Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0014070 (encephalomyelitis)
 13,017 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

During an outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease caused by enterovirus 71 (EV-71) in 1997, 4 children presented with sudden cardiopulmonary collapse and minimal neurologic features. All children received cardiopulmonary resuscitation but died within a few hours of admission. Postmortem studies showed infection by EV-71 with extensive damage to the medulla and pons. We postulate an etiologic link between EV-71 and brainstem encephalomyelitis as the cause of pulmonary edema and death.
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PMID:Fatal enterovirus 71 encephalomyelitis. 984 48

Blastomycosis was diagnosed in six nondomestic felids from eastern Tennessee, including two Asian lions (Panthera leo persicus), one African lion (Panthera leo), one Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris), one cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), and one snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Clinical signs included lethargy, anorexia, weight loss, dyspnea, sneezing. ataxia, and paresis. Variable nonspecific changes included leukocytosis, monocytosis, moderate left shift of neutrophils, moderate hypercalcemia, hyperproteinemia, and hyperglobulinemia. Thoracic radiographs revealed interstitial and alveolar changes, consolidation or collapse of a lung lobe, bullae formation, and a pulmonary mass. Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) serology for Blastomyces dermatitidis was performed in five felids and was positive in three. The tiger had cerebral blastomycosis and was positive for AGID serologic tests of both cerebrospinal fluid and serum. One percutaneous lung aspirate in the snow leopard and one bronchial aspirate in an Asian lion demonstrated B. dermatitidis organisms. whereas tracheal wash samples and a nasal discharge were nondiagnostic in others. Treatment with itraconazole was attempted in four cats. The tiger improved before euthanasia, whereas the others did not survive beyond initial treatments. In four felids, B. dermatitidis was found in the lungs and tracheobronchial lymph nodes associated with a florid pyogranulomatous reaction; the tiger had a pyogranulomatous encephalomyelitis, and the cheetah had a single pulmonary granuloma. Thoracic radiography, cytologic examination of lung lesion aspirates, and B. dermatitidis AGID serology should be performed on clinically ill zoo felids in endemic areas to rule out blastomycosis.
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PMID:Blastomycosis in nondomestic felids. 1458 83

Hymenoptera are the large group of insects which includes honey-bees, bumble-bees, paper wasps, hornets, ants. Female hymenoptera possess specialized stinging apparatus with which they inject their venom into prey's or intruder's body. It could be life-threatening for people sensitive to the venom. The hymenoptera venom consists of mixture of biologically active substances, eg. enzymes (phospholipases, hialuronidase), peptides (melittin, apamin, mastoparans, bombolitins) and low-molecular-weight compounds (biogenic amines, acetylcholine, carbohydrates, lipids, free amino acids). Several types of reactions are possible to develop after stinging by hymenopteran insects: (1) non-allergic local reaction (pain, small oedema, redness at the site of the sting); allergic reactions: (2) large local reaction (extensive local swelling, exceeding 10 cm, persisting longer than 24 hours) and (3) anaphylaxis (generalized urticaria, bronchospasm, hypotension, cardiovascular collapse, loss of consciousness); (4) systemic toxic reaction (oedema, vomits, diarrhoea, headache, hypotension, seizures, altered mental status); (5) unusual reactions (cardiac ischaemia, encephalomyelitis et al.). Therapeutic management after stings includes removing of the stinger (bee stings), local remedies (ice-packs, topical steroids) and prevention and treatment of an anaphylactic shock (epinephrine, general steroids, beta-mimetics, fluid resuscitation, oxygen therapy). In the present review types of reaction after hymenoptera stings were described with special interest of anaphylactic and toxic reactions as well as therapeutic management after stings.
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PMID:[Hymenoptera stings]. 1772 87

