There is great evidence linking neurotrophic factor (NF) dysfunction with Parkinson's disease (PD) pathophysiology. This study was conducted to evaluate plasma levels of NFs and their possible associations with clinical symptoms in PD. For this purpose, 40 PD patients and 25 controls were subjected to a clinical evaluation and peripheral blood draw. Plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), pro-BDNF, neurotrophin 3, neurotrophin 4, nerve growth, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor and ciliary neurotrophic factor were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There was no significant difference between PD patients and controls regarding the plasma levels of the evaluated NFs. In addition, NF levels were not associated with disease duration, degree of motor or functional impairment, cognitive performance or severity of depressive symptoms. In conclusion, although NFs may play relevant roles in the pathophysiology of PD, the circulating levels of these molecules are not necessarily changed in patients with PD.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0004-282X20180035 | DOI Listing |
Biotechnol Notes
September 2024
Biotechnology Unit, University of Ribeirão Preto/UNAERP, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
Kidney explant cultures are traditionally carried out at air-liquid interfaces, which disrupts 3D tissue structure and limits interpretation of developmental data. To overcome this limitation, we developed a 3D culture technique using hydrogel embedding to capture morphogenesis in real time. We show that 3D culture better approximates -like niche spacing and dynamic tubule tip rearrangement, as well as -like presentation of branching defects under perturbations to glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)- RE arranged during T ransfection (RET) tyrosine kinase signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Pain
January 2025
Collegium Medicum, WSB University, Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland.
This study investigated the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in patients with degenerative lumbar stenosis, focusing on its expression and correlation with pain intensity. The study examined 96 patients with lumbar stenosis and 85 control participants. BDNF levels in the yellow ligamentum flavum were measured using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blot analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Control Release
January 2025
Department of Urology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China; Institute of Urology, Beijing Municipal Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China. Electronic address:
We previously established an effective method to ameliorate erectile dysfunction (ED) using intracavernous injection (ICI) of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) microspheres. However, the expression of a key neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), was low in both MSCs and MSC microspheres, restricting the associated neural repair. Based on the hypoxia and oxidative stress microenvironments within cell spheroids and lesion areas, BDNF-expressing nanocomplexes that are dual-responsive to hypoxia and reactive oxygen species were designed to modify MSCs, achieving high BDNF expression in MSC spheroids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain Res
January 2025
Physiology, Department of Biology, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran.
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) induced by utero-placental insufficiency (UPI) results in delayed neural development and impaired brain growth. This study investigates the effects of Naringin (Nar) on memory, learning, cholinergic activity, oxidative stress markers, hippocampal CREB/BDNF signal pathway and cell damage in offspring of rats exposed to UPI. Twenty pregnant Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups: control, sham surgery, UPI + NS (UPI + normal saline as a vehicle), and UPI + Nar (UPI + Nar at 100 mg/kg/day).
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