Nitric oxide (NO), a diffusible gas, is produced in the central nervous system, including the spinal cord dorsal horn and the trigeminal nucleus, the first central areas processing nociceptive information from periphery. In the spinal cord, it has been demonstrated that NO acts as pronociceptive or antinociceptive mediators, apparently in a concentration-dependent manner. However, the central role of NO in the trigeminal nucleus remains uncertain in support of processing the orofacial nociception. Thus, we here investigated the central role of NO in formalin (3%)-induced orofacial pain in rats by administering membrane-permeable or -impermeable inhibitors, relating to the NO signaling pathways, into intracisternal space. The intracisternal pretreatments with the NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME, the NO-sensitive guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ, and the protein kinase C inhibitor GF109203X, all of which are permeable to the cell membrane, significantly reduced the formalin-induced pain, whereas the membrane-impermeable NO scavenger PTIO significantly enhanced it, compared to vehicle controls. These data suggest that an overall effect of NO production in the trigeminal nucleus is pronociceptive, but NO extracellularly diffused out of its producing neurons would have an antinociceptive action.
Animals ; Cell Membrane ; Central Nervous System ; Cyclic N-Oxides ; Diffusion ; Facial Pain ; Formaldehyde ; Guanylate Cyclase ; Horns ; Imidazoles ; Indoles ; Maleimides ; Neurons ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nociception ; Pain Measurement ; Protein Kinase C ; Rats ; Spinal Cord ; Trigeminal Nuclei

BACKGROUND: The possibility of developing pulmonary tuberculosis usually increases with increasing age. Therefore, the incidence of endobronchial tuberculosis in older people may increase. We evaluated the clinical characteristics in patients with endobronchial tuberculosis above the age of 70 years. METHODS: We enrolled 74 patients (12 males and 62 females; mean age 64.6+/-16.2 years) that were diagnosed with endobronchial tuberculosis from March 2003 to July 2006 at Gyeongsang University Hospital. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical characteristics of endobronchial tuberculosis for patients 70 years or older (older group) and for patients below the age of 70 years (younger group). RESULTS: The number of patients in the older group was 41 (55%). Cough was the most common symptom in the two groups of patients and dyspnea on exertion was more common in the older group of patients than in the younger group of patients (31.7% vs. 12.1%). The actively caesating type of disease was more common in the younger group of patients than in the older group of patients (66.7% vs. 39%). The edematous type of disease was more common in the older group of patients than in the younger group of patients (53.7% vs. 27.2%) (p<0.05). Tracheal and main bronchial involvement of lesions were more common for the younger group of patients than for the older group of patients (30.3% vs. 9.7%) (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Endobronchial tuberculosis was commonly observed in patients older than 70 years and this group of patients had some clinical characteristics that were different from the younger group of patients.
Cough ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) is a subtype of dominantly inherited leukoencephalopathies caused by novel CSF1R gene mutation predominantly affecting the cerebral white matter. High signal lesions on diffusion weighted image (DWI) are characteristic. Herein, we describe a patent with ALSP with a novel mutation. The patient had persistent DWI lesions, worsening white matter changes associated with rapidly progressive clinical symptoms.
Axons ; Diffusion ; Humans ; Leukoencephalopathies ; Neuroglia ; White Matter