Interleukin (IL)-25, a member of the IL-17 family of cytokines, is expressed in the brains of normal mice. However, the cellular source of IL-25 and its function in the brain remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that IL-25 plays an important role in preventing infiltration of the inflammatory cells into the central nervous system. Brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) express IL-25. However, it is down-regulated by inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, IL-17, interferon-gamma, IL-1beta, and IL-6 in vitro, and is also reduced in active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions and in the inflamed spinal cord of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS. Furthermore, IL-25 restores the reduced expression of tight junction proteins, occludin, junction adhesion molecule, and claudin-5, induced by TNF-alpha in BCECs and consequently repairs TNF-alpha-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. IL-25 induces protein kinase Cepsilon (PKCepsilon) phosphorylation, and up-regulation of claudin-5 is suppressed by PKCepsilon inhibitor peptide in the IL-25-stimulated BCECs. These results suggest that IL-25 is produced by BCECs and protects against inflammatory cytokine-induced excessive BBB collapse through a PKCepsilon-dependent pathway. These novel functions of IL-25 in maintaining BBB integrity may help us understand the pathophysiology of inflammatory brain diseases such as MS.
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PMID:Interleukin-25 expressed by brain capillary endothelial cells maintains blood-brain barrier function in a protein kinase Cepsilon-dependent manner. 2728 21

Enterovirus 71 (EV71)-associated hand, foot, and mouth disease may be complicated by encephalomyelitis. We investigated EV71 brainstem infection and whether this infection could be ameliorated by passive immunization in a mouse model. Enterovirus 71 was injected into unilateral jaw/facial muscles of 2-week-old mice, and hyperimmune sera were given before or after infection. Harvested tissues were studied by light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and viral titration. In unimmunized mice, viral antigen and RNA were detected within 24 hours after infection only in ipsilateral cranial nerves, motor trigeminal nucleus, reticular formation, and facial nucleus; viral titers were significantly higher in the brainstem than in the spinal cord samples. Mice given preinfection hyperimmune serum showed a marked reduction of ipsilateral viral antigen/RNA and viral titers in the brainstem in a dose-dependent manner. With optimum hyperimmune serum given after infection, brainstem infection was significantly reduced in a time-dependent manner. A delay in disease onset and a reduction of disease severity and mortality were also observed. Thus, EV71 can directly infect the brainstem, including the medulla, via cranial nerves, most likely by retrograde axonal transport. This may explain the sudden cardiorespiratory collapse in human patients with fatal encephalomyelitis. Moreover, our results suggest that passive immunization may still benefit EV71-infected patients who have neurologic complications.
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PMID:Enterovirus 71 can directly infect the brainstem via cranial nerves and infection can be ameliorated by passive immunization. 2528 94

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease characterized by immune cell infiltration of CNS, blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, localized myelin destruction, and progressive neuronal degeneration. There exists a significant need to identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies that effectively and safely disrupt and even reverse disease pathophysiology. Signaling cascades initiated by semaphorin 4D (SEMA4D) induce glial activation, neuronal process collapse, inhibit migration and differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), and disrupt endothelial tight junctions forming the BBB. To target SEMA4D, we generated a monoclonal antibody that recognizes mouse, rat, monkey and human SEMA4D with high affinity and blocks interaction between SEMA4D and its cognate receptors. In vitro, anti-SEMA4D reverses the inhibitory effects of recombinant SEMA4D on OPC survival and differentiation. In vivo, anti-SEMA4D significantly attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in multiple rodent models by preserving BBB integrity and axonal myelination and can be shown to promote migration of OPC to the site of lesions and improve myelin status following chemically-induced demyelination. Our study underscores SEMA4D as a key factor in CNS disease and supports the further development of antibody-based inhibition of SEMA4D as a novel therapeutic strategy for MS and other neurologic diseases with evidence of demyelination and/or compromise to the neurovascular unit.
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PMID:SEMA4D compromises blood-brain barrier, activates microglia, and inhibits remyelination in neurodegenerative disease. 2546 Nov 92

In this study we investigated the additive effect of mercury on the brain mitochondrial dysfunction in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model. Experimental animals (female C57BL/6 mice) are divided into four groups (n = 8); control, Hg, EAE, EAE with Hg. EAE model of MS induced by injecting myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). Neurobehavioral alterations are recorded and then mice were sacrificed at day 28 and brain mitochondria were isolated and mitochondrial toxicity parameters including mitochondrial swelling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cytochrome c release were measured. Our results showed that repeated treatment of mercury following induction of EAE in mice significantly increased the neurobehavioral scores, as well as mitochondrial toxicity through ROS formation, mitochondrial swelling, collapse of MMP and cytochrome c release. Our findings proved that repeated exposure with mercury accelerates progression of MS through mitochondrial damage related to oxidative stress and finally apoptosis.
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PMID:Repeated Administration of Mercury Intensifies Brain Damage in Multiple Sclerosis through Mitochondrial Dysfunction. 2824 80