Central nervous system pathological changes

Neuropathic pain is defined as spontaneous pain and hypersensitivity to pain associated with damage to or pathologic changes in the peripheral nervous system as in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), polyneuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) or pain originating in the central nervous system (CNS), that which occurs with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Functional pain, a relatively newer concept, is pain sensitivity due to an abnormal processing or function of the central nervous system in response to normal stimuli. Several conditions considered to have this abnormal sensitivity or hyperresponsiveness include fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome. 

Pathological changes that may occur in the central nervous system during acute exposure to high doses may complicate recovery. Severe Parkinsonism was one of the effects noted in four case reports resulting from severe acute oral exposure to cyanide (Carella et al. 1988 Grandas et al. 1989 Rosenberg et al. 

Heilbrunn, G., Weil, A. (1942). Pathologic changes in the central nervous system in experimental shock. Archives of Neurology Psychiatry, 47, 918-927. 

Aye MM, Matsuoka E, Moritoyo T, Umehara F, Suehara M, Hokezu Y, Yamanaka H, Isashiki Y, Osame M, Izumo S (2000) Histo-pathological analysis of four autopsy cases of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis Inflammatory changes occur simultaneously in the entire central nervous system. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 100 245-252. 

Guinea pigs exposed to 2.4% ethyl bromide in air for 30 min experienced some delayed deaths and pathological changes in lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. Ethyl bromide is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant causing pulmonary congestion, centrilobular necrosis of the liver, and diffuse nephritis. 

In hypobetalipoproteinenia the plasma LDL level is decreased (10-20% of normal), but that of HDL is normal, and that of VLDL is mildly lowered. Of 23 affected individuals from the four known affected families, one had central nervous system dysfunction and fat malabsorption. The others had mild or no pathological changes. The disease is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. The benign nature of this condition is in sharp contrast with the seriousness of hyperbetalipoproteinemia. In the latter, LDL cholesterol concentrations are two to six times normal, and patients are predisposed to premature atherosclerosis. In another form of hypobetalipoproteinemia, the patient synthesized apo B-48 and secreted chylomicrons but did not produce apo B-lOO or secrete VLDL. 

The retina contributes to major sensory input in humans, engaging about one-third of the human brain in its processing. For clinicians, the retina is the most readily visible part of the central nervous system (CNS). CNS bloodvessels at the arteriolar level can be directly visualized in situ only in retina. This allows a direct inspection of pathological changes in the CNS and the vascular system. For researchers, the retina is a wcU-organized part of the CNS with many remarkable features, making it an excellent tissue for scientific study. 

Oda Y (1999). Choline acetyltransferase the structure, distribution and pathologic changes in the central nervous system. Pathol Int, 49, 921-937. 

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