Neurotransmitters and related Papers : medical and naturopahic

BACKGROUND: Omega-3 fatty acids have shown promise as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia. However, efficacy across studies has been inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis of published controlled studies with the goal of detecting different efficacy profiles at various stages of schizophrenia. METHODS: An online search was conducted for randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials, and a meta-analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Ten studies met the criteria for inclusion...

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported that schizophrenia is associated with mitochondrial abnormalities, glutathione deficit, and increased brain oxidative stress (free radicals). N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a strong antioxidant with potential therapeutic benefit in schizophrenia, according to some reports. We conducted a review of the published controlled studies, with the goal of determining the efficacy profile of NAC as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia. METHODS: An online search was conducted for all placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trials of NAC in schizophrenia, and a review was conducted...

This study examines whether naltrexone pretreatment interferes with the antidepressant effects of ketamine.

Cognitive control, the ability to orchestrate behavior in accord with our goals, depends on the prefrontal cortex. These cognitive functions are heavily influenced by the neuromodulator dopamine. We review here recent insights exploring the influence of dopamine on neuronal response properties in prefrontal cortex (PFC) during ongoing behaviors in primates. This review suggests three major computational roles of dopamine in cognitive control: (i) gating sensory input, (ii) maintaining and manipulating working memory contents, and (iii) relaying motor commands...

The revolutionary discovery of the rapid antidepressant ketamine has been a milestone in psychiatry field in the last half century. Unlike conventional antidepressants that often take weeks to months to show efficacy, ketamine causes rapid antidepressant effects, emerging as early as within 1h after administration. However, how ketamine improves mood symptoms so quickly has remained elusive. Here, we first introduce the historical background of ketamine as a rapid antidepressant. We then discuss current hypotheses underlying ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects, with a focus on our latest discovery that ketamine silences NMDAR-dependent burst firing in the 'anti-reward center', the lateral habenula...

We report the case of a 25-year-old man with an 8-year history of daily marijuana use diagnosed with acute renal failure secondary to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. The patient presented with “constant” vomiting for over a day. His symptoms were completely relieved with compulsive hot showering and partially relieved by hot baths, by high ambient room temperature, and transiently after smoking marijuana. The patient was found to have a creatinine of 3.21 and admitted for acute renal failure secondary to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome...

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is an underrecognized diagnosis among adolescents. In the adult literature, it is characterized as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain in patients with chronic marijuana use. CHS is often refractory to the standard treatment of nausea and vomiting. Unconventional antiemetics, such as haloperidol, have been successful in alleviating symptoms; however, even 1 dose of haloperidol can lead to grave adverse effects, such as dystonia, extrapyramidal reactions, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the attributes of responses of the higher nerve center to acupuncture stimulation of Zusanli (ST36) on the basis of spontaneous brain activity, so as to explore the synchronization level of different brain rejoins after acupuncture. METHODS: All studies using fMRI to investigate the effect of acupuncture stimulation of ST36 and/or other acupoints on the human brain (at least 10 healthy subjects or patients in one group) published in journals from January of 1995 to January of 2018 were searched from databases of CNKI and PubMed by using keywords of acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance images (rs-fMRI) or regional homogeneity (ReHo)...

Cellular interactions between delta and mu opioid receptors (DORs and MORs), including heteromerization, are thought to regulate opioid analgesia. However, the identity of the nociceptive neurons in which such interactions could occur in vivo remains elusive. Here we show that DOR-MOR co-expression is limited to small populations of excitatory interneurons and projection neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn and unexpectedly predominates in ventral horn motor circuits. Similarly, DOR-MOR co-expression is rare in parabrachial, amygdalar, and cortical brain regions processing nociceptive information...

The role of oxytocin in attenuating the abuse of licit and illicit drugs, including the psychostimulant methamphetamine, has been examined with increased ferocity in recent years. This is largely driven by the potential application of oxytocin as a pharmacotherapy. However, the neural mechanisms by which oxytocin modulates methamphetamine abuse are not well understood. Recent research identified an important role for the accumbens core and subthalamic nucleus in this process, which likely involves an interaction with dopamine, glutamate, GABA, and vasopressin...

