LPS-induced modifications in spontaneous network activity causes neuronal apoptosis in neonatal cerebral cortex

During the perinatal period the developing brain is most vulnerable to inflammation. Prenatal infection or exposure to inflammatory factors can have a profound impact on fetal neurodevelopment with long-term neurological deficits, such as cognitive impairment, learning deficits, perinatal brain damage and cerebral palsy. Inflammation in the brain is characterized by activation of resident immune cells, especially microglia and astrocytes whose activation is associated with a variety of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer´s disease and Multiple sclerosis. These cell types express, release and respond to pro-inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, which are critically involved in the immune response to infection. It has been demonstrated recently that cytokines also directly influence neuronal function. Glial cells are capable of releaseing the pro-inflammatory cytokines MIP-2, which is involved in cell death, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), which enhances excitatory synaptic function by increasing the surface expression of AMPA receptors. Thus constitutively released TNFalpha homeostatically regulates the balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition in an activity-dependent manner. Since TNFalpha is also involved in neuronal cell death, the interplay between neuronal activity MIP-2 and TNFalpha may control the process of cell death and cell survival in developing neuronal networks. An increasing body of evidence suggests that neuronal activity is important in the regulation of neuronal survival during early development, e.g. programmed cell death (apoptosis) is augmented when neuronal activity is blocked. In our study we were interested on the impact of inflammation on neuronal activity and cell survival during early cortical development. To address this question, we investigated the impact of inflammation on neuronal activity and cell survival during early cortical development in vivo and in vitro. Inflammation was experimentally induced by application of the endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which initiates a rapid and well-characterized immune response. I studied the consequences of inflammation on spontaneous neuronal network activity and cell death by combining electrophysiological recordings with multi-electrode arrays and quantitative analyses of apoptosis. In addition, I used a cytokine array and antibodies directed against specific cytokines allowing the identification of the pro-inflammatory factors, which are critically involved in these processes. In this study I demonstrated a direct link between inflammation-induced modifications in neuronal network activity and the control of cell survival in a developing neuronal network for the first time. Our in vivo and in vitro recordings showed a fast LPS-induced reduction in occurrence of spontaneous oscillatory activity. It is indicated that LPS-induced inflammation causes fast release of proinflammatory factors which modify neuronal network activity. My experiments with specific antibodies demonstrate that TNFalpha and to a lesser extent MIP-2 seem to be the key mediators causing activity-dependent neuronal cell death in developing brain. These data may be of important clinical relevance, since spontaneous synchronized activity is also a hallmark of the developing human brain and inflammation-induced alterations in this early network activity may have a critical impact on the survival of immature neurons.

Operative Therapie des gastrooesophagealen Refluxes im Kindesalter unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Kindern mit Behinderung

Ein pathologischer Gastrooesophagealer Reflux (GÖR) tritt häufig bei Kindern mitBehinderung und nach einer Operation am Oesophagus auf wie zum Beispiel nach Korrektureiner Oesophagusatresie. Bei diesen Kindern ist eine medikamentöse Therapie überwiegendzum Scheitern verurteilt und eine Therapie wie die der Antirefluxoperation wird notwendig.In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die 100 Kinder beschrieben, die mit derVerdachtsdiagnose GÖR in den Jahren 1983 bis 1998 vorgestellt wurden. 68 Kinderbenötigten eine Antirefluxoperation. Schwerpunktmäßig werden neurologisch behinderteKinder (85%), bei denen erwartungsgemäß häufig ein GÖR vorliegt, untersucht. Mitbesonderem Interesse werden dabei das Vorliegen und Zusammentreffen mehrerer GÖRprädisponierenderErkrankungen (Behinderung und Zustand nach Korrektur einerOesophagusatresie) untersucht, um Hinweise für eine mögliche Differenzierung prae- undpostoperativer Bilder des GÖR und seine Komplikationen zu gewinnen.Weiterhin werden Aussagen gewonnen bezüglich des Alters der Kinder zum Zeitpunkt desAuftretens der Symptome und zum Zeitpunkt der Operation. Diese werden ebenso wie dieZeiträume zwischen dem Auftreten der Symptome und der Diagnosenstellung, bzw. demOperationszeitpunkt mit den Aussagen in der Literatur verglichen.Ferner wird überprüft, ob sich für die einzelnen Personengruppen (Kinder mit cerebralen undmotorischen Retardierungen (85%), Kinder mit angeborener Oesophagusatresie (4%), Kindermit beiderlei GÖR-prädisponierender Erkrankungen (3%) und Kinder ohne prädisponierendeErkrankungen (8%)) differenzierte Aussagen finden.A pathological gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is often found in handicapped children andafter surgical treatment at the esophagus e. g. after correction of esophagusatresia. Here,medical treatment is often ineffective and an antireflux plasty is needed.In this study 100 children are examined, who had the suspected diagnosis of GER in the years1983 – 1998. 68 children needed a surgical treatment. The majority form the neurologicalhandicapped children (85%), who are predisposed to GER as expected.A special interest of the study is on the existence and coincidence of several GERpredisposingdiseases (disability and esophagusatresia), in order to get an indication forpossible differentiations of pre- and postoperative symptoms and complications of GER.Furthermore evidence is obtained on the age of the children, when the symptoms appearedfirst and when the operation took place. These data and the period of time between theappearence of symptoms and the time of diagnosis and operation are compared with theinformation given in the literature.Moreover the different evidences between the four groups (children with cerebral andmotorial retardation (85%), children with congenital esophagusatresia (4%), children withboth (3%) and children without GER-predisposing diseases (8%)) are analysed.