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G Ransmayr

Publications and source records attributed to G Ransmayr.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

[Future aspects of modern Parkinson therapy].

The present limitations of modern antiparkinsonian therapy (decreasing efficacy and increase of side-effects with advancing age and disease duration, lack of causal and neuroprotective therapies) require a multidisciplinary approach in basic, preclinical and clinical research. New substances with higher therapeutic potency and less side-effects, progress in functional stereotaxy, rehabilitation and restorative neurology, and new concepts in neurotransplantation as well as improved knowledge of etiology and pathophysiology are needed for an improvement of therapy.

Antiparkinson Agents↗
PubMed1994

NADPH-diaphorase/nitric oxide synthase containing neurons in normal and Parkinson's disease putamen.

Nitric oxide (NO) is thought to be involved in neurodegenerative processes. Concerning Parkinson's disease (PD) it remains to be elucidated, if NO contributes to pathological alterations in the striatum. The present study evaluates the post-mortem putamen of PD patients and control subjects for distribution patterns of NO-synthase containing neurons, using the NADPH-diaphorase technique. The ratio of positively stained neurons and the total number of cells (control: 1,120 +/- 69 per mm2, n = 5; PD: 575 +/- 164mm2, n = 5) shows striking differences between controls and PD patients. Our findings give reason to conclude that NADPH-diaphorase positive structures may have pathogenetic importance in degenerative processes in PD putamen.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Interactions of neurotoxins with non-NMDA glutamate receptors: an autoradiographic study.

Neurotoxic substances are discussed to cause neurodegeneration by acting as excitotoxins on glutamate receptors. We investigated the properties of L-beta-oxalyl-amino-alanine (L-BOAA) and 3,4, 6-trihydroxyphenlyalanine (6-OH-Dopa) at the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) glutamate receptor and that of L-BOAA and domoic acid at the kainate glutamate receptor in human hippocampus. (3H)AMPA binding in hippocampal subfields was inhibited by L-BOAA and 6-OH-Dopa with mean IC50-values in the low micromolar range. (3H)Kainate binding was inhibited by L-BOAA with similar potency as (3H)AMPA binding and by domoic acid with mean IC50-values in the low nanomolar range. These results support the notion that symptoms like anterograde amnesia and epileptic seizures seen in domoic acid intoxication and limbic symptoms, e.g. cognitive and mood impairment observed in neurolathyrism may be caused by excitotoxic action on non-NMDA receptors. The potent interaction of 6-OH-Dopa with the AMPA-receptor may point to a possible dopaminergic-glutamatergic interaction in the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

Amino Acids, Diamino↗
PubMed1993

Distribution of secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity in comparison with substance P- and enkephalin-like immunoreactivities in various human forebrain regions.

The distribution of secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity, a peptide derived from secretogranin II, was studied by means of immunocytochemistry and compared to the pattern of staining for substance P- and enkephalin-like immunoreactivities in the human basal forebrain, with special reference to the basal ganglia. Secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity was characterized by gel filtration and reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography analysis. Chromatographic analysis revealed a single peak for secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity. No secretoneurin-immunopositive forms of high molecular weight were found. Secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity appeared mainly in dot- and fibre-like structures. In addition, a band-like terminal staining (woolly fibres) that has been shown by others for substance P- and enkephalin-like immunoreactivities, was also observed for secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity. Medium-sized cells were found arranged in clusters or singly within the caudate and putamen. In the basal ganglia, a high density of secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity was found in the internal segment of the globus pallidus, the ventral pallidum and in the pars reticulata of the substantia nigra. In these areas the immunostaining appeared mainly as woolly fibres. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and medial amygdala displayed a high density of fine beaded secretoneurin-like immunoreactive fibres, sometimes forming pericellular contacts. The nucelus basalis of Meynert was highly innervated by secretoneurin-like immunoreactive fibres, mainly in the form of woolly fibres. In general, a large overlap was found between secretoneurin- and substance P-like immunoreactivity in all examined areas of the basal ganglia. In the bed nucelus of the stria terminalis and medial amygdala secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity was distributed very similarly to enkephalin-like immunoreactivity. These data provide evidence that in different subsets of neurons and neuronal pathways secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity coexists with substance P- and enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in several areas of the human brain.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Alzheimer's disease: is the decrease of the cholinergic innervation of the hippocampus related to intrinsic hippocampal pathology?

