Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort:
Hottest Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Type:
All Topic Review Biography
Topic Review
Ciguatoxins in Fish
Ciguatoxins are very potent marine neurotoxins, that accumulate to toxic levels in edible fish in certain circumtropical areas, and are associated with ciguatera fish poisoning worldwide. Ciguatoxins are produced by specific benthic dinoflagellates, enter the marine food chain via herbivorous fish and invertebrates, and eventual are biotransformed in herbivorous, omnivorous, and carnivorous fishes to more poisonous forms. Ciguatoxins cause risks to human health at very low concentrations. To decrease the risk of ciguatera fish poisoning, it is important to know fishing areas with low concentrations of ciguatoxins, as well as to test fish tissue for toxins before consumption. Modern laboratories use several detection techniques, such as mouse bioassay, cell-based assays, receptor-binding assays, antibody-based immunoassays, electrochemical methods, and analytical techniques, to obtain information about the total toxicity of fish tissue samples, as well as to identify toxins and to determine the toxin profile. State-of-the-art ciguatoxin detection involves the combination of a cell-based assay or receptor-binding assay to screen total toxicity, and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to confirm toxins and provide toxin profiles. 
  • 1.4K
  • 25 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Clinical Presentation of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of upper and lower motor neurons, resulting in progressive weakness of all voluntary muscles and eventual respiratory failure. Non-motor symptoms, such as cognitive and behavioral changes, frequently occur over the course of the disease.
  • 1.4K
  • 06 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Treatment of Metformin for Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a common disease in women of reproductive age, and its pathogenesis seems to be largely affected by hormone imbalance, inflammation, oxidative stress, and autophagy dysregulation.  Metformin is an insulin sensitizer widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In endometriosis, metformin might modify the stroma–epithelium communication via Wnt2/β-catenin. With its unique therapeutic mechanisms and no serious side effects, metformin seems to be a helpful anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative agent in the treatment of endometriosis.
  • 1.4K
  • 11 May 2022
Topic Review
Hemorheology
Hemorheology, the study of cell deformation and blood flow, has been more focused on red blood cells (RBCs) rheology, relating the deformation and aggregation of RBCs, since erythrocytes comprise the major components in blood. Blood rheology can be used as an important clinical assay, correlating various aspects of blood rheology and associated changes in cell behavior and morphology to a wide range of diseases and health conditions.
  • 1.4K
  • 05 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Circadian Rhythms of the Hypothalamus
The nearly ubiquitous expression of endogenous 24 h oscillations known as circadian rhythms regulate the timing of physiological functions in the body. These intrinsic rhythms are sensitive to external cues, known as zeitgebers, which entrain the internal biological processes to the daily environmental changes in light, temperature, and food availability. Light directly entrains the master clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which lies in the hypothalamus of the brain and is responsible for synchronizing internal rhythms. However, recent evidence underscores the importance of other hypothalamic nuclei in regulating several essential rhythmic biological functions. These extra-SCN hypothalamic nuclei also express circadian rhythms, suggesting distinct regions that oscillate either semi-autonomously or independent of SCN innervation. Concurrently, the extra-SCN hypothalamic nuclei are also sensitized to fluctuations in nutrient and hormonal signals. Thus, food intake acts as another powerful entrainer for the hypothalamic oscillators’ mediation of energy homeostasis. Ablation studies and genetic mouse models with perturbed extra-SCN hypothalamic nuclei function reveal their critical downstream involvement in an array of functions including metabolism, thermogenesis, food consumption, thirst, mood and sleep. Large epidemiological studies of individuals whose internal circadian cycle is chronically disrupted reveal that disruption of our internal clock is associated with an increased risk of obesity and several neurological diseases and disorders.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Skeletal Muscle Myokines
The skeletal muscle is the largest organ in the body and secretes circulating factors, including myokines, which are involved in various cellular signaling processes. Skeletal muscle is vital for metabolism and physiology and plays a crucial role in insulin-mediated glucose disposal. Myokines have autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine functions, serving as critical regulators of myogenic differentiation, fiber-type switching, and maintaining muscle mass. Myokines have profound effects on energy metabolism and inflammation, contributing to the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and other metabolic diseases. Myokines have been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, thereby improving glucose disposal and regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. 
  • 1.4K
  • 05 May 2022
Topic Review
COVID-19 Vaccines
With a death toll of over one million worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has become the most devastating humanitarian catastrophe in recent decades. The fear of acquiring infection and spreading to vulnerable people has severely impacted society’s socio-economic status. To put an end to this growing number of infections and deaths as well as to switch from restricted to everyday living, an effective vaccine is desperately needed. As a result, enormous efforts have been made globally to develop numerous vaccine candidates in a matter of months. Currently, over 30 vaccine candidates are under assessment in clinical trials, with several undergoing preclinical studies.
  • 1.4K
  • 09 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Drug Resistance in Cancer Chemotherapy
Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide. Despite the significant development of methods of cancer healing during the past decades, chemotherapy still remains the main method for cancer treatment. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is responsible for over 90% of deaths in cancer patients receiving traditional chemotherapeutics or novel targeted drugs. The mechanisms of MDR include elevated metabolism of xenobiotics, enhanced efflux of drugs, growth factors, increased DNA repair capacity, and genetic factors (gene mutations, amplifications, and epigenetic alterations). Rapidly increasing numbers of biomedical studies are focused on designing chemotherapeutics that are able to evade or reverse MDR.
  • 1.4K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
DNA Damage Response in Autoimmunity
The DNA damage response and repair (DDR/R) network, a sum of hierarchically structured signaling pathways that recognize and repair DNA damage, and the immune response to endogenous and/or exogenous threats, act synergistically to enhance cellular defence. On the other hand, a deregulated interplay between these systems underlines inflammatory diseases including malignancies and chronic systemic autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Recent data demonstrate accumulation of endogenous DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from these patients, which is related to augmented formation of DNA damage and epigenetically regulated functional abnormalities of fundamental DNA repair mechanisms. Since endogenous DNA damage accumulation has serious consequences for cellular health, including genomic instability and enhancement of an aberrant immune response, these results can be exploited for understanding pathogenesis and progression of systemic autoimmune diseases, as well as for the development of new treatments.
  • 1.4K
  • 03 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Hesperidin
Recently, hesperidin, a flavonone mainly present in citrus fruits, has emerged as a new potential therapeutic agent able to modulate several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) risk factors.
  • 1.4K
  • 06 Nov 2020
  • Page
  • of
  • 1352
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Video Production Service
Feedback