Approximately 10% of trauma-exposed individuals go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neural emotion regulation may be etiologically involved in PTSD development. Oxytocin administration early post-trauma may be a promising avenue for PTSD prevention, as intranasal oxytocin has previously been found to affect emotion regulation networks in healthy individuals and psychiatric patients. In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled between-subjects functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) study, we assessed the effects of a single intranasal oxytocin administration (40 IU) on seed-based amygdala resting-state FC with emotion regulation areas (ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)), and salience processing areas (insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)) in 37 individuals within 11 days post trauma...

BACKGROUND: We critically reexamine extant theory and empirical study of Oxytocin. We question whether OT is, in fact, a "social neuropeptide" as argued in dominant theories of OT. METHOD: We critically review human and animal research on the social and non-social effects of Oxytocin, including behavioral, psychophysiological, neurobiological, and neuroimaging studies. RESULTS: We find that extant (social) theories of Oxytocin do not account for well-documented non-social effects of Oxytocin...

The neuropeptide oxytocin may be an effective therapeutic strategy for the currently untreatable social and communication deficits associated with autism. Our recent paper reported that oxytocin mitigated autistic behavioral deficits through the restoration of activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as demonstrated with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a socio-communication task. However, it is unknown whether oxytocin exhibited effects at the neuronal level, which was outside of the specific task examined...

Application of deep learning to genomic datasets is an exciting area that is rapidly developing and is primed to revolutionize genome analysis. We embrace the potential that deep learning holds for understanding genome biology, and we encourage further advances in this area, extending to all aspects of genomics research.

Repeated exposure to life stressors can overwhelm the body's capacity to restore homeostasis and result in severe negative consequences. Cannabinoid CB1 receptors are highly expressed in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and regulate both glucocorticoid signalling and neurotransmitter release. In rodents, WIN55212.2 is a full agonist at the cannabinoid receptor type-1, while Rimonabant is a potent and selective cannabinoid inverse agonist at this receptor. This study aims to investigate the effect of long-term psychosocial stress following acute challenge with cannabinoid drugs on gene expression in distinct brain regions; this is done by employing digital multiplexed gene expression analysis...

The cannabinoid receptor CB2 is predominately expressed in the immune system, and selective modulation of CB2 without the psychoactivity of CB1 has therapeutic potential in inflammatory, fibrotic, and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report the crystal structure of human CB2 in complex with a rationally designed antagonist, AM10257, at 2.8 Å resolution. The CB2-AM10257 structure reveals a distinctly different binding pose compared with CB1. However, the extracellular portion of the antagonist-bound CB2 shares a high degree of conformational similarity with the agonist-bound CB1, which led to the discovery of AM10257's unexpected opposing functional profile of CB2 antagonism versus CB1 agonism...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The regulation of synaptic strength forms the basis of learning and memory, and is a key factor in understanding neuropathological processes that lead to cognitive decline and dementia. While the mechanical aspects of neuronal development, particularly during axon growth and guidance, have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about the mechanical aspects of synapse formation and plasticity. It is established that a filamentous actin network with complex spatiotemporal behavior controls the dendritic spine shape and size, which is thought to be crucial for activity-dependent synapse plasticity...

Drug-induced enhanced dopamine (DA) signaling in the brain is a canonical mechanism that initiates addiction processes. However, indirect evidence suggests that cocaine also triggers non-canonical, DA-independent, mechanisms that contribute to behavioral responses to cocaine, including psychomotor sensitization and cocaine self-administration. Identifying these mechanisms and determining how they are initiated is fundamental to further our understanding of addiction processes. Using physiologically relevant in vitro tractable models, we found that cocaine-induced hypoactivity of nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) medium spiny neurons (MSNs), one hallmark of cocaine addiction, is independent of DA signaling...

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Although pain is one of the most common afflictions, it is often inadequately managed because the available analgesic options are relatively limited due to insufficient efficacy, unacceptable adverse effects or the potential for misuse or abuse. However, recent publications suggest that an alternative approach-indirect enhancement of endogenous pain-relieving pathways-might be desirable. We review this approach, in particular the dual enkephalinase inhibitors (DENKIs)...