Electroacupuncture alleviates paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy by reducing CCL2-mediated macrophage infiltration in sensory ganglia and sciatic nerve.

Background: Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN) is prevalent among patients receiving paclitaxel chemotherapy, which results in sensory abnormality as well as neuropathic pain. Conventional medications lack effectiveness on PIPN. Clinical trials identified beneficial effects of acupuncture on PIPN among patients receiving chemotherapy.

Specialized pericyte subtypes in the pulmonary capillaries.

Pericytes are essential for capillary stability and homeostasis, with impaired pericyte function linked to diseases like pulmonary arterial hypertension. Investigating pericyte biology has been challenging due to the lack of specific markers, making it difficult to distinguish pericytes from other stromal cells. Using bioinformatic analysis and RNAscope, we identified Higd1b as a unique gene marker for pericytes and subsequently generated a knock-in mouse line, Higd1b-CreERT2, that accurately labels pericytes in the lung and heart.

Genome-wide association study unravels mechanisms of brain glymphatic activity.

Brain glymphatic activity, as indicated by diffusion-tensor imaging analysis along the perivascular space (ALPS) index, is involved in developmental neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, but its genetic architecture is poorly understood. Here, we identified 17 unique genome-wide significant loci and 161 candidate genes linked to the ALPS-indexes in a discovery sample of 31,021 individuals from the UK Biobank. Seven loci were replicated in two independent datasets.

Sex Affects Cognitive Outcomes in HIV-1 Tat Transgenic Mice: Role of CCR5.

People living with HIV (PLWH) experience HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), even though combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) suppresses HIV replication. HIV-1 transactivator of transcription (HIV-1 Tat) contributes to the development of HAND through neuroinflammatory and neurotoxic mechanisms. C-C chemokine 5 receptor (CCR5) is important in immune cell targeting and is a co-receptor for HIV viral entry into CD4+ cells.

Expansion of a conserved architecture drives the evolution of the primate visual cortex.

Human brain evolution is marked by a disproportionate expansion of cortical regions associated with advanced perceptual and cognitive functions. While this expansion is often attributed to the emergence of novel specialized brain areas, modifications to evolutionarily conserved cortical regions also have been linked to species-specific behaviors. Distinguishing between these two evolutionary outcomes has been limited by the ability to make direct comparisons between species.

A divergent two-domain structure of the anti-Müllerian hormone prodomain.

TGFβ family ligands are synthesized as precursors consisting of an N-terminal prodomain and C-terminal growth factor (GF) signaling domain. After proteolytic processing, the prodomain typically remains noncovalently associated with the GF, sometimes forming a high-affinity latent procomplex that requires activation. For the TGFβ family ligand anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), the prodomain maintains a high-affinity interaction with its GF that does not render it latent.

Trazodone, dibenzoylmethane and tauroursodeoxycholic acid do not prevent motor dysfunction and neurodegeneration in Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome mice.

There is no cure for Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome (MSS), a genetic multisystem disease linked to loss-of-function mutations in the SIL1 gene, encoding a BiP co-chaperone. Previously, we showed that the PERK kinase inhibitor GSK2606414 delays cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) degeneration and the onset of ataxia in the woozy mouse model of MSS. However, GSK2606414 is toxic to the pancreas and does not completely rescue the woozy phenotype.

Longitudinal FDG-PET Metabolic Change Along the Lewy Body Continuum.

Importance: Although 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a well-established cross-sectional biomarker of brain metabolism in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), the longitudinal change in FDG-PET has not been characterized.

Objective: To investigate longitudinal FDG-PET in prodromal DLB and DLB, including a subsample with autopsy data, and report estimated sample sizes for a hypothetical clinical trial in DLB.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Longitudinal case-control study with mean (SD) follow-up of 3.

Patterns and predictors of statin therapy after ischemic stroke and TIA: insights from the LIPYDS multicenter study.

Background: Patients with ischemic stroke (IS) or TIA face an elevated cardiovascular risk, warranting intensive lipid-lowering therapy. Despite recommendations, adherence to guidelines is suboptimal, leading to frequent undertreatment. This study aims to evaluate the statin use after IS and TIA.

Laser-Induced Olfactory Bulbectomy in Adult Zebrafish as a Novel Putative Model for Affective Syndrome: A Research Tribute to Brian Leonard.

Inducing multiple neurobehavioural and neurochemical deficits, olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) has been developed as a rodent model of depression with potential for antidepressant drug screening. However, the generality of this model in other vertebrate taxa remains poorly understood. A small freshwater teleost fish, the zebrafish (Danio rerio), is rapidly becoming a common model species in neuroscience research.

Poststroke Translocator Protein Expression Dynamics and Correlations to Chronic Infarction: A -CLINDE-SPECT Study.

