Takashi Ninomiya

Neuroprotective effect of exogenous microglia in global brain ischemia

Exogenous microglia pass through the blood—brain barrier and migrate to ischemic hippocampal lesions when injected into the circulation. We investigated the effect of exogenous microglia on ischemic CA1 pyramidal neurons. Microglia were isolated from neonatal mixed brain cultures, labeled with the fluorescent dye PKH26, and injected into the subclavian artery of Mongolian gerbils subjected to ischemia reperfusion neuronal injury. PKH26-labeled microglia migrated to the ischemic hippocampal lesion, resulting in increased numbers of surviving neurons compared with control animals, even when injected 24 h after ischemia. Interferon-γ stimulation of isolated microglia enhanced the neuroprotective effect. Administration of exogenous microglia resulted in normal performance in a passive avoidance-learning task. Additionally, administration of exogenous microglia increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in the ischemic hippocampus, and thus might have induced neurotrophin-dependent protective activity in damaged neurons. Peripherally injected microglia exhibited a specific affinity for ischemic brain lesions, and protected against ischemic neuronal injury in vivo. It is possible that administration of exogenous microglia can be developed as a potential candidate therapy for central nervous system repair after transitory global ischemia.

Synthesized surface anatomy scanning (SSAS) for surgical planning of brain metastasis at the sensorimotor region: initial experience with 5 patients.

SummarySurface anatomy scanning (SAS) is a powerful technique that uses T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) to visualize brain surface structures, and to precisely localize subcortical lesions. To overcome technical limitations of this method, synthesized SAS (SSAS) superimposes MR angiography (MRA) data on the SAS images. We describe our initial experience with surgical planning for the resection of metastases at the sensorimotor region in 5 patients using SSAS. Neurological deficits were assessed before and after surgical resection. Although 4 of 5 patients had mild to severe neurological deficits before surgery, three became symptom-free and no patient had an increased deficit after surgery. Our results undoubtedly provide palliative surgery for sensorimotor metastases. As SSAS is non-invasive and requires a short scanning time, this method could become a useful technique for the routine pre-operative simulation for surgery on brain surface lesions such as sensorimotor metastases.

Classification and treatment of aneurysms of the internal carotid siphon.

A series of 48 surgically treated internal carotid siphon aneurysms is presented. The projection of these aneurysms are a key factor in their surgical repair and should be included in a classification system.