Amylovis-201 enhances physiological memory formation and rescues memory and hippocampal cell loss in a streptozotocin-induced Alzheimer's disease animal model

Expert consensus-based clinical recommendation for an integrative anthroposophic treatment approach to acute tonsillitis in childhood

Background: Epilepsy and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are both common disease entities and psychiatric comorbidities are also high among the sufferers. Studies on the comparison of the levels of comorbidities between the two groups are few in number. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate different psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, social functioning, and quality of life (QoL) in epilepsy and PNES patients and compare them statistically. Materials and Methods: 38 epilepsy and 22 PNES patients were evaluated with clinical history and different tools like the mini international neuropsychiatric interview - 5, Beck’s Depression Inventory - 2,state and trait anxiety inventory, Social and Occupational functioning scale for epilepsy and QoL in epilepsy - 31 questionnaire. Comparisons were made between the groups regarding sociodemographic data, scores on different aspects of psychiatric disorders, social functioning, and QoL. Results: The majority in the epilepsy group were males, and in the PNES group were females, while younger age group predominates in both groups. There was a high prevalence of depression and anxiety in both groups, while PNES subjects had significantly higher depression and trait anxiety scores. Social and occupational functions were comparable in the two groups, but QoL indexes were significantly worse in the PNES group. Conclusion: Findings in this study indicate that psychiatric comorbidities like depression and anxiety disorders are much more common among patients with epilepsy and PNES. Occurrence of depression is even higher among patients with PNES. Both epilepsy/PNES and these psychiatric comorbidities affect Socio-occupational functions and their QoL. Thus, it is very important to look for these psychiatric comorbidities and QoL in these patients and implement proper management protocols to improve their mental health as well as their QoL.

Background: Valerian officinalis is a variant of herbaceous flowering plants in the Caprifoliaceae family, members of which can be generally called valerians. Valerian is derived from Valerius, the Latin term “valere”, which means health or well-being. It is used as a sedative and anxiolytic in many countries. The beneficial effects of valerian have always been controversial due to inconsistent clinical trial results. Valerian contains more than 150 chemical constituents. Valerian exhibits sedative, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic activities, and is used to treat various diseases. Objective: The main aim of this study was to gather knowledge on this herbal plant, its chemical constituents, and how they can be used to treat the most common diseases, such as depression, anxiety, headache, insomnia, etc. Result: Studies show that valerian is used to treat cardiac arrhythmia, sleep disorders, depression, and headaches, as this plant possesses sedative, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic activities. Conclusion: This review has explored the different types of studies conducted on valerian, and with their help, we can learn more about its activities and medicinal uses. Additionally, this review paper includes the recent patents on this herbal plant.

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common respiratory disease with potential lethality. At present, the commonly used treatment method is continuous positive airway pressure ventilation, but with the prolongation of the course of the disease, the effect of single ventilation on the improvement of oxidative stress levels is not good. Lipoic acid is a commonly used antioxidant in clinics. In this paper, lipoic acid combined with continuous positive airway pressure ventilation is used to explore whether it has a better therapeutic effect on patients. To probe into the clinical efficacy of lipoic acid combined with continuous positive airway pressure ventilation in the therapy of OSAHS. 82 patients with OSAHS who were cured in our hospital from March 2021 to September 2022 were prospectively collected as subjects. Based on different treatment methods, patients were grouped into a control group (43 cases) and an observation group (39 cases). The control group was treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and the observation group was treated with lipoic acid based on control group. The therapeutic effects were measuredby apnea hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen saturation (SpO2), mean oxygen saturation (MSpO2), serum malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) levels, peripheral blood γ-aminobutyric acid, melatonin levels. The clinical effectiveness of the observation group was better (P < 0.05). After treatment, AHI, the levels of MDA and HIF-1α in the observation group were lower and SpO2, MSpO2 and the level of SOD, γ- aminobutyric acid, and melatonin were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of γ- aminobutyric acid and melatonin were negatively correlated with the severity of symptoms, ESS, and AIS scores (P < 0.05). The clinical effect of lipoic acid combined with CPAP in the treatment of OSAHS is better, and it has a positive effect on the levels of γ-aminobutyric acid and melatonin in peripheral blood. Lipoic acid was added to the original method for treatment, and the therapeutic effect was greatly improved.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. If untreated, asthma can lead to debilitating daily symptoms which affect quality of life, but more importantly can lead to fatal asthma attacks which unfortunately still occur globally. The most effective treatment strategy for controlling asthma is for the patient to follow a personalised asthma action plan (PAAP) which will invariably include regular use of an inhaled corticosteroid. To examine medication adherence in children with asthma, we collated recent evidence from systematic reviews in this area to address the following 5 key questions; What is adherence? Is there evidence that children are not adhering to preventer medication? Why is adherence poor and what are the barriers to adherence? Does good adherence improve outcomes in asthma? And lastly, how can treatment adherence be improved?

