toxic white matter

This review article discusses the role of MR imaging-based biomarkers in understanding and managing hemorrhagic strokes, focusing on intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. ICH is a severe type of stroke with high mortality and morbidity rates, primarily caused by the rupture of small blood vessels in the brain, resulting in hematoma formation. MR imaging-based biomarkers, including brain iron quantification, ultra-early erythrolysis detection, and diffusion tensor imaging, offer valuable insights for hemorrhagic stroke management...

Toxic leukoencephalopathy and myelopathy are common neurologic complications of a wide range of chemotherapeutic and substance abuse agents. During the last decade, there has been a significant change in the profile of white matter toxins, primarily driven by the development and usage of new chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents and by the continuous increase in illicit drug abuse with contaminants. Neuroimaging in the form of MR imaging forms the cornerstone in the diagnosis of these entities, many of which are reversible and amenable to rapid correction...

We present a case here where a 57-year-old South Asian male with disturbed mental status developed multifocal leukoencephalopathy, which we believe was caused by cocaine usage. Cocaine was detected in the urine toxicological sample. Non-acute CT head, with a follow-up brain MRI demonstrating hyperintensity of the T2 FLAIR signal corresponding to diffusion restriction throughout the whole supratentorial white matter, involving semiovale and subcortical U fibres in the occipital lobes as well as posterior frontal and parietal centrum...

Benzene is known to be a common toxic industrial chemical, and prolonged benzene exposure may cause nervous system damage. At present, there were few studies on benzene-induced neurological damage. This research aimed to identify the protein biomarkers to explore the mechanism of nervous system damage caused by benzene. We established a benzene poisoning model of C57 mice by gavage of benzene-peanut oil suspension and identified differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in brain tissue using tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomics...

BACKGROUND: Preterm white matter injury (PWMI) is the most common cause of brain injury in premature neonates. PWMI involves a differentiation arrest of oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells of the central nervous system. Clemastine was previously shown to induce oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination in mouse models of PWMI at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day. The minimum effective dose (MED) of clemastine is unknown. Identification if the MED is essential for maximizing safety and efficacy in neonatal clinical trials...

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most common subtype of stroke with high disability and high mortality rates. Due to the hypertension with arteriosclerosis, hemopathy and cerebrovascular amyloidosis, the influx of blood from ruptured vessels into the brain destroys the cerebral parenchyma and results in dysfunction of central nervous system because of hematoma compression and a series of toxic metabolites. The cerebral parenchyma consists of gray and white matter. The white matter consists of myelinated axons and oligodendrocytes, whereas the gray matter consists of neuronal cell bodies and dendrites...

Cocaine use is responsible for multiorgan damage, including the brain and lungs. Bilateral and symmetrical involvement of the basal ganglia may be due to toxic, metabolic, vascular, inflammatory, infectious, or tumoral causes. Cocaine-related encephalopathy mainly affects the white matter, while basal ganglia involvement is an uncommon finding. Cocaine-induced lung damage varies clinically and even radiologically, with signs that lack specificity. The diagnosis of cocaine-induced lung or brain injury is based on suggestive radiological signs in the context of cocaine consumption and after the elimination of other etiologies likely to present the same patterns...

PURPOSE: Fentanyl, a fully synthetic opioid, is widely used for severe pain management and has a huge abuse potential for its psychostimulant effects. Unlike other opioids, the neurotoxic effects of chronic fentanyl administration are still unclear. In particular, little is known about its effect on the cerebral cortex. The current study aims to test the chronic toxicity of fentanyl in the mice model. METHODS: Adult male Balb/c mice were chronically treated with low (0...

The eukaryotic initiation factor 2B (eIF2B) is a key regulator in protein-regulated signaling pathways and is closely related to the function of the central nervous system. Modulating eIF2B could retard the process of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and vanishing white matter disease (VWM) et al. Here, we designed and synthesized a series of novel eIF2B activators containing oxadiazole fragments. The activating effects of compounds on eIF2B were investigated through testing the inhibition of ATF4 expression...

The most widespread neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is marked by severe behavioral abnormalities, cognitive and functional impairments. It is inextricably linked with the deposition of amyloid β (Aβ) plaques and tau protein in the brain. Loss of white matter, neurons, synapses, and reactive microgliosis are also frequently observed in patients of AD. Although the causative mechanisms behind the neuropathological alterations in AD are not fully understood, they are likely influenced by hereditary and environmental factors...

