Background: Clinical studies have suggested that dysregulation of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) system may play a role in psychiatric disorders, including chronic stress. Meanwhile, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has shown promise for stress-related maladies. However, no studies have explored whether MBSR can change plasma NPY concentration in stressed individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiets high in sucrose and fat are becoming more prevalent the world over, accompanied by a raised prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Clinical studies link unhealthy diets with the development of mental health disorders, particularly depression. Here, we investigate the effects of 12 days of sucrose consumption administered as 2 L of 25% sucrose solution daily for 12 days in Göttingen minipigs on the function of brain receptors involved in reward and motivation, regulating feeding, and pre- and post-synaptic mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Oral contraceptives (OCs) are primarily known for their effects on the reproductive system, but they can also impact the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The present study aimed to compare plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses to the anticipatory stress of participating in a scientific experiment and venepuncture in OC users versus naturally cycling (NC) women, with a focus on variations throughout the menstrual cycle.
Methods: We recruited 131 young women (average age 20.
Stress can have a significant impact on the daily lives of individuals and can increase vulnerability to a number of medical conditions. This study aims to estimate the ratio of male to female participants in acute social stress research in healthy individuals. We examined original research articles published over the last 20 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Neuropsychiatr
August 2023
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Male Post-coital Affect Scale (MPAS), which was developed to assess positive post-coital feelings in men.
Methods: After a pilot study, we validated our scale on a sample of American heterosexual men, who answered our questionnaire on the internet through Amazon Mechanical Turk. We tested the reliability using internal consistency.
Cognitive consequences of hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are largely underexplored, despite the popularity of use. This study investigates the association between perseverance during cognitively challenging tasks and the use of HCs among Danish women. We hypothesised that women using HCs show decreased perseverance across tasks compared to their naturally cycling counterparts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Göttingen minipig is a large animal with a gyrencephalic brain that expresses -complex behavior, making it an attractive model for Parkinson's disease research. Here, we investigate the temporal evolution of presynaptic dopaminergic function for 14 months after injections of 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) into the minipig using a multi-tracer longitudinal positron emission tomography (PET) design. We injected seven sedated minipigs with 1-2 mg/kg of MPTP, and two with saline, three times a week over four weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlterations in the substantia nigra are strongly associated with Parkinson's disease. However, due to low contrast and partial volume effects present in typical MRI images, the substantia nigra is not of sufficient size to obtain a reliable segmentation for region-of-interest based analysis. To combat this problem, the approach proposed here offers a method to investigate and reveal changes in quantitative MRI parameters in the vicinity of substantia nigra without any a priori delineation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neonatal male circumcision is a painful skin-breaking procedure that may affect infant physiological and behavioral stress responses as well as mother-infant interaction. Due to the plasticity of the developing nociceptive system, neonatal pain might carry long-term consequences on adult behavior. In this study, we examined whether infant male circumcision is associated with long-term psychological effects on adult socio-affective processing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral contraception (OC) is used by approximately fifty-five million women in the USA alone and is listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation. Altered mood is a common reason for OC cessation. Here we investigate the effects of OC on hormones that are linked to mood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Anaesthesia routinely is used in animal neuroimaging in order to reduce head motion artefacts and minimize the influence of stress. However, anaesthetics can modify radioligand binding profiles at receptor targets studied by positron emission tomography (PET). Here, we determined the effects of two routine anaesthetics on the binding of a tracer of the serotonin 5HT receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExcessive sucrose consumption elicits addiction-like craving that may underpin the obesity epidemic. Opioids and dopamine mediate the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse, and of natural rewards from stimuli such as palatable food. We investigated the effects of sucrose using PET imaging with [C]carfentanil (μ-opioid receptor agonist) and [C]raclopride (dopamine D2/3 receptor antagonist) in seven female anesthetized Göttingen minipigs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Arterial fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is considered a measure of atherosclerotic plaque macrophages and is used for quantification of disease activity in clinical trials, but the distribution profile of FDG across macrophages and other arterial cells has not been fully clarified.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze FDG uptake in different arterial tissues and their contribution to PET signal in normal and atherosclerotic arteries.