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common skin disease in infants and children with a prevalence of 10% in the first two years of life. In this age group up to 15% are severely affected. "Children are not little adults" - this applies in particular to infants with severe atopic dermatitis. Age-specific clinical aspects (psychosocial, neurocognitive, morphological) of the disease require an adjusted disease management. Considering recent approval of systemic treatment options, early identification of infants and children with severe and early persistent disease is of particular importance also in view of possible prevention of atopic comorbidity. As several inborn errors of immunity (IEI) share features of the atopic phenotype, it is essential for clinicians to distinguish signs of immunodeficiency from severe AD. Here, we describe a practical approach on the basis of clinical history and key dermatological and laboratory findings. Furthermore, this paper is aimed at providing an update on general management of severe AD in early infancy, including recommendations for systemic treatment.

Adenoid hypertrophy is a common childhood disease; its standard treatment is adenoidectomy. The desire for medical management is increasing due to fewer complications and more convenience. The present study investigated the effect of adding oral montelukast to mometasone nasal spray in treating adenoid hypertrophy. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted at a referral teaching hospital (Tehran, Iran) from September 2020 to September 2021. Children aged 2 to 14 years with clinical and radiological findings of adenoid hypertrophy were enrolled. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: mometasone nasal spray with oral montelukast (case group) or mometasone with placebo (control group). Then, the clinical scores were compared before and two months after the intervention. Ninety-six patients completed the study [62.5% male (n=60)]. Of these, 51 were in the case and 45 in the control group. The clinical score in each group decreased significantly after the intervention (P<0.001), but the decrease in clinical score in the case group was not significantly different from the control (p=0.576). The results showed that the combination therapy with mometasone and montelukast has the same efficacy as mometasone and placebo in treating adenoid hypertrophy. Adding montelukast to mometasone has no additional effect.

Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory disease associated with various sequelae after skin lesion remission. Acne erythema has been considered simple erythema or a vascular lesion; however, because the understanding of this disease has improved, acne erythema is currently considered an early scar with erythematous components. This study evaluated the efficacy of using both a 595-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) and 1565-nm nonablative fractional laser (NAFL) for the treatment of erythematous scars caused by acne. Ninety patients with acne scars were equally randomized to two groups. Group A (n = 45) received treatment with the NAFL. Group B (n = 45) received treatment with the PDL and NAFL. Each patient underwent one treatment session and 4 weeks of follow-up. Qualitative (χ2 = 12.415; p < 0.05) and quantitative (t = 2.675; p < 0.05) scores of Groups A and B were determined using a global scarring grading system and exhibited statistically significant differences. The quantitative score of Group A was higher than that of Group B (6.67 ± 3.46 vs. 4.98 ± 2.44). The erythema areas of the groups differed significantly after treatment, with Group B exhibiting more notable score improvements (5.00 [3.10, 7.10] vs. 2.80 [1.65, 4.60]; Z = 3.072; p < 0.05). The erythema regression rate of Group B (88.9%) was significantly higher than that of Group A (66.7%) (χ2 = 20.295; p < 0.001). Adverse events, including redness and swelling (86.6%), scabbing (78.8%), and purpura (36.6%), occurred within 7 days for 86.6% of patients. The combined use of the PDL and NAFL is safe and effective for erythematous acne scars.

The problem of osteoarthritis (OA), the most common chronic rheumatic disease, is usually considered in relation to three groups of joints – knee, hip and hands. However, OA can affect any joints of the human body, causing pathological changes characteristic of this nosological form: destruction of joint tissue associated with mechanical stress, chronic inflammation and degenerative processes (neoangiogenesis, fibrosis, heterotopic ossification). This review examines 5 “atypical” OA localizations – shoulder, acromioclavicular, elbow, ankle and foot. The defeat of these joints is observed quite often: shoulder – about 15%, ankle – 3–5%, foot joints – 17% of the inhabitants of the modern population. The main risk factors for this disease are injuries, repeated significant stress, instability and deformities of the joints. The clinic is typical for OA and is manifested by “mechanical” and “starting” pains, stiffness, increasing dysfunction, crunching and deformation. In some cases, persistent synovitis is noted, accompanied by pain at rest and at night. Generally recognized criteria for OA of “atypical” localization have not yet been developed, therefore, its diagnosis is based on the presence of characteristic complaints, typical radiological changes (narrowing of the articular gap, subchondral sclerosis, osteophytes) and the exclusion of other pathology that can cause joint damage. Treatment of this pathology should be complex and include the combined use of non-drug methods (orthosis, physical therapy, physiotherapy) and pharmacological agents, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, slow-acting symptomatic agents and local injection therapy (intra-articular administration of glucocorticoids, hyaluronic acid, platelet-enriched plasma). When conservative therapy is ineffective, a wide range of surgical interventions is used, from arthroscopic chondroplasty to total endoprosthetics.

