Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Chironian Fall/Winter 2011, New York Medical College

The Chironian

No abstract provided.

Tlr4 Mutation Reduces Microglial Activation, Increases Aβ Deposits And Exacerbates Cognitive Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Min Song, Jingji Jin, Jinghong Kou, Abhinandan Pattanayak, Jamaal Rehman, Hong-Duck Kim, Ken-Ichiro Fukuchi

NYMC Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Amyloid plaques, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), are accompanied by activated microglia. The role of activated microglia in the pathogenesis of AD remains controversial: either clearing Aβ deposits by phagocytosis or releasing proinflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic substances. Microglia can be activated via toll-like receptors (TLRs), a class of pattern-recognition receptors in the innate immune system. We previously demonstrated that an AD mouse model homozygous for a loss-of-function mutation of TLR4 had increases in Aβ deposits and buffer-soluble Aβ in the brain as compared with a TLR4 wild-type AD mouse model at 14-16 months of age. However, it …

What Is New For An Old Molecule? Systematic Review And Recommendations On The Use Of Resveratrol, Ole Vang, Nihal Ahmad, Karen Brown, Anna Csiszar, Thomas Szekeres, Thomas Walle, Joseph M. Wu

NYMC Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Resveratrol is a natural compound suggested to have beneficial health effects. However, people are consuming resveratrol for this reason without having the adequate scientific evidence for its effects in humans. Therefore, scientific valid recommendations concerning the human intake of resveratrol based on available published scientific data are necessary. Such recommendations were formulated after the Resveratrol 2010 conference, held in September 2010 in Helsingør, Denmark.

METHODOLOGY: Literature search in databases as PUBMED and ISI Web of Science in combination with manual search was used to answer the following five questions: (1)Can resveratrol be recommended in the prevention or treatment of …

Chironian Spring/Summer 2011, New York Medical College

The Chironian

No abstract provided.

Functional Analysis Of Borrelia Burgdorferi Uvra In Dna Damage Protection, Mariya Sambir, Larisa Ivanova, Anton V. Bryksin, Henry P. Godfrey, Felipe C. Cabello

NYMC Faculty Publications

Bacterial pathogens face constant challenges from DNA-damaging agents generated by host phagocytes. Although Borrelia burgdorferi appears to have much fewer DNA repair enzymes than pathogens with larger genomes, it does contain homologues of uvrA and uvrB (subunits A and B of excinuclease ABC). As a first step to exploring the physiologic function of uvrA(Bbu) and its possible role in survival in the host in the face of DNA-damaging agents, a partially deleted uvrA mutant was isolated by targeted inactivation. While growth of this mutant was markedly inhibited by UV irradiation, mitomycin C (MMC) and hydrogen peroxide at doses that lacked …

A Survey Of Oxidative Paracatalytic Reactions Catalyzed By Enzymes That Generate Carbanionic Intermediates: Implications For Ros Production, Cancer Etiology, And Neurodegenerative Diseases, Victoria Bunik, John Schloss, John T. Pinto, Natalia Dudareva, Arthur J L Cooper

NYMC Faculty Publications

Enzymes that generate carbanionic intermediates often catalyze paracatalytic reactions with O2 and other electrophiles not considered “normal” reactants. For example, pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)—containing pig kidney dopa decarboxylase oxidizes dopamine with molecular O2 to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde at about 1% of the rate at which it catalyzes nonoxidative dopa decarboxylation. The mutant Y332F enzyme, however, catalyzes stoichiometric conversion of dopa to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde, suggesting that even minor structural changes may alter or initiate paracatalytic reactions catalyzed by certain enzymes. Carbanions generated by several thiamine diphosphate (ThDP)—dependent enzymes react with different electrophiles, transforming some xenobiotics and endogenous compounds into potentially biologically hazardous products. The detrimental …

Social Causes Of Obesity, Gregory Katz

Quill & Scope

Two thirds of our country is overweight and a third is obese. Meanwhile, medical costs continue to rise, largely as a consequence of treating those with chronic disease. And our current medical sys-tem seems more focused on treating symptoms of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease rather than their root causes. This paper examines the origins of these problems and at-tempts to determine the role of physicians in reversing these trends.

An Uninvited Visitor, Marissa Friedman

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Matters Of The Heart, Marissa Friedman

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

The Not-So-Sweet Side Of Sugars, Maximilian Klein

Quill & Scope

Refined sugar is becoming highly scrutinized as a possible explanation for the explosion of diabetes and obesity related health problems in our nation. We are often told by the media that added sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in particular, is bad for our health and we should minimize our consumption of it, but scientists and health care providers rarely take the time to explain why the added sugar is detrimental to our health. The research behind sugar metabolism has been well elu-cidated, and I propose in this article that it is the high level of fructose in the average …

Tried & Fried, Jordan Teitelbaum

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

The Modern Bloodletters, Charles Volk

Quill & Scope

When doctors order blood tests to be drawn, the order goes out to a team of people who have made bloodletting the sole focus of their job. Who are these people who have trained to complete this one task? The author shares his experiences drawing blood and what it is like to be ancillary staff at a large medical center.

