Adv Exp Med Biol
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The Cannabis plant has been used for many of years as a medicinal agent in the relief of pain and seizures. It contains approximately 540 natural compounds including more than 100 that have been identified as phytocannabinoids due to their shared chemical structure. The predominant psychotropic component is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), while the major non-psychoactive ingredient is cannabidiol (CBD). ⋯ The legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes and for recreational use in some regions will allow for much needed research on the pharmacokinetics and pharmocology of medical cannabis. This brief review focuses on the use of cannabis as a medicinal agent in the treatment of pain, epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the paucity of information, attention is paid to the mechanisms by which medical cannabis may act to relieve pain and seizures.
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Surgery can be a life-saving procedure; however, significant complications may occur after routine procedures especially in older and more frail patients. Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs), including delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction, are the most common complications in older adults following common procedures such as orthopedic or cardiac surgery. ⋯ In this regard, resolution of inflammation, once thought to be a passive process, may provide novel approaches to treat neuroinflammation and PNDs. Herein we review the role for impaired resolution after surgery and the growing role of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) in regulating postoperative neuroinflammation and neurological complications after surgery.
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Adoptive T cell transfer (ACT) is a new era for cancer treatment, involving infusion of autologous lymphocytes. Chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) on the surface of T cells are emerging as a novel therapeutic that is giving other direction to T-cell specificity and precision medicine. ⋯ Solid tumors have heterogeneous antigens and tumor microenvironment that hinder CAR-T cell efficacy and increase the risk of on-target/off-tumor. Novel strategies to increase CAR-Ts specificity, safety and efficacy are ongoing in clinical trials to improve clinical outcomes in hematological and solid malignances.
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In order to provide a theoretical basis for the amelioration of heat stress-related diseases in broilers by taurine supplementation, the effect of taurine on the viability and antioxidant ability of aortic endothelial cells in broilers under heat stress was investigated in the present study. In this experiment, 10d healthy broilers were sacrificed, then aortic tissue was used for aortic endothelial cells isolation and cultivation. Tissue patching was used to cultivate primary broiler aortic endothelial cells. ⋯ Compared with the HS group, the taurine groups showed significantly higher level in relative survival rates (P < 0.05), and significantly lower apoptosis rates (P < 0.05); (2) compared to control group, LDH activity and MDA content of endothelial cells in the HS group were significantly increased (P < 0.01), while the levels of T-SOD, GSH-Px and T-AOC were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). The LDH activity and MDA content of endothelial cells were significantly lower in Tau group than those of HS group (P < 0.05), while the T-SOD activity, GSH-Px activity and T-AOC of endothelial cells were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the taurine group. The results show that HS decreases antioxidant capacity, which causes severe oxidative damage to the endothelial cells; while taurine administration prevents the decline in LDH activity and MDA content, and increases the activity of several antioxidant enzymes, including SOD, GSH-Px and T-AOC, which implies that taurine can improve the broiler aortic endothelial cells activity and antioxidant ability under heat stress.
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Mitochondrial disease can arise due to pathogenic sequence variants in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that prevent cells from meeting their energy demands. Mitochondrial diseases are often fatal and currently there are no treatments directed towards the underlying cause of disease. Pathogenic variants in mtDNA often exist in a state of heteroplasmy, with coexistence of pathogenic and wild type mtDNA. ⋯ Heteroplasmy shift approaches in patients are of two categories: nuclease dependent and nuclease independent strategies. Despite initial success in mouse models and patient cells, these techniques have not reached clinical use. Translational attempts in this area are urgently needed to improve therapies for a currently untreatable set of disorders.