Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of baclofen on gamma motoneurones supplying gastrocnemius medialis muscle in the rabbit has been investigated. Baclofen was found to decrease the frequency of firing of tonic gamma motoneurones, and in some cells to inhibit the tonic discharge altogether. Baclofen also increased the regularity of tonic gamma motoneurone discharge. The drug was found to raise the threshold for firing of gamma motoneurones in response to electrical stimulation of the sural nerve, indicating a depression of reflex transmission between the sural nerve and the motoneurones. The results are discussed and brief consideration given to the possible consequences of these results for the action of the drug in human spasticity.
 ...
PMID:The effects of baclofen on gamma motoneurones supplying gastrocnemius muscle in the rabbit. 621 17

H-reflex amplitudes were recorded after stimulation of the tibial nerve and different electrical stimuli in 18 normal persons and 26 patients showing pyramidal spasticity (8 spastic spinal paralysis, 6 spastic hemiparesis, 12 spinal lesions). A just subthreshold stimulus of the tibial nerve facilitated the H-reflex in spastic patients slightly after about 300 ms (up to 113%), following an early strong facilitation (10 ms) and a longer lasting depression (20-200ms). Similar postinhibitory facilitation was obtained in spastic patients after ipsilateral stimulation of the plantar surface and after direct stimulation of the dorsal columns. Conditioning by contralateral stimuli of the posterior tibial nerve caused a slight late facilitation in both normal and spastic patients. This late facilitation did not correlate significantly with the severity of spasticity, but it was more pronounced in cerebral pyramidal lesions than in spinal ones. It is assumed that this postinhibitory facilitation is probably generated as a spinal rhythm, similar to the clonus, and that it is modulated from supraspinal structures.
 ...
PMID:The late facilitation in H-reflex recovery cycles in different pyramidal lesions. 625 75

Cat spinal cord monosynaptic activity during slow repetitive stimulation (0.2 Hz) and post-tetanic potentiation was used to evaluate the combination effects of phenytoin and chlorpromazine. The drug effects were compared in anesthetized cats with either high spinal transection or intact central nervous systems to determine whether the drugs were acting segmentally or suprasegmentally. When chlorpromazine and phenytoin were given in combination to intact animals, the depressant effect on the monosynaptic response was limited to 50% of control, which was not more than the maximum effect of either drug given alone. In spinal animals, chlorpromazine reversed the phenytoin-induced depression during 0.2 Hz stimulation, whereas only the effects of phenytoin on post-tetanic potentiation were evident after the drug combination. These results show that although phenytoin and chlorpromazine each have a depressant effect on spinal cord transmission, the combined effect is limited to a 50% decrease in intact animals. It is suggested that this occlusive drug effect demonstrates that the drug combination has a limited depressant action in the intact nervous system, an action which permits the expression of the effects of these drugs on the other elements of the reflex arc. Collectively, these actions of the drug combination are consistent with their known efficacy in treating certain cases of spasticity.
 ...
PMID:Modification of spinal cord transmission by an interaction of chlorpromazine and phenytoin. 625 85

Nine children treated for acute leukemia or lymphosarcoma developed subacute encephalopathy starting with listlessness, depression and impairment of speech. Walking difficulties, ataxia, spasticity and sphincter disorders developed later. Transient intracranial hypertension and abnormal movements respectively developed in two patients. EEG frontal slow waves, raised CSF protein, abnormal white matter radioisotope uptake and CT scan hypodensity with patchy contrast enhancement were evident at the onset. Later, dilated ventricles and calcification appeared in the younger patients. Post-mortem neuropathological studies of three patients disclosed predominantly perivascular myelin loss in areas of white matter necrosis, abnormalities of small vessels and numerous axonal swellings. The spinal cord showed secondary degeneration of the corticospinal tracts. Analysis of the aetiological factors in this series points to the prevailing danger of cranial radiotherapy, probably increased by the young age of patients and by associated drug administration.
 ...
PMID:Necrotising leukoencephalopathy complicating treatment of childhood leukaemia. 669 15

A questionnaire study on sexual problems occurring with multiple sclerosis (MS) was carried out with 217 patients who had previously participated in the University of Washington Multiple Sclerosis Project. More than one-half of the participating subjects were ambulatory without aids and nearly 75% did not use a wheelchair. Sexual dysfunction was reported by 56% of the women and 75% of the men. Among the women, the most commonly occurring sexual symptoms (in decreasing order of frequency) were fatigue, decreased sensation, decreased libido, decreased frequency or loss of orgasm and difficulty with arousal. Men reported the most common problem was erectile dysfunction, followed by decreased sensation, fatigue, decreased libido, and orgasmic dysfunction. Although loss of mobility, weakness and depression are not significantly associated with sexual dysfunction, spasticity and bladder dysfunction appear to be associated. However, even where these symptoms were absent, sexual dysfunction was perceived in at least 50% of the cases. The data indicate that sexual dysfunction can be anticipated in at least 50% of the women and about 75% of the men affected by MS, regardless of mobility level. It is most likely to occur in patients with spasticity and bladder dysfunction.
 ...
PMID:Sexual dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. 670 86

