Neuropathology and applied neurobiology
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Feb 2011
Combined NgR vaccination and neural stem cell transplantation promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in adult rats.
after spinal cord injury (SCI), there are many adverse factors at the lesion site such as glial scar, myelin-derived inhibitors, cell loss and deficiency of neurotrophins that impair axonal regeneration. Therefore, combination therapeutic strategies might be more effective than a single strategy for promoting functional recovery after SCI. In the present study, we investigated whether a Nogo66 receptor (NgR) vaccine, combined with neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation, could promote better functional recovery than when NgR vaccine or NSCs were used alone. ⋯ the combination therapy of NgR vaccine and NSC transplantation exhibited significant advantages over any single therapy alone in this study. It may represent a potential new therapy for SCI.
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Dec 2010
Comparative StudyTumour vasculature and angiogenic profile of paediatric pilocytic astrocytoma; is it much different from glioblastoma?
Pilocytic astrocytomas are the most frequent brain tumours in children. Because of their high vascularity, this study aimed to obtain insights into potential angiogenic related therapeutic targets in these tumours by characterization of the vasculature and the angiogenic profile. In this study 59 paediatric pilocytic astrocytomas were compared with 62 adult glioblastomas, as a prototype of tumour angiogenesis. ⋯ Despite the fact that pilocytic astrocytoma showed a different vessel architecture compared with glioblastoma, a critical overlap in vessel immaturity/instability and the angiogenic profile was seen between both tumours. These findings suggest encouraging possibilities for targeting angiogenesis (for instance with anti-VEGF) as a therapeutic strategy in pilocytic astrocytoma.
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Aug 2010
Effect of hyperoxic resuscitation on propensity of germinal matrix haemorrhage and cerebral injury.
Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) and cerebral injury are major neurological disorders of premature infants. The effect of hyperoxic resuscitation on the occurrence of IVH and cerebral injury is elusive. Therefore, we asked whether hyperoxia during neonatal resuscitation increased the incidence and severity of IVH and cerebral injury in premature newborns. ⋯ Our data suggest that 100% oxygen exposure for 1 h does not increase the risk of IVH or cerebral injury in premature rabbit pups. Although extrapolating rabbit neural developmental data into humans has obvious limitations, we speculate that hyperoxia of short duration at birth in premature infants may not result in major neurological adverse effects.
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Aug 2010
Expression of diagnostic neuronal markers and outcome in glioblastoma.
High-grade gliomas featuring giant cells, often demonstrate immunoreactivity for neuronal markers, a finding prognostically significant according to some studies. We investigated this event in glioblastomas (GBM). ⋯ Neuronal marker expression is a frequent feature of GBM. Its prognostic significance is limited to the giant cell GBMs expressing two or more neuronal markers, these being associated with shorter survival.