Neurosciences Commons^™

Sensory Neurons Respond To Neurocan Knock-Down In Reactive Astrocytes, Umang Khandpur

Umang Khandpur, MD Candidate

A Comparison Of Four Electrical Stimulation Types On Staphylococcus Aureus Growth In Vitro, Harold Merriman, Chris Hegyi, Cheryl Albright-Overton, John Carlos, Robert Putnam, Janet Mulcare

Harold L. Merriman

We evaluated the efficacy of common electrical stimulation (ES) types on bacterial growth in vitro using clinically relevant conditions. Four types of ES-continuous microamperage direct current (µADC), high-voltage pulsed current (HVPC), low-voltage monophasic milliamperage pulsed current (LVMmAPC), and low-voltage biphasic milliamperage pulsed current (LVBmAPC)-were each applied to a separate set of culture plates containing Staphylococcus aureus for 1 h at 37 °C on 3 consecutive days. After ES treatment, the zone of inhibition surrounding each electrode was measured. Zone of inhibition measurements showed a significant inhibitory effect for continuous µADC and HVPC (p < 0.05), but not for LVMmAPC and LVBmAPC. …

The Potential Of Antiseizure Drugs And Agents That Act On Novel Molecular Targets As Antiepileptogenic Treatments, Rafal M. Kaminski, Michael A. Rogawski, Henrik Klitgaard

Michael A. Rogawski

A major goal of contemporary epilepsy research is the identification of therapies to prevent the development of recurrent seizures in individuals at risk, including those with brain injuries, infections, or neoplasms; status epilepticus; cortical dysplasias; or genetic epilepsy susceptibility. In this review we consider the evidence largely from preclinical models for the antiepileptogenic activity of a diverse range of potential therapies, including some marketed antiseizure drugs, as well as agents that act by immune and inflammatory mechanisms; reduction of oxidative stress; activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ pathways; effects on factors related to thrombolysis, …

Rapid Quantitative Pharmacodynamic Imaging By A Novel Method: Theory, Simulation Testing And Proof Of Principle, Kevin J. Black, Jonathan M. Koller, Brad D. Miller

Kevin J. Black, MD

Pharmacological challenge imaging has mapped, but rarely quantified, the sensitivity of a biological system to a given drug. We describe a novel method called rapid quantitative pharmacodynamic imaging. This method combines pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling, repeated small doses of a challenge drug over a short time scale, and functional imaging to rapidly provide quantitative estimates of drug sensitivity including EC50 (the concentration of drug that produces half the maximum possible effect). We first test the method with simulated data, assuming a typical sigmoidal dose-response curve and assuming imperfect imaging that includes artifactual baseline signal drift and random error. With these few assumptions, …

Cannabis And Psychosis: Transition To Psychosis, Amresh Srivastava, Kristen , Terpstra, Yves Bureau

Amresh Srivastava

Cannabis has been implicated as a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia, however, but the pathway of cannabis causing psychosis is not well understood. It appears that cannabis does not cause any structural changes per say but deficits in areas of the brain responsible for memory and emotion do show some changes. Recent studies suggest that cannabinoids such as CB1 have a pharmacological profile similar to that of atypical antipsychotic drugs. This mechanisms may involve dopamine, GABA, and glutamate neurotransmission; It is still not known if these changes are transitory or permanent, and whether or not they contribute to …

Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Neural Precursor Grafts For Treatment Of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Janice R. Naegele

Janice R Naegele

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE). For many TLE patients, there is an initial traumatic head injury that is the precipitating cause of epilepsy. Severe TLE can be associated with neuropathological changes, including hippocampal sclerosis, neurodegeneration in the dentate gyrus, and extensive reorganization of hippocampal circuits. Learning disabilities and psychiatric conditions may also occur in patients with severe TLE for whom conventional anti-epileptic drugs are ineffective. Novel treatments are needed to limit or repair neuronal damage, particularly to hippocampus and related limbic regions in severe TLE and to suppress temporal lobe seizures. A promising therapeutic strategy may be to restore inhibition of …