Mihai Ioan Botez

Mihai Ioan Botez (1927–1998) was a neurologist trained at the Romanian School of Neurology founded by Gheorghe Marinescu.

Mihai Ioan Botez

Dr M.I.Botez immigrated to Canada in the 1970s and became professor of neurology at the Université de Montréal.^[1]

Behavioral neurology

Botez became a proficient researcher in several fields of behavioral neurology in both human and animal subjects.

Folic acid

In the 1970s, Botez' main research subject was the effects of folic acid and thiamine on the central nervous system, relevant for restless legs syndrome, epilepsy, polyneuropathy,and chronic fatigue syndrome.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} These articles demonstrated the use of B vitamins in the treatment of neurologic symptoms.

Cerebellum

In the 1980s, Botez pioneered studies on the effects of lesions to the cerebellum on cognition, including patients with spinocerebellar ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, and mice with spontaneous mutations causing cerebellar damage, such as GRID2-Lc Lurcher.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} These articles demonstrated the role of the cerebellum in neuropsychology.

Neurochemistry

Together with neurochemists Simon N Young of the Allan Memorial Institute and Tomas A Reader of the Université de Montréal, Botez obtained measures of brain concentrations of neurotransmitters such as biogenic amine metabolites of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in patients, as well as concentrations and receptor density of these neurotransmitters and glutamic acid in mouse brain, he and his co-workers in neurochemistry provided vital cues to underlying neurochemical abnormalities in patients with B vitamin anomalies and patients with cerebellar atrophy.^{[14][15][16][17]} Such studies lead to successful trials with amantadine, a substance facilitating dopamine transmission, to ameliorate reaction times in cerebellar atrophy,^[18] as well as respiratory failure.^[19]

1. ^ MI Botez (éd) Neuropsychologie clinique et neurologie du comportement. Paris: Presses de l’Université de Montréal et Masson, 2e éd., pp 319-337, 1996.
2. ^ Botez MI, Peyronnard JM, Bachevalier J, Charron L (September 1978). "Polyneuropathy and folate deficiency". Archives of Neurology 35 (9): 581–4. PMID 210747. http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=210747. 
3. ^ Botez MI, Peyronnard JM, Bérubé L, Labrecque R (1979). "Relapsing neuropathy, cerebral atrophy and folate deficiency. A close association". Applied Neurophysiology 42 (3): 171–83. PMID 464598. 
4. ^ Botez MI, Fontaine F, Botez T, Bachevalier J (1977). "Folate-responsive neurological and mental disorders: report of 16 cases. Neuropsychological correlates of computerized transaxial tomography and radionuclide cisternography in folic acid deficiencies". European Neurology 16 (1–6): 230–46. PMID 615714. 
5. ^ Botez MI, Cadotte M, Beaulieu R, Pichette LP, Pison C (August 1976). "Neurologic disorders responsive to folic acid therapy". Canadian Medical Association Journal 115 (3): 217–23. PMC 1878635. PMID 953882. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1878635. 
6. ^ Botez MI (1976). "Folate deficiency and neurological disorders in adults". Medical Hypotheses 2 (4): 135–40. doi:10.1016/0306-9877(76)90068-2. PMID 958035. 
7. ^ Botez MI, Pedraza OL, Botez-Marquard T, Vézina JL, Elie R (1993). "Radiologic correlates of reaction time measurements in olivopontocerebellar atrophy". European Neurology 33 (4): 304–9. doi:10.1159/000116959. PMID 8348918. 
8. ^ Botez-Marquard T, Botez MI (1997). "Olivopontocerebellar atrophy and Friedreich's ataxia: neuropsychological consequences of bilateral versus unilateral cerebellar lesions". International Review of Neurobiology 41: 387–410. doi:10.1016/S0074-7742(08)60361-X. PMID 9378599. 
9. ^ Botez MI (1993). "Cerebellum and non-motor behaviour". Romanian Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry 31 (3–4): 189–93. PMID 8011482. 
10. ^ Botez-Marquard T, Botez MI (1993). "Cognitive behavior in heredodegenerative ataxias". European Neurology 33 (5): 351–7. doi:10.1159/000116970. PMID 8243509. 
11. ^ Lalonde R, Botez MI (1990). "The cerebellum and learning processes in animals". Brain Research. Brain Research Reviews 15 (3): 325–32. doi:10.1016/0165-0173(90)90006-A. PMID 2289089. 
12. ^ Botez MI, Botez T, Elie R, Attig E (June 1989). "Role of the cerebellum in complex human behavior". Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences 10 (3): 291–300. doi:10.1007/BF02333774. PMID 2767936. 
13. ^ Botez MI, Gravel J, Attig E, Vézina JL (August 1985). "Reversible chronic cerebellar ataxia after phenytoin intoxication: possible role of cerebellum in cognitive thought". Neurology 35 (8): 1152–7. PMID 4022349. 
14. ^ Botez MI, Young SN (May 2001). "Biogenic amine metabolites and thiamine in cerebrospinal fluid in heredo-degenerative ataxias". The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 28 (2): 134–40. PMID 11383938. http://cjns.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0317-1671&volume=28&issue=2&spage=134. 
15. ^ Botez MI, Young SN (February 1991). "Effects of anticonvulsant treatment and low levels of folate and thiamine on amine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid". Brain 114 (1A): 333–48. PMID 1705463. http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=1705463. 
16. ^ Reader TA, Strazielle C, Botez MI, Lalonde R (March 1998). "Brain dopamine and amino acid concentrations in Lurcher mutant mice". Brain Research Bulletin 45 (5): 489–93. doi:10.1016/S0361-9230(97)00430-9. PMID 9570718. 
17. ^ Strazielle C, Lalonde R, Riopel L, Botez MI, Reader TA (April 1996). "Regional distribution of the 5-HT innervation in the brain of normal and lurcher mice as revealed by [3H]citalopram quantitative autoradiography". Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy 10 (2): 157–71. doi:10.1016/0891-0618(96)00115-9. PMID 8783044. 
18. ^ Botez MI, Botez-Marquard T, Elie R, Le Marec N, Pedraza OL, Lalonde R (1999). "Amantadine hydrochloride treatment in olivopontocerebellar atrophy: a long-term follow-up study". European Neurology 41 (4): 212–5. doi:10.1159/000008053. PMID 10343152. 
19. ^ Botez MI, Mayer P, Bellemare F, Couture J (August 1997). "Can we treat respiratory failure in Friedreich ataxia?". Archives of Neurology 54 (8): 1030–3. PMID 9267979. http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=9267979. 

• Posthumous tribute in French

Persondata
Name	Botez, Mihai Ioan
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Date of birth	1927
Place of birth
Date of death	1998
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