GRM7 polymorphisms and risk of schizophrenia in Iranian population

Metabolic Brain Disease - The role of metabotropic glutamate receptors in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia or response to antipsychotic treatment has been proposed previously. The aim of the...     

Role of Microglia and Astrocyte in Central Pain Syndrome Following Electrolytic Lesion at the Spinothalamic Tract in Rats

Central pain syndrome (CPS) is a debilitating state and one of the consequences of spinal cord injury in patients. Many pathophysiological aspects of CPS are not well documented. Spinal glia activation has been identified as a key factor in the sensory component of chronic pain. In this study, the role of glial subtypes in the process of CPS induced by unilateral electrolytic lesion of spinothalamic tract (STT) is investigated. Male rats received a laminectomy at T8–T9 and then unilateral electrolytic lesion centered on the STT. Thermal and mechanical thresholds as well as locomotor function were measured on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 post-injuries by tail flick, von Frey filament, and open field tests, respectively. To investigate the spinal glial activation following denervation in STT-lesioned groups, Iba1 and GFAP were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting at the same time points. Data showed that STT lesion significantly decreased thermal pain at day 3 in comparison with sham groups. Significant bilateral allodynia appeared in hind paws at day 14 after spinal cord injury and continued to day 28 (P?<?0.05). Additionally, electrolytic spinal lesion attenuated locomotor function of injured animals after 7 days (P?<?0.05). In both histological assessments and Western blotting, Iba1 increased at days 3 and 7 while increased GFAP occurred from day 14 to 28 after lesion. It appears that microglial activation is important in the early stages of pain development and astrocytic activation occurs later. These events may lead to behavioral outcomes especially central neuropathic pain.     

The effect of anesthetic technique on recovery after orthognathic surgery: a retrospective audit

We audited the recovery characteristics of 51 patients who had undergone orthognathic maxillofacial surgery at a single center. Patients whose anesthesia had been maintained with intravenous propofol and remifentanil (n  =  21) had significantly higher pain scores during the first 4 hours after surgery than those whose anesthesia was maintained with volatile inhalational agents and longer-acting opioids (n  =  30) (P  =  .016). There was a nonsignificant trend towards shorter recovery times in the former group, while there were no differences in early postoperative opioid usage, hemodynamic parameters, or postoperative nausea and vomiting . Given that our data were collected retrospectively and without the ability to control for potential confounders, we interpret the results with caution. Notwithstanding these limitations, we believe this is the first report comparing the effects of different opioid-based anesthetic regimens on early recovery from orthognathic surgery, and we believe this report may be used as the starting point for a controlled study.     

GAA gene mutation detection following clinical evaluation and enzyme activity analysis in Azeri Turkish patients with Pompe disease

Metabolic Brain Disease - Pompe disease (PD) is a rare autosomal recessive multi-systemic lysosomal storage disorder, caused by mutations in the acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) gene located on...     

Association Study of <Emphasis Type="Italic">VMAT1</Emphasis> Polymorphisms and Suicide Behavior

Genetic association studies have linked suicide behavior with genes encoding transporters of monoamine. Variants in the vesicular monoamine transporter 1 (VMAT1) have been previously shown to be associated with several psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, their association with suicide behavior has not been explored. In the present study, we genotyped three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2270637, rs1390938, and rs2279709) within this gene in 100 individuals who attempted suicide, 236 suicide victims, and 300 control subjects without any history of psychiatric disorders or suicide ideation. We demonstrated no difference in genotype, allele, or haplotype frequencies of theses single-nucleotide polymorphisms between the study groups. Consequently, contribution of VMAT1 in risk of psychiatric disorders might be independent of suicide behavior. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our results.     

Expression analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">GRIN2B</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">BDNF</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">IL-1β</Emphasis> genes in the whole blood of epileptic patients

Epilepsy is a brain disorder with a global prevalence of 1%. It has been attributed to genetics and environmental factors. Despite efforts to identify the molecular pathology of epilepsy, the underlying mechanism is not understood yet. This study was carried out to compare GRIN2B, BDNF, and IL-1β gene expressions in 50 patients suffering from generalized epilepsy with tonic-colonic seizures and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects using TaqMan Real-time PCR. Our results demonstrated significant upregulation of these genes in people with epilepsy compared with healthy subjects. We also found a positive correlation between GRIN2B and BDNF expression (r²=0.4619, p?<?0.0001), BDNF and IL-1β expression (r²?=?0.515, p?<?0.0001), and GRIN2B and IL-1β gene expressions (r²?=?0.666, p?<?0.0001) which implies the possibility to estimate the expression level of these genes by assessment of expression of one of them. Considering the results of the previous animal studies which showed upregulation of these genes in brain tissues of epileptic animals, the expression levels of GRIN2B, BDNF, and IL-1β in blood samples might be related to their expression in brain samples. Future studies are needed to assess the role of these genes in the pathogenesis of epilepsy and evaluate whether altered expression of these genes along with imaging methods can facilitate subtyping the epilepsy.     

Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) variants are associated with autism spectrum disorder

Metabolic Brain Disease - Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with various epidemiologic, genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors being associated with it. The...     

Meta-analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">GABRB3</Emphasis> Gene Polymorphisms and Susceptibility to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Several lines of evidence have suggested that the GABA receptor subunit β3 (GABRB3) gene is a genetic contributor in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aberrant expression of GABRB3 is reported in ASD patients which may be a consequence of the presence of certain genetic variants in the promoter region of the gene. The associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within this gene and ASD have been analyzed in previous studies. However, the results are conflicting. In the present study, we performed a meta-analysis on association between two SNPs located in the promoter region of GABRB3 gene (rs4906902 and rs20317) and ASD. The literature search was performed based on criteria provided by the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE). The association between mentioned SNPs and ASD was calculated using pooled odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals. The result of the present meta-analysis indicates that neither rs4906902 nor rs20317 are significantly associated with the risk of ASD. The underlying mechanism of the aberrant expression of GABRB3 gene in ASD patients should be investigated in other biological levels.     

Immunotherapy in nonmelanoma skin cancer

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in humans. The role of the immune system in the prevention and regression of cancer is significant. UV radiation, being the most important risk factor in the development of skin cancer, has a suppressive effect on local and systemic immune effectors. Different immunotherapeutic approaches have been used for the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer including adoptive T-cell therapies, vaccine-based strategies, cytokines and monoclonal antibodies. The most important advancement with promising effects in the field of nonmelanoma skin cancer immunotherapy is the topical immune response modifier imiquimod. In addition, immunoprevention has been successfully applied for autosomal dominant basal cell nevus syndrome. Immunotherapeutic approaches provide a new modality for the treatment of recurrent or multiple nonmelanoma skin tumors.     

Synthesis and Antihypertensive Activities of New 1, 4-Dihydropyridine Containing Nitroimidazolyl Substituent with a Nitrooxy Group at the 3-Ester Position

New analogues of nifedipine, in which the ortho nitrophenyl group of position 4 is replaced by 1-methyl-4-nitro-5-imidazolyl or 1-methyl-5-imidazolyl with a nitrooxy group at the 3-ester position were synthesized, and the antihypertensive activity of the compounds was examined by the tail-cuff method and compared with TNG and nifedipine. Compounds 11g, 11i-11m, 110, 11r, and 11v showed activity similar to nifedipine and TNG.