Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Ghrelin (GHRL) is a pivotal peptide regulator of food intake, energy balance, and body mass. Weight\r\ngain (WG) is a common side effect of the atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) used to treat schizophrenia (SZ). Ghrelin\r\npolymorphisms have been associated with pathogenic variations in plasma lipid concentrations, blood pressure,\r\nplasma glucose, and body mass index (BMI). However, it is unclear whether GHRL polymorphisms are associated\r\nwith WG due to AAPs. Furthermore, there is no evidence of an association between GHRL polymorphisms and SZ\r\nor the therapeutic response to AAPs. We explored these potential associations by genotyping GHRL alleles in SZ\r\npatients and controls. We also examined the relation between these SNPs and changes in metabolic indices during\r\nAAP treatment in SZ subgroups distinguished by high or low therapeutic response.\r\nMethods: Four SNPs (Leu72Met, -501A/C, -604 G/A, and -1062 G > C) were genotyped in 634 schizophrenia\r\npatients and 606 control subjects.\r\nResults: There were no significant differences in allele frequencies, genotype distributions, or the distributions of\r\ntwo SNP haplotypes between SZ patients and healthy controls (P > 0.05). There was also no significant difference\r\nin symptom reduction between genotypes after 8 weeks of AAP treatment as measured by positive and negative\r\nsymptom scale scores (PANSS). However, the -604 G/A polymorphism was associated with a greater BMI increase\r\nin response to AAP administration in both APP responders and non-responders as distinguished by PANSS score\r\nreduction (P < 0.001). There were also significant differences in WG when the responder group was further\r\nsubdivided according to the specific AAP prescribed (P < 0.05).\r\nConclusions: These four GHRL gene SNPs were not associated with SZ in this Chinese Han population. The -604\r\nG/A polymorphism was associated with significant BW and BMI increases during AAP treatment. Patients exhibiting\r\nhigher WG showed greater improvements in positive and negative symptoms than patients exhibiting lower\r\nweight gain or weight loss....
Background: The deterioration of the central cholinergic system in aging is hypothesized to underlie declines in\r\nseveral cognitive domains, including memory and executive functions. However, there is surprisingly little direct\r\nevidence regarding acetylcholine�s specific role(s) in normal human cognitive aging.\r\nMethods: We used short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a putative\r\nmarker of cholinergic activity in vivo in young (n = 24) and older adults (n = 31).\r\nResults: We found a significant age difference in SAI, concordant with other evidence of cholinergic decline in\r\nnormal aging. We also found clear age differences on several of the memory and one of the executive function\r\nmeasures. Individual differences in SAI levels predicted memory but not executive functions.\r\nConclusion: Individual differences in SAI levels were better predictors of memory than executive functions. We\r\ndiscuss cases in which the relations between SAI and cognition might be even stronger, and refer to other agerelated\r\nbiological changes that may interact with cholinergic activity in cognitive aging...
Background: Mental and behavioral disorders among adults with Usher syndrome have been discussed and\r\nreported in some case studies but no research has been reported on children with Usher syndrome.\r\nMethods: This article investigates the prevalence and characteristics of mental and behavioral disorders among 26\r\nchildren, 3-17 years of age, with Usher syndrome.\r\nResults: Six of the 26 children were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral disorder (1 with schizophrenia and\r\nmild mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and severe mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and mild\r\nmental retardation, 1 with mild mental retardation, and 2 with conduct disorder). Another 3 children had had a\r\nmental or behavioral disorder previously in their childhood.\r\nConclusion: Even though vision impairment first manifests in late childhood, some children with Usher syndrome\r\nseem to develop mental and behavioral disorders during childhood. The aetiology and treatment of mental and\r\nbehavioral disorders among children with Usher syndrome are discussed. Children with Usher syndrome and their\r\nparents may need clinical support during early childhood to prevent development of mental and behavioral\r\ndisorders....
Background: Although deficits of attentional set-shifting have been reported in individuals with attention deficit/\r\nhyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it is rarely examined in animal models.\r\nMethods: This study compared spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs; a genetic animal model of ADHD) and\r\nWistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (normoactive control strains), on attentional set-shifting task\r\n(ASST) performance. Furthermore, the dose-effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on attentional set-shifting of SHR\r\nwere investigated. In experiment 1, ASST procedures were conducted in SHR, WKY and SD rats of 8 each at the\r\nage of 5 weeks. Mean latencies at the initial phase, error types and numbers, and trials to criteria at each stage\r\nwere recorded. In experiment 2, 24 SHR rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 8 eachââ?¬â?? MPH-L (lower dose),\r\nMPH-H (higher dose), and SHR-vehicle groups. From 3 weeks, they were administered 2.5 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg MPH\r\nor saline respectively for 14 consecutive days. All rats were tested in the ASST at the age of 5 weeks.\r\nResults: The SHRs generally exhibited poorer performance on ASST than the control WKY and SD rats. Significant\r\nstrain effects on mean latency [F (2, 21) = 639.636, p < 0.001] and trials to criterion [F (2, 21) = 114.118, p < 0.001]\r\nwere observed. The SHRs were found to have more perseverative and regressive errors than the control strains (p\r\n< 0.001). After MPH treatment, the two MPH treated groups exhibited significantly longer latency and fewer trials\r\nto reach criterion than the SHR-vehicle group and the MPH-L group exhibited fewer trials to reach criterion in\r\nmore stages compared with the MPH-H group. Significant main effects of treatment [F (2, 21) = 52.174, p < 0.001]\r\nand error subtype [F (2, 42) = 221.635, p < 0.01] were found....
Wnt proteins are emerging key regulators of the plasticity and functions of adult brains. However, the mechanisms\r\nby which the expression of Wnt proteins is regulated in neurons are unclear. Using cortical primary cultures, we\r\nshow here that activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) induces rapid Wnt5a protein synthesis and secretion. This\r\nNMDAR-regulated Wnt5a synthesis does not require transcription and is a result of activity-dependent translation.\r\nWe also show that NMDAR-regulated Wnt5a translation depends on MAPK signaling but not mTOR signaling. Our\r\nfindings suggest that the synaptic activity of CNS neurons activates NMDARs, which in turn stimulate translation\r\nfrom stored Wnt5a mRNA via the MAPK signaling pathway...
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