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Topic Review
Vitamin D in Cognitive Dysfunction
Vitamin D is necessary for all vertebrates, including humans, to maintain adequate phosphate and calcium levels in the blood, thereby helping to develop normal bone, optimal maintenance of muscle contractions, and cellular functions in different parts of the body. The developmental disabilities induced by vitamin D deficiency (VDD) include neurological disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia) characterized by cognitive dysfunction. 
  • 1.0K
  • 28 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Neurodegenerative Pathogenesis
Current research in medicine in several parts of the world has attempted to establish a link between the occurrence of neurodegenerative pathologies, microbiota dysbiosis, and the incidence of obesity. The body’s response to different physicochemical factors has also been influenced by the proper assimilation of bioactive compounds contained in the food that is ingested. Oxidative stress is one of the major factors that directly affects the functioning of the human microbiota.
  • 1.0K
  • 14 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Effects of Neurofeedback
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and adolescence. Choosing the right treatment is critical to controlling and improving symptoms. An innovative ADHD treatment is neurofeedback (NF) that trains participants to self-regulate brain activity.
  • 1.0K
  • 02 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Electrocochleography in Auditory Neuropathy
Auditory Neuropathy (AN) is characterized by disruption of temporal coding of acoustic signals in auditory nerve fibers resulting in alterations of auditory perceptions. Mutations in several genes have been associated to the most forms of AN. Underlying mechanisms include both pre-synaptic and post-synaptic damage involving inner hair cell (IHC) depolarization, neurotransmitter release, spike initiation in auditory nerve terminals, loss of auditory fibers and impaired conduction. In contrast, outer hair cell (OHC) activities (otoacoustic emissions [OAEs] and cochlear microphonic [CM]) are normal. Disordered synchrony of auditory nerve activity has been suggested as the basis of both the alterations of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and reduction of speech perception. Authors will review how electrocochleography (ECochG) recordings provide detailed information to help objectively define the sites of auditory neural dysfunction and their effect on receptor summating potential (SP) and neural compound action potential (CAP), the latter reflecting disorders of ribbon synapses and auditory nerve fibers.
  • 1.0K
  • 30 Jan 2022
Topic Review
The Dementia with Lewy Bodies
Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is a common form of cognitive neurodegenerative disease. Only one third of patients are correctly diagnosed due to the clinical similarity mainly with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
  • 1.0K
  • 07 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Omics Sciences and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the progressive loss of motor neurons (MNs) resulting in weakness and paralysis of voluntary muscles. The main clinical feature of ALS is the upper and lower MN involvement. The age of onset is about 60 years, and the incidence is 5 per 100,000 inhabitants. Although important research progress has been made, the etiopathology of ALS is mostly unknown. The mechanisms underlying the development of the disease are multiple, with the involvement of a complex interaction between genetic and molecular characteristics. The major ALS-related genes include superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), FUSed in sarcoma (FUS), TAR DNA binding protein (TARDBP) and chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9Orf72). Due to the high complexity of the disease, the diagnosis is made by exclusion and there are no effective drug therapies that can stop or significantly slow down the progression of the disease. To date, the drugs used to slow down the course of the disease are Riluzole, which works by reducing excitotoxicity, and Edaravone that decreases oxidative stress. Neuropathology and medical genetics have led to the discovery that ALS and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) are related diseases and form a broad neurodegenerative continuum. Both of these pathologies can be caused by mutations in the same gene that can lead to different clinical pictures. The discovery of hexanucleotide expansion involving the C9Orf72 gene helped to define a genetic basis to explain the spectrum ALS/FTD.
  • 1.0K
  • 13 May 2022
Topic Review
Rapid Eye Movements Density during Sleep
Rapid eye movements (REMs), an expression of REM sleep phasic activity, occur against a stable background of cortical desynchronization and the absence of axial tone. The significance of REMs during the sleep period was initially attributed to the mental content of dreams, linking the REMs to the dream scenario.
  • 1.0K
  • 03 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Factors Influencing Human Microbiota
The human microbiota embodies the whole population of microorganisms present in the human body and is mainly represented by the gut microbiota. Factors influencing the composition and activity of the gut microbiota can alter the balance that exists between the host and the microbiota by compromising its functions. 