Consistent findings in the hippocampi of patients with Alzheimer's disease are the presence of neurofibrillary tangles in pyramidal neurons and the loss of choline acetyltransferase activity due to degeneration of hippocampal cholinergic terminals. The present study sought to clarify, in the brains of five patients with Alzheimer's disease and four controls, whether the loss of cholinergic terminals in the hippocampal stratum pyramidale in Alzheimer's disease is related to degenerative changes in hippocampal pyramidal cells. A polyclonal antibody to human choline acetyltransferase was employed to visualize immunohistochemically cholinergic terminals. Hippocampal neurons were stained with Cresyl Violet, neurofibrillary tangles with thioflavin S and a monoclonal antibody against phosphorylated neurofilament (RT97). Quantification of the stained structures was performed in CA4, CA1 and the subiculum, on five sections selected from the entire anteroposterior extent of each hippocampus. In the group of Alzheimer patients, the densities of cholinergic terminals were homogeneously diminished in the three hippocampal subregions in comparison with the controls (32-33%). In contrast, a significant loss of pyramidal neurons was found only in CA1, and the density of neurofibrillary tangles was markedly increased only in CA1 and the subiculum in Alzheimer's disease. These findings suggest that there is no relationship between the loss of cholinergic terminals and the degeneration of pyramidal cells in the hippocampus of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Modern therapy of Parkinson's disease.

The article summarizes historical aspects and current concepts of the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Antiparkinsonian therapy varies with the progression of the disease, age and clinical subtypes. Levodopa, anticholinergic substances, direct dopamine agonists, amantadine, L-deprenyl are used to treat motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Novel substances and therapeutic concepts are currently investigated. Treatment of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease and supportive therapies are discussed in the article.

Antiparkinson Agents↗
PubMed1991

[Orthostatic tremor].

Two men, aged 57 and 77 years old, reported increasing unsteadiness on standing upright for the past 2 and 5 years, respectively. It had become impossible for them to remain standing for more than 10 seconds, as otherwise they might fall down. Walking, sitting and lying were possible without difficulty. Both patients were found to have a fine tremor in both legs on standing only. There were no other neurological signs or symptoms. Electromyography of the leg muscles demonstrated tremor activity at 14-16 Hz. Propranolol, 40 mg three times daily, in the 57-year-old patient brought no improvement. However, on taking primidone, in slowly increasing doses up to 250 and 500 mg daily, respectively, the condition lastingly improved in both patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactivity in senile plaques is not related to the density of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive fibers in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The numbers of silver-stained senile plaques and plaques containing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-like immunoreactivity were counted in the neocortex, amygdala and hippocampus of control subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease, and compared with the density of TH-positive nerve fibers. The number of silver-stained senile plaques was lowest in the hippocampus and highest in the amygdala, and increased in all three structures in relation to the degree of dementia in the patients. A small proportion of plaques in the hippocampus of the most demented subjects and a large proportion of plaques in the amygdala were TH-positive. No TH-like immunoreactivity was found in plaques in the neocortex, although this structure contained almost as many silver-stained senile plaques and was as densely innervated by TH-positive fibers as the amygdala. The number of plaques containing TH-like immunoreactivity was, therefore, not proportional to the innervation of the structures by TH-positive fibers, nor to the total number of plaques in the structure, suggesting that the dissociation between the proportion of TH-positive plaques in the amygdala and neocortex may be due to differences in the populations of TH-positive fibers innervating the structures.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Slowing of high-speed memory scanning in Parkinson's disease is related to the severity of parkinsonian motor symptoms.

