A reciprocal relationship between reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dynamics in neurodegeneration.

Mitochondrial fragmentation due to fission/fusion imbalance has often been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in neurodegeneration. Conventionally, it is believed that once mitochondrial morphology shifts away from its physiological tubular form, mitochondria become defective and downstream apoptotic signaling pathways are triggered. However, our study shows that beta-amyloid (Aβ) induces morphological changes in mitochondria where they become granular-shaped and are distinct from fragmented mitochondria in terms of both morphology and functions.

Epidemiology and clinical management of Legionnaires' disease.

Legionnaires' disease is an important cause of community-acquired and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Although uncommon, Legionnaires' disease continues to cause disease outbreaks of public health significance. The disease is caused by any species of the Gram-negative aerobic bacteria belonging to the genus Legionella; Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 is the causative agent of most cases in Europe.

Effects of corticosterone and amyloid-beta on proteins essential for synaptic function: implications for depression and Alzheimer's disease.

The relationship between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depression has been well established in terms of epidemiological and clinical observations. Depression has been considered to be both a symptom and risk factor of AD. Several genetic and neurobiological mechanisms have been described to underlie these two disorders.

Does methotrexate increase the risk of varicella or herpes zoster infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? A systematic literature review.

Objectives: Methotrexate (MTX) has become the foundation disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) for RA. However, concern exists regarding its possible association with infectious complications including varicella zoster virus (VZV) and herpes zoster (HZ). Furthermore, no consensus exists regarding pre-MTX VZV screening or the use of VZV vaccine.

In vitro attenuation of acrolein-induced toxicity by phloretin, a phenolic compound from apple.

In the current study, the protective effects of phloretin were investigated in acrolein-challenged amino acid, protein, and cell models. It was found that the formation of FDP-lysine (a typical acrolein-lysine adduct) was strongly inhibited in the presence of phloretin and the remaining electrophilic site in FDP-lysine was also blocked by phloretin. Moreover, direct trapping of acrolein by phloretin was found to be responsible for inhibiting the incorporation of carbonyl groups into BSA and oligomerisation in RNase A.

Temporal relationship of autophagy and apoptosis in neurons challenged by low molecular weight β-amyloid peptide.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an aging-related progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Previous studies suggested that various soluble Aβ species are neurotoxic and able to activate apoptosis and autophagy, the type I and type II programmed cell death, respectively. However, the sequential and functional relationships between these two cellular events remain elusive.