This study investigated whether dietary cholesterol modulates rabbit hippocampal CM neuron membrane properties known to be involved in rabbit eyeblink conditioning. Whole-cell current clamp recordings in hippocampal neurons from rabbits fed 2% cholesterol or normal chow for 8 weeks revealed changes including

decreased after-hyperpolarization amplitudes (AHPs) – an index of membrane excitability shown to be important for rabbit eyeblink conditioning. This index was reversed by adding copper to drinking water – a dietary manipulation that can retard rabbit eyeblink conditioning. Evidence of cholesterol effects on membrane excitability was provided by application of methyl-beta-cyclodextrin, a compound that reduces membrane cholesterol, which increased the excitability of hippocampal CA1 neurons. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Tucidinostat Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is Lapatinib mouse the most common autoimmune blistering disease, and has been associated with many diseases; most autoimmune. It has never previously been associated

with a reperfused limb. A 74-year-old female underwent a right femoroanterior tibial polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bypass for tissue loss and rest pain ill the right foot. After surgery she was treated for recurrent infection which exacerbated tissue loss and was eventually diagnosed as BP. There was a delay in diagnosis due to the similarity to dry gangrene. This case highlights the potential difficulties of BP diagnosis in a revascularized limb and the importance of multidisciplinary management of atypical infection. (J Vasc Surg 2010;51:732-4.)”
“Previous studies have consistently suggested that the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s

disease (AD). However, whether the epsilon 2 allele, a possible protective factor for AD, will express its protective effect in terms of cortical KU-60019 thickness in healthy elderly carriers is unclear. The goal of this study is to clarify the effects of APOE genotypes on cortical thickness in nondemented elderly subjects. We used 164 healthy, cognitively normal, elderly subjects, who were grouped into epsilon 2 carriers, epsilon 3 homozygotes, and epsilon 4 carriers respectively. The APOE epsilon 2 carriers had a significant thicker (corrected p < 0.05)cortical thickness in the superior temporal cortex compared with the epsilon 3 homozygotes. In addition to this area, the APOE epsilon 2 carriers had a significantly thicker region in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (corrected p < 0.05) than did the epsilon 4 carriers. These findings suggest that the different alleles of the APOE gene have distinct neuroanatomic effects in elderly healthy subjects and may play specific roles in the development of AD. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.