Background: The pedunculopontine nucleus has recently been proposed as an alternative target for deep brain stimulation for the treatment of medically intractable Parkinson's disease. The suggested indication for pedunculopontine nucleus deep brain stimulation is severe and medically intractable axial symptoms such as gait and postural impairment. Objective: Our goal in this study was to describe the effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation on pedunculopontine nucleus electrophysiological activity. Methods: Fourteen male Wistar rats were divided into a sham stimulation group and an experimental group. In both groups, electrodes were implanted bilaterally into the subthalamic nucleus and into the right pedunculopontine nucleus. Microelectrode recordings were carried out in both groups prior to and during subthalamic nucleus stimulation. Results: Subthalamic nucleus stimulation produced no clear inhibition of neuronal firing in the pedunculopontine nucleus. However, we found that stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus at 60 Hz produces some entrainment of pedunculopontine nucleus neuronal firing and a shift of subthalamic nucleus firing patterns to more tonic and random patterns. These results are consistent with the effects of deep brain stimulation on neuronal activity in the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus internus. Conclusion: The result of this study provides additional evidence to improve our understanding of the mechanism of subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation, and its physiological consequences.

Cardiovascular risk factors are important causes of morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the cardiovascular risk factors in 207 postmenopausal Turkish women over 45 years old in a rural district of West Anatolia, Manisa Muradiye district. A questionnaire on socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics was conducted in the women followed by the measurement of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, cholesterol levels, and waist-hip ratio along with an electrocardiogram (ECG). The European Cardiology Society risk index was used for cardiovascular risk evaluation. The results showed that 86% percent of the women will be carrying more than a 5% probability of developing a cardiovascular risk in the next 10 years. Moreover, the results proved 7% of the women are at high risk for a cardiovascular condition. Hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and impaired glucose tolerance, were observed in 62%, 35.3%, and 13.5% of the women, respectively. Seven percent had smoked for at least six months. Fourteen cases had complained of exercise angina and pathologic ECG signs were diagnosed in one-third of these 14 cases. The waist-hip ratio measured 0.8 or more in 66.2% of the cases, with a range of 68-147 cm (mean; 95.6 +/- 11.55). The results indicate that the risk of a cardiovascular condition developing is extremely high in postmenopausal West Anatolian women and increases with age. Morever, the prevalance of hypertension increased with age and was very closely related with low socioeconomic levels. These hazardous cardiovascular disease risk factors should be considered as high priority health problems in rural and low socioeconomic areas of developing communities. Intervention to modify the cardiovascular risk factors should be included in routine primary health care programs.