Myelitis associated with glial fibrillary acidic protein IgG: characterization and comparison with aquaporin-4 IgG and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein IgG myelitis.

Background: Awareness of the characteristics of glial fibrillary acidic protein autoantibody (GFAP-IgG) associated myelitis facilitates early diagnosis and treatment. We explored features in GFAP-IgG myelitis and compared them with those in myelitis associated with aquaporin-4 IgG (AQP4-IgG) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein IgG (MOG-IgG).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from patients with GFAP-IgG myelitis at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Henan Children's Hospital from May 2018 to May 2023.

Mitochondrial-regulated Tregs: potential therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) can eliminate autoreactive lymphocytes, induce self-tolerance, and suppress the inflammatory response. Mitochondria, as the energy factories of cells, are essential for regulating the survival, differentiation, and function of Tregs. Studies have shown that patients with autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, and autoimmune encephalitis, have aberrant Tregs and mitochondrial damage.

[Effect of nape cluster acupuncture on swallowing function and respiratory function in patients with post-stroke dysphagia].

Objective: To observe the effect of nape cluster acupuncture on swallowing function and respiratory function in patients with post-stroke dysphagia, and to explore its relationship to cerebral arterial flow and neurotrophic factors.

Methods: A total of 120 patients with post-stroke dysphagia were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 60 patients in each one. The conventional swallowing rehabilitation therapy and respiratory function training were adopted in the control group.

Optimization of Surface Electromyography-Based Neurofeedback Rehabilitation Intervention System.

In this paper, we study the effects of the neurofeedback method of surface EMG on electrophysiology and evaluate its effects on postural control, balance, and motor function using relevant scales. We optimize the neurofeedback rehabilitation intervention system based on surface EMG, study the objective assessment of neurofeedback rehabilitation intervention of surface EMG, and initially try to apply mirror therapy to the treatment of surface EMG. According to the different treatment methods, they were divided into the drug-only group, drug combined with electroacupuncture group, drug combined with facial muscle function training group, and drug combined with electroacupuncture combined with facial muscle function training group.

Behavioral economics of cocaine self-administration in male and female rats.

There are sex differences in the development of cocaine addiction. For example, the time that it takes for women from initial use to addiction is significantly shorter than for men. Thus, understanding why females are more vulnerable to cocaine addiction will provide insights into sex differences in the mechanisms underlying cocaine addiction.

Role of the GABA and GABA receptors of the central nucleus of the amygdala in compulsive cocaine-seeking behavior in male rats.

Rationale: Compulsive cocaine use, defined as the continued use despite the dire consequences, is a hallmark of cocaine addiction. Thus, understanding the brain mechanism regulating the compulsive cocaine-seeking and cocaine-taking behaviors is essential to understand cocaine addiction and the key to identification of the molecular targets for the development of medications against this condition.

Objective: This study aimed to determine how the GABA and GABA receptors of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) regulate the compulsive cocaine-seeking behavior.

Evaluation and Application of Different Cholesterol-Lowering Lactic Acid Bacteria as Potential Meat Starters.

Abstract: A total of 115 isolates of lactic acid bacteria were screened from traditional fermented foods in Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. The cholesterol removal rates of 86 isolates ranged from 7.29 to 25.

Design and development of novel thiazolidin-4-one-1,3,5-triazine derivatives as neuro-protective agent against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice via attenuation of NF-ĸB.

The present study enumerates the discovery and development of novel thiazolidin-4-one-1,3,5-triazine as neuro-protective agent against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice. These compounds showed significant inhibition of NF-ĸB transcriptional activity in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, displaying compound 8k as most potent inhibitor among the tested derivative.

Compulsive sucrose- and cocaine-seeking behaviors in male and female Wistar rats.

Rationale: Compulsive cocaine use is a key feature of cocaine addiction and understanding the factors that promote the development of such a behavior will provide important insights into the mechanism of cocaine addiction and is essential for the clinical management of the disorder.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine how the preexisting compulsive reward-seeking behavior is related to the development of compulsive cocaine-seeking behavior in male and female rats and the potential impact of the reward value and estrous cycle on such behaviors.

Methods: Adult male and female Wistar rats were first trained to self-administer sucrose pellets under a chained schedule, and then, the intensity-response effects of footshock punishment on sucrose SA reinforced by different values of sucrose were measured.

Different functional domains measured by cocaine self-administration under the progressive-ratio and punishment schedules in male Wistar rats.

Background: Current diagnosis of drug addiction like other mental disorders is based on clinical symptoms not on neural pathophysiology and consequently, does not provide useful information on the underlying pathophysiology and may impede the efforts to identify the underlying mechanisms. Identifying the functional deficits that are relevant to addiction and can be traced to the neural systems will greatly facilitate our understanding of the heterogeneity of the condition and improve future diagnosis and treatment. Cocaine addiction is characterized by the continued use despite the dire consequences, and the deficit in inhibitory control may play a key role in this process.

MicroRNA-18a inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor 1α activity and lung metastasis in basal breast cancers.

