Publications by authors named "Ichiro Sora"

The psychostimulant drug methamphetamine (METH) causes euphoria in humans and locomotor hyperactivity in rodents by acting on the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway and has severe abuse and addiction liability. Behavioral sensitization, an increased behavioral response to a drug with repeated administration, can persist for many months after the last administration. Research has shown that the serotonin 1B (5-HT1B) receptor plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of drug addiction, as well as other addictive behaviors.

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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs in early childhood and can persist to adulthood. It can affect many aspects of a patient's daily life, so it is necessary to explore the mechanism and pathological alterations. For this purpose, we applied induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived telencephalon organoids to recapitulate the alterations occurring in the early cerebral cortex of ADHD patients.

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Previous pharmacological data have shown the possible existence of functional interactions between μ- (MOP), κ- (KOP), and δ-opioid receptors (DOP) in pain and mood disorders. We previously reported that MOP knockout (KO) mice exhibit a lower stress response compared with wildtype (WT) mice. Moreover, DOP agonists have been shown to exert antidepressant-like effects in numerous animal models.

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Aim: MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery was developed by the National Institute of Mental Health to establish acceptance criteria for measuring cognitive changes in schizophrenia and can be used to assess cognitive functions in other psychiatric disorders. We used a Japanese version of MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery to explore the changes in multiple cognitive functions in patients with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: We administered the Japanese version of MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery to 11 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 27 healthy controls.

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Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the mental health status of healthcare workers and medical students during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to 637 students and 3189 healthcare workers from May to July, 2020. The patient healthcare questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and state anxiety (A-State) of the state-trait anxiety inventory-form (STAI) were used to assess depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively.

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Metabolomics has been attracting attention in recent years as an objective method for diagnosing schizophrenia. In this study, we analyzed 378 metabolites in the serum of schizophrenia patients using capillary electrophoresis- and liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Using multivariate analysis with the orthogonal partial least squares method, we observed significantly higher levels of alanine, glutamate, lactic acid, ornithine, and serine and significantly lower levels of urea, in patients with chronic schizophrenia compared to healthy controls.

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Background: Monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) decomposes dopamine and serotonin, and decreased MAO-A expression increases monoamine levels and is related to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Previous studies have reported that variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR), namely, upstream (u)VNTR, and some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene are associated with schizophrenia.

Methods: We investigated the two VNTRs and their related SNPs (rs6323 and rs1137070) in the gene promoter in 859 patients with schizophrenia and 826 healthy controls.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how a specific genetic variation (A118G SNP) in the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) affects asthma severity, linking emotional stress to asthma symptoms.
  • Out of 292 asthmatic patients, those with the GG genotype showed greater airway hyperresponsiveness compared to other genotypes, even in moderate stress conditions.
  • Experimental results in mice indicated that the GG genotype led to increased Th2 cell differentiation and eosinophilic inflammation, suggesting a genetic basis for worsened asthma responses in individuals with this SNP.
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Aims: 5-Methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT) is a synthetic orally active hallucinogenic tryptamine analogue. The present study examined whether the effects of 5-MeO-DIPT involve the serotonin transporter (SERT) and serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-1A (5-HT ) receptor in the striatum and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

Methods: We investigated the effects of 5-MeO-DIPT on extracellular 5-HT (5-HT ) and dopamine (DA ) levels in the striatum and PFC in wildtype and SERT knockout (KO) mice using in vivo microdialysis, and for comparison the effects of the 5-HT receptor antagonist WAY100635 and the 5-HT receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT on 5-HT .

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Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is characterized by severe clinical impairment, considerable social burden, and high mortality and morbidity, which are due to various malformations, sepsis, and cancer. As >50% of deaths from FASD occur during the first year of life, we hypothesized that there is the acceleration of biological aging in FASD. Several recent studies have established genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles as "epigenetic clocks" that can estimate biological aging, and FASD has been associated with differential DNAm patterns.

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Aim: Many researchers argue that Alzheimer's disease is at least partly caused by deposition of amyloid beta (Aβ) in the brain. Ferulic acid (FA) and Angelica archangelica (AA) are candidate agents for reducing Aβ and improving cognitive function. Feru-guard 100M is a supplement containing FA and AA extract.

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Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to manifest two opposing tendencies in their attentional biases and symptoms. However, whether common neural mechanisms account for their opposing attentional biases and symptoms remains unknown. We here propose a model in which reciprocal inhibition between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) predicts synchronized alternations between emotional under- and overmodulatory states at the neural, behavioral, and symptom levels within the same patients.

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There is high mortality among patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Studies have reported accelerated biological aging in patients with BD. Recently, Horvath and Hannum et al.

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Aim: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective for psychiatric disorders. However, its action mechanism remains unclear. We previously reported that transcription factor 7 (TCF7) was increased in patients successfully treated with ECT.

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Background: Methamphetamine (METH) is one of the most widely distributed psychostimulants worldwide. Despite active counter measures taken by different countries, neither overall usage of METH nor the frequency of repeat users has reduced over the past decade. METH induces abuse and dependence as it acts on the central nervous system and temporarily stimulates the brain.

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Methamphetamine (METH), a commonly abused drug, elevates extracellular dopamine (DA) levels by inducing DA efflux through the DA transporter (DAT). Emerging evidence in rodent models suggests that locomotor responses to a novel inescapable open field may predict behavioral responses to abused drugs; METH produces more potent stimulant effects in high responders to novelty than in low responders. We herein found that mice deficient in protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z (Ptprz-KO) exhibited an enhanced behavioral response to novelty; however, METH-induced hyperlocomotion was significantly lower in Ptprz-KO than in wild-type mice when METH was administered at a non-toxic dose of 1 mg per kg body weight (bdw).

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Article Synopsis
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can arise after experiencing traumatic events, and while exposure-based therapy is effective, many patients struggle with its intensity and often drop out.
  • Neurofeedback has emerged as a potential alternative treatment, allowing patients to manage their brain activity in real-time; however, traditional methods face challenges in targeting specific trauma-related neural patterns.
  • The innovative approach of Decoded Neurofeedback (DecNef) enables patients to regulate brain signals related to their feared stimuli more effectively, and early studies suggest it may help reduce fear responses, though the precise mechanisms remain unclear and merit further investigation.
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The accelerated aging hypothesis of schizophrenia (SCZ) has been proposed. DNA methylation profiles were developed for determining "epigenetic age." Here, we assessed intrinsic and extrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA and EEAA, respectively) in SCZ.

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Aim: Repeated psychostimulant drug treatment, including methamphetamine, in rodents readily produces behavioral sensitization, which reflects altered brain function caused by repeated drug exposure. Dendritic remodeling of medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens is thought to be an essential mechanism underlying behavioral sensitization. We recently showed that chronic methamphetamine treatment did not produce behavioral sensitization in serotonin transporter knockout mice.

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Background: Hyperserotonemia in the brain is suspected to be an endophenotype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Reducing serotonin levels in the brain through modulation of serotonin transporter function may improve ASD symptoms.

Methods: We analyzed behavior and gene expression to unveil the causal mechanism of ASD-relevant social deficits using serotonin transporter () knockout mice.

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