Potential and Possible Therapeutic Effects of Melatonin on SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

The absence of effective drugs for COVID-19 prevention and treatment requires the search for new candidates among approved medicines. Fundamental studies and clinical observations allow us to approach an understanding of the mechanisms of damage and protection from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, to identify possible points of application for pharmacological interventions. In this review we presented studies on the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunotropic properties of melatonin.

[PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY OF ANTIPARKINSONIAN DRUGS].

Parkinson's disease as an extrapyramidal pathology is accompanied by some non-motor symptoms (depression, cognitive disorders, and sleep disturbance), which are based on disturbances of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurotransmission supplemented by disorganization of other neuromediator systems. Traditional antiparkinsonian drugs with different cellular mechanism of action are capable of restricting these symptoms in patients and on animal models, while exhibiting their own psychotropic activity. This circumstance should be taken into account in assessing the pharmacological activity profiles of drugs.

[PROTECTIVE ROLE OF MELATONIN IN ETIOLOGY AND COURSE OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE.].

Literature data about participation of melatonin - the main hormone of pineal gland - in the origin and course of Parkinson's disease are reviewed. On the cellular level, melatonin demonstrates neuroprotective activity based on the limitation of oxidative stress, inflammation, and degradation of dopamine in nervous tissue, the attenuation of mitochondrial dysfunction, and the accumulation of alpha-synuclein, which are observed in parkinsonian animals and human patients. Moreover, melatonin is capable of inducing some systemic changes that limit disorganization of circadian rhythm and insomnia.

A description of barriers and facilitators to childhood vaccinations in the military health system.

Purpose: To perform a literature review of barriers to and facilitators of parents' decisions to have their children vaccinated. Both differences and similarities between the civilian sector and the military health system (MHS) were explored.

Data Sources: Articles and documents were identified from the following databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), ISI, and Google Scholar.

[Current concepts of the origin of circadian changes in the cardiovascular system under normal and pathological conditions].

The importance of circadian rhythms for the function of the cardiovascular system and its pharmacotherapy is discussed The central mechanisms regulating these rhythms at the level of suprachiasmatic hypothalamic nucleus and pineal gland are considered in conjunction with the approaches to modulating their activity for optimization of chronopharmnacotherapy of cardiovascular diseases.

The hippocampus and cognitive impairments.

Progressive increases in the worldwide number of cases of brain diseases accompanied by cognitive impairments continually reinforce the relevance of the need for further investigation and pharmacotherapy of this type of neuromental pathology, particularly as this problem has great significance, not only in the medical sphere, but also in the social. This explains the currently extensive interest of investigators of different specialties in studies of the role of the hippocampus (HPO) in the genesis of these disorders and the possibility that nootropic substances have influences on it.

Histochemical and morphological changes in various regions of the rat hippocampus in swimming-induced stress.

Swimming stress increased the functional activity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons in rats, as indicated by decreases in their glycogen contents and increases in their nucleic acid contents and the nucleus:cytoplasm ratio. These changes were most marked in hippocampal field CA1, while changes in other regions of the hippocampus were minimal.

The role of the pineal gland in forming a conditioned reflex to time in rats.

The effects of pinealectomy and melatonin on time-associated conditioned reflex behavior were studied. Removal of the pineal gland hindered the formation of a conditioned reflex in conditions of a fixed time interval in rats. This was accompanied by a shortening of latency and excursions and an increase in the number of intersignal responses.

Relationships between the epiphysis and hippocampus during formation of a stress response.

Lesions to the dorsal hippocampus and removal of the epiphysis had differently-directed effects on behavior in rats in conditions of a conflict situation and on the temporal dynamics of forced swimming. The combination of both operative procedures resulted in weakening of the behavioral changes typical of hippocampus deficiency. It is suggested that the anti-stress properties of epiphyseal factors may be mediated by changes in the functional state of the hippocampus.

Relationship between the striatal regulation of the temporal organization of behavior and the state of beta-adrenergic mechanisms.

Bilateral damage to the corpus striatum in rats was accompanied by changes in the rhythmic structure of swimming and the dynamics of daily movement activity. Dorsal, but not ventral striatectomy, reversed the effects of the beta-adrenoblocker propranolol on the temporal organization of behavior in the animals. It is likely that the dorsal striatum is extensively dependent on the state of beta-adrenergic innervation.

Influence of damage to the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus of rats on the dynamics of short-period fluctuations of normal and abnormal behavior.

An intensification of a swimming behavior with an increase in the proportion of active swimming and limitation of the duration of immobilization was found in rats following bilateral electrolytic destruction of the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus. The restructuring of the temporal dynamics of swimming is manifested in a limitation of the rhythmological index of depressivity. The animals with ablated nuclei demonstrate more pronounced behavioral disturbances in response to the introduction of fenamin and a slowing of the minute fluctuations in the dynamics of stereotypic behavior.

Influence of pineal peptides on the dynamics of the circadian and minute motor biorhythms in rats.

A peptide preparation of the pineal, epithalamin, when administered chronically, exerts a modulating influence on the diurnal fluctuations of the motoric activity of rats. It also decreases the amplitude of apomorphine stereotypy and induces a restructuring of a modulatory character in its rhythmic structure. It is hypothesized that the pineal peptides participate in the maintenance of homeostasis by means of the stabilization of rhythmic processes of various periods.

Character and origin of rotatory movements evoked by electrical stimulation of the caudate nucleus in cats.

High-frequency stimulation of the caudate nucleus in cats induces three types of rotatory responses: turning the head or stepping movements in a circle toward the side opposite to that of stimulation, psychomotor excitation with contralateral rotation, and ipsilateral turning of the head and trunk. Movements of the last type developed mainly from the ventro-lateral zones of the head of the caudate nucleus, whereas psychomotor excitation, on the other hand, developed from the dorsal zones. Rotatory movements do not depend significantly on a contribution of the internal capsule or cortex.

Effect of catecholaminergic drugs on epileptogenic properties of the caudate nucleus.

Drugs stimulating catecholaminergic transmission (dopa, apomorphine, amphetamine, and their combination with disulfiram) weakened the epileptogenic properties of the caudate nucleus in freely moving rats. Under the influence of these drugs the cortical electroencephalographic response to single stimulation of the nucleus was shortened in animals receiving subconbulsant doses of leptazol and the intensity of the spike-wave rhythm bound with repeated caudate stimuli was reduced. Conversely, inhibitors of catecholaminergic transmission (chlorpromazine, haloperidol, alpha-methyltyrosine, and disulfiram) potentiated the epileptogenic effects of the caudate nucleus.

Comparative effect of amphetamine and caffeine on spontaneous activity of sensomotor cortical units and their responses to stimulation of the caudate nucleus.

In acute experiments on anesthetized cats activity of sensomotor cortical units was recorded during low-frequency stimulation of the head of the caudate nucleus. Amphetamine (1 mg/kg), although not significantly affecting the spontaneous firing rate, increased the number of spontaneously active cortical units. Meanwhile inhibition of these units during stimulation of the caudate nucleus was weakened.