Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085584 (encephalopathy)
 18,178 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Elevated levels of aluminum in brain tissue have been found in demented patients with Alzheimer's disease, with ALS-PD complex of Guam and with dialysis encephalopathy. A possible etiological relationship between enhanced aluminum exposure and impaired mental function was suggested both for ALS-PD of Guam (a region where high contents of aluminum in water are found) and for dialysis encephalopathy which appears in dialyzed patients exposed to high doses of aluminum in medications and in dialysate fluid. The role of aluminum in Alzheimer's disease is not known as is the question of life-long aluminum accumulation in healthy human beings. In this review we have limited ourselves to the issue of oral aluminum ingestion and the possible neurotoxic consequences of such exposure. The following topics are summarized: 1. Physiological mechanisms involved in ingestion and intestinal absorption of aluminum and the influences of pH and available organic complexing agents on these processes. 2. Effects of an aluminum-enriched diet on behavior and on brain metabolism. 3. Dietary sources of aluminum and elevated loads of this substance due to prolonged intake of aluminum-containing medications. The main conclusion of this summary is that aluminum is absorbed and may accumulate in different organs in both adults and infants. Two groups seem to be at particular risk for aluminum related toxicity: people with chronic renal failure treated with aluminum-containing medications and pre-term infants fed on aluminum containing formulate. It seems probable that at least upon short term exposure the healthy human body can defend itself adequately from aluminum's toxic effects. However, not enough information is available on possible effects of life-long exposure to aluminum in the environment, diet and medications, which over decades may lead to accumulation of this substance with expressions of toxicity. Therefore, the question of aluminum's relevance to dementive diseases cannot yet be adequately answered.
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PMID:Aluminum ingestion--is it related to dementia? 184 54

The reduction of working ability, because of disease, was considered in 1,053 subjects. 21 groups of maladies were found; the neurological disease and mental retardation (MR) caused various degrees of working inability in 416 subjects, i.e. in the 39.51% of the examined population; orthopaedic changes affected the 15.57% of the patients; psychic disorders determined some inability in 8.93% of the persons. The subjects unable to work receive, by Law, an economic help. This study was limited to neurological patients and to subjects mentally retarded. The working ability was reduced by 5 types of disturbances: neuromotor pathology, mental retardation, mental deterioration and dementia, epilepsy, other neurological diseases. The neuromotor pathology affected 163 subjects; the types of symptomatology: hemiplegia; it was found in 71 patients; 62 times it was the result of cerebrovascular disease; in 4 patients it was caused by a hypoxic-ischaemic pre-perinatal encephalopathy. 43 patients affected by cerebrovascular disease lost their personal autonomy, i.e. they could no longer do the activities of daily living (ADL); 7 patients lost their working ability; 12 subjects kept some ability to work. The hemiplegias which struck after 50 years of age were caused by cerebrovascular disease; paraplegia: 28 paraplegic patients have been seen; the aetiology was: poliomyelitis in 8 subjects; MS in 5 patients; ALS in 2 patients; in 13 patients the aetiology was unknown. 6 patients resulted unable to work; 8 persons kept some working ability; 14 patients lost the ability to do the ADL; tetraplegia, or double/bilateral hemiplegia, was found in 20 patients; the aetiology: poliomyelitis in 4 patients; pre-perinatal hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy in 4 patients; 3 patients of MS; lesion of the cervical spinal cord because of breech delivery in 2 patients; the aetiology was not known in 7 persons. The ability to do the ADL was lost in 17 patients; 3 subjects kept some working ability. Double or bilateral hemiplegia (Little disease) was the model of neuromotor deficit subsequent natal encephalopathy (Infantile Cerebral Palsy, PCI); brachial plexus paralysis was only found from obstetrical (i.e. natal) origin; poliomyelitis and PKU resulted prevented as of 10 years. Mental Retardation (MR) was considered a borderline pathology between neurology and psychiatry; it included 162 subjects: in patients with severe MR a pre-perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy was found in 40.4% of the cases; in patients affected by moderate or light MR the same encephalopathy was found in the 11.3% of the subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:[Neurologic diseases, mental retardation and reduction in work capacity]. 293 89

Motor neuron hyperexcitability (MNH) indicates a disorder characterized by an ectopic motor nerve discharge on electromyogram (EMG). Here, we present a series of three cases of subacute MNH with mercury poisoning. The first case showed hyperhidrosis, insomnia, generalied myokymia, cramps, tremor, weight loss, and myokymic and neuromyotonic discharges, followed by encephalopathy with confusion, hallucinations, and memory decrease. The second case was similar to the former but without encephalopathic features. The third case showed widespread fasciculation, fatigue, insomnia, weight loss, and autonomic dysfunction, including constipation, micturition difficulty, and impotence, with multiple fibrillation, unstable fasciculation, widened motor neuron potential, and an incremental response at high-rate stimulation in repetitive nerve stimulation. Based on the symptoms, the three cases were diagnosed as Morvan's syndrome, Isaacs' syndrome, and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome with ALS-like syndrome, respectively. Mercury poisoning in the three cases was confirmed by analysis of blood and urine samples. All cases recovered several months after chelation therapy and were in good condition at follow-up. Very few cases of MNH linked with mercury exposure have been reported in the literature. The mechanism of mercury-induced MNH may be associated with ion channel dysfunction.
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PMID:Subacute motor neuron hyperexcitability with mercury poisoning: a case series and literature review. 2522 23

The National PTSD Brain Bank (NPBB) is a brain tissue biorepository established to support research on the causes, progression, and treatment of PTSD. It is a six-part consortium led by VA's National Center for PTSD with participating sites at VA medical centers in Boston, MA; Durham, NC; Miami, FL; West Haven, CT; and White River Junction, VT along with the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. It is also well integrated with VA's Boston-based brain banks that focus on Alzheimer's disease, ALS, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and other neurological disorders. This article describes the organization and operations of NPBB with specific attention to: tissue acquisition, tissue processing, diagnostic assessment, maintenance of a confidential data biorepository, adherence to ethical standards, governance, accomplishments to date, and future challenges. Established in 2014, NPBB has already acquired and distributed brain tissue to support research on how PTSD affects brain structure and function.
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PMID:VA's National PTSD Brain Bank: a National Resource for Research. 2884 Apr 57

Pathological aggregation of the transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders, including ALS, frontotemporal dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and Alzheimer's disease. TDP-43 aggregation appears to be largely driven by its low-complexity domain (LCD), which also has a high propensity to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). However, the mechanism of TDP-43 LCD pathological aggregation and, most importantly, the relationship between the aggregation process and LLPS remains largely unknown. Here, we show that amyloid formation by the LCD is controlled by electrostatic repulsion. We also demonstrate that the liquid droplet environment strongly accelerates LCD fibrillation and that its aggregation under LLPS conditions involves several distinct events, culminating in rapid assembly of fibrillar aggregates that emanate from within mature liquid droplets. These combined results strongly suggest that LLPS may play a major role in pathological TDP-43 aggregation, contributing to pathogenesis in neurodegenerative diseases.
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PMID:The role of liquid-liquid phase separation in aggregation of the TDP-43 low-complexity domain. 3081 53