Publications by authors named "Xinshe Liu"

Accurately identifying and differentiating the types of injuries in decomposed corpses is a major challenge in forensic identification. Forensic investigations involving decomposed cadavers pose challenges in determining the cause of death. Traditional methods often lack conclusive evidence.

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This article explores the development and challenges of forensic medicine in Africa, comparing it to developed countries. It addresses limited resources, funding, and a shortage of trained professionals. The growth of forensic investigation capabilities and the challenges of funding and technology access are discussed.

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The Republic of Rwanda is a landlocked country with more than 12.6 million people. Similar to other nations in Africa, Rwanda is still developing its forensic medicine capabilities.

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Background: Despite its role in inflammation and the redox system under hypoxia, the effects and molecular mechanisms of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) in neuroinflammation-associated depression are poorly explored. Furthermore, Prolyl hydroxylase domain-containing proteins (PHDs) regulate HIF-1; however, whether and how PHDs regulate depressive-like behaviors under Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced stress conditions remain covered.

Methods: To highlight the roles and underlying mechanisms of PHDs-HIF-1 in depression, we employed behavioral, pharmacological, and biochemical analyses using the LPS-induced depression model.

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Aim: Psilocin is an active metabolite form of psilocybin and exerts psychoactive effects. Recent studies suggest that psilocin may have regulatory effects on abuse drugs, but the mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we want to explore the effects of psilocin on methamphetamine (METH)-induced alterations of behavior in mice and its molecular mechanisms.

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Drug addiction, including methamphetamine (METH) addiction, is a significant public health and social issue. Perturbations in intracellular Ca homeostasis are associated with drug addiction. K-dependent Na/Ca exchanger 2 (NCKX2) is located on neuronal cell membranes and constitutes a Ca clearance mechanism, with key roles in synaptic plasticity.

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Rationale: MicroRNA (miRNA) control of post-transcription gene expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been implicated in methamphetamine (METH) dependence. Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a classical animal procedure that reflects the rewarding effects of addictive drugs. miR-222-3p has been reported to play a key role in various neurological diseases and is strongly associated with alcohol dependence.

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Drug addiction can be described as a chronic and relapsing brain disease. Behavioral sensitization is common animal model in the study of addiction and N-Methyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptor (NMDAR) is believed play key role in this process. LY235959 is a competitive NMDAR antagonist, however, its effect on methamphetamine (METH)-induced behavioral sensitization is not been reported yet.

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Objectives: To explore the forensic application value of cluster of differentiation 83 (CD83) and heat shock transcription factor 5(HSF5) in identifying antemortem and postmortem skin burns.

Methods: Through reverse transcription real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), CD83 and HSF5 mRNA levels in the skin tissues of antemortem and postmortem burned mice and human samples were detected quantitatively.

Results: Compared with the control group and the postmortem burned group, the mRNA levels of CD83 and HSF5 in antemortem burned mice were higher.

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Rationale: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate neuroplasticity-related proteins and are implicated in methamphetamine (METH) addiction. RhoA is a small Rho GTPase that regulates synaptic plasticity and addictive behaviors. Nevertheless, the functional relationship between RhoA and upstream miRNAs of METH addiction remains unclear.

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Drug addiction is underscored by the transition from experimental use to dependent use of addictive drugs. Acute use of methamphetamine (METH) causes a range of clinical symptoms, including hyperlocomotion. Dopamine D1 receptor (D1R)-mediated negative regulation of phosphorylated calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα (p-CaMKIIα, threonine [Thr] 286) is involved in the acute effects induced by single METH administration.

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Drug addiction is a chronic recurrent brain disease characterized by compulsive drug use and a high tendency to relapse. We previously reported that the Ras-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-ΔFosB pathway in the caudate putamen (CPu) was involved in methamphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization. Rap1, as an antagonist of Ras originally, was found to participate in neuronal synaptic plasticity recently, but the role of Rap1 in methamphetamine addiction is unclear.

