The Role of Vitamin D in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Clinical and Electroneuromyographic Responses.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common cause of peripheral compressive neuropathy and consists of compression of the median nerve in the wrist. Although there are several etiologies, idiopathic is the most prevalent origin, and among the forms of treatment for CTS, conservative is the most indicated. However, despite the high prevalence in and impact of this syndrome on the healthcare system, there are still controversies regarding the best therapeutic approach for patients. Therefore, noting that some studies point to vitamin D deficiency as an independent risk factor, which increases the symptoms of the syndrome, this study evaluated the role of vitamin D supplementation and its influence on pain control, physical examination and response electroneuromyography to conservative treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. For this, the sample consisted of 14 patients diagnosed with CTS and hypovitaminosis D, who were allocated into two groups. The control group received corticosteroid treatment, while the experimental group received corticosteroid treatment associated with vitamin D. Thus, from this study, it can be concluded that patients who received vitamin D, when compared to those who did not receive it, showed improvement in the degree of pain intensity, a reduction in symptom severity and an improvement in some electroneuromyographic parameters.

Basal ganglia for beginners: the basic concepts you need to know and their role in movement control.

The basal ganglia are a subcortical collection of interacting clusters of cell bodies, and are involved in reward, emotional, and motor circuits. Within all the brain processing necessary to carry out voluntary movement, the basal nuclei are fundamental, as they modulate the activity of the motor regions of the cortex. Despite being much studied, the motor circuit of the basal ganglia is still difficult to understand for many people at all, especially undergraduate and graduate students. This review article seeks to bring the functioning of this circuit with a simple and objective approach, exploring the functional anatomy, neurochemistry, neuronal pathways, related diseases, and interactions with other brain regions to coordinate voluntary movement.

Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart: neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in a Parkinson's disease model in rats.

OBJECTIVES: Aspidosperma species are used for several diseases, especially for malaria in Brazil. Although the genus is object of pharmacological studies, almost none are found on Aspidosperma pyrifolium. We investigate neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the APSE-Aq fraction (benzoic acid glycosylated derivative) on Parkinson's disease model. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were subjected to a 6-hydroxydopamine injection into the right striatum and treated or not with APSE-Aq (100 or 200 mg/kg, p.o.). The sham-operated group was injected with saline. Two weeks later, animals were subjected to behavioural, neurochemical and immunohistochemical evaluation. The data were analysed by ANOVA and Tukey test. KEY FINDINGS: The APSE-Aq-treated group shows a partial recovery of behavioural changes as compared with the untreated-6-hydroxydopamine group. A partial recovery was also observed in nitrite contents and lipid peroxidation. APSE-Aq treatments significantly reversed decreases in striatal dopamine and metabolites in the untreated 6-hydroxydopamine group. Immunostainings for markers as tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter decreased in the untreated 6-hydroxydopamine group and values recovered after APSE-Aq treatments. Similar data were seen for TNF-alpha. CONCLUSION: APSE-Aq presents neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Considering that APSE-Aq is chemically related to salicylic acid, it may act on similar targets.