Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

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 …

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 …

Health Risks Of Very Low Cholesterol, Menachem Nagar

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Cholesterol is a molecule central to all human physiological processes at systemic as well as cellular levels. Cholesterol, combined with Apolipoprotein B as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been the focus of scientific research because the molecule has been proven to play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease, a disease of pandemic proportions. Considerable scientific and medical attention has been devoted to identifying the role and management of high levels of total serum cholesterol in order to address this global health burden, creating large scale awareness regarding lowering cholesterol concentration in circulation. However, the same molecule, combined into various …

The Effect Of Melatonin On The Ovaries, Jaclyn Starr

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Melatonin is a very small molecule whose effects can be both detrimental and beneficial to the ovaries depending on its concentration. Too much of anything is usually not good and so is the case with melatonin. Very high doses can be damaging, but in the right amount melatonin may be able to combat various diseases and increase the chances for fertility in women.

The Role Of Ghrelin And Leptin In Obesity: Is Exogenous Administration Of These Hormones A Possible Drug Therapy?, Peri Eckstein

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Ghrelin and leptin are two hormones that have been recognized to have a major influence on energy balance. Leptin is a mediator of long term regulation of energy balance, suppressing food intake and thereby inducing weight loss. Ghrelin, on the other hand, is a fast acting hormone, playing a role in meal initiation. As a growing number of people suffer from obesity, understanding the mechanisms by which various hormones and neurotransmitters influence energy balance has been a subject of intense research. This paper provides background on leptin and ghrelin hormones, their role in food intake and body weight in humans, …