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Methamphetamine (METH) abuse has become a serious social problem. Behavioral sensitization is a common behavioral paradigm used to study the neurobiological mechanism that underlies drug addiction. Our previous study demonstrated that the activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and the level of phosphorylated extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (p-ERK 1/2) are increased in the caudate putamen (CPu) of METH-sensitive mice.

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Determining the postmortem interval (PMI) is an important task in forensic pathology. However, a reliable means of determining the PMI between 24 h and approximately 7 days after death has not yet been established. A previous study demonstrated that subunit A of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A-A) is a promising candidate to estimate the PMI during the first 96 h.

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Morphine is one of the most abused drugs in the world, which has resulted in serious social problems. The frontal association cortex (FrA) has been shown to play a key role in memory formation and drug addiction. N-Methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are abundant in the prefrontal cortex (PFc) and much evidence indicates that GluN2B-containing NMDARs are involved in morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP).

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Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) are frequently altered in a variety of human cancer cells and are overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Several literatures have proven that they are efficacious for HCC therapy, however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we found FGFR4 was overexpressed in HCC cell lines HepG2 and Hep3B and we used PD173074, an FGFR4 inhibitor, to explore the role of FGFR4 and its underlying mechanism in these cell lines.

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Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine phosphatase abundant in mammalian brains. Although recent research has revealed that PP2A plays important roles in cocaine and morphine addictions, the mechanism of action of PP2A in methamphetamine (METH) addiction is unclear. LB100 is a PP2A inhibitor able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB); the role of LB100 in METH-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) has not yet been reported.

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Drug addiction can be described as a chronic and relapsing brain disease. Behavioral sensitization is believed to share similar mechanisms with relapse. Our previous studies have demonstrated that ifenprodil could attenuate methamphetamine (METH)-induced behavioral sensitization.

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Traditional Chinese medicinal materials derived from animal bile are widely applied in clinical therapy for thousands of years in several Southeast Asian countries. Although the constituents are similar, these crude drugs exhibit different pharmacological activities; bile acids are the main bioactive constituent. Depending on the source, the price of these crude drugs differs significantly.

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Rapid and accurate identification of multiple toxins for clinical diagnosis and treatment of mushroom poisoning cases is still a challenge, especially with the lack of authentic references. In this study, we developed an effective method for simultaneous identification of amanita peptide toxins by liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The accuracy and selectivity of the methodology were validated through similar multiple fragmentation patterns and characteristic ions of standard α- and β-amanitin.

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α-Amanitin is the main lethal component of amanita mushrooms, and data on its toxicokinetics are few. The aim of this study was to develop a sensitive and cost-effective method to identify α-amanitin and investigate its toxicokinetic parameters using liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. The colchicine was used as the internal standard (IS).

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The 5-HT1A receptor (HTR1A) and the 5-HT5A receptor (HTR5A) are key 5-HT receptors with distinct inhibitory functions. Studies have been conducted to investigate the association of a few HTR1A polymorphisms with schizophrenia, producing conflicting results, and the relationship between HTR5A and schizophrenia has not yet been well investigated. We aimed to examine the association of HTR1A and HTR5A with schizophrenia and executive function.

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Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with high heritability. Abnormal gene methylation was found to play a key role in the development of SCZ, suggesting that histone deacetylases (HDACs) may increase the expression of several key genes in the brain. However, recent studies evaluating the association between SCZ and genetic polymorphisms in histone deacetylase 3 (encoded by HDAC3) have shown conflicting results.

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Chronic discontinuous use of many psychomotor stimulants leads to behavioral sensitization and, owing to it shares common mechanisms with relapse, most researchers use its animal model to explore the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction. Recent studies have proved that N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are implicated in psychomotor stimulant-induced behavioral sensitization. However, the function of GluN2B-containing NMDARs and their potential downstream cascade(s) in the acquisition and expression of behavioral sensitization to methamphetamine (METH) have not been explored.

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In recent years, the clinical medication safety for children has gained wide public concern. Because of the growth and development characteristics of the children and drug usage conditions for children, the adverse reactions of drugs in clinic are more common in children than those in adults. In this paper, the common adverse drug reactions and their causes would be briefly introduced, and some suggestions would be put forward on how to reduce the incidence of adverse drug reactions.

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