Search results for "Spectroscopy."

The role of immunogenetics in covid‐19

2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is induced by SARS-CoV-2 and may arise as a variety of clinical manifestations, ranging from an asymptomatic condition to a life-threatening disease associated with cytokine storm, multiorgan and respiratory failure. The molecular mechanism behind such variability is still under investigation. Several pieces of experimental evidence suggest that genetic variants influencing the onset, maintenance and resolution of the immune response may be fundamental in predicting the evolution of the disease. The identification of genetic variants behind immune system reactivity and function in COVID-19 may help in the elaboration of personalized therapeutic strategies…

2020

Cannabinoids are known to influence hormone secretion of pancreatic islets via G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptor type 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2). The present study was designed to further investigate the impact of cannabinoid receptors on the parameters involved in insulin secretion and blood glucose recognition. To this end, CB1 and CB2 receptor knockout mice (10–12 week old, both sexes) were characterised at basal state and compared to wild-type mice. The elimination of cannabinoid receptor signalling resulted in alterations of blood glucose concentrations, body weights and insulin levels. Changes were dependent on the deleted receptor type and on the sex. Analyses at mRNA and protein lev…

Age and muscle function are more closely associated with intracellular magnesium, as assessed by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy, than with serum…

2019

Total serum magnesium is a common clinical measurement for assessing magnesium status; however, magnesium in blood represents less than 1% of the body’s total magnesium content. We measured intramuscular ionized magnesium by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) and tested the hypothesis that this measure better correlates with skeletal muscle function and captures more closely the effect of aging than the traditional measure of total serum magnesium. Data were collected from 441 participants (age 24–98 years) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), a study of normative aging that encompasses a broad age range. Results showed that intramuscular ionized magnesium …

When Does Alzheimer′s Disease Really Start? The Role of Biomarkers

2021

While Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classical diagnostic criteria rely on clinical data from a stablished symptomatic disease, newer criteria aim to identify the disease in its earlier stages. For that, they incorporated the use of AD’s specific biomarkers to reach a diagnosis, including the identification of Aβ and tau depositions, glucose hypometabolism, and cerebral atrophy. These biomarkers created a new concept of the disease, in which AD’s main pathological processes have already taken place decades before we can clinically diagnose the first symptoms. Therefore, AD is now considered a dynamic disease with a gradual progression, and dementia is its final stage. With …

Resilience and Vulnerability to Pain and Inflammation in the Hippocampus

2017

Increasing evidence demonstrates the importance of hippocampal neurogenesis, a fundamental mechanism of neuroplasticity associated with cognition and emotion, in correlation to neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychiatric disorders are often a result of chronic stress or pain followed by inflammation; all these conditions manifest cognitive deficits and impairments in neurogenesis. However, while some individuals are more susceptible to stress, others are able to adapt to new environments via mechanisms of resilience. In light of this emerging field and based on extensive research, the role of neurogenesis is summarized and presented as a potentially powerful therapeutic to…

Conditioned Medium from Human Amnion-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells Attenuating the Effects of Cold Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in an In Vitr…

2021

The clinical results of lung transplantation (LTx) are still less favorable than other solid organ transplants in both the early and long term. The fragility of the lungs limits the procurement rate and can favor the occurrence of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) with Steen SolutionTM (SS) aims to address problems, and the implementation of EVLP to alleviate the activation of IRI-mediated processes has been achieved using mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (MSC)-based treatments. In this study, we investigated the paracrine effects of human amnion-derived MSCs (hAMSCs) in an in vitro model of lung IRI that includes cold ischemia and normothermic EVLP. We found tha…

Filifactor alocis and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Stimulate Synthesis of Visfatin by Human Macrophages

2021

There is little known about the effect of the periodontopathogen Filifactor alocis on macrophages as key cells of the innate immune defense in the periodontium. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of F. alocis and additionally of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF&alpha

2019

Aging causes many changes in the human body, and is a high risk for various diseases. Dementia, a common age-related disease, is a clinical disorder triggered by neurodegeneration. Brain damage caused by neuronal death leads to cognitive decline, memory loss, learning inabilities and mood changes. Numerous disease conditions may cause dementia; however, the most common one is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a futile and yet untreatable illness. Adult neurogenesis carries the potential of brain self-repair by an endogenous formation of newly-born neurons in the adult brain; however it also declines with age. Strategies to improve the symptoms of aging and age-related diseases have included differe…

2021

Background: Immunomodulatory properties of bisphosphonates (BP) are suggested to contribute to the development of medication-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). Furthermore, bisphosphonate-derived immune modulation might contribute to the anti-metastatic effect observed in breast cancer patients. Macrophages are potential candidates for the mediation of immunomodulatory effects of bisphosphonates. The study aimed to investigate the influence of bisphosphonates alone and in combination with surgical trauma on systemic macrophage polarization (M1 vs. M2) using an in vivo rat model. Methods: A total of 120 animals were divided into four groups. Groups 2 and 4 were treated with 8 × 40 …

Genomic and non-genomic mechanisms of action of thyroid hormones and their catabolite 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine in Mammals

2020

Since the realization that the cellular homologs of a gene found in the retrovirus that contributes to erythroblastosis in birds (v-erbA), i.e. the proto-oncogene c-erbA encodes the nuclear receptors for thyroid hormones (THs), most of the interest for THs focalized on their ability to control gene transcription. It was found, indeed, that, by regulating gene expression in many tissues, these hormones could mediate critical events both in development and in adult organisms. Among their effects, much attention was given to their ability to increase energy expenditure, and they were early proposed as anti-obesity drugs. However, their clinical use has been strongly challenged by the concomita…