Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in long-term neurological and systemic consequences, including antibody-mediated autoimmunity, which has been related to impaired functional recovery. Here we show ...that autoantibodies that increase at the subacute phase of human SCI, 1 month after lesion, are already present in healthy subjects and directed against non-native proteins rarely present in the normal spinal cord. The increase of these autoantibodies is a fast phenomenon-their levels are already elevated before 5 days after lesion-characteristic of secondary immune responses, further supporting their origin as natural antibodies. By proteomics studies we have identified that the increased autoantibodies are directed against 16 different nervous system and systemic self-antigens related to changes known to occur after SCI, including alterations in neural cell cytoskeleton, metabolism and bone remodeling. Overall, in the context of previous studies, our results offer an explanation to why autoimmunity develops after SCI and identify novel targets involved in SCI pathology that warrant further investigation.
The aim of this paper is to identify the patterns in the morphological differentiation in Canary Island mice, based on fossil and modern samples. In order to achieve this, the mouse species present ...on the archipelago were first compared with a set of continental mice. The differences between the continental and Canary Island samples, and among the Canary Island samples, provide insights into the processes of colonization and the subsequent insular evolution. Canary archipelago. An outline analysis based on Fourier transformation was used to quantify shape differences between lower molars. Together with the fossil and modern Canary Island samples, a reference set of genotyped continental populations of the commensal Mus musculus and the wild Mus spretus was used for comparison. The morphometric analysis showed that all the mouse specimens from the Canary Islands and Cape Verde belonged to Mus musculus domesticus. Lower molars of extant mice from La Gomera, El Hierro, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and to a lesser degree from Lanzarote, were similar to those of genotyped M. m. domesticus from the continent, while teeth of extant mice from Fuerteventura were more divergent. Fossil mice from Fuerteventura were very similar to the extant representatives on this island, and similar to the fossil mice on the nearby islands of Lobos and La Graciosa. The mouse present on the Canary archipelago has been identified as the house mouse M. m. domesticus. Based on the shape of the lower molar, the Canary Island mice are divergent from the continental ones, but the degree of divergence varies with the geography of the archipelago. Overall, populations from eastern islands are more divergent from the continental mice than populations from western ones. Fossil populations indicate that this situation was established several centuries ago. Two main factors may have contributed to this pattern: the appearance of different types of environment on the islands since the successful settlement of the mouse, and/or the number of subsequent introductions of continental individuals via shipping.
Aim: The influence of the last glaciation on the shallow-water marine malacofauna of the Azores Islands is reviewed. We test, for this fauna, the 'Pleistocene temperature theory' of J.C. Briggs, ...which hypothesizes that a (supposed) lack of endemics in the older (Azorean endemic) fauna resulted from extinctions caused by a severe drop in sea surface temperatures during the Pleistocene. Location: Santa Maria Island, Azores, Portugal. Methods: We compare the fossil mollusc fauna of Prainha, Praia do Calhau and Lagoinhas Pleistocene outcrops with the recent mollusc fauna of the Azores Islands. We dated the fossil fauna, using shells of Patella aspera Röding, 1798, by standard U/Th methodology at the GEOTOP laboratory (Université du Québec à Montreal, Canada). Results: Dating of the shells of P. aspera indicates that the deposition of the lower unit of the Prainha outcrop corresponded to Marine Oxygen Isotope Substage 5e (MISS 5e). Not a single endemic Azorean species of mollusc that is present in the Pleistocene fossil record has since become extinct, and we found no signs of 'mass extinctions' in the littoral marine molluscs of the Azores. The only species that were extirpated from these islands were thermophilic molluscs and littoral bivalves living in fine sand. Main conclusions: Our results do not support Briggs' 'Pleistocene temperature theory'. Nor did we find evidence supporting the hypothesis that most of the marine organisms now present in the Azores recolonized the islands after the last glacial maximum.
