Christoph Palm | Search PubMed

PubMed2005

Preferred stereoselective brain uptake of d-serine--a modulator of glutamatergic neurotransmission.

Although it has long been presumed that d-amino acids are uncommon in mammalians, substantial amounts of free d-serine have been detected in the mammalian brain. d-Serine has been demonstrated to be an important modulator of glutamatergic neurotransmission and acts as an agonist at the strychnine-insensitive glycine site of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors. The blood-to-brain transfer of d-serine is thought to be extremely low, and it is assumed that d-serine is generated by isomerization of l-serine in the brain. Stimulated by the observation of a preferred transport of the d-isomer of proline at the blood-brain barrier, we investigated the differential uptake of [3H]-d-serine and [3H]-l-serine in the rat brain 1 h after intravenous injection using quantitative autoradiography. Surprisingly, brain uptake of [3H]-d-serine was significantly higher than that of [3H]-l-serine, indicating a preferred transport of the d-enantiomer of serine at the blood-brain barrier. This finding indicates that exogenous d-serine may have a direct influence on glutamatergic neurotransmission and associated diseases.

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PubMed2003

Colour texture analysis for quantitative laryngoscopy.

OBJECTIVE: Whilst considerable progress has been made in enhancing the quality of indirect laryngoscopy and image processing, the evaluation of clinical findings is still based on the clinician's judgement. The aim of this paper was to examine the feasibility of an objective computer-based method for evaluating laryngeal disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Digitally recorded images obtained by 90 degree- and 70 degree-angled indirect rod laryngoscopy using standardized white balance values were made of 16 patients and 19 healthy subjects. The digital images were evaluated manually by the clinician based on a standardized questionnaire, and suspect lesions were marked and classified on the image. Following colour separation, normal vocal cord areas as well as suspect lesions were analyzed automatically using co-occurrence matrices, which compare colour differences between neighbouring pixels over a predefined distance. RESULTS: Whilst colour histograms did not provide sufficient information for distinguishing between healthy and diseased tissues, consideration of the blue content of neighbouring pixels enabled a correct classification in 81.4% of cases. If all colour channels (red, green and blue) were regarded simultaneously, the best classification correctness obtained was 77.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Although only a very basic classification differentiating between healthy and diseased tissue was attempted, the results showed progress compared to grey-scale histograms, which have been evaluated before. The results document a first step towards an objective, machine-based classification of laryngeal images, which could provide the basis for further development of an expert system for use in indirect laryngoscopy.

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