As a common male disease, erectile dysfunction (ED) seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients. In recent years, studies have continued to point out the great potential of stem cell therapy (SCT) in the treatment of ED. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyze the research of SCT for ED and understand the development trends and research frontiers in this field. Publications regarding SCT and ED were retrieved and collected from the Web of Science Core Collection. CiteSpace and VOSviewer software were then utilized for bibliometric and visualization analysis. A total of 524 publications were eventually included in this study. The annual number of publications in this field was increasing year by year. China and the USA were the two most productive countries. Lin GT, Lue TF and Lin CS, and the University of California San Francisco where they worked were the most productive research group and institution, respectively. The journal with the largest number of publications was The Journal of Sexual Medicine, and the following were mostly professional journals of urology and andrology. Diabetes mellitus-induced ED and cavernous nerve injury-related ED were the two most commonly constructed models of ED in studies. Concerning the types of stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose and bone marrow were most frequently used. Moreover, future research would mainly focus on exosomes, tissue engineering technology, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and clinical translation. The research of SCT for ED will receive increasing global attention in the future. Our study provided bibliometric and visualization analysis of published literature, helping researchers understand the global landscape and frontiers in this field. More preclinical and clinical studies should be conducted to more deeply explore the underlying mechanisms of treatment and promote clinical translation.

&lt;span&gt;Epilepsy stands out as one of the common neurological diseases. The neural activity of the brain is observed using electroencephalography (EEG). Manual inspection of EEG brain signals is a slow and arduous process, which puts heavy load on neurologists and affects their performance. The aim of this study is to find the best result of classification using the transfer learning model that automatically identify the epileptic and the normal activity, to classify EEG signals by using images of spectrogram which represents the percentage of energy for each coefficient of the continuous wavelet. Dataset includes the EEG signals recorded at monitoring unit of epilepsy used in this study to presents an application of transfer learning by comparing three models Alexnet, visual geometry group (VGG19) and residual neural network ResNet using different combinations with seven different classifiers. This study tested the models and reached a different value of accuracy and other metrics used to judge their performances, and as a result the best combination has been achieved with ResNet combined with support vector machine (SVM) classifier that classified EEG signals with a high success rate using multiple performance metrics such as 97.22% accuracy and 2.78% the value of the error rate.&lt;/span&gt;

Proteomic study of gamma-oryzanol preventive effect on a diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease model

Fascioliasis is a common parasitic disease in humans and herbivores which is caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica and has a worldwide distribution. Serological tests such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique play a prominent role in the fast diagnosis of the disease. However, there are diagnostic limitations, including cross-reactivity with other worms, which decline the specificity of the results. This study aimed to evaluate the structure of a recombinant multi-epitope antigen produced from linear and conformational B-cell epitopes of three parasitic proteins with sera of individuals with fasciolosis, healthy controls, and those with other diseases to gain accurate sensitivity and specificity. After designing the multi-epitope structure of cathepsin L1, FhTP16.5, and SAP-2 antigens and then synthesizing, cloning, and expressing, the extracted purified protein was evaluated by indirect ELISA to detect IgG antibodies against Fasciola hepatica parasite among the sera of 39 serum samples of Fasciola hepatica, 35 healthy individual samples, and 20 samples of other types of parasitic diseases. The synthesized multi-epitope produced from cathepsin L1, FhTP16.5, and SAP-2 antigens was evaluated using the indirect ELISA. The analysis of the samples mentioned for IgG antibody diagnosis against Fasciola hepatica showed 97.43% (95% confidence interval, 94.23-100%) sensitivity and 100% (95% confidence interval, 97-100%) specificity. The recombinant B-cell multi-epitope with high antigenic potency may increase the specificity of epitopic peptides and ultimately help improve and develop indirect ELISA commercial kits for the diagnosis of fascioliasis in humans.

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is a common autoimmune thyroid disease for which there is no specific treatment. Oral levothyroxine sodium tablets significantly improved thyroid function but did not promote a reduction in thyroid-related antibody concentrations. Acupuncture can improve clinical symptoms and thyroid function in HT patients, reduce serum TPOAb and TGAb levels in HT patients, and improve patients' quality of life. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of acupuncture versus levothyroxine sodium tablets on Hashimoto thyroiditis. We searched Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, VIP, SinoMed and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials to identify candidate randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A total of 1020 patients participated in 14 randomized controlled trials. The results of meta-analysis showed that acupuncture regulated TPOAb content (mean difference [MD] = -63.18, 95%CI = -91.73 to -34.62, P < .00001), TGAb content (MD = -68.56, 95%CI = -101.55 to -35.57, P < .00001), serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) content (MD = 0.74, 95%CI = 0.20 to 1.27, P < .00001), serum free thyroxine (FT4) content (MD = 1.10, 95%CI = 0.29 to 1.92, P < .00001), TSH content (MD = -2.16, 95%CI = -3.14 to -1.19, P < .00001) had a significant effect. Compared with levothyroxine sodium tablets alone, acupuncture can significantly regulate the contents of TPOAb, TGAb, FT3, FT4 and TSH.