  • 1.0K
  • 17 May 2023
Topic Review
Three Drug-Based Therapy for Neuroblastoma
High-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB) still remains the most dangerous tumor in early childhood. For this reason, the identification of new therapeutic approaches is of fundamental importance. Recently, we combined the conventional pharmacological approach to NB, represented by cisplatin, with fendiline hydrochloride, an inhibitor of several transporters involved in multidrug resistance of cancer cells, which demonstrated an enhancement of the ability of cisplatin to induce apoptosis. In this work, we co-administrated acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase isoform IX (CAIX) inhibitor which was reported to increase chemotherapy efficacy in various cancer types, to the cisplatin/fendiline approach in SKNBE2 xenografts in NOD-SCID mice with the aim of identifying a novel and more effective treatment. We observed that the combination of the three drugs increases more than twelvefold the differences in the cytotoxic activity of cisplatin alone, leading to a remarkable decrease of the expression of malignancy markers. Our conclusion is that this approach, based on three FDA-approved drugs, may constitute an appropriate improvement of the pharmacological approach to HR-NB.
  • 1.0K
  • 09 Jul 2021
Topic Review
TMS and Motor Cortex Excitability
The TMS is a noninvasive method to investigate the CNS in the human. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, since its introduction in 1985, has brought important innovations to the study of cortical excitability as it is a non-invasive method and, therefore, can be used both in healthy and sick subjects. Since the introduction of this cortical stimulation technique, it has been possible to deepen the neurophysiological aspects of motor activation and control. Repetitive physical training is generally considered as a principal strategy for acquiring a motor skill, and this process can elicit cortical motor representational changes referred to as use-dependent plasticity. In training settings, physical practice combined with the observation of target movements can enhance cortical excitability and facilitate the process of learning. The data to date suggest that TMS is a valid technique to investigate the changes in motor cortex excitability in trained and untrained subjects.
  • 998
  • 05 May 2021
Topic Review
Antidepressant Effects of Ayahuasca in Humans
Ayahuasca is a psychedelic preparation usually made by the decoction of Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, or Diplopterys cabrerana, plants endemic to the Amazonian Basin where the brew is traditionally used in ritualistic contexts. B. caapi is known to contain a class of substances called β-carbolines or harmala alkaloids, mainly harmine, tetrahydroharmine (THH), and harmaline. These substances are known to selectively and reversibly inhibit the enzyme monoamine oxidase type A (MAO-A), which is believed to be their main mechanism of action. On the other hand, P. viridis is a source of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a serotoninergic psychedelic belonging to the same pharmacological class of substances as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin. The main mechanism of action for DMT and related psychedelic substances is widely accepted to be agonism at the serotonin receptors 5-HT1A,2A,2C, with the 2A subtype being the primary molecular target and its activation dose-dependently related to the psychoactive effects these substances cause. 
  • 998
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Mitochondria in the Central Nervous System Disorder
Mitochondria, the energy suppliers of the cells, play a central role in a variety of cellular processes essential for survival or leading to cell death. Consequently, mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in numerous general and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The clinical manifestations of mitochondrial dysfunction include metabolic disorders, dysfunction of the immune system, tumorigenesis, and neuronal and behavioral abnormalities.
  • 996
  • 08 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Drug Targets to Prevent Death Due to Stroke
Acute ischemic stroke (IS) is one of the most prevalent major health problems worldwide, which frequently causes severe functional disabilities and mortality. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis revealed that the backbone of the highly connective network of IS death consisted of IL6, ALB, TNF, SERPINE1, VWF, VCAM1, TGFB1, and SELE. Cluster analysis revealed immune and hemostasis subnetworks, which were strongly interconnected through the major switches ALB and VWF. Enrichment analysis revealed that the PPI immune subnetwork of death due to IS was highly associated with TLR2/4, TNF, JAK-STAT, NOD, IL10, IL13, IL4, and TGF-β1/SMAD pathways. The top biological and molecular functions and pathways enriched in the hemostasis network of death due to IS were platelet degranulation and activation, the intrinsic pathway of fibrin clot formation, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator pathway, post-translational protein phosphorylation, integrin cell-surface interactions, and the proteoglycan-integrin extracellular matrix complex (ECM). Regulation Explorer analysis of transcriptional factors shows: (a) that NFKB1, RELA and SP1 were the major regulating actors of the PPI network; and (b) hsa-mir-26-5p and hsa-16-5p were the major regulating microRNA actors. 
