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Biomedical subjects

I Ferrer

Publications and source records attributed to I Ferrer.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

[Hairy leukoplakia: a new disease of the oral mucosa associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus].

In 23 out of 227 patients with positive serological tests for the human immunodeficiency virus (10%), seen between June 1987 and May 1988, lingual lesions of hairy leukoplakia (HL) were found. HL was present in 16/188 drug abusers (9%) and in 7/19 homosexuals (32%). In 3 cases HL was the only clinical manifestation of disease, in 11 it was associated with other symptoms of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome related complex (ARC), and in 9 it was found in patients with a previous or concomitant diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The mean count of CD4 lymphocytes in the 23 patients was 0.22 X 10(9)/l. The diagnosis was made on the basis of the characteristic clinical features. In 3 cases biopsy was carried out, and parakeratosis and vacuolization of the spinous layer cells were found. Remarkably, particles of the herpesvirus group were also found. The lesions oscillated in size or even spontaneously disappeared, at least transiently; however, in the patients treated with zidovudine the improvement appeared to be more significant. The detection of HL discloses a likely infection by the HIV; it is usually associated with other features of ARC and/or severe immune depression, and it requires the institution of antiretroviral treatment.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1989

Formation and growth of the cerebral convolutions. II. Cell death in the gyrus suprasylvius and adjoining sulci in the cat.

Cell death, calculated by counting pyknotic nuclei to assess the number of dying cells, in the gyrus suprasylvius (GS-Syl) and adjoining sulci sulcus lateralis (SL) and sulcus suprasylvius (SS-Syl) was studied in cats aged 5, 15, 25 days and 6 months. Three patterns of cell death were characterized: (1) an ascending gradient from the inner to the upper cortical layers; (2) a lateromedial gradient from the SS-Syl towards the SL; and (3) a predominance of cell death in the sulcal zones. These patterns are in accordance with the sequence of cortical neurogenesis, the lateromedial pattern of the whole formation and growth of the GS-Syl and adjoining sulci, and the differences in the cortical thickness between the sulci and the gyral crown.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Effects of chronic ethanol consumption beginning at adolescence: increased numbers of dendritic spines on cortical pyramidal cells in the adulthood.

To increase our understanding of the effects of chronic ethanol consumption beginning at adolescence, 25% ethanol in drinking water (v/v) was administered daily to young rats aged 45-50 days for 5 months. Increased numbers of dendritic spines on the apical dendrite of layer V pyramidal neurons of the somatosensory cortex (U-Mann-Whitney test, P less than 0.01-0.05) were found in almost every 50-micron-long segment over a distance of 500 microns from the cell body in ethanol-treated rats at the age of 195-200 days when compared with age-matched controls. Although the mechanisms leading to this unusual finding are not know, it is suggested that impairment of the naturally occurring elimination of redundant synapses can not be ruled out.

Aging↗
PubMed1989

Plasma cell granuloma of the hypothalamic region.

Two patients suffering from diabetes insipidus, with additional symptoms of impaired vision and signs of panhypopituitarism and increased intracranial pressure, showed a normal sella tursica in the X-ray examination of the skull but large, dense space-occupying lesions in the hypothalamus on CT scans of the brain. NMR performed in one patient disclosed suprasellar growth of a hypothalamic lesion. Proliferation of lymphoplasmocytes and mature plasma cells was seen by light microscopic and electromicroscopical examination of biopsy samples in both cases; histiocytes and multinucleated giant cells were absent; tuberculosis, syphilis and sarcoidosis were ruled out by appropriate tests. Plasma cells exhibited polyclonal immunoglobulin expression as revealed by immunocytochemistry using the PAP method. Taken together these features are typical of plasma cell granuloma. Transitory remission after radiotherapy was obtained in one patient.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Developmental aspects of the neocortex of the bat.

Golgi studies on the cerebral cortex (central region) of newborn and adult bats (Myotis myotis) have shown that (a) extraverted cells in layer II-III are the source of a rich horizontal plexus originating from large numbers of long, proximal axonic collaterals, and (b) significantly greater numbers of basilar and apical dendrites (Student's t-test, P less than 0.001) of extraverted pyramidal cells are found in the newborn than in the adult bat, indicating an overproduction of dendrites during the early stages of development.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Pulmonary infiltrates, eosinophilia and polyneuritis].

