Publications by authors named "Deak T"
Alcohol binge drinking has a multitude of effects on CNS function, including changes in inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1β that may contribute to mood fluctuations associated with the intoxication-withdrawal cycle. Widely throughout the brain, including the amygdala, IL-6 mRNA is enhanced during intoxication, whereas IL-1β is initially suppressed during alcohol intoxication, with increased expression seen shortly after ethanol clearance, during acute hangover. Furthermore, induction of neuroimmune genes appears to be muted during adolescence in the amygdala, suggesting a broader functional immaturity of the adolescent neuroimmune system in structures involved in negative affect associated with ethanol exposure.
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- Fever is crucial for defending against infections, but individual responses can vary due to factors like sex and previous health history.
- The studies aimed to explore whether adolescent alcohol misuse affects fever severity in rats after exposure to a viral mimic (poly I:C).
- Results showed minimal sex differences in fever sensitivity, but rats with a history of alcohol misuse exhibited heightened fever responses and increased immune response markers when exposed to poly I:C.
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- Adolescence is a time marked by higher rates of risk-taking behaviors, including alcohol and drug use, which are linked to future alcohol use disorders in adults.
- Despite many studies on this topic, there’s a lack of preclinical research isolating the biological effects of adolescent drinking from social and environmental influences, resulting in mixed findings.
- In a series of studies using different rodent models across multiple labs, researchers found no significant increase in adult alcohol consumption after adolescent drinking, suggesting that human risks may stem from factors not present in these animal studies.
PacBio long-read sequencing is a third-generation technology that generates long reads up to 20 kilobases (kb), unlike short-read sequencing instruments that produce up to 600 bases. Long-read sequencing is particularly advantageous in higher organisms, such as humans and plants, where repetitive regions in the genome are more abundant. The PacBio long-read sequencing uses a single molecule, real-time approach where the SMRT cells contain several zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs).
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- Early alcohol use and binge drinking during adolescence increase the risk of developing alcohol use disorder later in life, especially given the rapid physical and neural changes during this period.
- A study aimed to investigate how age affects leukocyte populations and body composition during adolescence and early adulthood, specifically looking at the impact of adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure.
- Results showed that AIE exposure led to gender-specific changes in body fat: male rats had less fat, while female rats had more, indicating potential long-term health effects despite no overall change in leukocyte numbers or cytokine expression.
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- Social behavior declines in aging, particularly noted in old female rats, prompting research into how their brain responds to social interactions.
- The study measured mRNA activation in young and old female rats after brief exposure to a novel rat, finding significant differences in neural response, particularly in the lateral septum and septohypothalamic area, with young rats exhibiting greater responses.
- Additionally, relative oxytocin receptor expression was assessed, revealing that age-related declines in social investigative behavior are linked to specific brain regions, especially with a noted decrease in the ventromedial hypothalamus.
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- Ethanol exposure in adolescent male rats leads to conditioned responses of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and corticosterone (CORT), with effects being more pronounced than in adults.
- Female adolescent rats did not exhibit similar neuroimmune or CORT conditioning when exposed to ethanol paired with specific environmental cues.
- This study suggests that male adolescents are more likely to develop conditioned associations between alcohol and their environment, highlighting a potential reason for their increased vulnerability to the long-term effects of ethanol.
DNA is damaged through various exogenous sources (e.g., automobile exhaust, tobacco smoke, and processed foods), which can yield diverse C8-dG bulky aryl adducts.
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- Alcohol use during adolescence poses significant risks to brain development, with binge and high-intensity drinking leading to serious consequences for behavior and neural function according to studies done on adolescent rodents.
- In this study, researchers explored a new model of intermittent ethanol exposure using a single bottle of 10% ethanol on a 2 days on/2 days off schedule to assess hormonal and immune responses.
- Results showed that adolescents consumed more ethanol and had higher blood and brain ethanol levels compared to adults, and those with early ethanol exposure exhibited greater immune responses when challenged later in adulthood.
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- Early-life attachment disruption can increase the risk of developing stress-related mental disorders like depression by sensitizing neuroinflammatory signals, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear.
- Research on guinea pig pups shows that isolation leads to initial anxiety-like behavior, followed by depressive-like behavior and fever, which become more pronounced with repeated isolation.
- Experiments utilizing adrenergic agonists and beta-adrenergic receptor blockers didn't demonstrate expected effects on depressive-like behavior or fever during isolation, indicating that the processes involved in developing these behaviors in young guinea pigs may differ from those observed in adult studies.
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- Neuroinflammatory processes are increasingly recognized as key factors in substance use disorders, showing a complex interplay where drug intake worsens inflammation, which in turn escalates substance misuse.
- The review emphasizes the need for further research on how demographic factors, genetic background, and co-existing mental health issues impact the neuroinflammatory response to substances, suggesting potential targets for new treatments.
- It calls for more investigations into polydrug use and its interactions with neuroinflammation to better understand and address the neuropathological consequences of substance misuse.
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- The study examined how alcohol-associated cues affect the body's stress response (HPA axis) in rats, focusing on the inflammatory marker IL-6 and cortisol levels.
- The researchers conducted three experiments using various doses of alcohol and stress challenges to see how these cues influence the response to alcohol and immune system challenges.
- Results showed that alcohol cues enhanced the cortisol response to low doses of alcohol and immune challenges, but not to psychological stress, suggesting that this association is specific to certain contexts.
