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H Kilpeläinen

Publications and source records attributed to H Kilpeläinen.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Quantitation of neuroreceptors: a need for better SPECT imaging.

AIM: Existing methods to determine the binding potential in brain receptor and transporter studies with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) show a marked dependence on the physical performance of the scanner and on the regions of interest (ROIs) drawn. We examined the influence of the physical performance on the binding potential. METHOD: The authors tested three gamma cameras (single-, dual- and triple-head) and two reconstruction techniques (conventional filtered back-projection and iterative reconstruction method) to determine the binding potential in brain receptor studies. Both human and organ-like phantom studies were performed. RESULTS: The binding potential was completely dependent on the imaging resolution, on the reconstruction technique used and on the ROIs drawn. The results of the phantom study revealed that the striatum-to-cerebellum ratio was only 37% of the actual one for the single-head, 63% for the dual-head and 72% for the triple-head gamma camera. CONCLUSION: The multiple head gamma camera with fan-beam collimators and iterative reconstruction with the attenuation based scatter correction is an imaging system of choice which introduces clinically more relevant images and is able to distinguish smaller differences in radioactivity at early stage of disease. However, for quantitative purposes the improvement without the use of the recovery coefficient is not great enough to restore the binding potentials to those of the true ones.

Brain↗

Antiplatelet therapy is effective in the prevention of stroke or death in women: subgroup analysis of the European Stroke Prevention Study (ESPS).

Previous stroke prevention studies have suggested that the efficacy of antiplatelet therapy may be less in women than in men. This however, could be due to the small number of women in these trials and the low incidence of cases among female subjects. The European Stroke Prevention Study was a multicenter trial comparing the effect of a combination of dipyridamole 75 mg t.i.d and acetylsalicylic acid 330 mg t.i.d. to placebo in the secondary prevention of stroke or death after one or more recent attacks of TIA (transient ischemic attack), RIND (reversible ischemic neurological deficit) or stroke of atherothrombotic origin. From the 2500 patients recruited, 1307 patients were from a single center, Kuopio, East Finland. Forty-five percent of the patients were women. The number of end-point events (stroke or death from any cause) in women was one-third lower than that in men. End-point reduction in the treatment group was about 50% in women and about 40% in men, significantly lower than in the placebo group in both sexes. Thus, in the relatively randomly selected patient population from one Finnish center, a combination of dipyridamole and acetylsalicylic acid is as effective in women as in men in the prevention of stroke or death. It is unclear, however, whether this beneficial effect in both sexes is due to aspirin only or to the combination therapy of aspirin and dipyridamole.

Aspirin↗

Lysosomal hydrolases in cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients. A follow-up study.

The change in activity of lysosomal hydrolases in the brain tissue of patients with demyelinating disease has been suggested to reflect the demyelination process. In this study we measured neutral proteinase (NP), acid proteinase (AP), and beta-glucuronidase (BG) activities in CSF of 32 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) (remitting, remitting and relapsing, or chronic progressive course of the disease), 62 controls, and 4 patients with chronic inflammatory disease of central nervous system (ID). Samples from MS patients were taken at different clinical conditions of the disease during the 22-month follow-up. Elevated NP activity was found in patients with relapsing course of MS and also in patients with ID (P less than 0.05). NP activity correlated with the number of leucocytes in CSF of both MS (P less than 0.005, r = 0.50) and control (P less than 0.05, r = 0.21) patients. AP activity decreased in the MS group, especially in patients with remitting or remitting and relapsing courses of the disease (P less than 0.05), but even more in patients with ID (P less than 0.01). During the follow-up the increase in NP activity seemed to be associated with the clinical relapses of MS patients. Other enzymes did not fluctuate with the disease. This study suggests that the change in activity of lysosomal hydrolases is not specific for MS. The increase in NP activity in CSF is associated with clinical relapse of individual MS patients during the follow-up and may indicate immunological activation of the demyelination process in the brain. The large intra- and interindividual variation in enzyme activities in the CSF, however, makes the use of these enzymes difficult for diagnosis of MS and follow-up of MS activity.

Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases↗

The effect of sorbinil treatment on red cell sorbitol levels and clinical and electrophysiological parameters of diabetic neuropathy.

A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind cross-over study was conducted in order to examine the effect of an aldose reductase inhibitor, sorbinil (100 mg daily for 4 weeks), on red cell sorbitol concentration and clinical and electrophysiological parameters of diabetic neuropathy. A total of 31 diabetic patients with either clinically or electrophysiologically verified diabetic neuropathy were studied. Red cell sorbitol levels decreased significantly to the levels reported in non-diabetic subjects, but there were no significant changes in symptoms, signs, vibration perception thresholds or nerve conduction variables. One patient had transient skin rash, fever, myalgia and leucopenia, but no other significant adverse effects were found.

Adult↗

Histamine and histamine-N-methyltransferase in the CSF of patients with multiple sclerosis.

The CSF of twenty-six patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and of twelve control persons was analysed for histamine and histamine-N-methyltransferase (HMT) activity. Both in patients with remitting and progressive type of disease the histamine level was about 60% higher than in the controls. On the other hand in both groups of patients the HMT activity was significantly lower (32% and 40% respectively) than that of controls. These results suggest an altered histamine metabolism in MS. This might be associated with the immune reaction in MS brain.

Adolescent↗

Uptake of 5-hydroxytryptamine by blood platelets in Huntington's chorea and Alzheimer type of presenile dementia.

Kinetics of 5-HT uptake by blood platelets was studied om eleven patients with Huntington's chorea and in ten patients with presenile dementia of Alzheimer type. In both groups of patients 5-HT uptake was unchanged in comparison to that of respective controls of the same age. The results do not confirm earlier reports of an increased 5-HT uptake by blood platelets in Huntington's chorea. Platelet 5-HT uptake does not seem to serve as biological test in either disease.

Adult↗