Annals of Neurosciences, Vol 13, No 3 (2006)

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Annals of Neurosciences, Volume 13, Issue 3 (July), 2006

Editorial Message

Editorial Message

Dear Colleagues

I am happy to inform you that the July, 2006 issue of the journal is being published on schedule. This is largely because of the response from the members who have responded to my appeal, however I would request you all to keep the momentum. The present issue contains 5 articles.

Neural transplantation is one of the most promising therapies for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Difficulty in obtaining sufficient number of fetuses regains an important limiting factor for the clinical application of neural transplantation. Chaturvedi etal have shown that hibernation of fetal central mesencephalic cells as tissue pieces with glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor supplementation for up to 5 days may be a better approach for cool storage of fetal tissue.

Ionizing radiation causes formation of free radicals which are potentially dangerous to the cell and its constituents. Several synthetic compounds and herbal products offer some protection against this toxicity but their clinical use is limited due to side effects. Emblica officinalis, a plant rich in vitamin C has been used in Ayurveda as a potent rasayana. Singhal etal have reported that a fruit extract given to Swiss albino mice prior to 5 Gy gamma radiation caused an elevation in protein and cholesterol levels along with inhibition of lipid peroxidation and increase in glutathione level in the brain.

Very little is known about the biochemical repertoire of the pineal gland of bats. Sex related differences in the profiles of total protein, adrenaline, noradrenaline and MAO in the pineal gland of Rhinopoma kinneari have been demonstrated by Bhatnagar and Lall. There is also a significant shift in the amount of these in male and female bats as they transit from juvenile to adult, pregnant and lactating stage.

The p53 gene is one of the most widely studied tumour suppressor gene. It maintains the genomic stability and regulates the cell cycle and has been assigned many cellular functions which can be traced to its transactivation potential that are involved in cell cycle regulation such as apoptosis, development, differentiation, gene amplication, DNA recombination, chromosomal segregation, cellular senescence, nucleotide excision repair and aging. Its possible functions in human vestibular schwannomas have been reviewed by Dayalan etal and results from there studies could help us develop novel diagnostic, and treatment procedure for these tumours.

Varicella zoster virus is a DNA containing virus which is retained in the cells of the dorsal root ganglia. Thoracic dermatomes are the most commonly affected followed closely by the trigeminal ganglia. Occurrence of sixth cranial palsy is very rare and has been reported by Das etal.

Dr. Rakesh Shukla




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