Methods: Wild-type and D374Y-PCSK9 transgenic Yucatan minipigs were fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet to induce atherosclerosis and subjected to a clinical FDG-PET and computed tomography scan protocol.
Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a frequent and debilitating complication of cirrhosis and its pathogenesis is not definitively clarified. Recent hypotheses focus on the possible existence of low-grade cerebral edema due to accumulation of osmolytes secondary to hyperammonemia. In the present study we investigated increases in cerebral water content by a novel magnetic resonance impedance (MRI) technique in cirrhosis patients with and without clinically manifest HE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) may present with convulsive events that are not accompanied by epileptiform brain activity. Video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring is the gold standard for diagnosis, yet not all patients experience convulsive episodes during video-EEG sessions. Hence, we aimed to construct a predictive model in order to detect PNES from serum hormone levels, detached from an evaluation of patients' convulsive episodes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Electroconvulsive therapy is an effective therapy of depression. We hypothesized that the beneficial effects are mediated partly by decreased serotonin receptor availability in the cortex.
Aims: We used positron emission tomography with the serotonin 5HT receptor radioligand [C]MDL100,907 to determine serotonin receptor availability in response to electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS).
Objective: The present study explores the relationship between neuroactive hormones and religious commitment. We hypothesised that religious commitment is mediated by neuropeptide Y and oxytocin. These neurohormones have a well-established role in general well-being, anxiety regulation, stress-resilience, social affiliation and spirituality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) is a conversion disorder that reflects underlying psychological distress. Female patients with PNES often present with a history of prolonged stressors, especially sexual abuse. In the current study, we studied the relationship between neuropeptide Y (NPY) and PNES symptoms in women with a history of sexual abuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDegeneration of noradrenergic neurons may underlie the disabling nonmotor symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Quantification of the loss of noradrenergic neurons by means of neuroimaging has been limited by the lack of radioligands that are selective for noradrenergic neurotransmission. The radioligand ()-C-2-(α-(2-methoxyphenoxy)benzyl)morpholine (C-MeNER) is a highly selective inhibitor of noradrenaline transporters, and PET studies suggest that this radioligand is suitable for quantitative neuroimaging of noradrenergic deficits in human brain in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo better understand the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we investigated potential deficits in social play behaviour and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) density alterations in the amygdala in a rodent model of ASD. Pregnant rats were injected daily with 20 or 100 mg/kg valproic acid (VPA) or saline from day 12 until the end of pregnancy. The number of pinning and pouncing events was assessed at postnatal days 29-34.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study was conducted to investigate and clinically assess comorbid depression and its relevance in individuals suffering from gambling disorders. The DSM-V defines the condition of gambling disorder as a persistent and recurrent problematic gambling behaviour leading to clinically significant impairment or distress.
Method: A total of 61 subjects with gambling disorders were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-I), the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and the Major Depression inventory (MDI).
Unlabelled: Neuropeptide Y2 (NPY2) receptors are implicated in diverse brain disorders, but no suitable PET radiotracers are currently available for studying NPY2 receptors in the living brain. We developed a novel positron-emitting radioligand based on the NPY2 receptor antagonist JNJ-31020028 (N-(4-(4-[2-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-1-phenylethyl]piperazin-1-yl)-3-fluorophenyl)-2-pyridin-3-ylbenzamide) and used the radiotracer for PET brain imaging in pigs.
Methods: In vitro receptor autoradiography studies were performed to establish the anatomic distribution of NPY2 receptors in the pig brain.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (DCE-CT) and the slope method can provide absolute measures of hepatic blood perfusion from the hepatic artery (HA) and portal vein (PV) at experimentally varied blood flow rates.
Materials And Methods: Ten anesthetized 40-kg pigs underwent DCE-CT of the liver during periods of normocapnia (normal flow), hypocapnia (decreased flow), and hypercapnia (increased flow), which were induced by adjusting the ventilation. Reference blood flows in the HA and PV were measured continuously by surgically placed ultrasound transit-time flowmeters.
During cardiopulmonary bypass blood gases can be analyzed with laboratory equipment or with an in-line monitor giving instant results. The manufacturer of the CDI 500 in-line blood gas monitor recommends gas calibration before use. In acute cases there may not be time to perform a gas calibration.
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