[Cognitive deficits, vitamin status and controlled thiamine substitution in alcohol dependent patients in withdrawal treatment]. / Cognitive Defizite, Vitaminstatus und kontrollierte Thiaminsubstitution bei Alkoholabhängigen in der Entzugsbehandlung.

Vitamin status and cognitive performance in a test battery were analyzed in 45 alcohol dependent men after admission to and after two weeks of withdrawal treatment in two psychiatric clinics. To examine the effect of thiamin substitution versus alcohol withdrawal and hospital diet alone, 23 patients received 300 mg thiamin daily, 22 patients no vitamin substitution. Thiamin substitution alone ameliorated selectively and significantly the mean marginal thiamin status. Multiple correlations between measurements of the thiamin parameter transketolase activity and test performances were found in the total study group. Thiamin substitution decreased the percentage of weak test performances, whereas the mean test performances did not differ significantly between experimental and control groups (limited in numbers). For clinical practice, thiamin substitution seems indicated during stationary withdrawal treatments, because there is no amelioration of the thiamin status with hospital diet and alcohol withdrawal alone, but there are possible correlations of thiamin deficiency and cognitive performances.

Dietary docosahexaenoic acid is retroconverted in man to eicosapentaenoic acid, which can be quickly transformed to prostaglandin I3.

In a 24 h kinetic study docosahexaenoic acid (DCHA, C22:6n-3) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n-3) were given in a single dose to healthy male volunteers. PGI3-M, the main urinary metabolite of prostaglandin I3 was below the detection limit in the control periods, but was excreted already in the first 4 h after ingestion of DCHA or EPA and decreased thereafter. Excretion of PGI2-M did not change significantly. In a second dietary trial DCHA and EPA were given cross-over to 7 healthy male volunteers for 6 days. PGI3-M was formed after DCHA and EPA in amounts of 35 and 20% of PGI2-M and showed a considerable interindividual variation. The structure of PGI3-M was verified by independent biochemical synthesis. Our data indicate that dietary DCHA is retroconverted to EPA in man, which is quickly transformed--like dietary EPA itself--to prostaglandin I3. DCHA may therefore serve as a precursor fatty acid for EPA and its cyclooxygenated and lipoxygenated products.

Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of putative amino acid transmitters in Parkinson's disease and other disorders.

Concentrations of putative neuroactive substances glutamate, aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glycine, proline and ethanolamine were determined in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid collected in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, pain syndromes or cerebellar tremor. Values are similar to those given in the literature for lumbar cerebrospinal fluid. A decrease in gamma-aminobutyric acid in Parkinson patients, as reported in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid, could not be observed. Further evidence for a rostro-caudal gradient for gamma-aminobutyric acid is supplied. New insights into pathophysiological mechanisms in any of the investigated syndromes may not be derived.

Effects of early monocular deprivation on choline acetyltransferase and glutamic acid decarboxylase in pigeon visual Wulst.

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activities were measured in various visual structures of the pigeon brain after long-term monocular deprivation followed by short-term binocular presence or absence of light stimulation. The short-term phase (45 min) was coupled with a 2-deoxyglucose experiment in order to select the adequate brain samples. After mononuclear deprivation during the first 6-11 months, ChAT activity was higher by 40-60% in the dorsolateral visual Wulst contralateral to the deprived eye, as compared to the other side. In the same structure, animals, either monocularly deprived or undeprived and exposed binocularly to environmental light for 45 min, had higher ChAT activities on both sides than those maintained in the dark. Mononuclear deprivation performed in adult animals did not affect the ChAT activity in visual Wulst. GAD activity was bilaterally decreased in the visual Wulst after early monocular deprivation. These results suggest that early monocular deprivation has an effect on biochemical systems involved in synaptic transmission at selected relays of the visual pathways.

Neurotransmitter receptor ligand binding and enzyme regional distribution in the pigeon visual system.

The relative importance of acetylcholine, dopamine, endogenous opiates, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, glycine, noradrenaline, and serotonin as transmitters in the pigeon visual system was estimated by measuring the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AAD) as well as the binding of dihydroalprenolol, etorphine, kainic acid, muscimol, serotonin, spiroperidol, strychnine, and quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) in the tectum opticum, nucleus rotundus, ectostriatum, dorsolateral thalamus, and hyperstriatum (Wulst). As a nonvisual reference structure, the paleostriatal complex was included in the examination. The regional distribution of most of these parameters was very similar to data reported in the mammalian CNS supporting the hypothesis that the avian tectofugal and thalamofugal visual systems are homologous to the mammalian tecto-thalamo-cortical and retino-geniculo-striate pathways, respectively. On the basis of the low values of their parameters, some transmitters can be excluded as significant contributors in a number of structures. As a hypothesis for further investigations, the presence of cholinergic and serotoninergic systems in the Wulst, possibly originating in the dorsolateral thalamus and nucleus raphe, respectively, and of glycinergic and dopaminergic terminals in the paleostriatal complex is proposed.