Short-term escitalopram treatment and hippocampal volume

33 participants. Overall, participants showed no change in hippocampal volume measures after escitalopram.

Frequency and Circadian Timing of Eating May Influence Biomarkers of Inflammation and Insulin Resistance Associated with Breast Cancer Risk

Each 10 percent increase in the proportion of calories consumed in the evening was associated with a 3 percent increase in CRP. Conversely, eating one additional meal or snack per day was associated with an 8 percent reduction in CRP.

Running-induced systemic Cathepsin B secretion is associated with memory function

«To model effects of exercise in vitro we applied AMPK agonist AICAR (100 µM) to L6 myoblast cells and analyzed the conditioned medium (CM; Figure 1A and 1B). Specifically, L6 myoblast cells were differentiated for 8 days and CM was collected after 6 hours of AICAR or vehicle (0.1% DMSO) treatment. CM was used for silver staining based proteomic analysis (Figure 1B). Interestingly, CM from AICAR treated cells revealed a differential protein expression pattern as compared to vehicle controls (Figure S1A). The differentially expressed bands were excised and eluted. We analyzed the peptide sequence of selected candidate proteins by mass spectrometry (Figure S1B). First, we selected the candidates based on the estimated protein size between 37 to 50 Kilo Dalton (kda) based on size marker (Bio-rad). Further evaluation was performed utilizing QSPEC (http://www.nesvilab.org/qspec.php/" data-ga-action="click_feat_suppl" ref="reftype=extlink&article-id=6029441&issue-id=316230&journal-id=319&FROM=Article%7CBody&TO=External%7CLink%7CURI" target="_blank">http://www.nesvilab.org/qspec.php/" and a secretory database (http://www.nesvilab.org/qspec.php/" data-ga-action="click_feat_suppl" ref="reftype=extlink&article-id=6029441&issue-id=316230&journal-id=319&FROM=Article%7CBody&TO=External%7CLink%7CURI" target="_blank">http://www.nesvilab.org/qspec.php/" exercise microarray datasets (GSD2234) and AICAR treated microarray datasets ({"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE50873","term_id":"50873"}}GSE50873). The 37 kda, lysosomal cysteine protease, CTSB which has extracellular functions was selected (Figure 1A and Figure S1B).»

The neurobiology of stress: from serendipity to clinical relevance.

For the immune system, acute stress enhances immune function whereas chronic stress suppresses it.

For the brain, acute stress enhances the memory of events that are potentially threatening to the organism. Chronic stress, on the other hand, causes adaptive plasticity in the brain, in which local neurotransmitters as well as systemic hormone interact to produce structural as well as functional changes, involving the suppression of ongoing neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and remodelling of dendrites in the Ammon's horn. Under extreme conditions only does permanent damage ensue.

Environmental enrichment enhances neurogenesis and improves functional outcome after cranial irradiation.

«Radiation therapy is a widely used treatment for brain tumors but it can cause delayed progressive cognitive decline and memory deficits. Previous studies suggested that this neurocognitive dysfunction might be linked to the impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis. However, little is known regarding how to reduce the cognitive impairment caused by radiation therapy. To investigate whether environmental enrichment (EE) promotes neurogenesis and cognitive function after irradiation, irradiated gerbils were housed in EE for 2 months and evaluated by neurobehavioral testing for learning and memory function, and immunohistochemical analysis for neurogenesis. Our results demonstrated that even relatively low doses (5-10 Gy) of irradiation could acutely abolish precursor cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus by more than 90%. This reduction in precursor proliferation was persistent and led to a significant decline in the granule cell population 9 months later. EE housing enhanced the number of newborn neurons and increased residual neurogenesis. EE also significantly increased the total number of immature neurons in the dentate gyrus. Furthermore, irradiated animals after EE housing showed a significant improvement in spatial learning and memory during the water-maze test and in rotorod motor learning over a 5-day training paradigm. In conclusion, EE has a positive impact on hippocampal neurogenesis and functional recovery in irradiated adult gerbils. Our data suggest that there is still a considerable amount of plasticity remaining in the hippocampal progenitor cells in adult animals after radiation injury, which can become a target of therapeutic intervention for radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction.»

