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Biomedical subjects

H Pakkenberg

Publications and source records attributed to H Pakkenberg.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Thyroid function in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Many of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease are similar to those seen in patients with hypothyroidism. The diagnosis of myxoedema may easily be overlooked when occurring together with Parkinson's disease. We studied 52 patients with Parkinson's disease and found normal thyroid values and TSH-levels in all patients except one, who turned out to have an incipient hypothyroidism.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1986

The effect of N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine on uridine uptake in the mouse brain.

Male white mice were injected with N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) 40 mg/kg. After 2 h, 24 h, 2, 4 and 8 days 0.25 mCi [5-3H]uridine was injected i.v. and 1 h later the animals were sacrificed. In microautoradiograms the number of grains over the nerve cell nuclei was counted in the substantia nigra, the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus and the neostriatum. In the substantia nigra there was a significant increase in grain number after 2, 4 and 8 days. In a group of animals injected 3 days with MPTP and sacrificed 2 days after the last injection the same increase was found. In the other brain regions only an insignificant increase in grain counts was found. In a special group of animals the total radioactivity and distribution of label on metabolites in blood, brain and liver was determined. No significant changes were found.

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine↗
PubMed1986

Clozapine in the treatment of tremor.

In an open trial 25 tremor patients were treated with clozapine in small doses (18-75 mg per day). The effect was measured with a new movement analyzer. Nine of 12 essential tremor patients were greatly improved. In six of nine patients with Parkinson tremor and in two combined essential tremor/Parkinson tremor patients tremor almost disappeared. Sedation is a major side effect, but decreases in most patients with time. The risk of agranulocytosis makes blood control necessary.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1986

Clinical features and long-term treatment with pimozide in 65 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

During the last seven years 65 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome have been treated. Pimozide was used as the preferred drug because of our experience of treating other hyperkinesias which indicated fewer side-effects than with haloperidol. Of the 65 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, 59 were treated with pimozide alone or in combination with tetrabenazine or clonidine. The dose ranges of pimozide were 0.5-9 mg per day. Eighty-one percent experienced a good clinical response without side-effects. The side-effects seen in our patients were sedation, gain in weight, depression, pseudoparkinsonism and akathisia; acute dystonic reactions, blurred vision, slurred speech and xerostomia did not occur. No cases of tardive dyskinesia were seen.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The clinical syndrome of striatal dopamine deficiency. Parkinsonism induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP).

Exposure to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) produces a syndrome that resembles Parkinson's disease. To compare the biochemical abnormalities produced by this compound in human beings with those occurring in Parkinson's disease, we examined biogenic amine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid and urine from six patients with MPTP-induced parkinsonism and eight patients with Parkinson's disease. In both forms of parkinsonism, the cerebrospinal fluid levels of homovanillic acid, the major metabolite of dopamine, were reduced, whereas the levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were normal. The cerebrospinal fluid levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MHPG), the major metabolite of norepinephrine in the brain, after adjustment for plasma MHPG, were elevated (greater than 6.0 ng per milliliter) in MPTP-induced parkinsonism, whereas MHPG levels were reduced (less than 6.0) in Parkinson's disease. Neurons containing norepinephrine in the brain are involved in the degenerative process of Parkinson's disease, whereas they are spared in MPTP-induced parkinsonism. The selective destruction by MPTP of nigrostriatal dopamine neurons that is responsible for the movement disorder also appears to result in an increase in central noradrenergic activity, which is not possible in Parkinson's disease. Thus, differences in central noradrenergic activity, reflected in cerebrospinal fluid levels of MHPG, distinguish these two forms of parkinsonism.

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine↗
PubMed1985

Medical treatment of dystonia.

We review dystonia treatment results since 1981, including our own findings. Anticholinergics are still the most effective drugs, but less than 50% of patients continue with treatment. The authors recommend a combination of an anticholinergic, a benzodiazepine, and another drug (an antidopaminergic, carbamazepine, or fluperlapine) for the treatment of dystonia.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1985

Effect of electrical convulsions on uridine labeling and activity pattern in nerve cells in mice.

Male white mice were exposed to electroshock and then injected intravenously with 5-[3H]uridine immediately after the shock. After 5, 30, or 60 min or 6, 12, or 24 h, the mice were killed, microautoradiographs were prepared, and grains were counted in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia. The results of the grain counts were compared with grain counts in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia of mice exposed to anoxia for 25 s and then treated in the same manner as the first groups. After electroshock the grain count decreased to 25% of that in control animals in the hippocampus and to 50% in the cortex but was normal in the basal ganglia. The counts returned to normal values within 6 h in the hippocampus, and within 1 h in the cortex. After anoxia, the grain counts were normal in the cortex and hippocampus but increased in the basal ganglia. The distribution of cells with a high or low grain count in vertical and horizontal columns of the cortex in control and convulsion animals was analyzed. There were random variations from column to column in both control and convulsion animals. In some anatomic layers there were significantly different grain counts, indicating differences in functional activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Comparison of three primitive reflexes in neurological patients and in normal individuals.

