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We report a case of bispectral index (BIS) falling to zero during absolute alcohol embolization of an intracranial arteriovenous malformation (AVM) under anesthesia. This case highlights the unusual effect of a therapeutic dose of parenteral alcohol on the central nervous system using BIS monitoring.A 29-yr-old male with a left parieto-occipital arteriovenous malformation underwent neuroendovascular embolization under general anesthesia. During injection of absolute alcohol injection into the AVM nidus, the patient developed hypertension and tachycardia coincident with a profound and sustained reduction of BIS values to zero, despite a stable level of anesthesia. Immediate angiography revealed no evidence of hemorrhage or new changes in the patient's cerebral vasculature. Post-procedure, the patient remained drowsy for several hours with signs of alcohol intoxication. He had full neurological recovery.In the presence of normal cerebral angiographic findings, suppression of BIS values may serve as an early indicator of CNS responses to intracranial injection of absolute alcohol for embolization of an arteriovenous malformation.

The effects of a mega dose of ascorbic acid (AA) on alcohol induced peroxidative damages were investigated in guinea pigs. In the present study, four groups of male guinea pigs were maintained for 30 days as follows. (1) Control group (1 mg AA/100 g body wt); (2) Ethanol group (1 mg AA/100 g body wt. + 9 g ethanol/kg body wt); (3) AA group (25 mg AA/100 g body wt); (4) AA + ethanol group (25 mg AA/100 g body wt. + 9 g ethanol/kg). Results revealed that alcohol induced significant lipid peroxidation, since the lipid peroxidation products malondialdehyde (MDA), hydroperoxides and conjugated dienes were elevated. The activities of scavenging enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase were reduced. However, supplementation of AA along with alcohol reduced the lipid peroxidation products in the liver and enhanced the activities of scavenging enzymes. Activities of glutathione peroxidase and reductase were also greater in guinea pigs given alcohol + AA in comparison with those given alcohol alone. Administration of ascorbic acid also reduced the activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), the marker enzyme of alcohol induced toxicity. The vitamin E level, which was reduced by alcohol intake, was raised by the co-administration of AA and alcohol. These studies suggest that a mega dose of AA helps in the prevention of alcohol induced oxidative stress by enhancing the antioxidant capacity and also by reducing the lipid peroxidation products.

Abstract: We investigated the effect of alcohol (3 g/kg body weight intragastrically) on lead‐induced (50 mg/kg body weight intragastrically) oxidative stress in adult rat brain. Ethanol was found to potentiate the accumulation of lead in the rat brain by 100%. Lead and ethanol in combination also enhanced lipid peroxidation, a deteriorative process of biomembranes, and markedly decreased the antioxidant capacity of neuronal cells in terms of reduced activities of antioxidant enzymes i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Further, the activity of glutathione reductase was also significantly decreased in lead and ethanol co‐exposed animals as compared to only lead‐treated animals, which had altered glutathione status. The results of the present study show that ethanol makes the adult rat brain more susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of lead by accentuating the oxidative stress induced by lead.

Abstract Treatment of trigeminal neuralgia has been a problem ever since the disease was first described. The treatment procedures vary from simple medical management to invasive intracranial surgical procedures. In the present study we have attempted to make a comparative evaluation of such widely different treatment procedures as medical treatment using carbamazepine, injection of absolute alcohol to the peripheral branches of the trigeminal nerve, peripheral neurectomy, and injection of absolute alcohol to the gasserian ganglion. The effectiveness of each procedure, its rate and persistence of success, and its complications, if any, are compared.

BackgroundThe consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can result in abnormal fetal development and impaired brain function in humans and experimental animal models. Depending on the pattern of consumption, the dose, and the period of exposure to ethanol (EtOH), a variety of structural and functional brain deficits can be observed.MethodsThis study compared the effects of EtOH exposure during distinct periods of brain development on oxidative damage and endogenous antioxidant status in various brain regions of adult female and male Sprague Dawley rats. Pregnant dams and neonatal rats were exposed to EtOH during one of the following time windows: between gestational days (GDs) 1 and 10 (first trimester equivalent); between GDs 11 and 21 (second trimester equivalent); or between postnatal days (PNDs) 4 and 10 (third trimester equivalent).ResultsEtOH exposure during any of the 3 trimester equivalents significantly increased lipid peroxidation in both the cornus ammonis (CA) and dentate gyrus (DG) subregions of the hippocampus, while also decreasing the levels of the endogenous antioxidant glutathione in the hippocampal CA and DG subregions as well as the prefrontal cortex of young adult animals (PND 60).ConclusionsThese results indicate that EtOH exposure during restricted periods of brain development can have long‐term consequences in the adult brain by dysregulating its redox status. This dysfunction may underlie, at least in part, the long‐term alterations in brain function associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

AbstractWith the growth of decentralized/federated analysis approaches in neuroimaging, the opportunities to study brain disorders using data from multiple sites has grown multi-fold. One such initiative is the Neuromark, a fully automated spatially constrained independent component analysis (ICA) that is used to link brain network abnormalities among different datasets, studies, and disorders while leveraging subject-specific networks. In this study, we implement the neuromark pipeline in COINSTAC, an open-source neuroimaging framework for collaborative/decentralized analysis. Decentralized analysis of nearly 2000 resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets collected at different sites across two cohorts and co-located in different countries was performed to study the resting brain functional network connectivity changes in adolescents who smoke and consume alcohol. Results showed hypoconnectivity across the majority of networks including sensory, default mode, and subcortical domains, more for alcohol than smoking, and decreased low frequency power. These findings suggest that global reduced synchronization is associated with both tobacco and alcohol use. This work demonstrates the utility and incentives associated with large-scale decentralized collaborations spanning multiple sites.

Effective atomic numbers for photon energy- absorption (Z(PEA)eff) and photon interaction (ZPI(eff)) of human organs and tissues such as cortical bone, ovary, eye lens, testis, breast tissue, adipose tissue, lung tissue, soft tissue, soft tissue, (4-component), blood (whole), brain (grey/white matter), and skeletal muscle have been calculated by a direct method in the energy region of 1 keV to 20 MeV. The ZPEAeff and ZPIeff values steadily increase, up to 8-50 keV, and steadily decrease up to 1.25-2.0 MeV for all of the substances studied. From 2.0 MeV, the values rise with the increase in energy, up to 20 MeV. Significant differences exist between the ZPIeff and ZPEAeff in the energy region of 20-400 keV and 3-20 MeV for cortical bone; 15-150 keV for soft tissue, ovary, testis, blood, brain, lung, and skeletal muscle; 15-100 keV for breast tissue, eye lens, and soft tissue (4-component); and 10-100 keV for adipose tissue. A maximum difference of 28.37% is observed at 100 keV for cortical bone, and 30.43% at 40 keV for adipose tissue. For ovary, eye lens, testis, breast tissue, lung tissue, soft tissue, soft tissue (4-component), blood (whole), brain (grey/white matter), and skeletal muscle, a maximum difference of 31.74%, 29.60%, 31.87%, 30.61%, 31.47%, 31.52%, 29.95%, 31.63%, 32.36%, and 31.42%, respectively, is seen at 50 keV. The energy positions at which the maximum of ZPEAeff and ZPIeff occurs differ. The single effective atomic number directly obtained using the program XMuDat (Z(XMUDATTeff)) are found to be higher compared to those of ZPEAeff and ZPIeff values. The effect of absorption edge on effective atomic numbers, and its variation with photon energy and the possibility of defining 2 set values of effective atomic numbers below the absorption edges of elements present in the organs and tissues, are discussed.