  • 994
  • 17 Nov 2021
Topic Review
The Vascular-Immune Hypothesis of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating and irreversible neurodegenerative disorder with unknown etiology. While its cause is unclear, a number of theories have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of AD. In large part, these have centered around potential causes for intracerebral accumulation of beta-amyloid (βA) and tau aggregates. Yet, persons with AD dementia often exhibit autopsy evidence of mixed brain pathologies including a myriad of vascular changes, vascular brain injuries, complex brain inflammation, and mixed protein inclusions in addition to hallmark neuropathologic lesions of AD, namely insoluble βA plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Epidemiological data demonstrate that overlapping lesions diminish the βA plaque and NFT threshold necessary to precipitate clinical dementia. Moreover, a subset of persons who exhibit AD pathology remain resilient to disease while other persons with clinically-defined AD dementia do not exhibit AD-defining neuropathologic lesions. It is increasingly recognized that AD is a pathologically heterogeneous and biologically multifactorial disease with uncharacterized biologic phenomena involved in its genesis and progression. 
  • 994
  • 15 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Preclinical and Clinical Endeavors Targeting Mitochondria
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons, for which current treatment options are limited. Recent studies have shed light on the role of mitochondria in ALS pathogenesis, making them an attractive therapeutic intervention target.
  • 994
  • 26 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gut Microbiota
Autism is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by early onset difficulties in social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests. It is characterized by familial aggregation, suggesting that genetic factors play a role in disease development, in addition to developmentally early environmental factors. An intimate relationship between ASD and several medical comorbidities, such as sleep problems and many psychiatry-related comorbidities, i.e., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), anxiety, mood problems, and disruptive behavior, was reported. Anyway, gastrointestinal comorbidities have a special role in their association with ASD. Indeed, since 1943, Kanner reported that ASD subjects showed severe feeding difficulties from their first days of life. Studies related to this association have crossed the entire path of evolution of knowledge on ASD. This association sustained a close relationship between ASD and gut microbiota.
  • 992
  • 27 Oct 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Oxidation of Antipsychotics
Antipsychotics (APs) are psychotropic drugs that generally have a psycholeptic effect, capable of reducing psychotic symptoms and psychomotor agitation. This class of drugs is widely used in psychiatric practice, especially for the treatment of psychosis in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Most APs pass through a biotransformation process, or metabolism, after they enter the body before being eliminated. There are three phases of AP metabolism. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) monooxygenase (mixed-function oxidase) plays a central role in most AP biotransformation. CYP’s functional activity depends on gene–drug and drug–drug interaction and influences on the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). So, it is extremely important for a practicing psychiatrist to know the oxidation pathway of APs, since most of them are metabolized in the liver. This is important both to prevent ADRs and to avoid unwanted drug–drug interactions, which will undoubtedly increase the effectiveness and safety of AP therapy. 
  • 992
  • 20 May 2022
Topic Review
Tunneling Nanotube in the Nervous System
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin, hollow plasma membrane projections that directly connect the lumen of one cell to the lumen of another cell, thereby transferring different cargoes between the two connected cells. TNTs have been shown to play very prominent roles in neuronal development and serve as highways for neurodegenerative diseases in the brain. 
  • 991
  • 08 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Noninvasive Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a growing global crisis in need of urgent diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The current treatment strategy mostly involves immunotherapeutic medications that have had little success in halting disease progress. Hypotheses for pathogenesis and development of AD have been expanded to implicate both organ systems as well as cellular reactions. Non-pharmacologic interventions ranging from minimally to deeply invasive have attempted to address these diverse contributors to AD.
  • 990
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Microglia in Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy
Multiple organ dysfunction is a hallmark of sepsis pathogenesis, and neurological manifestations are a frequent and underestimated symptom. Sepsis induces an acute brain dysfunction that is not related to direct brain infection and is characterized by clinical and electroencephalographic changes that range from sickness behavior to altered consciousness, varying from confusion to delirium and coma.
  • 986
  • 17 May 2021
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