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 regions in [...]

Blueberry Juice May Boost Memory

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Blueberry Juice May Boost Memory
(Via WebMD Health.)
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Blueberry Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults
J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Jan 4. [Epub ahead of print]
Krikorian R, Shidler MD, Nash TA, Kalt W, Vinqvist-Tymchuk MR, Shukitt-Hale B, Joseph JA.
The prevalence of dementia is increasing with expansion of the older adult population. In the absence of effective therapy, preventive [...]

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Inability to sustain positive emotion in Major Depression reflects failure to maintain Nucleus Accumbens activity

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 27, 2010)

Reduced capacity to sustain positive emotion in major depression reflects diminished maintenance of fronto-striatal brain activation.: “

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 29;106(52):22445-50
Authors: Heller AS, Johnstone T, Shackman AJ, Light SN, Peterson MJ, Kolden GG, Kalin NH, Davidson RJ
Anhedonia, the loss of pleasure or interest in previously rewarding stimuli, [...]

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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 SM, Leuthold AC, Winskowski AM, [...]

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Reduction in CRF Receptor type 1 expression in the Amygdala reduces Anxiety

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 22, 2010)

The anxiolytic effect of environmental enrichment is mediated via amygdalar CRF receptor type 1.

Mol Psychiatry. 2010 Jan 19;
Authors: Sztainberg Y, Kuperman Y, Tsoory M, Lebow M, Chen A
Environmental enrichment (EE) is known to have an anxiolytic effect in several animal models; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes are not understood.
In this [...]

CRF stimulates Pancreatic Beta Cell Insulin Secretion and Beta Cell Proliferation

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 22, 2010)

CRFR1 is expressed on pancreatic beta cells, promotes beta cell proliferation, and potentiates insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 12;107(2):912-7
Authors: Huising MO, van der Meulen T, Vaughan JM, Matsumoto M, Donaldson CJ, Park H, Billestrup N, Vale WW
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), originally characterized as the principal [...]

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 epilepsy [...]

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 remains very [...]

The major mood disorders have significant genetic overlap

by Romeo Mariano, MD (January 19, 2010)

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association data identifies a risk locus for major mood disorders on 3p21.1

Nature Genetics
Published online: 17 January 2010 | doi:10.1038/ng.523
Francis J McMahon1, Nirmala Akula1, Thomas G Schulze1,2, Pierandrea Muglia3,4, Federica Tozzi3, Sevilla D Detera-Wadleigh1, C J M Steele1, René Breuer2, Jana Strohmaier2, Jens R Wendland1, Manuel Mattheisen5,6,7, Thomas W Mühleisen5,6, Wolfgang Maier8, [...]

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.
High-dose [...]