Adhesion molecules and cerebral microvascular hemodynamic abnormalities in sickle cell disease.

Cerebrovascular abnormalities are a common feature of sickle cell disease that may be associated with risk of vaso-occlusive pain crises, microinfarcts, and cognitive impairment. An activated endothelium and adhesion factors, VCAM-1 and P-selectin, are implicated in sickle cell vasculopathy, including abnormal hemodynamics and leukocyte adherence. This study examined the association between cerebral expression of these adhesion factors and cortical microvascular blood flow dynamics by using two-photon microscopy.

Role of age and neuroinflammation in the mechanism of cognitive deficits in sickle cell disease.

This study provides crucial information that could be helpful in the development of new or repurposing of existing therapies for the treatment of cognitive deficit in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). Its impact is in demonstrating for the first time that neuroinflammation and along with abnormal neuroplasticity are among the underlying mechanism of cognitive and behavioral deficits in SCD and that drugs such as minocycline which targets these pathophysiological mechanisms could be repurposed for the treatment of this life altering complication of SCD.

North American Propolis Extracts From Upstate New York Decrease () Spore Levels in Honey Bees ().

infections in honey bees () pose a severe threat to colony health. Beekeepers have used dicyclohexylammonium fumagillin to control , although it may be ineffective against . We investigated the ability of various propolis extracts collected from Upstate New York (United States) to decrease infection levels when fed to -infected honey bees.

Alternative transcription of sodium/bicarbonate transporter SLC4A7 gene enhanced by single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Genome-wide association studies have identified the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3278 in the human gene as one of the marker loci for addiction vulnerability. This marker is located in an intron of the gene, and its genomic role has been unknown. In this study, we examined rs3278 and three adjacent SNPs prevalent in alcoholics for their effects on an alternative promoter that would lead to the production of the NH-terminally truncated protein NBCn1ΔN450, missing the first 450 amino acids.