Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic disabling mental disorder with high heritability, and several immune-regulating genes have been implicated in its pathophysiology In this study, we investigated the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 1, 2, and 6 in peripheral blood monocytes from SZ patients and healthy control subjects (HCSs) in the Mexican population, focusing on specific SZ-associated gene variants. Gene expressions were assessed by qPCR, and protein expression was measured using flow cytometry. The secretory profiles of MALP2-stimulated monocytes were evaluated through immunoproteomic arrays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Schizophrenia (SZ) is a multifactorial chronic psychiatric disorder with a worldwide prevalence of 1%. Altered expression of PLCβ occurs in SZ patients, suggesting alterations in the PLCβ/IP/Ca signaling pathway. This cascade regulates critical cellular processes in all cell types, including the neuronal lineage; however, there is scarce evidence regarding the functionality of this transduction signaling in neuronal cells derived from SZ patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransposable elements (TEs) are often expressed at higher levels in tumor cells than normal cells, implicating these genomic regions as an untapped pool of tumor-associated antigens. In ovarian cancer (OC), protein from the TE ERV-K is frequently expressed by tumor cells. Here we determined whether the targeting of previously identified epitope in the envelope gene (env) of ERV-K resulted in target antigen specificity against cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelatonin (-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indoleamine secreted by the pineal gland during the dark phase of the photoperiod. Its main function is the synchronization of different body rhythms with the dark-light cycle. Research on melatonin has significantly advanced since its discovery and we now know that it has considerable significance in various physiological processes, including immunity, aging, and reproduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelatonin -acetyl-5-methoxytriptamine is an ancient molecule which synchronizes the internal biologic activity with the environmental photoperiod. It is synthesized by the pineal gland during the night and released to the general circulation, where it reaches nanomolar concentrations. The indolamine acts through melatonin receptors and binds to different proteins such as calmodulin: a phylogenetically conserved protein which is the main transductor of the calcium signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchizophrenia (SZ) is a multifactorial disorder characterized by volume reduction in gray and white matter, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, altered neurotransmission, as well as molecular deficiencies such as punctual mutation in Disrupted‑in‑Schizophrenia 1 protein. In this regard, it is essential to understand the underlying molecular disturbances to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease. The signaling pathways activated by G protein‑coupled receptors (GPCRs) are key molecular signaling pathways altered in SZ.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatic artery pseudoaneurysms are a significant health concern, often incidentally discovered during computed tomography (CT) scans, as their exact incidence rate remains unknown. The most common symptoms of a pseudoaneurysm are hematemesis, abdominal pain, anemia and jaundice. A triad of right upper quadrant pain, jaundice and overt upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a classic presentation of the condition, which occurs in only a third of patients with hemobilia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelatonin (MEL), an indolamine with diverse functions in the brain, has been shown to produce antidepressant-like effects, presumably through stimulating neurogenesis. We recently showed that the combination of MEL with ketamine (KET), an NMDA receptor antagonist, has robust antidepressant-like effects in mice, at doses that, by themselves, are non-effective and have no adverse effects. Here, we show that the KET/MEL combination increases neurogenesis in a clone derived from human olfactory neuronal precursors, a translational pre-clinical model for effects in the human CNS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchizophrenia and bipolar disorder are disabling psychiatric disorders with a worldwide prevalence of approximately 1%. Both disorders present chronic and deteriorating prognoses that impose a large burden, not only on patients but also on society and health systems. These mental illnesses share several clinical and neurobiological traits; of these traits, oligodendroglial dysfunction and alterations to white matter (WM) tracts could underlie the disconnection between brain regions related to their symptomatic domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelatonin (MEL) is a pleiotropic indolamine that reaches multiple intracellular targets. Among these, MEL binds to calmodulin (CaM) with high affinity. In presence of Ca, CaM binds to CaM-dependent kinase II (CaMKII).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMajor depressive disorder is a disabling disease with the number of affected individuals increasing each year. Current antidepressant treatments take between three to six weeks to be effective with forty percent of patients being resistant to treatment, making it necessary to search for new antidepressant treatments. Ketamine, a phencyclidine hydrochloride derivative, given intravenously, induces a rapid antidepressant effect in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pro-oxidant compound okadaic acid (OKA) mimics alterations found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) as oxidative stress and tau hyperphosphorylation, leading to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Although loss of dendrite complexity occurs in AD, the study of this post-synaptic domain in chemical-induced models remains unexplored. Moreover, there is a growing expectation for therapeutic adjuvants to counteract these brain dysfunctions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelatonin is synthesized by the pineal gland with a circadian rhythm in synchrony with the environmental light/dark cycle. A gradual increase in circulating levels of melatonin occur after lights off, reaching its maximum around the middle of the dark phase. Agonists of melatonin receptors have proved effectiveness as antidepressants in clinical trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMood disorders are a spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by changes in the emotional state. In particular, major depressive disorder is expected to have a worldwide prevalence of 20% in 2020, representing a huge socio-economic burden. Currently used antidepressant drugs have poor efficacy with only 30% of the patients in remission after the first line of treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe alterations that underlie the pathophysiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) include the dysregulation of structural and functional properties of neurons. Among these, the secretion of neurotransmitters and hormones, which plays a key role for neuronal communication and development, is altered. Neuronal precursors from the human olfactory epithelium have been recently characterized as a reliable model for studying the etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Deficits in mitochondrial function and oxidative stress play pivotal roles in Down syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and these alterations in mitochondria occur systemically in both conditions.