Two hundred and sixty-five normal individuals and patients with clinical signs of extracranial disease, 174 patients with intracranial disease without signs of basal ganglia involvement and 126 patients with signs of basal ganglia disorders were examined clinically for the occurrence of the activation phenomenon of rigidity, the palmomental reflex and the glabella tap response. A comparison between the three groups, decade for decade, showed that the activation phenomenon was so common in the first two groups that its presence was unlikely to be the first sign of Parkinson's disease. A tendency to increasing frequency with increasing age was noted. The palmomental reflex and glabella tap response were more frequent in the last group, but also so common in the first two, that the clinical significance was marginal. No tendency to increasing occurrence with increasing age was noted.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Brain weight of Danish children. A forensic material.

Medico-legal data are presented on 995 child deaths, 361 girls and 634 boys aged 0-18 years, whose brains were weighed at the time of autopsy using a standardized weighing technique (the brains were weighed before fixation, immediately after entire removal; the medulla oblongata was divided in the foramen magnum). From the results it appears that the brain weights are greater than those reported in a previously published series. This may be ascribed to a higher degree of oedema and a shorter duration of illness, or an absence of illness; another explanation may be related to a difference in origin. It should be remembered that post-mortem brain weights exceed the ante-mortem weights by up to 9%. The greater part of brain growth is completed by the end of the 2nd year of life, and thereafter the brain weight in girls is on the average a little lower than that in boys. No significant differences in brain weights are found in the various groups of causes of death; the brain weights in the group of sudden, unexpected infant deaths especially do not deviate from those in the other groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Treatment of Parkinson's disease with the ergoline derivatives CQ 32-084 and CU 32-085.

Two alpha-aminoergolines with different dopaminergic effects in rats were tried in two groups of Parkinson patients. CQ 32-084 was given in increasing doses up to 10 mg a day for 4 weeks to 10 Parkinson patients, 6 untreated cases and 4 cases with long-term levodopa treatment problems. The patients were checked every week by the Webster rating scale. All patients improved more or less, the earlier untreated patients more than the levodopa-treated patients. Most patients stopped at a dose of 15 mg a day. The side effects were slight. Another group of 10 patients with long-term levodopa treatment problems or insufficient effect of actual treatment were treated in a double-blind crossover trial with another ergoline derivative, CU 32-085. The dose was increased as in the first experiment up to 20 mg a day. Seven of the patients improved during the active drug period. In three cases, the hyperkinesia was increased during the active period, and in two cases it improved. Three patients found an obvious antidepressive effect during the active drug period. Five patients indicated slight decrease of on/off phenomena during the active period of treatment. A more extensive examination of these drugs seems indicated.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Mitotic activity in the mouse brain after cortical and striatal lesions.

Following a stab wound in the brain, mice were injected with 3H-thymidine intravenously 15 min before sacrifice. In a first series, the cells in the synthesis phase (S-cells) in the stab canal, in the adjacent areas and in the rest of the section were counted. The animals were sacrificed from 15 min to 3 days after the stab wound. An increased number of S-cells in all 3 regions was found after 2 days. 24 hr later the number of S-cells was back to normal. In another series, a guide cannula was fixed to the skull resulting in a small superficial lesion of the cortex. 2 days later a stab wound in the hemisphere was made through the guide cannula using the above-mentioned technique. The animals were injected with 3H-thymidine as above and sacrificed from 30 min to 6 days after the stab wound. In this series an increased number of S-cells was found in the whole brain 1/2 hr after the last lesion and an increased number of S-cells was found throughout the whole investigation period. The reason for this general induction is not known. In animals without a stab wound, no induction was found outside the cortical lesion.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Distribution of arsenic, manganese, and selenium in the human brain in chronic renal insufficiency, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The concentrations of arsenic, manganese and selenium/g wet tissue weight were determined in samples from 24 areas of the human brain from 3 patients with chronic renal insufficiency, 2 with Parkinson's disease and 1 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The concentrations of the 3 elements were determined for each sample by neutron activation analysis with radiochemical separation. Overall arsenic concentrations were about 2.5 times higher in patients with chronic renal failure than in controls, and lower than normal in the patients with Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There were no obvious differences in the overall concentrations of manganese and selenium from one group to another. Even multivariate data analysis by the SIMCA method failed to reveal any significant difference in the distribution pattern of manganese and selenium in Parkinson's disease compared to normal controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Age-related changes in 3H-uridine uptake in the mouse.

The uptake of a nucleic acid precursor as related to age was studied in mice. Newborn, young (3-month-old) and old (18 to 24-months-old) mice were given 3H-uridine orally through a plastic tube and sacrificed 4 and 21 hours later. Uptake was studied autoradiographically in nerve cells of the fifth layer of parietal cortex, the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus, the hepatocytes of the liver and the epithelium of the small intestine. While uptake decreased in all tissues with age, this was significant only after 4 hours. This decrease indicates that impaired nucleic acid metabolism may be related to aging.

Age Factors↗