Neuroendocrinol Lett
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Neuroendocrinol Lett · Dec 2006
The COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with novelty seeking in Czech methamphetamine abusers: preliminary results.
Measurable traits of human personality may mark the predisposition to psychopathology. Increased novelty seeking plays an important role in the pathogenesis of substance abuse. Novelty seeking, one of the fundamental traits of the human temperament, is related to dopamine. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is essential for dopamine inactivation. The aim of our study was to assess whether the COMT gene Val158Met functional polymorphism in patients dependent on methamphetamine is related to their novelty seeking score. ⋯ The Met allele of the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism is associated with low COMT enzyme activity and high endogenous dopamine synaptic levels in the prefrontal cortex. This leads to a decrease in dopaminergic neurotransmission in nucleus accumbens and a need for an increased activity to stimulate it. Novelty seeking behavior corresponds with this need.
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Neuroendocrinol Lett · Dec 2006
Blood metallothionein, neuron specific enolase, and protein S100B in patients with traumatic brain injury.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of neuron specific enolase (NSE), protein S100B and time-profile of Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) development with metallothionein (MT) blood levels in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) during 10 days of hospitalization. Patients were divided into 2 groups with respect to NSE and S100B levels - with (group I) and without (group II) GCS improvement. ⋯ The experimental data indicate that monitoring the content of MT in patients with trauma brain injury would be a suitable approach to evaluate the degree of injury or duration of prolonging unconsciousness, particularly in diagnosis of diffuse axonal injury.
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Neuroendocrinol Lett · Dec 2006
Butyrate sensitizes the release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide evoked by capsaicin from primary cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons.
To investigate whether butyrate increases substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) release evoked by capsaicin from primary cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. ⋯ Butyrate may promote the expression of mRNA for SP, CGRP and increase sensitivity of capsaicin on SP and CGRP release from primary cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. The promotion of VR1 mRNA and VR1 protein expression by butyrate implicated that VR1 may be involved in the mechanisms of sensory neuropeptide release evoked by capsaicin.