In 25 patients with spasticity, pharmacokinetics and effects of dantrolene sodium were investigated after prolonged administration. A beneficial effect occurred in seven patients. The results were better on 100 mg daily than on a higher daily dose. An increase of the daily dose from 200 to 400 mg was not associated with higher blood levels. Many side effects were noted such as: anorexia, nausea, drowsiness, depression and muscle weakness. From this study we conclude that dantrolene sodium is a muscle relaxant with a weak to moderate effect in patients with spasticity; the effect at doses higher than 200 mg daily is probably poor.
 ...
PMID:The effect of dantrolene sodium in relation to blood levels in spastic patients after prolonged administration. 724 Nov 61

Sixteen patients with lathyrism, age ranging between 18 and 55 years and duration of illness between 2 and 25 years, underwent H reflex studies with the aim of studying motor neurone excitability. The patients had marked spasticity (Ashworth score ranging between 2 and 5) and mild to moderate leg weakness. Knee and ankle reflexes were exaggerated in all and the plantar response was extensor in 14 patients. The H reflex abnormalities included increased HM ratio indicating increased motoneurone excitability, significant lack of vibratory inhibition indicating altered transmission in the premotoneuronal portion of the H reflex pathway, and lack of reciprocal inhibition (P < 0.01). These H reflex abnormalities were not related to spasticity, weakness, clonus or plantar response. The H reflex recovery curve in 6 patients revealed increased excitability throughout the recovery curve. The secondary facilitation started and peaked slightly earlier than normal, and the late depression was not marked indicating change in excitability of motoneurones or of interneurones.
 ...
PMID:H reflex studies in neurolathyrism. 752 Dec 88

A growing amount of evidence suggests that a disturbance of immunological function is of importance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. This is reflected in the drugs used to slow progression and to treat relapses. Immunosuppressive drugs such as azathioprine, cyclophosphamide and cyclosporin might have some potential to slow down progression of multiple sclerosis, but their use is limited by potentially serious adverse effects. Recently, it was shown that interferon-beta-1b can diminish the exacerbation rate in multiple sclerosis without leading to unacceptable adverse effects. Nevertheless, symptomatic treatment remains of crucial importance in the management of multiple sclerosis patients. Spasticity, depression, fatigue and urinary, paroxysmal and sensory symptoms can all be alleviated to some extent with pharmacological interventions, although rehabilitation procedures and psychosocial consultations are no less important. Further therapeutic approaches to multiple sclerosis will be directed at either the specificity of the immune response or the grade of activation of the immune response. Magnetic resonance imaging techniques will play an important role in the evaluation of efficacy of new therapeutic agents.
 ...
PMID:Multiple sclerosis therapy. A practical guide. 772 28

Hoffmann's reflex or H-reflex (HR) is an electrically elicited reflex that measures excitability of motoneurons and shares some physiologic properties with the deep tendon reflex. Children with tendon hyperreflexia due to cerebral palsy usually have higher amplitude HRs. Nitrous oxide (N2O) depresses the HR in patients with normal spinal reflexes, although the effect of N2O in conditions with hyperreflexia such as cerebral palsy is not known. We propose to determine the effect of N2O on the amplitude of the HR under general anesthesia in children with hyperreflexia due to cerebral palsy. We studied eight children undergoing selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) for the relief of spasticity. The maximum amplitudes of the HR (HRmax) and direct motor response (MRmax) were routinely evoked under the following anesthetic conditions: 1) sufentanil and 66% N2O/33% oxygen; and 2) sufentanil and 100% oxygen. The HRmax amplitude was significantly lower when N2O was part of the inspired gas mixture. The differences between the no N2O and the 66% N2O groups were significant. The MRmax did not change significantly. Abnormal spinal reflexes seen in spastic diplegia can be abolished by inhaled N2O. This finding also suggests that N2O-induced depression of spinal reflexes should be a consideration during physiologic monitoring of the spinal cord under general anesthesia.
 ...
PMID:Nitrous oxide depresses the H-reflex in children with cerebral palsy. 781 7

Soleus H-reflex facilitation evoked by a supramaximal conditioning stimulation to the femoral nerve was investigated in 28 healthy control subjects and 35 spastic patients of whom 17 were paraplegics with bilateral spinal cord lesion and 18 were hemiplegics with unilateral cerebral lesion. Heteronymous facilitation from quadriceps to soleus was measured 0.4 ms after onset, while the monosynaptic Ia excitation is still uncontaminated by any non-monosynaptic effect and can be used to assess ongoing presynaptic inhibition on Ia terminals to soleus motor neurons. In paralegics, this heteronymous Ia facilitation was significantly larger than in control subjects (all individual results in these patients being above the mean observed in controls). This must reflect a decrease in presynaptic inhibition of Ia terminals in the paraplegics explored here. There was no correlation between this decreased presynaptic inhibition of Ia terminals and the degree of spasticity measured by Ashworth's scale. Surprisingly, the amount of heteronymous Ia facilitation in hemiplegics was the same as in normal subjects. This indicates that presynaptic inhibition of Ia terminals is unchanged in these patients and disagrees with the usual interpretation of reduced vibratory inhibition of the soleus H-reflex in hemiplegics. It is argued that this disagreement is due to the fact that vibratory inhibition of the reflex also depends on post-activation depression following repetitive synaptic transmission.
 ...
PMID:A quantitative assessment of presynaptic inhibition of Ia afferents in spastics. Differences in hemiplegics and paraplegics. 782 May 79


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>