Anti-Amyloid-Β Single-Chain Antibody Brain Delivery Via Aav Reduces Amyloid Load But May Increase Cerebral Hemorrhages In An Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model, Jinghong Kou, Hong-Duck Kim, Hiroaki Taguchi, Sudhir Paul, Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ken-Ichiro Fukuchi

NYMC Faculty Publications

Accumulation of amyloid-β protein (Aβ) in the brain is thought to be a causal event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Immunotherapy targeting Aβ holds great promise for reducing Aβ in the brain. Here, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of anti-Aβ single-chain antibody (scFv59) delivery via recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) on reducing Aβ deposits in an AD mouse model (TgAβPPswe/PS1dE9). First, delivery of scFv59 to the brain was optimized by injecting rAAV serotypes 1, 2, and 5 into the right lateral ventricle. Symmetrical high expression of scFv59 was found throughout the hippocampus and partly in the neocortex in both hemispheres via …

Patterns And Regulation Of Ribosomal Rna Transcription In Borrelia Burgdorferi, Julia Bugrysheva, Henry P. Godfrey, Ira Schwartz, Felipe C. Cabello

NYMC Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Borrelia burgdorferi contains one 16S and two tandem sets of 23S-5S ribosomal (r) RNA genes whose patterns of transcription and regulation are unknown but are likely to be critical for survival and persistence in its hosts. RESULTS: RT-PCR of B. burgdorferi N40 and B31 revealed three rRNA region transcripts: 16S rRNA-alanine transfer RNA (tRNA Ala); tRNA Ile; and both sets of 23S-5S rRNA. At 34 degrees C, there were no differences in growth rate or in accumulation of total protein, DNA and RNA in B31 cultured in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK)-H whether rabbit serum was present or not. At 23 degrees …

The Cardiac Atlas Project--An Imaging Database For Computational Modeling And Statistical Atlases Of The Heart, Carissa G. Fonseca, Michael Backhaus, David A. Bluemke, Randall D. Britten, Jae Do Chung, Brett R. Cowan, Alan H. Kadish

Office of the President Publications and Research

MOTIVATION: Integrative mathematical and statistical models of cardiac anatomy and physiology can play a vital role in understanding cardiac disease phenotype and planning therapeutic strategies. However, the accuracy and predictive power of such models is dependent upon the breadth and depth of noninvasive imaging datasets. The Cardiac Atlas Project (CAP) has established a large-scale database of cardiac imaging examinations and associated clinical data in order to develop a shareable, web-accessible, structural and functional atlas of the normal and pathological heart for clinical, research and educational purposes. A goal of CAP is to facilitate collaborative statistical analysis of regional heart shape …

Sapphire Blew, Charisse Chin

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Scope Of The Scope, Benjamin Cox

Quill & Scope

To many of us the stethoscope is just a diagnostic tool. This essay puts a twist on this idea and demonstrates how a stethoscope can be used as a teaching instrument for sharing information about findings with patients and their families.

Broken System, Holly Foote

Quill & Scope

This touching piece describes a situation where a friend fell through the cracks of the healthcare system.

Informed Consent: A Cultural Dilemma, Emily Junck

Quill & Scope

Obtaining informed consent is a process unique to Western medicine. Cultural differences are high-lighted and conflict can arise when trying to explain consent to immigrant or ethnic patients. This essay describes an example case and provides suggestions of important points to include in the phy-sician-patient discussion in order to improve understanding.

Hepatocellular Screening Guidelines And Bellevue’S High Risk Population, Ramoncito David

Quill & Scope

This report has been adapted from a previously published piece in “Clinical Correlations”. The cur-rent screening modalities for hepatocellular carcinoma are described along with the guidelines for surveillance in at-risk populations. The sensitivity of accepted screening practices is challenged in the context of patients who are at high risk for developing early onset HCC. In particular, the sub-set of patients with long-standing chronic Hep B infection may benefit from revised screening crite-ria that include more patients who exhibit certain risk factors for this disease.

Complications Of Pprom: Preterm, Premature Reality Of Medicine, Diana Kirschner

Quill & Scope

Medical school is challenging on its own, but life takes a new turn when a parent is diagnosed with cancer. This work describes how coping with both medical school and a parent’s illness can help train a more compassionate physician.

Thoughts In A Disaster, Sean Kivlehan

Quill & Scope

This paper discusses Sean’s experiences in Haiti during his psychiatry clerkship.

R.I.P. Little Tiny Tim, Harry Flaster

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Writing In Afghanistan, Ali-Reza Force

Quill & Scope

This paper represents an analysis of the way in which internet communication by a physician can impact a general audience.

A Nutty Approach To Disease Prevention, Amin Esfahani

Quill & Scope

Tree nuts are healthy foods with a favourable macro- and micronutrient profile. They are low in sat-urated fats and high in mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. They are also good sources of vegeta-ble protein, fiber, phytosterols, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. Because of this healthy nutrient profile, it has been postulated that tree nuts may play a significant role in health maintenance and disease prevention. The purpose of this paper is 1) to provide a brief overview of the current scien-tific evidence on the role of tree nuts in prevention and management of diabetes and heart disease and 2) to outline …

Mostly White Coat, Yaakov Liss

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Music As A Therapy Before And After The 20th Century In America, Chu-En Lin

Quill & Scope

This piece provides a historical overview of the use of music as a therapy in the Unites States, with an emphasis on the changes that have occurred over the past century.

Attitudes In Psychiatry In Bangalore, India, Akshay Lohitsa

Quill & Scope

An analysis of an international rotation in Bangalore, India where an American medical student was able to compare and contrast attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness. Many third world countries boast cure rates comparable or better than the U.S. for schizophrenia and other psychiatric diseases, and it remains unclear why this would be. One possible reason of why this trend is occur-ring is provided.

Challenges In Stem Cell Therapy: Bench-To-Bedside, Varunkumar G. Pandey, Michael Karsy

Quill & Scope

The article is a review of stem cell research and some of the challenges before the technology can become realizable patient therapy. We tried to make it a general review for individuals from various backgrounds.

An Interview With Doctor Daniel Peters, Jin Packard

Quill & Scope

An up, close and personal interview with Dr. Daniel Peters, retired surgeon, and the current Assis-tant Professor of Cell Biology and Gross Anatomy at NYMC with appointments in both the Medical School and the School of Health Sciences and Practices.