Articles: function.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Feb 2025
Deep Neural Network Analysis of the 12-Lead Electrocardiogram Distinguishes Patients With Congenital Long QT Syndrome From Patients With Acquired QT Prolongation.
To test whether an artificial intelligence (AI) deep neural network (DNN)-derived analysis of the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) can distinguish patients with long QT syndrome (LQTS) from those with acquired QT prolongation. ⋯ For patients with a QTc exceeding its 99th percentile values, this novel AI-DNN functions as an LQTS mutation detector, being able to identify patients with abnormal QT prolongation secondary to an LQTS-causative mutation rather than with acquired QT prolongation. This algorithm may facilitate screening for this potentially lethal yet highly treatable genetic heart disease.
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Spinal cord injury leads to hyperexcitability and dysfunction in spinal sensory processing. As hyperexcitable circuits can become epileptiform, we explored whether such activity emerges in a thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) contusion model of neuropathic pain. Recordings from spinal sensory axons in multiple below-lesion segmental dorsal roots demonstrated that SCI facilitated the emergence of spontaneous ectopic burst spiking in afferent axons, which were correlated across multiple adjacent dorsal roots. ⋯ We conclude that spinal cord injury promotes the emergence of epileptiform activity in spinal sensory networks that promote profound corruption of sensory signaling. This includes hyperexcitability and bursting by ectopic spiking in afferent axons that propagate bidirectionally by reentrant central and peripheral projections as well as sensory circuit hypoexcitability during the burst refractory period. More broadly, the work links circuit hyperexcitability to epileptiform circuit emergence, further strengthening it as a conceptual basis to understand features of sensory dysfunction and neuropathic pain.
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Emerging evidence indicates that cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases exert distinct functions in pain processing and that targeting phosphodiesterases might be a novel strategy for pain relief. This study hypothesized that the phosphodiesterase isoform phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) might be a target for analgesic therapy. ⋯ Collectively, the data support the idea that PDE10A is a suitable target for the development of efficacious analgesic drugs.