal outcome and effective treatment is unknown. Methods of treatment of various disturbances developing in this disease are described with stress laid on neuroprotective methods which could perhaps give better results in not so far future.