Background And Purpose: This study aims to investigate the longitudinal changes in translocator protein (TSPO) following stroke in different brain regions and potential associations with chronic brain infarction.

Methods: Twelve patients underwent SPECT using the TSPO tracer 6-Chloro-2-(4'-123I-Iodophenyl)-3-(N,N-Diethyl)-Imidazo[1,2-a]Pyridine-3-Acetamide, as well as structural MRI, at 10, 41, and 128 days (median) after ischemic infarction in the middle cerebral artery. TSPO expression was measured in lesional (MRI lesion and SPECT lesion), connected (pons and ipsilesional thalamus), and nonconnected (ipsilesional cerebellum and contralesional occipital cortex) regions.

Mothering matters: Towards a better understanding of disrupted infant-caregiver relationships in both mother and offspring.

The mother-infant bond is among the strongest social relationships formed in humans and nonhuman mammals. As such, disrupted infant-caregiver relationships have the capacity to result in potent adverse effects not only in the offspring, but also in the mother. Here, I provide a brief overview of my prior work showing adversity-induced alterations in offspring and maternal behavioral and brain function.

Locus coeruleus signal intensity and emotion regulation in agitation in Alzheimer's disease.

Hyperphosphorylated tau accumulation is seen in the noradrenergic locus coeruleus from the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease onwards and has been associated with symptoms of agitation. It is hypothesized that compensatory locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system overactivity and impaired emotion regulation could underlie agitation propensity, but to our knowledge this has not previously been investigated. A better understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of agitation would help the development of targeted prevention and treatment strategies.

Immuno-metabolic depression: from concept to implementation.

Major depressive disorder is a common, disabling mental disorder characterized by extensive etiological and phenotypic heterogeneity. This heterogeneity makes treatment approaches imprecise and often ineffective. Insight into the underlying biological mechanisms underpinning depression and its subtypes may enable more personalized treatments.

Gender Inequalities in Employment of Parents Caring for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in China: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The increasing need for child care is placing a burden on parents, including those with children with autism.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the employment status of Chinese mothers and fathers with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as to investigate the factors that affected their employment decisions.

Methods: An online national survey was completed by the parents of 5018 children and adolescents with ASD aged 2-17 years (4837 couples, 181 single mothers, and 148 single fathers).

Role of the Dorsal Cortex of the Inferior Colliculus in the Precedence Effect.

BACKGROUND The precedence effect (PE) is a physiological phenomenon for accurate sound localization in a reverberant environment. Physiological studies of PE have mostly focused on the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC), which receives ascending and descending projections, as well as projections from the shell of the inferior colliculus (IC) and contralateral IC. However, the role of the dorsal cortex of the IC (DCIC), which receives ascending and descending projections to ensure sound information processing and conduction on PE formation, remains unclear.

Mobile Health delivered physical activity after mild stroke or transient ischaemic attack. Is it feasible and acceptable?

Background And Aims: Physical activity is a key component of secondary stroke prevention. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions show promise for enhancing post-stroke physical activity, but most studies have combined mHealth with onsite services. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a fully digitalised mHealth intervention for physical activity among individuals post stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in Sweden.

Fast, bioluminescent blinks attract group members of the nocturnal flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron (Bleeker, 1856).

Background: During their nighttime shoaling, the flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron produce fascinating, bioluminescent blink patterns, which have been related to the localization of food, determination of nearest neighbor distance, and initiation of the shoal's movement direction. Information transfer e.g.

Point of view: Challenges in implementation of new immunotherapies for Alzheimer's disease.

The advancement of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) for Alzheimer's disease (AD), along with the approval of three amyloid-targeting therapies in the US and several other countries, represents a significant development in the treatment landscape, offering new hope for addressing this once untreatable chronic progressive disease. However, significant challenges persist that could impede the successful integration of this class of drugs into clinical practice. These challenges include determining patient eligibility, appropriate use of diagnostic tools and genetic testing in patient care pathways, effective detection and monitoring of side effects, and improving the healthcare system's readiness by engaging both primary care and dementia specialists.

Informal care for people with dementia in Europe.

Introduction: Informal care estimates for use in health-economic models are lacking. We aimed to estimate the association between informal care time and dementia symptoms across Europe.

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed on 13,529 observations in 5,369 persons from 9 European pooled cohort or trial studies in community-dwelling persons with dementia.

Key considerations for combination therapy in Alzheimer's clinical trials: Perspectives from an expert advisory board convened by the Alzheimer's drug discovery foundation.

There is growing consensus in the Alzheimer's community that combination therapy will be needed to maximize therapeutic benefits through the course of the disease. However, combination therapy raises complex questions and decisions for study sponsors, from preclinical research through clinical trial design to regulatory, statistical, and operational considerations. In January 2024, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation convened an expert advisory board to discuss the key considerations in each of these areas.