BACKGROUND: Agent Orange (AO) is a Vietnam War-era herbicide that contains a 1 : 1 ratio of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). Emerging evidence suggests that AO exposures cause toxic and degenerative pathologies that may increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effects of the two main AO constituents on key molecular and biochemical indices of AD-type neurodegeneration...

Background: Air pollution particulate matter (PM) exposure and chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) contribute to white matter toxicity through shared mechanisms of neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and myelin breakdown. Prior studies showed that exposure of mice to joint PM and CCH caused supra-additive injury to corpus callosum white matter. This study examines the role of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling in mediating neurotoxicity and myelin damage observed in joint PM and CCH exposures. Methods: Experiments utilized a novel murine model of inducible monocyte/microglia-specific TLR4 knockout (i-mTLR4-ko)...

In the United States, the rate of opioid use increases each year. With this, users are engaging in more non-traditional methods of usage. "Chasing the dragon" is a term used to describe opioid inhalation, where the user heats the opioid and then inhales the smoke. While this method of usage is typically associated with a quicker high and fewer adverse effects, it can also lead to toxic leukoencephalopathy (TLE). TLE is defined as a structural alteration of the brain's white matter due to toxic exposure, such as heroin...

CGG repeat expansions in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1 have recently been identified as a cause of oculopharyngeal myopathy with leukoencephalopathy. However, since only three patients from a single family were reported, it remains unknown whether their clinicopathological features are typical for CGG repeat expansions in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1. Here, using repeat-primed PCR and long-read sequencing, we identify 12 individuals from 3 unrelated families with CGG repeat expansions in LOC642361/NUTM2B-AS1, typically presenting with oculopharyngodistal myopathy...

Elevated levels of saturated very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) in cell membranes and secreted lipoparticles have been associated with neurotoxicity and, therefore, require tight regulation. Excessive VLCFAs are imported into peroxisomes for degradation by β-oxidation. Impaired VLCFA catabolism due to primary or secondary peroxisomal alterations is featured in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders such as X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy and multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we identified that healthy human macrophages upregulate the peroxisomal genes involved in β-oxidation during myelin phagocytosis and pro-inflammatory activation, and that this response is impaired in peripheral macrophages and phagocytes in brain white matter lesions in MS patients...

In this work, agricultural rinse wastewater, which is produced during the cleaning of agricultural equipment and constitutes a major source of pesticides, was treated by fungal bioremediation and ozonation, both individually and combined in a two-stage treatment train. Three major pesticides (thiacloprid, chlortoluron, and pyrimethanil) were detected in rinse wastewater, with a total concentration of 38.47 mg C L-1 . Comparing both technologies, ozonation in a stirred reactor achieved complete removal of these pesticides (720 min) while proving to be a more effective approach for reducing colour, organic matter, and bacteria...

Vigabatrin is an anti-epileptic drug that inhibits the enzyme γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-transaminase. The anticonvulsant effect of vigabatrin involves increasing GABA levels and attenuating glutamate-glutamine cycling. Vigabatrin indications include infantile spasms and refractory focal seizures. Despite having a significant role in paediatric epileptology, vigabatrin has adverse effects, such as retinal toxicity, in up to 30% of patients after 1 year of use and brain abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...

Elevated levels of Chitinase-3-like protein-1 (CHI3L1) in cerebrospinal fluid have previously been linked to inflammatory activity and disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This study aimed to investigate the presence of CHI3L1 in the brains of MS patients and in the cuprizone model in mice (CPZ), a model of toxic/metabolic demyelination and remyelination in different brain areas. In MS gray matter (GM), CHI3L1 was detected primarily in astrocytes and in a subset of pyramidal neurons. In neurons, CHI3L1 immunopositivity was associated with lipofuscin-like substance accumulation, a sign of cellular aging that can lead to cell death...

Encephalitis occasionally occurs due to the central nervous system (CNS) infection by Varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The coincidence of herpes Encephalitis-brain infection and brucellosis occurs rarely. In this case, a 56-year-old woman was described with low consciousness, seizures, fever, and mood disorders. The brain CT revealed no pathological lesions, but MR showed non-specific plaques in the periventricular white matter. VZV was detected in molecular tests for the panel of viral Encephalitis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)...

INTRODUCTION: BRCA1-associated ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated activator-1 (BRAT1) is responsible for cell cycle surveillance and mitochondrial function. The implications of adult-onset BRAT1-variant and the resulting phenotypic neurocognitive and imaging features have not been previously described. CASE REPORT: A 66-year-old man with a recent diagnosis of classic Hodgkin lymphoma was referred to neuro-oncology for cognitive and motor decline, and progressive cerebral white matter changes noted on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...