Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023380 (lethargy)
 5,697 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Inoculation of three- to four-week-old BALB/c mice with temperature-sensitive (ts) vesicular stomatitis virus mutant G41 produced a subacute neurological disease, initially characterized by development of lethargy, hunched posture, and ruffled fur within five to seven days after infection. More than 90% of infected mice developed these clinical signs. In approximately 60% of infected mice, the initial neurological signs proceeded to striking hind-limb paralysis and weight loss. These signs usually appeared by seven to nine days after infection and lasted for 21-28 days. Only 16% of the mice died as a result of infection; death usually occurred eight to 12 days after infection. Most of the infected mice recovered from the acute phase of disease and appeared normal by four weeks after infection. However, hind-limb paralysis persisted in 4% of the mice for as long as the mice were observed, i.e., 42 days. The mutant ts-G41 was recovered from the brains and spinal cords of infected mice for the first seven days after infection. Peak titers of virus were modest, 10(4)-10(5) pfu/ml in brain tissue and 10(3)-10(4) pfu/ml in spinal cord tissue. Virus isolated after in vivo infection was temperature-sensitive and thus not revertant wild-type virus. Although virus was recoverable by homogenization for only the first seven days of infection, use of cocultivation techniques permitted the detection of ts-G41 in brains and spinal cords of infected animals for as long as 21 days after infection. Virus recovered by cocultivation was also temperature-sensitive.
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PMID:Subacute infection with temperature-sensitive vesicular stomatitis virus mutant G41 in the central nervous system of mice. I. Clinical and virologic studies. 22 Mar 28

A temperature-sensitive mutant of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), tsG31-KS5 VSV, intracerebrally inoculated into BALB/c (+/+) or Swiss outbred mice yielded a clinically asymptomatic persistent infection of the central nervous system (CNS). BALB/c nude (nu/nu) mice infected with tsG31-KS5 VSV, however, all perished within 26 days of infection. All the nude mice were afflicted with a slowly progressing CNS disorder, with symptoms including lethargy, curvature of the spine, hind-limb paralysis and other neurological disorders, before they succumbed to the infection. Wild-type (wt) VSV infection of either normal or nude mice, on the other hand, invoked a rapidly lethal disease with all animals dying within 4 days of infection. When nude mice were reconstituted with 5 x 10(6) syngeneic T lymphocyte-enriched splenocytes, over 70% of them not only survived the tsG31-KS5 VSV infection but appeared to be free of any neurological disorders. Only 20% of these reconstituted mice infected for 20 days with tsG31-KS5 VSV endured a wt VSV challenge. In contrast, BALB/c (+/+) mice infected for 20 days with tsG31-KS5 VSV all survived a wt VSV challenge. Reconstitution of nude mice with 5 x 10(6) T lymphocytes did not elicit a vigorous secondary humoral antibody response against VSV. All the animals reconstituted with 5 x 10(7) T lymphocytes and infected with tsG31-KS5 VSV, however, had both late and early humoral responses that equalled antibody responses of BALB/c (+/+) mice. Reconstitution with either 5 x 10(6) or 5 x 10(7) T lymphocytes afforded the nude mice equivalent protection from the CNS disorder triggered by tsG31-KS5 VSV. Reconstitution with 5 x 10(6) T lymphocytes, therefore, protected nude mice from the neurological disease induced by the persistent virus without eliciting a robust humoral antibody response. Infectious, temperature-sensitive VSV was retrieved from the CNS of the nude mice that had been reconstituted with 5 x 10(6) T lymphocytes and infected for up to 30 days with tsG31-KS5 VSV. The CNS-isolated VSV was less temperature-sensitive than tsG31-KS5 VSV. When the CNS-isolated VSV was intracerebrally inoculated into Swiss outbred mice, an aggressive disease ensued with most of the mice developing a CNS disorder. In comparison, Swiss outbred mice were asymptomatically infected with tsG31-KS5 VSV. The VSV isolated from the CNS was more lethal to the mice than tsG31-KS5 VSV possibly because it was less temperature-sensitive.
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PMID:Reconstitution with T lymphocytes protects nude mice from a central nervous system disorder induced by a temperature-sensitive vesicular stomatitis virus. 284 9

