We carried out the Schirmer test to measure objectively the amount of lacrimation among 51 clinically diagnosed parkinsonian patients (33 men and 18 women aged 50 to 79 years, mean 64) and 75 age-matched controls (42 men and 33 women aged 50 to 76, mean 62). Whatman No. 2 paper, prepared in precut strips 5mm by 35mm, was placed in the cul-de-sac for five minutes, after which the wetted length of the strip was studied. It was noted that the lacrimation amount decreased in patients with Parkinson's disease compared with controls: the average amount of lacrimation was 3.4 +/- 2.3mm in the former group and 8.1 +/- 6.5mm in the latter group (p < 0.01). We believe that the decrease in the amount of lacrimation is associated with emotional disturbance and autonomic dysfunction, and presume that the lacrimation may be under the control of the basal ganglia which has a connection with the superior salivatory nucleus downward and the limbic system upward.
Aged ; Autonomic Nervous System/physiopathology ; Female ; Human ; Limbic System/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Parkinson Disease/*physiopathology ; Tears/*secretion

Acupuncture analgesia is involved in various functions of the whole nervous system. The spinal cord is the first station for processing and translating the acupuncture analgesia; the brain stem is the relay station for systematization, differentiation and analysis, excitation, synthesis of acupuncture analgesic message, playing an important role in acupuncture analgesia; the thalamus functions complicated analysis and comprehensive regulation on various messeges with many kinds of neurohumoral factors involved and it is a coordinate center for strengthening and controlling acupuncture analgesia; the limbic system and its nuclear groups with many neurotransmitters involved, play coordinate action on acupuncture analgesia; the cerebral cortex is the high center and functions not only excitation and inhibition processes, but also is a center for complicated regulation and command, strengthening acupuncture analgesia and inhibiting the excess, so as to exerts interaction of dynamic balance.
Acupuncture Analgesia ; Brain Stem ; physiology ; Cerebral Cortex ; physiology ; Humans ; Limbic System ; physiology ; Pain ; physiopathology ; Spinal Cord ; physiology ; Thalamus ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the features of glutamate activity in the limbic system and the effects of glutamate on the activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis throughout both acute cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.

METHODSThe changes in glutamate content in the nervous cell gap, in corticotrophin releasing hormone (CHR) mRNA expression level in brain tissue, and in adrenocorticotropic hormone in blood plasma at different time-points after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats were determined respectively with high-performance liquid chomatography (HPLC) and in situ hybridization.

RESULTSGlutamate content in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus increased rapidly at ischemia 15 minutes, and reached peak value (the averages were 21.05 mg/g +/- 2.88 mg/g and 14.20 mg/g +/- 2.58 mg/g, respectively) at 1 hour after middle cerebral artery occlusion. During recirculation, it returned rapidly to the baseline level. At 24 hours after reperfusion, it went up once more, and remained at a relative high level until 48 hours after reperfusion, and then declined gradually. CRH mRNA expression levels in the temporal cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus were enhanced markedly at 1 hour ischemia and were maintained until 96 hours after reperfusion. At the same time, adrenocorticotropic hormone level in plasma was relatively increased. In the peak stage of reperfusion injury, there was a significantly positive correlation (n = 15, r = 0.566, P < 0.05) of the glutamate contents in the hypothalamus with the number of cells positive for CRH mRNA expression level in the hypothalamus.

CONCLUSIONIt is probable that the CRH system in the central nervous system is mainly distributed in the limbic system, and glutamate might be one of the trigger factors to induce excessive stress response in the HPA axis.

Animals ; Glutamic Acid ; analysis ; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ; chemistry ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Limbic System ; chemistry ; Male ; Pituitary-Adrenal System ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; physiopathology