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The aim of this study was to determine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) concentrations in a normal population and to analyse their relationship with sex and age. The sample was recruited among patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia, without neurological diseases. NSE was determined by means of immunometric assay. One hundred and eight patients (68 men) were recruited. CSF-NSE concentration was (mean ± SD) 17.3 ± 4.6 ng/ml (men 17.4 ± 4.2, women 17.0 ± 5.2,P = 0.62); serum concentration was 8.7 ± 3.9 ng/ml (men 8.9 ± 3.9, women 8.3 ± 4.0,P = 0.06). The mean CSF/serum NSE ratio was 2.3 ± 0.8 (men 2.2 ± 0.8, women 2.4 ± 0.9,P = 0.22). In both sexes, simple regression analysis showed not significantly increasing concentrations with advancing age for both CSF and serum NSE. Serum and CSF concentrations did not correlate in both sexes. In our study, CSF-NSE was twice the serum concentration; both were not influenced by sex or age. Serum and CSF-NSE values vary widely among different studies on normal populations because of different determination methods; therefore, each laboratory should obtain its own reference values. Finally, serum NSE should be used with caution as an indicator of CSF concentration as no correlation could be demonstrated between them in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the elimination of Citrus psorosis virus (CPV) by somatic embryogenesis from stigma and style cultures. CPV detection; Loss of juvenile characters in the first year of growth; Germination of somatic embryos; Potential of somatic embryogenesis as a technique for the production of health citrus stocks.

Embryo development in vivo has been studied in four Citrus aurantium L. polyembryonic genotypes. Seeds were collected 65, 85, 105, 125 and 220 days after pollination (DAP). None of the immature seeds harvested 65 and 85 DAP contained visible embryos. A single embryo at a more advanced developmental stage was observed in the central position at the micropylar apex of the embryo sac in about 74% of seeds harvested at 105 DAP, while at 125 and 220 DAP the majority of seeds had two or more embryos at the same developmental stage crowded together. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of low- and high-copy-number nuclear DNA was used to distinguish zygotic from nucellar seedlings, Analysis of plantlets derived from in vitro culture of the bigger embryos, located in the central position at the micropylar apex of the embryo sac of seeds harvested at 105 DAP, established that the frequencies of zygotic embryos ranged from 82 to 88%. Media for immature embryo germination in vitro were based on the nutrients and vitamins of Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Murashige and Tucker (MT) media supplemented with various concentrations of sucrose and growth regulators. A total of 76% of globular stage embryos (<0.3 mm) germinated on MT medium containing 150mM sucrose and 14.4 μM gibberellic acid. Heart stage embryos (0.3 - 0.8 mm) germinated at 95% on MT medium supplemented with 150mM sucrose and 2.9 μM gibberellic acid. The addition of 500 mg/I malt extract to MS medium increased the germination of early cotyledon stage (0.8-2.0 mm) embryos to 98%. The optimum sucrose concentration for embryo rescue was 150 mM for the three embryo developmental stages. The ability to form plants in vitro strongly increased with increasing embryo developmental stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somatic embryos were obtained from stylar tissues of three lemon plants, one of cv Lunario, one of Femminello Zagara Bianca, and one of Femminello Santa Teresa. These plants, as shown by visual observations and indexing on woody indicators, were affected by exocortis and two or more virus-like diseases such as psorosis, concave gum, impietratura and cristacortis. Two of the sources contained also mechanically transmissible viruses. Twelve 18-month-old plantlets originating from style culture-derived somatic embryos, four from each source, consistently gave negative reactions when assayed by grafting, mechanical inoculation, and serologically for the presence of viruses, virus-like agents and viroids. It was concluded that, similar to other woody species (e.g. grapevine), somatic embryogenesis opens new possibilities for the sanitary improvement of Citrus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To analyze brain functional connectivity in the somatomotor and default-mode networks (DMNs) of patients with Huntington disease (HD), its relationship with gray matter (GM) volume loss, and functional changes after pridopidine treatment., Methods: Ten patients and ten untreated controls underwent T1-weighted imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); four patients were also assessed after 3 months of pridopidine treatment (90 mg/d). The seed-based functional connectivity patterns from the posterior cingulate cortex and the supplementary motor area (SMA), considered cortical hubs of the DMN and somatomotor networks, respectively, were computed. FMRIB Software Library voxel-based morphometry measured GM volume., Results: Patients had GM volume decrease in all cortical and subcortical areas of the somatomotor network with preservation of the SMA, and increased somatomotor and DMN connectivity. In DMN structures, functional connectivity impairment preceded volume loss. Pridopidine reduced the intensity of these aberrant connections., Conclusion: The abnormal connectivity of the somatomotor and DMN observed in HD patients may represent an early dysfunction marker, as it preceded volume loss in DMN. Pridopidine reduced connectivity of these networks in all four treated patients, suggesting that connectivity is sensitive to treatment response., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)