We elucidate grapevine evolution and domestication histories with 3525 cultivated and wild accessions worldwide. In the Pleistocene, harsh climate drove the separation of wild grape ecotypes caused by continuous habitat fragmentation. Then, domestication occurred concurrently about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia and the Caucasus to yield table and wine grapevines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrape ( spp.) is one of the most important horticultural crops, cultivated worldwide on more than 7.3 million hectares for various purposes such as winemaking, fresh fruit consumption, rootstock, and ornamental plants.
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- Chronic alcohol consumption may influence cognitive decline and share common features with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
- A study on Fischer 344 rats found that aged female rats who consumed alcohol showed increased microglial activity, particularly in clearing beta-amyloid (Aβ) from the brain.
- No significant changes were observed in male rats, indicating a potential sex-specific mechanism in how chronic alcohol consumption affects brain health and cognitive decline.
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- - Acute ethanol exposure leads to quick changes in neuroimmune gene expression that vary by time and the specific cytokines involved, with adolescent rats showing a reduced immune response compared to adults after ethanol exposure.
- - Experiment 1 studied how both adolescent and adult rats respond to ethanol in terms of growth factors, finding significant changes like decreased BDNF and increased FGF2 levels regardless of age, while PDGF showed increased response in adolescent males only.
- - Experiment 2 tested whether ibudilast could modify the gene expression changes caused by ethanol but found no effects, and Experiment 3 used RNA sequencing to discover that ethanol suppressed certain miRNA related to inflammation and cell survival in the adult hippocampus.
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- First exposure to alcohol often occurs prenatally or during adolescence, leading to a higher risk of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) and related health issues later in life.
- Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE) and binge drinking in early adolescence are linked to negative long-term effects on immune function, emphasizing the need for comprehensive studies on their impacts.
- The review highlights the importance of understanding the Central Nervous System's role in immune responses and urges for a holistic approach to studying alcohol's effects on the entire organism's immune function.
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- Binge drinking causes rapid changes in neuroimmune gene expression and activates the HPA axis, which can lead to serious health issues.
- Using rats, researchers investigated the impact of corticosterone (CORT) on these changes, finding that blocking CORT synthesis prevented the alteration of specific immune-related genes caused by ethanol.
- Experiments concluded that the effects of ethanol on neuroimmune gene expressions could be replicated with CORT administration, while other receptor inhibitors had no significant impact, indicating the importance of CORT in binge drinking effects.
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- * The study used male and female rats to observe the effects of adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) on BBB permeability and explored changes in brain regions like the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus.
- * Results indicated that male rats with a history of AIE displayed increased BBB permeability compared to females, suggesting gender differences in vulnerability and potential long-term impacts of early alcohol exposure on brain health.
Article Synopsis
- - Childhood psychological trauma can heighten sensitivity in brain and immune systems, leading to a greater risk of developing depression and other stress-related disorders.
- - A study using guinea pig pups showed that isolating them from their mothers in a stressful environment caused an increase in depressive-like behavior and fever in future isolations.
- - Administering the non-selective COX inhibitor naproxen after the initial isolation successfully reduced depressive-like behavior during a later isolation, suggesting potential for anti-inflammatory treatments to help with the effects of early attachment disruptions.
Alcohol, inflammation, and blood-brain barrier function in health and disease across development.
Int Rev Neurobiol
January 2022
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug of abuse in the world and binge drinking is especially harmful to the brain, though the mechanisms by which alcohol compromises overall brain health remain somewhat elusive. A number of brain diseases and pathological states are accompanied by perturbations in Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) function, ultimately exacerbating disease progression. The BBB is critical for coordinating activity between the peripheral immune system and the brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescence is an evolutionarily conserved developmental period associated with behavioral change, including increased risk-taking and alcohol use. Experimentation with alcohol typically begins in adolescence and transitions to binge-like patterns of consumption. Alcohol exposure during adolescence can alter normative changes in brain structure and function.
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- The studies explored how withdrawal from a binge dose of ethanol (hangover) affects fear conditioning in male and female rats.
- It was found that males showed increased conditioned fear responses after ethanol withdrawal, while females did not exhibit the same sensitivity.
- Additionally, the experiments revealed that female rats clear ethanol from their systems faster than males, which may contribute to the observed differences in fear conditioning response between the sexes.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates how adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) affects adult behavior and biology in rats, focusing on ethanol sensitivity, metabolism, and neuroimmune gene expression after binge-like ethanol exposure.
- - AIE males showed quicker recovery from ethanol's sedative effects compared to controls, while females did not exhibit this difference; however, females did have a slight increase in ethanol clearance at a lower dose.
- - Both male and female rats with AIE history displayed heightened expression of certain neuroimmune genes when re-challenged with ethanol, indicating that AIE leads to lasting biological and behavioral changes that are not solely explained by differences in how ethanol is metabolized.
Human exposure to aromatic amines (AAs) can result in carcinogenic DNA adducts. To complement previous work geared toward understanding the mutagenicity of AA-derived adducts, which has almost exclusively studied (monoadducted) DNA containing a single lesion, the present work provides the first in-depth comparison of the structure of monoadducted and diadducted DNA duplexes. Specifically, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were initially performed on DNA containing the nonmutagenic single-ringed -(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-aniline (dG) or the mutagenic four-ringed -(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-1-aminopyrene (dG) lesion at G, G, or G in the AA deletion hotspot (5'-GGCGCC) in the or glycosidic orientation (B/S duplex conformation).
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