Differences in the clinical course among these patients were attributed to anatomical variations in the venous system. Occlusion of the sigmoid sinus should be weighed as a potential complication when selecting candidates for the presigmoidal-transpetrosal approach.

No abstract

To characterize the effects of an estrogen receptor (ER) agonist on the gene expressions in the uterus, immature female rats were administered once orally with 17alpha-ethynyl estradiol (EE, 3 mug/kg), a potent ER agonist. We focused on four categories of sex steroid hormone receptor genes: well-known estrogen target genes, Wnt genes, and beta-catenin/T-cell factor (TCF) target genes. ERalpha, ERbeta, progesterone receptor, and androgen receptor mRNAs were all downregulated at 24 and/or 48 h after EE administration. Complement C3 and insulin-like growth factor 1 mRNAs were markedly induced after EE administration. Although the time courses of Wnt4, Wnt5a, and Wnt7a mRNA status varied until 12 h after EE administration, all of them were simultaneously downregulated at 24 and 48 h. The remarkable downregulation of Wnt7a mRNA in response to EE was considered to be important to understand the various uterine phenomena affected by ER agonists. In the beta-catenin/TCF target genes, the downregulation of anti-Mullerian hormone type 2 receptor and bone morphogenetic protein 4 mRNA after EE administration appeared to be closely related to the downregulation of Wnt7a. The upregulation of cyclin D1 and follistatin mRNA at the early phase after EE administration was considered to have been affected by the upregulation of Wnt4. These results indicate that an ER agonist influences not only the mRNA expression of sex steroid hormone receptor genes and well-known estrogen target genes but also Wnt genes (Wnt4, Wnt5a, Wnt7a) and beta-catenin/TCF target genes in the uterus of immature rats, indicating that their molecules are the potential players affected by estrogenic stimuli.

We reviewed the MRI of seven patients with syringomyelia associated with surgically proven adhesive spinal arachnoiditis to describe clinical and MRI findings in this condition. Using 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 tesla units, we obtained sagittal T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo and axial T1-weighted images. Additional sagittal T2-weighted images were obtained without using motion-artefact suppression. Contrast medium was given intravenously to five patients. The syrinx cavities were thoracic in five cases, cervicothoracic in one, and extended from C4 to L1 in one. No Chiari malformation or craniovertebral junction anomaly was demonstrated. Meningeal thickening was seen on T2-weighted sagittal images only in one case. Cord deformity due to adhesion or displacement due to an associated arachnoid cyst was seen in all cases best demonstrated on axial images. Focal blurring of the syrinx wall on axial images was seen in six patients. Flow voids were seen in the syrinx fluid in all cases on T2-weighted images obtained without motion-artefact suppression. No abnormal contrast enhancement was demonstrated.

Two repeated-dose studies of 6-n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) in male rats based on the research protocol 'Pubertal Development and Thyroid Function in Immature Male Rats' (pubertal assay) proposed by the Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) and the draft protocol of the 'Enhanced OECD Test Guideline 407' (enhanced TG 407) were performed to investigate the suitability of both assays as screening methods for the detection of endocrine-mediated effects and to compare their sensitivity for the endocrine-mediated effects. In the pubertal assay, PTU at doses of 0, 0.01, or 1 mg/kg per day was orally administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 30 days, starting at 23 days of age. In the enhanced TG 407 the same doses of PTU were orally administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 28 days, starting at 7 weeks of age. In the pubertal assay, decreased serum thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), increased thyroid and pituitary weights, hypertrophy of follicular epithelial cells in the thyroid, and increased basophilic cells in the pituitary were detected as endocrine-mediated effects of PTU in the 1 mg/kg group. In the enhanced TG 407, decreased T4 and T3 were detected in both the 0.01 and 1 mg/kg groups, together with increased thyroid-stimulating hormone in the 1 mg/kg group, increased thyroid and pituitary weights in the 1 mg/kg group, and hypertrophy of follicular epithelial cells in the thyroid and increased basophilic cells in the pituitary of the 1 mg/kg group. Thus, among the parameters tested, the thyroid hormone levels, organ weight changes, and the histopathological assessment allowed detection of the endocrine-related effects of PTU in both the pubertal assay and the enhanced TG 407, but the sensitivity of the hormone analysis was higher in the latter.