Introduction: In breast cancer, distinct expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been associated with molecular subgroups and clinicopathological characteristics, implicating a diagnostic and prognostic role of miRNAs. However, the biological functions of deregulated miRNAs in tumor progression are not yet completely defined. In this study, we investigated the function of miR-18a in regulating breast cancer metastasis through the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1A)-dependent hypoxic response.

Systematic analysis of metastasis-associated genes identifies miR-17-5p as a metastatic suppressor of basal-like breast cancer.

The purpose of this study is to identify metastasis-associated genes/signaling pathways in basal-like breast tumors. Kaplan-Meier analysis of two public meta-datasets and functional classification was used to identify genes/signaling pathways significantly associated with distant metastasis free survival. Integrated analysis of expression correlation and interaction between mRNAs and miRNAs was used to identify miRNAs that potentially regulate the expression of metastasis-associated genes.

Inactivation of the central nucleus of the amygdala reduces the effect of punishment on cocaine self-administration in rats.

Continued cocaine use despite the negative consequences is a hallmark of cocaine addiction. One such consequence is punishment, which is often used by society to curb cocaine use. Unfortunately, we know little about the mechanism involved in regulation by punishment of cocaine use.

Regulation of cocaine-induced reinstatement by group II metabotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral tegmental area.

Rationale: A high rate of relapse is a daunting challenge facing clinical treatment of cocaine addiction. Recent studies have shown that drugs of abuse enhance glutamate neurotransmission in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and such enhancement may contribute to the risk of relapse.

Objectives: Given the important role of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2/3s) in regulating glutamate release from the glutamatergic terminals, this study aimed to test whether activation of mGluR2/3s in the VTA can inhibit cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior, a model of relapse to drug-seeking behavior.

Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area: drug-induced synaptic plasticity and its role in relapse to drug-seeking behavior.

Relapse is a hallmark of drug addiction and a daunting challenge facing the clinical treatment of the disease. Although the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the rewarding effects of addictive drugs, thought to play a critical role in initiating drug use, have been extensively studied for the past half century, recent research has begun to focus on the neural mechanisms underlying relapse. For the past decade, accumulating evidence indicates that glutamate and dopamine (DA) neurotransmissions in the mesocorticolimbic system are critically involved in this process.

Activation of D₂-like receptors in rat ventral tegmental area inhibits cocaine-reinstated drug-seeking behavior.

Relapse is a hallmark of cocaine addiction. Cocaine-induced neuroplastic changes in the mesocorticolimbic circuits critically contribute to this phenomenon. Pre-clinical evidence indicates that relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior depends on activation of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area.

Regulation of cocaine-reinstated drug-seeking behavior by kappa-opioid receptors in the ventral tegmental area of rats.

Rationale: Relapse is one of the main challenges facing the current treatment of cocaine addiction. Understanding its neurobiological mechanism is a critical step toward developing effective anti-relapse therapies.

Objectives: Emerging evidence indicates that glutamate-mediated activation of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may be critically involved in cocaine-induced relapse to drug-seeking behavior.

Repeated cocaine self-administration alters processing of cocaine-related information in rat prefrontal cortex.

One of the core symptoms of cocaine addiction is compulsive drug-seeking behavior. Although the precise neural substrates are unknown, it has been hypothesized that this behavior involves cocaine-induced hypofunction of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or "hypofrontality." To test this hypothesis, PFC neuronal activity was monitored in rats during approximately 3 weeks of cocaine self-administration (SA).

Neuronal substrates of relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior: role of prefrontal cortex.

The return to drug seeking, even after prolonged periods of abstinence, is a defining feature of cocaine addiction. The neural circuitry underlying relapse has been identified in neuropharmacological studies of experimental animals, typically rats, and supported in brain imaging studies of human addicts. Although the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), which has long been implicated in goal-directed behavior, plays a critical role in this circuit, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) appears to process the events that directly trigger relapse: exposure to acute stress, cues previously associated with the drug, and the drug itself.

Ionotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral tegmental area regulate cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior and by a high rate of relapse even after long periods of abstinence. Although the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway is thought to play a critical role in drug craving and relapse, recent evidence also implicates glutamate, an amino acid known to activate DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) via ionotropic receptors. To assess whether increased glutamate transmission in the VTA is involved in cocaine-primed drug-seeking behavior, we tested rats in a between-session reinstatement model.

The role of prefrontal cortex D1-like and D2-like receptors in cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

Rationale: Evidence from preclinical and clinical studies indicates an important role for the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system in cocaine craving and relapse.

Objectives: To investigate the relative involvement of prefrontal cortex D1-like and D2-like dopamine receptors in cocaine-primed, drug-seeking behavior.

Methods: Rats were trained to press a lever to self-administer cocaine (i.

Characterization of the non-competitive antagonist binding site of the NMDA receptor in dark Agouti rats.

The ability of non-competitive NMDA antagonists and other selected compounds to inhibit [3H]MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor in brain membranes was evaluated in female, dark Agouti rats. In homologous competition binding studies the average apparent affinity (KD) of [3H]MK-801 for its binding site was 5.5 nM and the binding site density (Bmax) was 1.

Lidocaine inactivation of ventral subiculum attenuates cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

The role of the ventral subiculum in cocaine- or cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior was investigated in rats tested on a between-session reinstatement model. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.25 mg/infusion, i.