A case of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia which, during the evolution, developed a very rare motor-sensitive polyneuritis of the lower limbs, is presented. We comment on the results of the electromyography, the neuromuscular biopsy and show the differential diagnosis with other diseases with lung infiltrates, peripheric eosinophilia and polyneuritis, such as hypereosinophilic syndrome, allergic angiitis and granulomatosis of Churg and Strauss.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Delayed postnatal neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex of lizards.

Labelled cells were consistently observed in the medial cortex of the lizard brain after i.p. injections of tritiated thymidine (5 microCi/g b. wt.), 1, 7, 18 or 28 days of survival and posterior autoradiographic evaluation. In 3 groups of specimens (postnatal, young and adult) of the species Podarcis hispanica, after one day of survival, labelled cells were located in the ependymal cell layer underlying the medial cortex. After intermediate survival times (7, 18 days), labelled cells were found in 3 zones: the ependymal layer, the inner plexiform layer and the granular layer. After one month of survival, most labelled cells were observed in the granular layer. In the granular layer, these cells were distributed at random. These results show that postnatal neurogenesis in the medial cortex of the lizard occurs following a spatio-temporal pattern reminiscent of that found in the fascia dentata of the mammalian hippocampus.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Meige syndrome: neuropathology of a case.

Primary Meige syndrome is a form of cranial dystonia of unknown cause. Only three postmortem studies have been reported, and the results of these studies have not been consistent. We have examined the brain of a 72-year-old man with typical primary Meige syndrome and found mild to moderate cell loss in the zona compacta of the substantia nigra, locus ceruleus, midbrain tectum, and dentate nucleus of the cerebellum. Also frequent Lewy bodies were present in pigmented nuclei of the brainstem. No abnormalities were detected elsewhere. These pathological findings support the notion that brainstem pathology is important in the pathophysiology of cranial dystonia.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Structure and nerve cell organisation in the cerebral cortex of the dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba a Golgi study. With special attention to the primary auditory area.

Cytoarchitectonic studies of the primary acoustic area, primary visual area and associative cortex of the convexity of the dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba using the Golgi method revealed a thick molecular layer, an accentuated Layer II, poor stratification of the underlying laminae and the absence of an identifiable Layer IV, as well as little areal variability. The morphology and distribution of nerve cells in the three regions, resembled those already known in other mammals. Distinctive cellular types were, however, present, such as extraverted pyramidal neurons in Layer II and giant multipolar and bi-tufted cells with smooth, beaded dendrites and extended, generalized axonal arborizations in Layers III and V. Spiny stellate cells were located in the inner region of Layer III and in Layer V; these cells exhibited a long descending axon and many recurrent and oblique collaterals. Although the basic structure of the cerebral cortex is thus similar to that observed in insectivores and chiropterids, dolphins have dramatically increased numbers of cerebral convolutions exceeding those found in most advanced terrestrial mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Morphological recovery of hippocampal pyramidal neurons in the adult rat exposed in utero to ethanol.

Reduced numbers of dendritic spines on the secondary apical dendritic branches and basilar dendrites of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons were observed in ethanol-treated rats during embryonic life aged 15 days when compared with age-matched controls. However, differences were no longer present at the age of 90 days. These results suggest that recovery of some morphological parameters of pyramidal hippocampal neurons may occur in rats exposed in utero to ethanol.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Peripheral neuropathy associated with angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

A 49-year-old man developed mononeuritis multiplex associated with angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy. The biopsy of the sural nerve revealed focal reduction of myelinated fibres and axonal degeneration, as well as perivascular inflammatory infiltrates composed of lymphocytes and plasma cells, exhibiting policlonal immunoglobulin expression, proliferation of blood vessels, thickening of the vessel wall and endothelial hyperplasia. These latter changes are similar to those commonly encountered in the lymph nodes, as well as in other organs, in patients suffering from angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Meningo-angiomatosis: a case report.

We report a case of Meningo-angiomatosis, a rare hamartomatous lesion of the cerebral cortex. The main clinical and pathological features of this entity are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Formation and growth of the cerebral convolutions. I. Postnatal development of the median-suprasylvian gyrus and adjoining sulci in the cat.