Diallyl disulfide impairs hippocampal neurogenesis in the young adult brain.

«Garlic and garlic extracts are used as seasonings and are generally considered beneficial to human health, which include antioxidant and neuroprotective properties in neurological disorders. In the present study, we examined the effects of garlic sulfur components on the proliferation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and hippocampal neurogenesis. Of the sulfur compounds extracted, diallyl disulfide (DADS) significantly suppressed the proliferation of NPCs, whereas other sulfur containing components had no effect. In order to investigate the effect of DADS on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, DADS was administered orally to young (6 week-old) male C57BL/6 mice for 2 weeks. It was found that 10 mg/kg of DADS significantly decreased the proliferation of NPCs in the dentate gyrus without affecting the survival of newly generated cells. Furthermore, DADS decreased levels of hippocampal BDNF, phosphorylated CREB signaling, and phosphorylated ERKs, which are known to be related to hippocampal neurogenesis and NPCs proliferation. In addition, DADS induced significant memory defects as compared with controls. We report that DADS may have adverse effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and neurocognitive functions by modulating ERK and BDNF-CREB signaling, and suggest that the advisability of consuming large amounts of garlic products should be considered, particularly during the period of neural growth.»

The genome-wide expression effects of escitalopram and its relationship to neurogenesis, hippocampal volume, and antidepressant response.

..selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram evoked AHN in human cells; dose-dependently increasing the differentiation of cells into neuroblasts, as well as increasing gliogenesis. Activated genome-wide expression networks relate to axon and microtubule formation, and ribosomal biogenesis. Gene set analysis revealed that gene expression changes associated with Antidepressant-induced hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) were nominally enriched for genes predictive of hippocampal volume, but not for genes predictive of therapeutic response..

Ageing: Is there a role for arachidonic acid and other bioactive lipids? A review.

Ageing is inevitable. Recent studies suggest that it could be delayed. Low-grade systemic inflammation is seen in type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and endothelial dysfunction that are common with increasing age. In all these conditions, an alteration in arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism is seen in the form of increased formation of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids and decreased production of anti-inflammatory lipoxins, resolvins, protectins and maresins and decreased activity of desaturases. Calorie restriction, exercise and parabiosis delay age-related changes that could be related to enhanced proliferation of stem cells, decrease in inflammation and transfer of GDF-11 (growth differentiation factor-11) and other related molecules from the young to the old, increase in the formation of lipoxin A4, resolvins, protectins and maresins, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and nitric oxide (NO); inhibition of ageing-related hypothalamic or brain IKK-β and NF-kB activation, decreased gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) release resulting in increased neurogenesis and consequent decelerated ageing. This suggests that hypothalamus participates in ageing process. N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) and lipid-derived signalling molecules can be tuned favorably under dietary restriction to extend lifespan and/or prevent advanced age associated diseases in an mTOR dependent pathway manner. Sulfur amino acid (SAA) restriction increased hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production and protected tissues from hypoxia and tissue damage. Anti-inflammatory metabolites formed from AA such as LXA4, resolvins, protectins and maresins enhance production of NO, CO, H2S; suppress NF-kB expression and alter mTOR expression and thus, may aid in delaying ageing process. Dietary restriction and exercise enhance AA metabolism to form LXA4, resolvins, protectins and maresins that have anti-inflammatory actions. AA and their metabolites also influence stem cell biology, enhance neurogenesis to improve memory and augment autophagy to prolong life span. Thus, AA and other PUFAs and their anti-inflammatory metabolites inhibit inflammation, augment stem cell proliferation, restore to normal lipid-derived signaling molecules and NO and H2S production, enhance autophagy and prolong life span.