High-speed memory scanning (Sternberg paradigm) was tested in a collective of 20 parkinsonian patients (10 newly diagnosed, untreated patients, duration of the disease 0.5-3.8, mean 1.5 years; 10 levodopa-treated patients, duration of the disease 4.2 to 11, mean 7.6 years). The levodopa-treated patients stopped taking levodopa before the test. There was a tendency towards retarded memory scanning in the patients' collective compared with 20 healthy controls with similar ages and verbal IQs (p = 0.076, Mann-Whitney U test). The mental slowing correlated significantly with bradykinesia and the sum-score of the Columbia University Parkinson Rating Scale (p = 0.021 and 0.019; Spearman rank correlation). Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA revealed a significant mental slowing in the subgroup of patients with Parkinson's disease for greater than 4 years compared with the newly diagnosed patients and the controls (H = 8.54; p = 0.019 and 0.006, Mann-Whitney U test). The findings suggest a mental slowing in Parkinson's disease, which is associated with the progression of parkinsonian motor symptoms and not with depression.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Intraoperative cryoanalgesia for postthoracotomy pain relief.

In a randomized study, 63 patients were investigated for the benefits of cryoanalgesia after thoracotomy. Analgesia and its dependent effects such as enhancement of mobility, respiratory function, and reduced need of narcotics were evaluated. No significant differences in these variables were observed between the cryoanalgesia group and the control group. However, moderate to severe neuralgia was found in a number of patients in the cryoanalgesia group in the late postoperative period. Cryoanalgesia for pain relief after thoracotomy is not recommended.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Choline acetyltransferase-like immunoreactivity in the hippocampal formation of control subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

A qualitative and quantitative immunohistochemical study of cholinergic systems in the human hippocampal formation was performed with an antibody against choline acetyltransferase. Four control subjects and six patients with Alzheimer's disease, matched for age and post-mortem delay, were examined. Immunoreactive nerve fibres and terminals were visualized, but no cholinergic cell bodies were seen. The distribution of the fibres and terminals suggests that a major afferent cholinergic pathway enters the hippocampus dorsally via the fimbria-fornix, a minor input entering from the temporal lobe along the alvear path. The cholinergic innervation suffers some degenerative change in normal aged subjects, but decreases considerably in density in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The extent of the decrease differs somewhat among the subregions of the hippocampus, but is homogeneously distributed within each subregion, and throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the structure. Compensatory sprouting in reaction to denervation was not detected.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Pharmacological study in Meige's syndrome with predominant blepharospasm.

Objective quantification of the symptoms of Meige's syndrome is difficult and has not been performed in the majority of pharmacological studies of Meige's syndrome published so far. The aim of the present study was to reexamine the therapeutic potential of biperiden, clonazepam, haloperidol, and lisuride using an objective method of quantification of the symptoms. Eleven patients received daily i.v. injections of biperiden, 5.0 mg; clonazepam, 1.0 mg; haloperidol, 2.5 mg; lisuride, 0.05 mg; and placebo in randomized order. The symptoms of the patients [idiopathic blepharospasm (IB), in 11 patients, oromandibular dystonia (OMD) in four patients] were quantified by a blind observer counting the frequencies and recording the cumulative duration of sustained spasms of IB and OMD over periods of 4 min before, and 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after the i.v. challenges. Baseline quantification of IB and OMD was performed at identical intervals on randomized days of the trial. Significant improvement of the IB scores was found in response to biperiden and clonazepam and a trend toward improvement in response to lisuride (Wilcoxon test). Evaluation of the individual IB scores of each patient following the various drug challenges failed to predict the therapeutic potential of these drugs for subsequent oral treatment.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Visuoperception and visuospatial and visuorotational performance in Parkinson's disease.

