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Background: Thoracic and foregut operations can cause vagal nerve injury resulting in delayed gastric emptying or gastroparesis. However, the cause of gastroparesis in these patients is not always from a vagal injury. We hypothesize that vagal nerve integrity (VNI) testing may better define who has vagal nerve dysfunction. This information may change subsequent operations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of VNI testing in patients with prior thoracic or gastric surgery.Methods: From January 2014 to December 2017, patients who had previous operations with the potential risk of vagal injury and had VNI testing were reviewed. Excluded patients were those with no plan for a second operation or the second operation was only for gastroparesis. The main outcome was the percentage of operations altered due to the results of VNI testing.Results: Twelve patients (eight females) were included. Ages ranged from 37 to 77 years. VNI results were compatible with vagal injury in eight patients (67%). VNI test results altered subsequent operative plans in 41.7% (5/12). Pyloroplasty was done in addition to fundoplication in two patients. Plans for hiatal hernia repair with or without redo-fundoplication in three patients were changed by an additional pyloroplasty in one patient and partial gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction in two patients. All patients who had secondary surgery had resolution of symptoms and improvement in objective testing.Conclusion: The addition of VNI testing in patients with a previous potential risk of vagal nerve injury may help the surgeon select the appropriate secondary operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in experimental genomics and proteomics, coupled with the wealth of sequence information available for a variety of organisms, have tremendous implications for how biomedical research is performed. Genomic techniques, such as complementary DNA (cDNA) microarrays, currently allow researchers to quickly and accurately quantify vast numbers of potential gene expression changes simultaneously. Modern proteomic techniques allow for the detection and elucidation of protein-protein interactions on a scale and at a speed never before possible. Although hurdles remain, together, these tools open the possibility of enormous change in our ability to analyze and interpret complex biological processes. The field of neuroscience is particularly well suited to analysis with these new techniques, given the complexity of neuronal signaling and the diversity of cellular responses. This review summarizes the major cDNA microarray and proteomic findings of relevance to schizophrenia and Alzheimer''s disease (AD) as 2 representative areas of neuroscience research. The potential for these techniques to help unravel the underlying pathology of complex neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions is considerable and warrants continued investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract It has been demonstrated that not only do rats neonatally lesioned in the ventral hippocampus (VH) develop behavioural hypersensitivity to amphetamine postpubertally, but also that the expression of the sensitivity is strain specific. For example, excitotoxic VH lesions at postnatal day (PD) 7 lead to significant increases in amphetamine-induced locomotion in postpubertal Fischer rats, but not in Lewis rats. However, as it is likely that the effect of strain differences are due to a combination of genetics and environment, we examined the contributions of the environment of the pups in determining the behavioural outcome following neonatal VH lesions. Fisher and Lewis rat pups were cross-fostered at birth, and then at PD7 lesioned bilaterally in the VH with ibotenic acid. anova analysis of postpubertal amphetamine-induced locomotor data revealed a significant effect of the strain of the dams raising the pups but no effect of the strain of the pup. In addition, a post hoc analysis revealed that lesioned Fisher or Lewis rats raised by Fisher, but not those raised by Lewis, dams demonstrated amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion relative to nonlesioned controls. Observations of the maternal behaviour of Fischer and Lewis dams revealed significant differences in the frequency of arched-back nursing between the two strains. Interestingly, a correlation of the frequency of arched back nursing vs novelty- or amphetamine-induced locomotion revealed that the lesioned rats were significantly more affected by increases in arched-back nursing compared to the controls. The results suggest that the genetic background of the pups does not significantly affect the behavioural outcome following neonatal VH lesions; however, the results do suggest an important role of early environmental variables on the behavioural outcome of neonatal VH lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summarizes the major DNA microarray findings of relevance to neuropsychopharmacology, as a prelude to the design and analysis of future basic and clinical microarray experiments. Application of the DNA microarray approach; Role of gene-expression studies; Nature of microarray gene-expression studies.