Vagus nerve stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: A one-year, randomized, sham-controlled trial.

Background: Few treatments are available for individuals with marked treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Objective: Evaluate the safety and effectiveness of FDA-approved adjunctive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with marked TRD.

Methods: This 12-month, multicenter, double-blind, sham-controlled trial included 493 adults with marked treatment-resistant major depression who were randomized to active or no-stimulation sham VNS for 12 months.

Clinical characteristics and treatment exposure of patients with marked treatment-resistant unipolar major depressive disorder: A RECOVER trial report.

Background: RECOVER is a randomized sham-controlled trial of vagus nerve stimulation and the largest such trial conducted with a psychiatric neuromodulation intervention.

Objective: To describe pre-implantation baseline clinical characteristics and treatment history of patients with unipolar, major depressive disorder (MDD), overall and as a function of exposure to interventional psychiatric treatments (INTs), including electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and esketamine.

Methods: Medical, psychiatric, and treatment records were reviewed by study investigators and an independent Study Eligibility Committee prior to study qualification.

A prospective, multi-center randomized, controlled, blinded trial of vagus nerve stimulation for difficult to treat depression: A novel design for a novel treatment.

Few treatment options exist for patients with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD). One potentially efficacious treatment is vagus nerve stimulation (VNS): chronic stimulation of the vagus nerve using an implanted stimulator. Given a series of recent VNS clinical studies, including a large, five-year naturalistic investigation, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reconsidered the previous non coverage determination and announced coverage for patients participating in a "coverage with evidence" trial.

Zinc is a potential therapeutic for chemoresistant ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer. The high mortality rate reflets the lack of early diagnosis and limited treatment alternatives. We have observed a number of properties of zinc cytotoxicity that make it attractive from a therapeutic standpoint.

Zinc functions as a cytotoxic agent for prostate cancer cells independent of culture and growth conditions.

The effects of zinc on the viability of PC3, LNCaP and DU145 prostate cancer cell lines in vitro were examined. The data indicate that, despite their distinctly different gene expression profiles, morphology and tissue origin, all cell lines responded to zinc in a similar time and dose dependent manner. Experiments using pyrithione indicated that cell death is mediated by internalized zinc.

Determination of oxygen dosage effects on cytochrome oxidase after anoxia in brain.

Recent evidence reports that high doses of O(2) administered via hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) improve the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and the outcome of damage to the heart following a 25 min normothermic cardiac arrest. However, excessive O(2) during HBOT can be toxic. Near infrared absorbance spectroscopy (NIRS) measures and determines when cytochrome oxidase (aa(3)), the O(2) end user, changes from reduced to oxidized, signifying adequate dosage.

Direct intra-tumoral injection of zinc-acetate halts tumor growth in a xenograft model of prostate cancer.

Intracellular levels of zinc have shown a strong inverse correlation to growth and malignancy of prostate cancer. To date, studies of zinc supplementation in prostate cancer have been equivocal and have not accounted for bioavailability of zinc. Therefore, we hypothesized that direct intra-tumoral injection of zinc could impact prostate cancer growth.

Long-term in vitro expansion alters the biology of adult mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from bone marrow stem cells (BMSC) and adipose tissue stem cells (ASC) of humans and rhesus macaques were evaluated for their cell cycle properties during protracted culture in vitro. Human ASCs (hASC) and rhesus BMSCs (rBMSC) underwent significantly more total population doublings than human BMSCs (hBMSC) and rhesus ASCs (rASC). The cell cycle profile of all MSCs was altered as cultures aged.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves spatial learning and memory in a rat model of chronic traumatic brain injury.

In the present experiment we use a rat model of traumatic brain injury to evaluate the ability of low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to improve behavioral and neurobiological outcomes. The study employed an adaptation of the focal cortical contusion model. 64 Male Long-Evans rats received unilateral cortical contusion and were tested in the Morris Water Task (MWT) 31-33 days post injury.

Neuropeptide Y acts at Y1 receptors in the rostral ventral medulla to inhibit neuropathic pain.

Brain microinjection studies in the rat using local anesthetics suggest that the rostral ventral medulla (RVM) contributes to the facilitation of neuropathic pain. However, these studies were restricted to a single model of neuropathic pain (the spinal nerve ligation model) and to just two stimulus modalities (non-noxious tactile stimulus and heat). Also, few neurotransmitter systems have been shown to modulate descending facilitation.

Biologic properties of mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow and adipose tissue.

The biologic characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from two distinct tissues, bone marrow and adipose tissue were evaluated in these studies. MSCs derived from human and non-human primate (rhesus monkey) tissue sources were compared. The data indicate that MSCs isolated from rhesus bone marrow (rBMSCs) and human adipose tissue (hASCs) had more similar biologic properties than MSCs of rhesus adipose tissue (rASCs) and human bone marrow MSCs (hBMSCs).