Angiotensin-(1-7) reduces doxorubicin-induced aortic arch dysfunction in male and female juvenile Sprague Dawley rats through pleiotropic mechanisms.

Doxorubicin (Dox), an effective chemotherapeutic, can cause cumulative dose-dependent cardiovascular toxicity, which may manifest as vascular dysfunction leading to long-term end-organ damage. Currently, there are no effective treatments to mitigate Dox-induced vascular damage in cancer patients, particularly pediatric patients. We showed that angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)], an endogenous peptide hormone, mitigated cardiac damage in Dox-treated juvenile rats.

Hippocampal Neural Stem Cell Grafting after Status Epilepticus Alleviates Chronic Epilepsy and Abnormal Plasticity, and Maintains Better Memory and Mood Function.

Hippocampal damage after status epilepticus (SE) leads to multiple epileptogenic changes, which lead to chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Morbidities such as spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) and memory and mood impairments are seen in a significant fraction of SE survivors despite the administration of antiepileptic drugs after SE. We examined the efficacy of bilateral intra-hippocampal grafting of neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs) derived from the embryonic day 19 rat hippocampi, six days after SE for restraining SE-induced SRS, memory, and mood impairments in the chronic phase.

Amino acids as biomarkers in the SOD1(G93A) mouse model of ALS.

The development of therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) has been hindered by the lack of biomarkers for both identifying early disease and for monitoring the effectiveness of drugs. The identification of ALS biomarkers in presymptomatic individuals might also provide clues to the earliest biochemical correlates of the disease. Previous attempts to use plasma metabolites as biomarkers have led to contradictory results, presumably because of heterogeneity in both the underlying genetics and the disease stage in the clinical population.

Case Report of Argininemia: The Utility of the Arginine/Ornithine Ratio for Newborn Screening (NBS).

We describe a case of Argininemia detected by Michigan Newborn Screening (NBS). The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children recommends that every MS/MS newborn screening program include Argininemia as part of their uniform screening panel. While affected infants will be detected by this testing, Arginine levels may take time to accumulate.