Objective: We hypothesized that peripheral cells of elder subjects with DS exhibit disease-specific and dementia-specific metabolic features. To test this, we performed a comprehensive analysis of energy metabolism in lymphoblastic-cell-lines (LCLs) derived from subjects belonging to four groups: DS-with-dementia (DSAD), DS-without-dementia (DS), sporadic AD, and age-matched controls.
Schizophrenia (SZ) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) are highly inheritable chronic mental disorders with a worldwide prevalence of around 1%. Despite that many efforts had been made to characterize biomarkers in order to allow for biological testing for their diagnoses, these disorders are currently detected and classified only by clinical appraisal based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Olfactory neuroepithelium-derived neuronal precursors have been recently proposed as a model for biomarker characterization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral recent studies have demonstrated that virulence in Entamoeba histolytica is triggered in the presence of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria species using in vitro and in vivo experimental animal models. In this study, we examined samples aspirated from abscess material obtained from patients who were clinically diagnosed with amebic liver abscess (ALA) or pyogenic liver abscess (PLA). To determine the diversity of bacterial species in the abscesses, we performed partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophages (Mφ) and dendritic cells are the major target cell populations of the obligate intracellular parasite Leishmania. Inhibition of host cell apoptosis is a strategy employed by multiple pathogens to ensure their survival in the infected cell. Leishmania promastigotes have been shown to protect Mφ, neutrophils, and dendritic cells from both natural and induced apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To assess the accuracy of different hardware and software settings for left ventricular (LV) volume quantification in children using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE).
Methods And Results: The impact of different matrix transducers (IE 33, X3-1 and VIVID 7, V3) and quantification software settings [TOMTEC; contour-finding activity (tCFA) values ranging from 30 to 70 U] on the accuracy of LV indices was tested in 24 healthy children/adolescents (median = 12.6 years) and 25 paediatric patients with Tetralogy-of-Fallot (TOF) (median = 7.
Macrophages (Mphi) and dendritic cells (DC) are the major target cell populations of the obligate intracellular parasite Leishmania. Inhibition of host cell apoptosis is a method employed by multiple pathogens to ensure their survival in the infected cell. Leishmania has been shown to protect Mphi and neutrophils from both natural and induced apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral Microbiol Immunol
August 2006
Background/aims: Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) has been recognized as an important molecule in infectious and autoimmune diseases. Although Porphyromonas gingivalis GroEL, a homologue of HSP60, is a potent stimulator of inflammatory cytokines, its receptor and signaling mechanisms are not yet understood in detail. In this study, we investigated whether the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family plays a functional role as a P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent studies have shown that adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived cytokine, acts as a potent inhibitor of inflammatory responses. It has been also demonstrated that bacterial and viral signalings in host cells are triggered via Toll-like receptor (TLR) molecules. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated whether globular adiponectin (gAd) would be able to inhibit TLR-mediated nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling in mouse macrophages (RAW264).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cell cycle-regulating transcription factors DP-1 and E2F form a heterodimeric complex and play a central role in cell cycle progression. Two different DP subunits (DP-1 and DP-2) exist in humans. In this study, we identified two novel DP-1 isoforms (DP-1alpha and DP-1beta) and characterized their structure and function.
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