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At-level and above-level hypersensitivity was assessed in patients with chronic complete thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI). Patients were classified using somatosensory mapping (brush, cold, pinprick) and assigned into 2 groups (ie, patients with at-level hypersensitivity [SCIHs, n = 8] and without at-level hypersensitivity [SCINHs, n = 7]). Gender and age-matched healthy subjects served as controls. Quantitative sensory testing (QST), electrically- and histamine-induced pain and itch, laser Doppler imaging, and laser-evoked potentials (LEP) were recorded at-level and above-level in SCI-patients. Six of 8 SCIHs, but 0 of 7 SCINHs patients suffered from neuropathic below-level pain. Clinical sensory mapping revealed spreading of hypersensitivity to more cranial areas (above-level) in 3 SCIHs. Cold pain threshold measures confirmed clinical hypersensitivity at-level in SCIHs. At-level and above-level hypersensitivity to electrical stimulation did not differ significantly between SCIHs and SCINHs. Mechanical allodynia, cold, and pin-prick hypersensitivity did not relate to impaired sensory function (QST), axon reflex flare, or LEPs. Clinically assessed at-level hypersensitivity was linked to below-level neuropathic pain, suggesting neuronal hyperexcitability contributes to the development of neuropathic pain. However, electrically evoked pain was not significantly different between SCI patients. Thus, SCI-induced enhanced excitability of nociceptive processing does not necessarily lead to neuropathic pain. QST and LEP revealed no crucial role of deafferentation for hypersensitivity development after SCI. Perspective At-level hypersensitivity after complete thoracic SCI is associated with neuropathic below-level pain if evoked by clinical sensory stimuli. QST, LEP, and electrically-induced axon reflex flare sizes did not indicate somatosensory deafferentation in SCIHs.

Mice deficient of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT ko) mice have a reduced brain serotonin content and develop late-onset obesity. To elucidate the pathophysiology of this obesity, we analyzed the expression of the interrelated weight-regulatory molecules: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and leptin receptor (LR) in brain areas associated with nutrition and activity.We investigated feeding behavior, physical activity and metabolic parameters of 5-HTT ko and wild-type mice and measured the expression of BDNF and LR in brain areas associated with nutrition and activity using quantitative real-time PCR. The influence of age, gender and fasting was analyzed.Male 5-HTT ko mice developed obesity without hyperphagia from the age of 5 months. Physical activity was reduced in old male, but not old female, 5-HTT ko mice. The BDNF gene expression in frontal cortex was elevated in young, but reduced in old 5-HTT ko mice. Fasting failed to increase the BDNF gene expression in frontal cortex of young 5 HTT ko mice and in the hypothalamus in old 5-HTT ko mice. The fasting-induced hypothalamic increase of LR was absent in both young and old 5-HTT ko mice.We propose that low brain serotonin level due to the 5-HTT ko genotype leads to reduced physical activity and low BDNF, which together with the lack of fasting-induced hypothalamic BDNF and LR production results in late-onset obesity. Although lack of the 5-HTT is a genetic vulnerability factor for obesity, female gender is protective.

About eighty years ago an excavation unit of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, working in Deir el-Bahri and led by Herbert E. Winlock, discovered a mass grave with more than sixty individuals. The corpses showed evidence ofviolence and were accompanied by military equipment; therefore, they were identified as soldiers killed in combat. Winlock was convinced that they could be connected to a specific historical event, and the dead were interpreted as soldiers of the victorious Theban army of Mentuhotep II slain during the storming of the fortress of Herakleopolis. This article aims to reassess Winlock's arguments and to present a new interpretation of the evidence.

Proinflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) contribute to Wallerian degeneration by enhancing the adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium through increased expression of adhesion molecules. Here we studied the influence of TNF and TNF receptors (TNFR) on intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and macrophage influx following chronic constrictive injury (CCI) in mice by three different paradigms: (1) C57BL/Wld mice with delayed TNF up-regulation, (2) in vivo inhibition of TNFR1 and TNFR2 by neutralizing antibodies, and (3) three different types of mice with a genetic deficiency for TNFR. C57BL/Wld mice with a delayed macrophage influx had a delayed increase of ICAM-1 compared to control mice. In vivo inhibition of both TNFR significantly impaired macrophage recruitment; however, treatment with anti-TNFR1 antibodies increased endoneurial ICAM-1 expression. In TNFR1 and TNFR1+2, but not TNFR2-deficient mice, endoneurial ICAM-1 expression was significantly reduced, which correlated with prolonged Wallerian degeneration in TNFR1-deficient mice 2 weeks after CCI. Our data support the hypothesis that TNF regulates the expression of ICAM-1 predominantly through TNFR1.

This chapter reconsiders the ancient Egyptian tradition of setting up stelae as boundary markers by discussing examples from the Middle and New Kingdoms. The stelae originating from Nubia, Egypt, and the ancient Near East are analysed in order to obtain a better understanding of their ideological concept. With respect to the twin boundary stelae dated to year 16 of Senusret III and discovered in the fortresses of Semna-West and Uronarti, there is strong evidence that they were replaced during the 18 th Dynasty and incorporated in shrines to guarantee their participation in the cult of their deified owner. With findings from Tell el-Borg in mind, the chapter takes a new look at old data to improve the understanding of the entire group of ancient Egyptian boundary stelae. The stela which Thutmose III established to mark the northern border of his empire is known from five royal texts and a private one. Keywords: Egyptian boundary stelae; Middle Kingdom; New Kingdom; Nubia; Senusret III; Thutmose III

The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is an important mediator in hyperalgesia, nerve injury, and regeneration. Here, we used mice deficient of TNF receptor (TNFR) 1 or 2 to investigate the role of TNF signaling via receptor in each pain behavior and nerve de- and regeneration after chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. We found an absence of thermal hyperalgesia in mice deficient of TNFR1 and a reduction in mechanical and cold allodynia in mice deficient of TNFR1 or TNFR2 compared with wild-type mice. Nerve conduction studies and nerve pathology did not reveal major differences between genotypes in the temporal course of de- and regeneration of the nerve. We propose that the functional effects of the TNFRs on pain symptoms are independent of effects on nerve regeneration. Furthermore, the differential action of TNF via each of its receptors should be taken into account when considering clinical trials with TNF inhibitors for pain.

Antidepressants in the treatment of neuropathic pain are thought to partially exert their effect by inhibition of serotonin (5-HT) reuptake and thus activation of central antinociceptive pathways. Mice deficient for the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT−/− mice) are regarded as a model of lifelong treatment with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Here we investigated 5-HTT−/− mice and compared their pain-related behavior after a unilateral chronic constrictive sciatic nerve injury (CCI) with that of wild-type littermates. Wild-type mice reproducibly developed ipsilateral thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia after CCI. 5-HTT−/− mice did not develop thermal hyperalgesia, but showed bilateral mechanical allodynia after the nerve injury. 5-HT levels as measured with HPLC increased after CCI in the injured nerve in both genotypes and decreased in the lumbar spinal cord in wild-type mice. 5-HTT−/− mice had significantly lower 5-HT concentrations than wild-type mice in all tissues investigated. Thus, in 5-HTT−/− mice, reduced 5-HT levels in the injured peripheral nerves correlate with diminished behavioral signs of thermal hyperalgesia, a pain-related symptom caused by peripheral sensitization. In contrast, bilateral mechanical allodynia, a centrally mediated phenomenon, was associated with decreased spinal 5-HT concentrations in 5-HTT−/− mice and may possibly be caused by a lack of spinal inhibition.