Fossil bone collagen
14C dating and
δ
13C and
δ
15N isotopic measurements of the rodent
Canariomys bravoi from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) were used to test two different hypotheses about the ...causes of extinctions of endemic vertebrates on islands, climate versus humans. For the Tenerife giant rat, we show that it survived the climatic change that occurred between the Middle and Late Holocene, but not the settlement of humans on the island.
To cite this article: H. Bocherens et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006)
.
L'extinction des vertébrés endémiques insulaires : le cas du
Canariomys bravoi (Mammalia, Rodentia) de l'île de Tenerife (archipel des Canaries, Espagne).
Datations
14C et mesures des abondances isotopiques
δ
13C et
δ
15N à partir du collagène d'ossements du
Canariomys bravoi de Tenerife (îles Canaries, Espagne) démontrent que ce rongeur insulaire, aujourd'hui éteint, a survécu aux variations climatiques du passage Holocène moyen–Holocène supérieur, avant de s'éteindre à l'arrivée des premiers humains sur l'île. Comme un âge
14C établit que le rongeur et l'Homme ont été contemporains, il souligne la responsabilité probable de ce dernier dans l'extinction de
Canariomys bravoi.
Pour citer cet article : H. Bocherens et al., C. R. Palevol 5 (2006)
.
Aim The influence of the last glaciation on the shallow‐water marine malacofauna of the Azores Islands is reviewed. We test, for this fauna, the ‘Pleistocene temperature theory’ of J.C. Briggs, ...which hypothesizes that a (supposed) lack of endemics in the older (Azorean endemic) fauna resulted from extinctions caused by a severe drop in sea surface temperatures during the Pleistocene.
Location Santa Maria Island, Azores, Portugal.
Methods We compare the fossil mollusc fauna of Prainha, Praia do Calhau and Lagoinhas Pleistocene outcrops with the recent mollusc fauna of the Azores Islands. We dated the fossil fauna, using shells of Patella aspera Röding, 1798, by standard U/Th methodology at the GEOTOP laboratory (Université du Québec à Montreal, Canada).
Results Dating of the shells of P. aspera indicates that the deposition of the lower unit of the Prainha outcrop corresponded to Marine Oxygen Isotope Substage 5e (MISS 5e). Not a single endemic Azorean species of mollusc that is present in the Pleistocene fossil record has since become extinct, and we found no signs of ‘mass extinctions’ in the littoral marine molluscs of the Azores. The only species that were extirpated from these islands were thermophilic molluscs and littoral bivalves living in fine sand.
Main conclusions Our results do not support Briggs’‘Pleistocene temperature theory’. Nor did we find evidence supporting the hypothesis that most of the marine organisms now present in the Azores recolonized the islands after the last glacial maximum.
This is a double blind phase II/III placebo-controlled randomized trial of the safety and efficacy of GH treatment in incomplete chronic traumatic spinal cord injury.
The aim of this study was to ...investigate the possibility to use exogenous GH administration for motor recovery in chronic traumatic incomplete human SCI. The objectives were to establish safety and efficacy of a combined treatment of subcutaneous GH (or placebo) and rehabilitation in this population.
Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos METHODS: The pharmacological treatment was a subcutaneous daily dose of growth hormone (GH, Genotonorm 0.4 mg, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals) or placebo for one year. The pharmacological treatment was performed, during the first six months under hospitalization and supervised rehabilitation.
The main findings were that the combined treatment of GH plus rehabilitation treatment is feasible and safe, and that GH but not placebo increases the ISNCSCI motor score. On the other hand, the motor-score increment was marginal (after one-year combined treatment, the mean increment of the motor-score was around 2.5 points). Moreover, we found that intensive and long-lasting rehabilitation program per se increases the functional outcome of SCI individuals (measured using SCIM III and WISCI II).
It is important to highlight that our aim was to propose GH as a possible treatment to improve motor functions in incomplete SCI individuals. At least with the doses we used, we think that the therapeutic effects of this approach are not clinically relevant in most subjects with SCI.
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