From the category archives:

Psychoimmunology

Microglial Mutation contributes to obsessive-compulsive behavior

by Romeo Mariano, MD (August 1, 2010)

   Hematopoietic origin of pathological grooming in Hoxb8 mutant mice. Chen SK, Tvrdik P, Peden E, Cho S, Wu S, Spangrude G, Capecchi MR. Cell. 2010 May 28;141(5):775-85.   Mouse Hoxb8 mutants show unexpected behavior manifested by compulsive grooming and hair removal, similar to behavior in humans with the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum disorder trichotillomania.   As Hox gene disruption often [...]

Vitamin K reduces Insulin Resistance

by Romeo Mariano, MD (July 30, 2010)

Effect of vitamin K supplementation on insulin resistance in older men and women. Yoshida M, Jacques PF, Meigs JB, Saltzman E, Shea MK, Gundberg C, Dawson-Hughes B, Dallal G, Booth SL. Diabetes Care. 2008 Nov;31(11):2092-6. Epub 2008 Aug 12. OBJECTIVE: Vitamin K has a potentially beneficial role in insulin resistance, but evidence is limited in [...]

DHEA improves immune system response against parasites

by Romeo Mariano, MD (February 20, 2010)

Effects of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) and benznidazole treatments during acute infection of two different Trypanosoma cruzi strains. Immunobiology. 2010 Feb 15; Authors: Domingues Santos C, Loria RM, Rodrigues Oliveira LG, Collins Kuehn C, Alonso Toldo MP, Albuquerque S, do Prado Júnior JC A significant role for hormones in regulating the balance of Th1- and Th2-associated cytokines [...]

Gut microbes enhance the immune system

by Romeo Mariano, MD (February 7, 2010)

Gut microbes extend reach to systemic innate immunity Nature Medicine 16, 160 (2010). Authors: Dana J Philpott & Stephen E Girardin Microbes in the gut can influence distant events, affecting the function of neutrophils in the circulation of mice (pages 228-231). The findings should lead to new studies examining how intestinal microbes affect immunity. ———- [...]

Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Prevention of Psychotic Disorders

by Romeo Mariano, MD (February 6, 2010)

Long-Chain {omega}-3 Fatty Acids for Indicated Prevention of Psychotic Disorders: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010 Feb;67(2):146-54 Amminger GP, Schäfer MR, Papageorgiou K, Klier CM, Cotton SM, Harrigan SM, Mackinnon A, McGorry PD, Berger GE CONTEXT: The use of antipsychotic medication for the prevention of psychotic disorders is controversial. Long-chain omega-3 (omega-3) polyunsaturated [...]

Stress Leads to Long-Term Reduction in Corticosteroid Sensitivity in the Hippocampus

by Romeo Mariano, MD (February 6, 2010)

Primate Early Life Stress Leads to Long-Term Mild Hippocampal Decreases in Corticosteroid Receptor Expression. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Feb 2; Arabadzisz D, Diaz-Heitjz R, Knuesel I, Weber E, Pilloud S, Dettling AC, Feldon J, Law AJ, Harrison PJ, Pryce CR BACKGROUND: Expression of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) genes are moderately reduced in several [...]

Brain Scan for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Brain Scan Offers First Biological Test in Diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scientific American – Psychiatry 1/22/10 Carina Storrs The synchronous neural interactions test as a functional neuromarker for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a robust classification method based on the bootstrap. J Neural Eng. 2010 Feb;7(1):16011. Epub 2010 Jan 20. Georgopoulos AP, Tan HR, Lewis [...]

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Levetiracetam inhibits interleukin-1beta inflammatory responses in the hippocampus and piriform cortex

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 20, 2010)

Levetiracetam inhibits interleukin-1beta inflammatory responses in the hippocampus and piriform cortex of epileptic rats. Neurosci Lett. 2010 Jan 14; Authors: Kim JE, Choi HC, Song HK, Jo SM, Kim DS, Choi SY, Kim YI, Kang TC Levetiracetam (LEV, 2S-(oxo-1-pyrrolidinyl)butanamide, Keppra(R), UCB Pharma) is a new antiepileptic drug used to treat certain types of seizures in [...]

BDNF variant from Val66Met polymorphism reduces HPA-axis reactivity to acute stress.

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 19, 2010)

The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects HPA-axis reactivity to acute stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jan 13; Authors: Alexander N, Osinsky R, Schmitz A, Mueller E, Kuepper Y, Hennig J BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that individual differences in HPA-axis reactivity to psychosocial stress are partly due to heritable influences. However, knowledge about the role of specific genetic variants [...]

Methylprednisolone reduces nitric oxide formation in cytokine-stimulated oligodendroglial cells

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 18, 2010)

Effects of methylprednisolone and glatiramer acetate on nitric oxide formation of cytokine-stimulated cells from the rat oligodendroglial cell line OLN-93. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2010;17(1):23-30 Authors: Holzknecht C, Röhl C OBJECTIVES: In multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune inflammatory disease, oligodendroglia are primarily affected and play an important role in the onset and process of the degeneration of neuronal axons. [...]

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