Brain Behavior and Immunity Integrative最新文献

This comprehensive review delves into the potential therapeutic efficacy of dioscin and diosgenin, phytocompounds extracted from the Dioscoreaceae family, in alleviating neurological disorders. The article meticulously elucidates the putative neuroprotective mechanisms of dioscin and diosgenin in various neurological disorders, emphasizing their ability to mitigate cognitive impairments, diminish neuropathological hallmarks, and suppress neuroinflammatory responses. A detailed discussion of the pharmacokinetic profiles of dioscin and diosgenin, encompassing their distribution and bioavailability following administration, is also presented. Additionally, the paper outlines the challenges and prospective directions in translating preclinical findings about dioscin and diosgenin into clinically relevant applications, underscoring the need for more rigorous clinical trials and standardized formulations. The summary accurately captures the key findings and highlights these natural compounds' potential in treating various neurological conditions.

Extensive abnormalities of the immune function have been found in neuropsychiatric disorders while the underlying mechanisms and treatment efficacy remain to be distinguished. Of the promising approaches, medical and behavioral practices originating from eastern traditional medicine, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, meditation, Yoga etc., are increasingly applied in the field of mental health and disorders. This special issue, consisting of 8 research and review articles, provides the latest information about integrative strategies and mechanisms of behavioural, neural and immune system interactions in psychiatric disorders, including depression, addiction, ADHD.

Background

This study explores whether a 60 or 30 mg dose of CBD consumed in a beverage further supplemented with L-theanine, vitamin E, and vitamin C would alter various measures associated with general health and well-being in healthy individuals.

Methods

This double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial recruited healthy, college-aged subjects for randomization into one of four treatment groups where they consumed daily a single 12 ounce beverage for eight weeks containing 1) 60 mg CBD (CBD60) plus L-theanine; 2) 30 mg CBD (CBD30) plus L-theanine; 3) no CBD (CBD0), L-theanine alone, and 4) a vehicle control (PLAC) containing no additives. Surveys evaluated quality of life, wellbeing, stress, and sleep, while a Fitbit wrist monitor collected physical activity and sleep data. Anaerobic performance was evaluated with a Wingate test. Fasted blood concentrations of cortisol, CRP, and creatinine were analyzed with an ELISA. Pre-intervention time point differences were determined by ANOVA and a 4×2 ANOVA identified treatment effects.

Results

A total of 102 healthy participants were randomly assigned to CBD60 (n = 25), CBD30 (n = 28), CBD0 (n = 24), or PLAC (n = 25). There were no differences among the groups at the pre-intervention time point, and the average age of the participants was 24.4 ± 7.0 years, with an average BMI 23.9 ± 3.6 kg/m². Following the eight-week intervention period, there were no significant CBD treatment effects with respect to quality of life, psychological wellbeing, perceived stress, sleep, body composition, voluntary physical activity, and anaerobic performance measures. Additionally, circulating concentrations of serum cortisol, CRP, and creatinine were similar between the treatment groups.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that 60 or 30 mg of CBD added to a beverage containing L-theanine, vitamin E, and vitamin C; consumed daily for 8 weeks was well tolerated in this younger, generally healthy population, but CBD had no significant impact, either positive or negative, on subjective measures of quality of life, psychological well-being, perceived stress, and sleep; as well as objective measures of voluntary physical activity, anaerobic performance, sleep, serum cortisol, CRP, and creatinine concentrations. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered 12/01/2022; # NCT05189275; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05189275?cond=CBD%20-focus&rank=1

The olfactory system participates in the reception, integration, and interpretation of olfactory signals. This chemical sense is essential for survival since it is involved in basic behaviors and physiological processes. Olfactory function decreases with age; however, olfactory impairments are also observed in several neurodegenerative and psychiatric pathologies. It is widely described that olfactory dysfunction is an early symptom in Parkinson (PD) and Alzheimer (AD) diseases, furthermore, olfactory brain areas are affected by the pathological hallmarks of these diseases before the brain areas involved in the motor and cognitive impairments, respectively. This information suggests a key role of olfactory system damage in the beginning of a neurodegenerative process. Not only does the early injury of the olfactory system occur in AD and PD, but also in other pathologies since increasing evidence indicate the presence of olfactory impairments in other neurogenerative and psychiatric diseases namely, depression, schizophrenia, and autism among others. In addition, people with systemic chronic diseases that promote central nervous system damage such as type 2 diabetes and obesity also show olfactory dysfunction, which also suggests that olfactory alterations in these individuals could be an early manifestation of a neurodegenerative process. Then, the aim of the manuscript is to describe the information which supports that olfactory system impairment is a prodromal factor for the development of several neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, to recognize it as a shared mechanism of degeneration among diverse neuropathologies, and discuss the relevance of the assessment of the olfactory function in the diagnosis and improvement of neurodegeneration.

Assessing quality of life in clinical practice and research via patient-reported outcomes is an emerging practice enabling the assessment of individual well-being across different populations and conditions, such as immune-mediated and inflammatory disorders. Standardized questionnaires have traditionally been used for this purpose, but they have several limitations inherent to one-time snapshots from recall-based self-reports. Ambulatory measures may provide an alternative approach to assessing quality of life that allows capturing an individual’s states and behaviours in the context of daily life. In this overview article, we define ambulatory measures, including ecological momentary self-reports, wearable sensors, biochemical sampling, and smartphone sensing, that may be used to estimate quality of life, and present examples of studies that have used these measures. Additionally, we highlight the benefits of integrating multi-method ambulatory measures and overview methods for combining and analyzing them, including data fusion techniques and machine learning. While there are still challenges and limitations to overcome, the integration and application of ambulatory measures in medical research and clinical practice have the potential to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the quality of (everyday) life.

