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Biomedical subjects

G Boer

Publications and source records attributed to G Boer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Sham neurosurgery in patients with Parkinson's disease: is it morally acceptable?

For a few decades, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been treated with intracerebral transplantations of fetal mesencephalic tissue. The results of open trials have been variable. Double blind, placebo-controlled studies have recently been started in order to further investigate the efficacy of this new medical technique. In this paper we challenge the need for sham surgery in neurotransplantation research on PD patients. Considerations regarding the research subjects' informed consent, therapeutic misconception, the integrity of the human body, and the assessment of risks and benefits argue against sham surgery for patients with PD. Moreover, there is an alternative, less harmful mode of research that can provide the same or comparable scientific evidence. A plea is made for intrapatient research based on quantitative measurements of the patient's pre- and post-operative condition combined with similar research on a reference group of patients who have received the standard treatment.

Double-Blind Method↗
PubMed1990

Sex differences in the effects of inescapable footshock on central catecholaminergic and serotonergic activity.

In two experiments sex differences in changes in central noradrenergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic activity were measured immediately after a 30-min session of inescapable footshocks. In Experiment 1 concentrations of noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin and their major metabolites were determined in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala, striatum, mesencephalon and the medulla-pons area. Inescapable shock increased the activity of all 3 transmitter systems, as evidence by increased metabolite concentrations in specific brain areas. Shock-induced increments in metabolite levels were larger in females than in males, especially for the serotonergic system. In addition, shock presentation resulted in a decrement in the noradrenaline content in most areas studied. In the frontal cortex, noradrenaline was reduced by inescapable shock in males but not in females. In Experiment 2, sex-dependent neurochemical consequences of predictable versus unpredictable shocks were studied in the frontal cortex and the medulla-pons area. Similar to Experiment 1, both brain parts showed large shock-induced increments in the activity of the catecholaminergic systems. Differential effects of predictable and unpredictable shock were not found (frontal cortex) or were rather small (medulla-pons) and appeared sex-dependent for serotonin in this area. The sex differences in neurochemical change found in the first experiment were largely replicated in the second experiment. The relevance of the observed sex differences in central neurotransmitter reactivity for sex differences in behavior is discussed.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