The therapeutic responses of seven children with Wilson's disease who presented with neurological disease were evaluated. Neurological abnormalities comprised intellectual deterioration in 7, conduct disorder in five, dystonia in three, choreoathetosis in three, seizures in one and hemiparesis in one. Lethargy and weight loss were present for several months in 6 children. Four children had clinically demonstrable liver disease which was fatal in two. Electroencephalography performed in two children was normal. Computed tomography (CT) of the brain in three children showed cerebral atrophy in all and areas of low attenuation in the basal ganglia which resolved on treatment in one. All patients were treated with penicillamine but, in four, triethylene tetramine (TETA) was substituted because of adverse effects. Neurological abnormalities in these patients were reversible.
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PMID:Neurological abnormalities in Wilson's disease are reversible. 356 99

To determine whether the aetiological agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is pathogenic for mink, standard dark mink were inoculated with coded homogenates of bovine brain from the U.K. Two homogenates were from cows affected with BSE. The third was from a cow that came from a farm with no history of having had BSE or having been fed ruminant-derived, rendered by-products, the proposed vehicle for introduction of the BSE agent. Each homogenate was inoculated intracerebrally into separate groups of mink and a pool of the three was fed to a fourth group. Signs of neurological disease appeared in mink an average of 12 months after intracerebral inoculation and 15 months after feeding. Decreased appetite, lethargy and mild to moderate pelvic limb ataxia were the predominant clinical signs, quite unlike the classic clinical picture of transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME). Microscopic changes in brain sections of most affected mink were those of a scrapie-like spongiform encephalopathy. Vacuolar change in grey matter neuropil was accompanied by prominent astrocytosis. Varying greatly in severity from one mink to another, the degenerative changes occurred in the cerebral cortex, dorsolateral gyri of the frontal lobe, corpus striatum, diencephalon and brainstem. Although resembling TME, the encephalopathy was distinguishable from it by less extensive changes in the cerebral cortex, by more severe changes in the caudal brainstem and by sparing of the hippocampus. The results of this study extend the experimental host range of the BSE agent and demonstrate for the first time the experimental oral infection of mink with a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy agent from a naturally infected ruminant species.
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PMID:Experimental infection of mink with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. 807 14

Subacute encephalopathy developed in four patients within one to two months after undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation or peripheral blood progenitor (stem) cell transplantation for breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. None of the patients had previously known neurologic disorders, central nervous tumor or infection. Two patients presented with generalized tonic, clonic seizures, and two with confusion and lethargy. In all patients lumbar puncture and CT scans of the brain were normal, while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated multifocal predominantly white matter lesions. Phenytoin therapy was given to the two patients with seizures and all four patients improved without specific therapeutic intervention. Repeat MRIs became normal within three months. We report a delayed and transient encephalopathy which appears to be a unique complication of high-dose cytotoxic chemotherapy. The corresponding brain lesions may not be appreciated on CT scans, suggesting an expanded role for MRI studies in patients who develop neurologic findings while undergoing high-dose cytotoxic therapy.
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PMID:Delayed, transient encephalopathy after marrow transplantation: case reports and MRI findings in four patients. 884 58

Ca2+ channel beta subunits regulate voltage-dependent calcium currents through direct interaction with alpha 1 subunits. The beta- and alpha 1-binding motifs are conserved, and all beta subunits can stimulate current amplitude, voltage dependence, and kinetics when coexpressed with various alpha 1 subunits. We used a positional candidate approach to determine that the ataxia and seizures in the lethargic (lh) mouse arise from mutation of the beta-subunit gene Cchb4 on mouse chromosome 2. A four-nucleotide insertion into a splice donor site results in exon skipping, translational frameshift, and protein truncation with loss of the alpha 1-binding site. The lethargic phenotype is the first example of a mammalian neurological disease caused by an inherited defect in a non-pore-forming subunit of a voltage-gated ion channel.
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PMID:Mutation of the Ca2+ channel beta subunit gene Cchb4 is associated with ataxia and seizures in the lethargic (lh) mouse. 903 65

Analysis of the molecular defects in mouse mutants can identify candidate genes for human neurological disorders. During the past 2 years, mutations in sodium channels, calcium channels and potassium channels have been identified by positional cloning of the spontaneous mouse mutants motor endplate disease, tottering, lethargic and weaver. The phenotypes of four allelic mutations identified in the sodium channel gene Scn8a range from ataxia and muscle weakness through severe dystonia and progressive paralysis, indicating that human mutations in this gene could be associated with a variety of clinical syndromes. Mutations of the calcium channel subunits beta 4 in the lethargic mouse and alpha 1A in the tottering mouse have specific effects on cerebellar function. Targeted mutation of ligand-gated ion channels has also been used to generate new models of neurological disease. We will review these recent achievements and their implications for human neurological disease. The mouse studies indicate that mutations in ion channel genes are likely to be responsible for a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes in human neurological disorders.
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PMID:Ion channel mutations in mouse models of inherited neurological disease. 956 26

