Psychosocial and Trauma-Related Stress and Risk of Dementia: A Meta-Analytic Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies.

Stress has deleterious effects on brain health and yet, the prognostic value of psychosocial stress regarding the most common types of dementias, including Alzheimer disease, is still unclear. The primary aim of this systematic review was to explore the association between psychosocial stress and late onset dementia. We classified 24articles from Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science, as pertaining toxic categories of psychosocial and trauma-related stress (low socio-economic status [SES] related inequalities, marital status, posttraumatic stress disorder, work stress, "vital exhaustion" [VE], and, combined stressors).

Hair cortisol concentrations in mental disorders: A systematic review.

Objective: Research on HPA axis dysregulation has been associated with vulnerability to, or perseverence of, several mental disorders. Hoever, measurements of cortisol levels in blood, saliva and/or urine have yielded variable results. Nevertheless, cortisol analysis in scalp hair appears to be a consistent tool for measurement of long-term exposure to stress.

Functions, pathophysiology and current insights of exosomal endocrinology (Review).

Studies on extracellular vesicles have increased in recent years. The multi‑dimensional nature of their roles in cellular homeostasis, cell‑to‑cell and tissue‑to‑tissue communication at the level of the organism, as well as their actions on the holobiome (intra‑/interspecies interaction), have garnered the interest of a large number of researchers. Exosomes are one of the most researched classes of extracellular vesicles because they are carriers of targeted protein and DNA/RNA loads.

Pharmacological principles guiding prolonged glucocorticoid treatment in ARDS.

Current literature addressing the pharmacological principles guiding glucocorticoid (GC) administration in ARDS is scant. This paucity of information may have led to the heterogeneity of treatment protocols and misinterpretation of available findings. GCs are agonist compounds that bind to the GC receptor (GR) producing a pharmacological response.

Offensive Behavior, Striatal Glutamate Metabolites, and Limbic-Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Responses to Stress in Chronic Anxiety.

Variations in anxiety-related behavior are associated with individual allostatic set-points in chronically stressed rats. Actively offensive rats with the externalizing indicators of sniffling and climbing the stimulus and material tearing during 10 days of predator scent stress had reduced plasma corticosterone, increased striatal glutamate metabolites, and increased adrenal 11-dehydrocorticosterone content compared to passively defensive rats with the internalizing indicators of freezing and grooming, as well as to controls without any behavioral changes. These findings suggest that rats that display active offensive activity in response to stress develop anxiety associated with decreased allostatic set-points and increased resistance to stress.

Molecular mechanisms of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and potential anti-COVID19 pharmacological targets since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a severe threat against public health and global economies. COVID-19, the disease caused by this virus, is highly contagious and has led to an ongoing pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 affects, mainly, the respiratory system, with most severe cases primarily showcasing acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Gender-dependent variations in optical illusions: evidence from N400 waveforms.

Objective: The cognitive mechanisms (especially the gender-related ones) underlying optical illusion processing remain elusive. Since the N400 component of event-related potentials (ERPs) is an index of the semantic integration of information processing tasks, the present study focuses on gender-related differences in N400 waveforms elicited during the reasoning process applied to reach a valid conclusion of optical illusions engaging working memory (WM).

Approach: Fifty-one healthy participants (28 males, age = 34.

Low hair cortisol concentrations in obsessive compulsive disorder: A cross-sectional study.

Recent findings have highlighted the association between changes in the activity of the HPA axis, primarily its end-hormone, cortisol and OCD. However, to date, cortisol levels of OCD patients have been assessed mainly in body fluids, such as serum, saliva or urine, frequently leading to ambiguous results because of their inherent lack of stability. The aim of this study was to investigate time-integrated levels of stress exposure in 32 OCD patients and 32 sex and age-matched healthy controls by measuring endogenous cortisol in hair segments reflecting the last 3 months preceding hair collection.

Morphologic alterations of the genital mesentery implicated in testis non-descent in rats prenatally exposed to flutamide.

Background: There is an endless debate on whether androgens mediate testis descent through developmental changes in the gubernacular or the cranial suspensory ligament.

Objective: To investigate the relation of any possible morphologic changes in the genital mesentery, that is, the system of genital peritoneal folds including the gubernacular and cranial suspensory ligaments, with the event of testis non-descent in rats prenatally exposed to the antiandrogen flutamide.

Materials And Methods: Time-pregnant Sprague Dawley rats received flutamide (100 mg/kg/d) or vehicle subcutaneously on gestational days 16-17.

Five Reasons for the Failure to Diagnose Aldosterone Excess in Hypertension.

Primary hyperaldosteronism (PA) is a well-known cause of hypertension although its exact prevalence amongst patients with apparent essential hypertension has been a matter of debate. A number of recent studies have suggested that mild forms of PA may be relatively common taking into consideration factors that were previously either overestimated or ignored when developing diagnostic tests of PA and when applying these tests into normotensive individuals. The performance characteristics and diagnostic accuracy of such tests are substantially increased when the adrenocorticotrophin effect, inappropriate potassium levels and their application in carefully selected normotensive individuals are considered.

Diabetes distress is associated with individualized glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: It has been proposed that the negative emotional state of diabetes distress (DD) may exert a detrimental effect on glycemic outcomes of individuals struggling with diabetes-related challenges. Thus far, no study has investigated this association by utilizing individualized treatment targets of patients' glycemic control. Therefore, we sought to identify the potential role of DD in the achievement of individualized glycemic targets (AIGTs) among persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).

Exosomics.

Extracellular vesicles have been the focus of a large number of studies in the past five years. Exosomes, a subgroup of extracellular vesicles, are of particularly high interest because they partake in a wide number of biological pathways. Produced by a variety of cells, exosomes have an important role in both physiological and pathological conditions.

Update on current views and advances on RSV infection (Review).

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection represents an excellent paradigm of precision medicine in modern paediatrics and several clinical trials are currently performed in the prevention and management of RSV infection. A new taxonomic terminology for RSV was recently adopted, while the diagnostic and omics techniques have revealed new modalities in the early identification of RSV infections and for better understanding of the disease pathogenesis. Coordinated clinical and research efforts constitute an important step in limiting RSV global predominance, improving epidemiological surveillance, and advancing neonatal and paediatric care.