International Conference on
Advancements in Pediatric Neurology and Care

Dr.Bence Andras Lazar is the Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Szeged, Hungary.

In recent years, several studies indicated functional interactions between the insulin receptor (InsR) and the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 receptor (TRPV1) co-expressed in a subset of primary sensory neurons (PSNs) of unidentified target innervation. The aim of the present study was to reveal the target-specific expression of the InsR and its co-localization with TRPV1 in adult rats. Adult male Wistar rats (n=12) weighing 300-350 g were used. To identify somatic and visceral PSNs biotin-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin (bWGA) was injected into the hind paw skin, the lateral gastrocnemius muscle, the pancreas and the urinary bladder. Three days later representative serial sections were cut from Th10-13 and L3-S1 dorsal root ganglia. Immunohistochemistry and quantitative morphometry were used to analyze the expression of InsR and TRPV1 in bWGA-labelled somatic and visceral PSNs. The largest proportions of retrogradely labelled InsR-positive neurons were identified among PSNs serving the pancreas (~54%) and the urinary bladder (~52%). InsR-positive neurons innervating the hind paw skin and the gastrocnemius muscle amounted to ~22% and ~21% of labelled neurons. The majority (~64%) of the labelled PSNs exhibited TRPV1 immunoreactivity. Co-localization of the TRPV1 and the InsR was observed in ~16%, ~15%, ~29% and ~30% of labelled cutaneous, muscular, pancreatic and urinary bladder PSNs. Our quantitative morphological data provide evidence for the co-localization of InsR and TRPV1 in PSNs innervating somatic and visceral organs and demonstrate a preponderance of InsR-immunoreactivity among PSNs which innervate visceral targets. These findings suggest that visceral spinal PSNs might be more sensitive to the modulatory influence of insulin than PSNs innervating somatic organs.

Pediatric Neurologist at Children Welfare Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq

Background: The annual incidence of stroke in children after the newborn period is approximately 2.3 per 100000. Half are ischemic, and half are non traumatic intracerebral and subarchnoidal hemorrhages. Objectives: To study the etiologic factors, clinical presentation and outcome of stroke among children admitted to children welfare teaching hospital/Baghdad. Patient and methods: A prospective study was carried out in Children Welfare Teaching Hospital; Children age ranged between 1 month -13 years and was admitted to pediatric neurology ward between 1st of November 2013 and 1st of November 2014. After carful clinical history, physical and neurological examinations, the diagnosis of brain stroke was confirmed in all patients by computerized tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patients included in this study were those diagnosed as having ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke. Results: The total number of cases were 61, 36 were male (59%). The age at onset ranged from 1-156 months. Ischemic stroke constituted 39 patients (63.9%). The most common etiologic factors for the ischemic stroke were protein C deficiency (9, 23.1%). The most common etiologic factor for hemorrhage was bleeding disorders in about 50% of patients. The most common presenting features were hemiplegia, seizure, alteration of consciousness; Cranial nerves palsy is mostly present in the ischemic stroke (14, 35.9%) and only in one patient (4.5%) of hemorrhagic stroke. Conclusions: Ischemic stroke is more common than hemorrhagic stroke in pediatric age group. The significant risk factors for ischemic stroke are protein C deficiency, Congenital heart disease (CHD) and positive family history, while vitamin K deficiency, prolong Partial thromboplastin time (PTT) and trauma are significant for hemorrhagic stroke. The most common clinical features of both types of stroke are hemiparesis, siezure and alteration of consciousness. Keywords:Ischemic stroke, Hemorrhagic stroke, Children Welfare Teaching Hospital

Soheil Kazemi Roodsari is a Research Assistantin Experimental Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract: Methadone is widely used in preventation of opiate withdrawal and also treatment opiate addiction. In addition to its clinical uses some studies demonstrated that methadone is associated with some alterations in seizure susceptibility. In this study, we tried to clarify the modulatory effect of methadone in clonic seizure threshold (CST) induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in mice, and we also further determined the probability role of N-Methyl-D- Aspartate (NMDA) receptor or Nitric oxide (NO) signaling in tolerance, dependence and seizure threshold of methadone. Our data showed that methadone (0.1,0.3,1, and 3 mg/kg) in acute administration has pro convulsive effect whereas chronic injection ( 3mg/kg, 3times/day for 5 days) enhanced seizure threshold. The non-effective (i.e., did not significantly alter the PTZ-induced seizure threshold by itself) doses of NMDA receptor antagonists [Ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) and MK-801(0.05 mg/kg)] were able to inhibit the pro-convulsive effect of methadone, while the non-effective doses of a nonspecific NOS inhibitor [L-NAME (10 mg/kg)] and a specific nNOS inhibitor [7-NI(15mg/kg)] could reversed the anti-convulsive effect of methadone in chronic administration. Additionally, the withdrawal syndrome signs, precipitated by naloxone and also anti-nociception effects of methadone were reduced by administration of NMDA receptor antagonists and NOS inhibitors accompanying methadone. These results suggest the involvement of NMDA receptors in pro and NO pathway in anti-convulsive effects of acute and chronic administration of methadone respectively and also both of them in dependence and tolerance.