Forty patients with Parkinson's disease were compared with 33 normal controls with respect to their performance in the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale subtests "information", "similarities", "block design", and "picture completion", in a test for visual neglect (Hamsher's line cancellation test) and in tests for visuospatial and visuorotational abilities (cube task from Amthauer's intelligence structure test and Rybakoff figure test, as revised by Meili). The findings show that the patients scored significantly worse than the controls (Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.004) in the Rybakoff figure test, testing visual concept finding, imagination and visual rotation. In the other tests no significant differences were found between the patients and the controls. The deficit of the patients in the figure test of Rybakoff correlated significantly with tremor (P = 0.013), akinesia (P = 0.009), disability (P = 0.043), and age (P = 0.004, Spearman rank correlation).

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Experience with selegiline in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

28 patients with Parkinson's disease and long-term levodopa therapy have received additional selegiline (10 mg/d) over the past 3 years and been followed up for a mean period of 18.8 months. Two thirds improved with a reduction of global disability and amelioration of end-of-dose effects, nocturnal and early-morning akinesia. Peak-dose dyskinesias tended to increase with selegiline while biphase and off-period involuntary movements improved in some cases. Patients already on maximally tolerated doses of levodopa and those with severe on-off swings did not gain significant benefit. 8 of 18 responders lost their initial response within 1.5 years.

Disability Evaluation↗
PubMed1987

Therapeutic experiences with an abeorphine derivative in Parkinson's disease.

Marked improvement of the clinical state owing to CI 201-678 treatment was seen in six patients; no definite improvement was achieved in three patients. Daily fluctuations were improved in two patients. CI 201-678 demonstrated a good effect against rigidity, impairment of gait and posture, as well as impaired self-care, although daily levodopa dosage was concomitantly reduced. In two patients, CI 201-678 was discontinued because of side-effects, while one patient stopped treatment for reasons not related to the drug. In contrast to apomorphine and other dopamimetic substances, the emetic side-effect of CI 201-678 is minimal (nausea in one patient). no arterial hypotension was not seen. It has to be mentioned that the two drug-related drop-outs were receiving CI 201-678 in a rapidly increasing dosage. It is likely that the side-effects would have been less pronounced if the dosage had been more slowly increased. However, the preliminary results indicate that CI 201-678 is a promising substance for the treatment of patients with predominant rigid-akinetic symptomatology, in combination with levodopa therapy or in the place of levodopa.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

[Neuropsychologic changes in Parkinson syndrome].

In Parkinson's disease various cognitive deficits occur of which impairments of perception, memory, speech, vigilance, reaction-time, and shifting aptitude in cognitive tasks can be distinguished. Also depression is frequently observed. Personality changes are discussed originating from organic mental factors, the experience of the disease, and possible premorbid personality traits. Mental processing is probably slowed down in Parkinson's disease (bradyphrenia). However, it is not yet clarified in which cognitive categories bradyphrenia may play a role.

Amnesia↗
PubMed1986

Prognostic implications of the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease with respect to clinical, computertomographic and psychometric parameters.

Forty-four Parkinson patients (19 patients of the rigid-akinetic type, 13, of the rigid-akinetic-tremor type, and 12, of the tremor type) were included in a study in order to analyse correlations of the expression of the motor symptoms tremor, rigidity, akinesia, with other clinical parameters, computertomographic aspect of brain atrophy and psychometrically assessed cognitive parameters. Rigidity and akinesia are significantly positively correlated with the severity of motor dysability, stage of the disease, and brain atrophy, as is akinesia with a history of pharmacotoxic psychosis. Tremor is significantly negatively correlated with motor dysability, stage of the disease, and history of pharmacotoxic psychosis. Akinesia is correlated with visuomotor dysfunction (tested with Bender Gestalt Test) and rigidity with the depression score (Zung scale). The tremor type is favorable, the rigid-akinetic type unfavorable with respect to motor disability and psychosis.

Adult↗