BackgroundPeripheral neuropathy is a common and dose-limiting side effect of many cancer chemotherapies. The taxane agents, including paclitaxel (Taxol®), are effective chemotherapeutic drugs but cause degeneration of predominantly large myelinated afferent sensory fibers of the peripheral nervous system in humans and animal models. Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons are sensory neurons that have unipolar axons each with two branches: peripheral and central. While taxane agents induce degeneration of peripheral axons, whether they also cause degeneration of central nervous system axons is not clear. Using a mouse model of paclitaxel-induced neuropathy, we investigated the effects of paclitaxel on the central branches of sensory axons.ResultsWe observed that in the spinal cords of paclitaxel-intoxicated mice, degenerated axons were present in the dorsal columns, where the central branches of DRG axons ascend rostrally. In the peripheral nerves, degenerated myelinated fibers were present in significantly greater numbers in distal segments than in proximal segments indicating that this model exhibits the distal-to-proximal degeneration pattern generally observed in human peripheral nerve disorders.ConclusionsWe conclude that paclitaxel causes degeneration of both the peripheral and central branches of DRG axons, a finding that has implications for the site and mode of action of chemotherapy agents on the nervous system.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an established risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here the effects of severe penetrating TBI on APP and tau cleavage processing were investigated in a rodent model of penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI). PBBI was induced by stereotactically inserting a perforated steel probe through the right frontal cortex of the anesthetized rat and rapidly inflating/deflating the probe’s elastic tubing into an elliptical shaped balloon to 10% of total rat brain volume causing temporary cavitation injury. Separate animals underwent probe injury (PrI) alone without balloon inflation. Shams underwent craniectomy. Brain tissue was collected acutely (4h, 24h, 3d) and subacutely (7d) post-injury and analyzed by immunoblot for full length APP (APP-FL) and APP beta c-terminal fragments (βCTFs), full length tau (tau-FL) and tau truncation fragments and at 7d for cytotoxic Beta amyloid (Aβ) peptides Aβ40 and Aβ42 analysis. APP-FL was significantly decreased at 3d and 7d following PBBI whereas APP βCTFs were significantly elevated by 4h post-injury and remained elevated through 7d post-injury. Effects on βCTFs were mirrored with PrI, albeit to a lesser extent. Aβ40 and Aβ42 were significantly elevated at 7d following PBBI and PrI. Tau-FL decreased substantially 3d and 7d post-PBBI and PrI. Importantly, a 22 kDa tau fragment (tau22), similar to that found in AD, was significantly elevated by 4h and remained elevated through 7d post-injury. Thus both APP and tau cleavage was dramatically altered in the acute and subacute periods post-injury. As cleavage of these proteins has also been implicated in AD, TBI pathology shown here may set the stage for the later development of AD or other tauopathies.
Climate change negatively impacts human health, and yet the healthcare industry is one of the largest generators of waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A significant portion of these GHG emissions comes from the production, transport, and disposal of medical equipment, ultimately becoming waste. Within the hospital, about 30 percent of waste is generated in the operating room (OR). The purpose of this study was to determine how much waste was leaving the OR. Two 5-day OR audits at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Service found that 231.3 kg of total waste was generated per day, of which 84.5, 8.83, 2.79, and 3.88 percent were general, recyclable, biohazard, and blue wrap waste, respectively. By studying the amounts and types of waste that different hospitals produce, a systems-approach could be applied to waste reduction in the OR and effect policy change that would promote environmental sustainability in the hospital setting.
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