Is cognitive impairment in myotonic dystrophy type 1 associated with white matter damage?
WM damage, through a disconnection between GM structures, is likely to be the major contributor to cognitive impairment in DM1. Our MRI findings in aDM1 and jDM1 patients support the hypothesis of a degenerative (premature aging) origin of the GM abnormalities and of developmental changes as the principal substrates of microstructural WM alterations in DM1.
Low-dose nitrite infusion greatly alleviates early adverse effects of CM on renal tissue oxygenation in rats. Nitrite's beneficial effect probably relies on its reduction to nitric oxide in hypoxic tissue with ensuing vasodilation. Our nitrite dose resulted in a negligible increase in methemoglobin and did not induce hypotension. Thus, low-dose nitrite infusion might prove to be a reasonably specific measure to reduce the risk for CM-induced AKI.