Background and purpose

Rising anger issues among young individuals are becoming increasingly prevalent in contemporary society. Comprehensive examinations and literary investigations have illuminated the detrimental consequences of unregulated anger in adolescents. Consequently, it is imperative to investigate the efficacy of various anger management interventions in curbing the anger of adolescents. Behavioral change communication aids represent an effective and accessible method for anger management in juveniles. The researcher identified juvenile aid centers as optimal locations for conducting such intervention studies.

Materials and methods

In this study, we conducted research within a Juvenile Aid Center and evaluated the anger levels of the participants using a clinical anger scale. Following the initial assessment, only the experimental group received the Behavior Change Communication aid, and after a four-week period, we reevaluated the juveniles using the same measurement tool.

Results

The total sample size for this study comprised 73 adolescents. The experimental group received the Behavior Change Communication aid, and their anger levels were assessed using the Clinical Anger Scale, which showed improvements in all participants.

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicated a significant effectiveness of the Behavior Change Communication aid in managing anger among adolescents residing in juvenile aid centers.

Elevated perinatal depressive symptoms are more common among disadvantaged African American women, and they are almost four times as likely to have postpartum posttraumatic stress compared to white women. For new mothers, depressive symptoms and posttraumatic stress can lead to negative parenting, poor mother-infant bonding, and delayed infant development. For African American women, a culturally adapted mindfulness-based intervention offers great potential as an acceptable approach to reduce psycho-behavioral symptoms and improve mother-infant interactions (i.e., bonding). Additionally, it is critical that mindfulness interventions consider time constraints of new mothers, provide accessible intervention delivery, address parenting, and consider the challenges of caring for an infant. Given these considerations, we describe a pilot research protocol in which we evaluate a culturally adapted mindfulness program: Mindfulness for African Americans Postpartum (MAAP). The intervention is based upon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, but is adapted to include culturally relevant concepts of spirituality, inter-dependence, self-empowerment, and storytelling, which are salient to African American culture. To accommodate the needs of new mothers, a certified mindfulness interventionist delivers each session virtually using Zoom. The investigation uses a randomized controlled design in which African American women within 12 months of giving birth are randomized either to the MAAP intervention or to an Education Program. The primary aim is to determine the extent to which the MAAP intervention decreases maternal psycho-behavioral symptoms (perceived stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety, poor sleep, posttraumatic stress, and fatigue) and improves mother-infant bonding. A secondary aim is to explore the effects of MAAP on proinflammatory cytokines and oxytocin. Culturally adapted mindfulness interventions delivered virtually will make mindfulness more accessible and meaningful to populations, like African American new mothers, who are at higher risk for postpartum mood disorders and poor infant outcomes.

Background

Depression is a common mental disorder with increasing prevalence in India, which involves cognitive impairment as well. Pharmacological management of depression has many adverse effects, which provides symptomatic relief to the patients, with little to no improvement in cognitive impairment or cerebral hemodynamics. This necessitates the exploration of complementary and alternative treatment modalities. Yoga, in particular Bhastrika pranyama, has been utilized as a complementary practice for various conditions, but evidence of its impact on depression and cerebral hemodynamics is limited.

Case details

A 66-year-old male, previously diagnosed with depression, was admitted to our inpatient hospital for a holistic approach to his condition, combining yoga and naturopathy as part of his treatment. During his stay, he participated in a ten-minute Bhastrika pranayama intervention, conducted under supervision. To evaluate cerebral hemodynamics, a 16-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device was used and changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb), and total hemoglobin (Total Hb) was recorded.

Results

Following the practice of Bhastrika Pranayama, the results indicated a rise in bilateral oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) levels during and immediately after the practice, particularly in the prefrontal cortex region. Simultaneously, a decrease in deoxygenated hemoglobin (DeoxyHb) was observed during the practice, with a slight subsequent increase after the Bhastrika Pranayama session.

Conclusion

These preliminary findings indicate that Bhastrika pranayama may have an immediate positive impact on cerebral hemodynamics in patients with depression. Further research with larger sample sizes and controlled studies is needed to confirm and generalize these observations.

Humans have successfully used traditional botanicals as medicines for thousands of years. Many of these continue to be used today. Indeed, one of today’s most used medicinal drugs, salicylic acid (Aspirin), was in common use in ancient Egypt, more than 3000 years ago. Aspirin inhibits pro-inflammatory COX-1 and promotes the anti-inflammatory activity of COX-2 to reduce inflammation, a mechanism useful in curbing pain and reducing fever. Another example is artemisinin, a compound extracted from a Chinese medicinal herb known as artemisia, which has been widely used to treat against malaria. Across the world similar compounds are being used in traditional medicine with crucial relevance to modern psychoneuroimmunology. This Special Issue highlights outstanding mechanistic and reproducible research on traditional medicines that will inform modern psychoneuroimmunology and related study. This Special Issue showcases traditional medicines from across the globe, from the Himalayas to Africa and many places in between. The Special Issue describes important anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of a variety of botanicals with clinical and pre-clinical outcomes. It also describes some equally important “negative” data on some popular candidates including green tea and cannabis. Together these studies reveal candidate traditional medicines with real-world effects at least as good as current pharmaceuticals.