The postnatal development of these median-suprasylvian gyrus and adjoining sulci was studied in cats 1, 5, 15, 25 days and six months old. The median-suprasylvian gyrus (G.S.-Syl.) grows according to a lateral to medial intracortical gradient in which the adjoining sulci, sulcus lateralis (S.L.) and median-suprasylvian sulcus (S.S-Syl.), are considered to be fixed zones because of their relatively constant distance from the ventricular wall throughout the development. Thus the formation of the S.L. is a consequence of the increase in volume of the gyral region adjacent to this developing sulcus, whereas there is a smaller increase in volume of the gyral region adjacent to the almost fully formed, at birth, S.S-Syl. This increase in volume is associated with a regional increase in the number of nerve cells and with an increase in the density of neurons in the region adjacent to the S.L. as it fades in the region adjacent to the S.S-Syl. This process takes place from Day 1 until about Day 25 of postnatal life. An intralaminar displacement of nerve cells also occurs during the process of cortical folding:nerve cell columns converge towards the hilum in the gyral region, but the columns progressively curve following the concavity of the infolding in the sulcal zones; as a result, although the length of nerve cell columns tends to be preserved to some extent along the gyrus, the cerebral cortex is progressively thinner in the sulci than in the gyri and the molecular layer is progressively thicker in the former than in the latter. This process also occurs following a lateral to medial gradient in the G.S.-Syl. The present observations may suggest that cortical folding is largely dependent on intracortical mechanical forces but the regular distribution of the sulci, together with the orderly spatio-temporal pattern of gyral growth, points to the conclusion that this process may be controlled by extracortical signals.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Decreased numbers of dendritic spines on cortical pyramidal neurons in dementia. A quantitative Golgi study on biopsy samples.

The number of dendritic spines on the apical dendrites of layer III pyramidal cells was counted in cerebral biopsies, processed in part according to the rapid Golgi method, which had been performed for diagnostic purposes on patients suffering from dementia of different origins. The samples were from cases affected by Alzheimer's disease (3 patients), Parkinson's disease and dementia (1 patient), Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (4 patients), Pick's disease (1 patient) and dementia paralytica (1 patient). Spines were counted on consecutive segments of the apical dendrite along the 500-microns proximal region from the cell body. A significant decrease in the number of spines was observed in almost every segment of the apical dendrite in demented patients when compared with similar measurements carried out in age-matched controls (p less than 0.01-0.001); Mann-Whitney U-test. Decreased numbers of dendritic spines may result in reduced inputs on cortical neurons and may be a consistent morphological substrate for the impaired mental status in cortical dementia.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMed1988

[Anatomo-clinical study of Behçet's syndrome with involvement of the central nervous system].

The authors report a patient with Behçet disease who developed severe central neurological disturbances. The M.R.I. was largely coincident with the distribution of the lesions verified in the neuropathological examination, while CT only shows an hypodense lesion in basal ganglia with contrast enhancement. The neurological symptoms did not respond to a treatment with prednisone and azathioprine. The main histopathological findings are similar to those described by previous observers. Reactive histiocytic infiltration with severe lymphocytic phagocytosis, probably related to immunosuppressor treatment, was also observed.

Azathioprine↗
PubMed1987

Dégénérescence systématisée optico-cochléo-dentelée.

During the first year of life a girl, the first child of non-consanguineous parents, developed a progressive neurological disease characterized by blindness, severe hypotonia, impaired motor development, microcephaly and mental retardation. Later she became unresponsive to auditory stimuli. She died at the age of 13 months. Post-mortem examination revealed atrophy of the optic nerves and chiasm, lateral geniculate nuclei and superior colliculi, degeneration of the cochlear nerve roots, dorsal and ventral cochlear nuclei, superior olives, lateral lemnisci, medial geniculate nuclei and inferior colliculi and atrophy of the dentate nuclei, hilus and superior cerebellar peduncles. These were consistent with dégénérescence systématisée optico-cochleéo-dentelée. Additional abnormalities included degeneration of the posterior columns in the spinal cord, gracilis and cuneate nuclei and medial lemnisci, atrophy of the spinocerebellar tracts and Clarke's columns, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, chiefly involving the rostral vermis, inferior olivary nuclei and demyelination of the sural nerves.

Cerebellar Diseases↗