Radiolabeling of Zonisamide for a Diagnostic Perspective.

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, accounting for 60–70% of dementia cases globally. Inflammation of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by microglia is a common characteristic of neurodegenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and AD. Research has recently examined the relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and CNS microglia. Microglial cells comprise 10–15% of all CNS cells and are brain-resident myeloid cells mediating critical processes to support the CNS. Microglia have a variety of receptors that operate as molecular sensors, detecting exogenous and endogenous CNS injuries and triggering an immune response. Microglia serve as brain guardians by boosting phagocytic clearance and providing trophic support to enable tissue repair and maintain cerebral homeostasis, in addition to their traditional immune cell activity. At rest, microglia manage CNS homeostasis by phagocytic action, which removes pathogens and cell debris. Microglia cells that have been "resting" convert into active cells that create inflammatory mediators, protecting neurons and protecting against invading pathogens. Neuronal damage and neurodegenerative disorders are caused by excessive inflammation. Different microglial cells reply at different phases of the disease can lead to new therapy options and reduced inflammatory activity. This review focuses on the potential function of microglia, microglia subtypes, and M1/M2 phenotypic changes associated with neurodegenerative disorders. Microglial membrane receptors, the involvement of microglia in neuroinflammation, microglial targets in AD and the double role of microglia in AD pathogenesis are also discussed in this review.

This study aimed to explore the burden of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) in patients with thalassemia and related risk factors. The clinical data and MRI of patients with thalassemia were retrospectively analyzed, and non-thalassemia controls with matched sex and age were selected. The modified MRI burden of CSVD included recent small subcortical infarct, presumed vasogenic white matter hyperintensity, presumed vasogenic lacunae, perivascular space (PVS), and brain atrophy. This study included 110 patients in each of the thalassemia and control groups. There was no significant difference in sex, age, and common cerebrovascular disease risk factors between the 2 groups. The patients with thalassemia had a higher red blood cell count and lower content of hemoglobin. The PVS and modified MRI burden scores in the thalassemia group were higher than in the control group. With the increase in age, patients with thalassemia have a more severe CSVD burden. Patients with thalassemia have a heavier modified MRI burden of CSVD than non-thalassemia patients, particularly PVS, and aging is an important risk factor for CSVD changes.

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome is the most common disease of the equine stomach. This article gives an overview of the syndrome and reviews the available literature to answer questions clinicians face when treating and managing these cases in equine practice. Equine gastric ulcer syndrome has, in recent years, been further defined into two distinct syndromes: equine squamous gastric disease and equine glandular gastric disease. Primary equine squamous gastric disease is the most common form of the disease and results from prolonged exposure of the mucosa to gastric acid in an otherwise normal gastrointestinal tract. Secondary squamous gastric disease occurs as a result of delayed gastric emptying caused by inflammatory bowel disease, pyloric stenosis, severe glandular gastric disease or gastric impaction.

Distress among gynecologic oncology patients correlates with poor clinical outcomes and decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine risk factors for elevated NCCN Distress Thermometer (DT) results among postoperative gynecologic oncology patients. We performed a retrospective chart review of all postoperative visits over a 5-year period. NCCN DT results were analyzed as both discretized values (DT ≤3 = low distress; DT 4-8 = moderate distress; DT ≥9 = high distress) and continuous variables. Patients with a DT score ≥4 were referred to social work. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to compare NCCN DT results with clinical and sociodemographic variables. Statistical significance was P<.05. In total, 1,795 NCCN DT results were included, with uterine (37.72%) being the most common disease site. Benign pathology was known prior to completion of the NCCN DT in 13.15% of patients. Most patients (71.75%) endorsed low levels of distress. Moderate/High levels of distress were reported by 28.25% of patients. Increasing levels of distress were significantly associated with younger age (P=.006), history of depression (P≤.001), status as a current smoker (P=.028), and history of asthma (P=.041). Knowledge of benign pathology was associated with low levels of distress (P=.002). Procedure type and disease site were not associated with distress. More than one-fourth of postoperative patients in a gynecologic oncology practice reported moderate or high distress. Distress was highest among those with malignancy regardless of disease site or surgical intervention. Benign pathology correlated with decreased distress. Identified associations with distress provide opportunities for prevention, early intervention, and tailored counseling.