The mouse neurological mutant lethargic (lh) is characterized by ataxia, focal myoclonus, and absence epilepsy due to a loss-of-function mutation in the beta4 subunit of the voltage-gated calcium channel. To evaluate the role of this channel subunit in human neurological disease, we determined the chromosomal location and intron/exon structure of the human CACNB4 gene. The 1560-bp open reading frame of the CACNB4 cDNA predicts a 58-kDa protein with an amino acid sequence that is 99% identical to the rat protein. The 13 coding exons of CACNB4 span >55 kb of genomic DNA. Human cerebellar RNA contains one major CACNB4 transcript that is 9 kb in length. Expression of CACNB4 was detected in cerebellum, kidney, testis, retina, lymphoblasts, and circulating lymphocytes. Retinal transcripts were localized by in situ hybridization to ganglion cells and the inner nuclear layer. Analysis of the GeneBridge 4 radiation hybrid mapping panel localized CACNB4 to position 791 cR on human chromosome 2, in a conserved linkage group on human 2q22-q31 and mouse chromosome 2. We localized CACNB4 to the 1.3-Mb YAC clone 952F10 in Whitehead contig WC861, along with the polymorphic markers D2S2236 and D2S2299. The chromosomal linkage of three of the four beta subunit genes to homeobox gene clusters associates the evolutionary origin of the beta gene family with the events that generated the four HOX clusters early in vertebrate evolution.
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PMID:Calcium channel beta 4 (CACNB4): human ortholog of the mouse epilepsy gene lethargic. 962 18

The mouse is a well-established model for human genetic disorders. An increasing number of single-gene human diseases are being elucidated through the use of mouse models. Recently genes for three of the six well-characterised single locus models for human spike-wave epilepsy have been isolated and published. The tottering mouse has been shown to be due to mutations in the gene encoding the high voltage-activated alpha1A calcium channel subunit. The lethargic mouse has been shown to be due to mutations in the gene encoding another calcium channel subunit, beta4. The slow-wave epilepsy mouse phenotype is the result of loss of function of the ubiquitous sodium hydrogen exchanger NHEI. These genes and the pathways they are involved in are now candidates for human spike-wave epilepsy. The six mouse models and those genes underlying the spike-wave phenotype are discussed in conjunction with how these mutations were discovered and how they may give rise to the seizure phenotypes. Several nonepilepsy human neurologic disorders have been shown to be allelic with the tottering mouse. The question this raises as to the validity of these models for human spike-wave epilepsy is considered. Finally, the effect these discoveries will have on the understanding and treatment of human spike-wave epilepsy are discussed.
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PMID:Mouse models of spike-wave epilepsy. 1044 46

A 74-year-old woman presented with progressive mental deterioration following a low-grade fever and headache. Upon admission, she appeared lethargic, could not obey simple commands and was disoriented to time, place and person. She had low-grade fever and mild neck stiffness. The cerebrospinal fluid had an elevated protein content of 496 mg/dl, contrast-enhanced MRI revealed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement, particularly in the occipital area, and a cerebral angiogram showed diffuse segmental narrowing of multiple intracranial arteries, especially in the distal portion of the right middle cerebral artery. A clinical diagnosis of granulomatous angiitis of the central nervous systems (GANS) was made, and corticosteroid therapy was initiated. The patient improved gradually, and corticosteroid therapy was tapered to the maintenance dose (prednisolone 0.4 mg/kg daily). An open brain biopsy showed multiple vessels containing granulomatous inflammation with giant cells. GANS is one of the most challenging neurologic disorders to diagnose because of its relative rarity and the lack of specificity of clinical signs and efficient, non-invasive, diagnostic tests. In this case, we were able to begin corticosteroid therapy in the early stage of the disease (before brain biopsy), and it yielded a good outcome.
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PMID:[Successful early-stage corticosteroid treatment in a case of granulomatous angiitis of the central nervous system]. 1465 5


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