Histometric changes of the human spinal motor neurones during normal fetal development.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Vassilopoulos.
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The elucidation of possible involvement of the vertebral canal in familial spastic paraplegia is attempted. The sagittal and the transverse diameters of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebral canal were estimated in 14 patients and 100 controls. The results showed that the vertebral canal of the patients is considerably smaller in its whole length and not only in the thoracic region. This finding is discussed in relation to the development of both the vertebral canal and spinal cord.
Artificial insemination techniques form an important part of the spectrum of modern infertility treatment, and together account for nearly half (43.8 per cent) of the treatment-related pregnancies in our comprehensive infertility clinic. Disorders of sperm-mucus invasion and survival are not uncommon but have been very frequently overlooked in the past. Assessment by post-coital tests with a minimum six hour post-coital delay and mucus penetration tests for those with negative post-coital tests should be part of every clinic routine. We believe that these tests pick up a range of problems, the most important of which is antisperm immunological infertility, which can be treated with a fair degree of success by intrauterine AIH. The demand for AID has increased appreciably on a world-wide scale and provision of AID facilities in this and other countries is inadequate. An AID service should ideally be part of every organized infertility service. The future of AID probably lies with frozen semen banks serving satellite clinics within their area.
In the present study the structure of the skull and particularly the structure of the posterior cranial fossa was investigated in cases of primary cerebellar atrophy. The findings from the metric study of the skull X-rays of 13 patients were compared with those of a group of 100 healthy individuals. It was found that the patients' posterior fossa is more shallow than that of the controls (p less than 0.001). The modification of the posterior fossa seems to be attributed to shortness (p less than 0.01) of the bones which form it (clivus and occipital bone). The possible pathogenesis and the explanation of the findings in general is discussed.
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Melkersson-Rosenthal's syndrome is a rare condition, the hereditary nature of which is still in dispute. A family with seven affected members in four generations is described, which provides further evidence for the genetic basis of the syndrome.
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A quantitative histochemical study of the developing anterior horn cell nucleus was undertaken. The DNA, the arginine and lysine-rich histones as well as the acidic nuclear proteins of the spinal motor neurone nucleus were estimated during normal fetal development by means of scanning microdensitometry. The arginine-rich histones and the acidic nuclear proteins were found to be increased at the 12-14 week period, a finding which suggests that this period is critical in the differentiation of the spinal motor neurone.
Muscle nuclear size was found to be significantly greater in fetuses at risk for Duchenne muscular dystrophy than in normal male fetuses of comparable gestational age. This supports the contention that the disease is already manifest in utero by the second trimester of pregnancy.
Human muscle cell growth was studied to investigate the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio during development and ageing. The mean muscle fibre size, as well as the number and size of myonuclei were estimated in human muscle biopsies from normal individuals whose ages ranged from 1 to 71 years. Changes in muscle fibre size were accompanied by similar changes in nuclear number, the size of which remained the same. This resulted in a constant nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio during the age range studied. The role of the satellite cell in the maintenance of this ratio was discussed.
The growth of the human vertebral canal and the spinal cord during normal fetal development was studied. The results suggest that these two parts of the developing body exhibit a similar developmental pattern. Computer analysis also revealed that the rate of this parallel growth is considerably lower than that of the body as a whole but similar to that reported for the brain. These results are discussed in relation to the pathogenesis of certain neurological diseases.
Gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT) may be responsible for the rapid catabolism and low levels of lenticular glutathione often associated with cataract formation. Elevated levels of serum gamma-GT in patients with myotonic dystrophy suggest that since the defect could be present in all tissues it might be responsible for the cataracts frequently observed in this genetic disease.
This study presents the findings from a neuroradiological investigation of the cervical spinal canal in a number of diseases of the nervous system. It concerns the measurement of the sagittal and transversal diameters of the spinal canal at levels C3 through C6. The material for this investigation was made up of two main groups: A) 400 controls and B) 110 patients. The second group consisted of the following: 1) 20 patients suffering from Friedreich's Ataxia, 2) 14 patients with Steinert's disease, 3) 44 patients with lateral amyotrophic sclerosis, 4) 14 patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease, and 5) 18 patients with muscular dystrophy. The results are as follow: 1) In patients with Friedreich's Ataxia both the sagittal and transversal diameters are smaller than those of the controls. 2) On the contrary, in Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease the sagittal diameter is larger than the controls. 3) The transversal diameter in patients with muscular dystrophy is smaller than the controls and 4) the sagittal diameter of the vertebral canal decreases from the top (C3) downwards (C6) while the transversal diameter increases.
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gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase, a membrane-bound enzyme playing an important role in the active amino acid transport across cellular membranes, is shown to be elevated in the serum of patients with myotonic muscular dystrophy. No increase of AP, LAP, GOT and GPT activities in the sera of some of the patients studied is observed. Possible interpretations in relation to the pathogenesis of myotonic dystrophy are discussed.
Nuclear size has been estimated in muscle biopsy specimens from seven healthy individuals, eight patients with infantile spinal muscular atrophy (types I and II), and eight patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The results indicate a great increase in nuclear size in Duchenne muscular dystrophy but not in spinal muscular atrophy when compared with controls. The reasons for this finding are discussed in relation to the pathogenesis of these two groups of diseases.
The current status of research into chromosomal abnormalities in neurological diseases is reviewed. The only possible association between chromosome aberration and neurological disorder is found in ataxia telangiectasia and in tumours of the nervous system. In the remaining diseases reviewed, no specific association was confirmed. This was expected to some extent, since the majority of these diseases (spinal muscular atrophies, muscular dystrophies, etc.) are due to single gene defects.