Neuroendocrinol Lett
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Neuroendocrinol Lett · Feb 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) add on serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with panic disorder: a randomized, double blind sham controlled study.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can modulate cortical activity. The goal of our study was to assess whether rTMS would facilitate effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with panic disorder. ⋯ Low frequency rTMS administered over the right dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex after 10 sessions did not differ from sham rTMS add on serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with panic disorder.
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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.
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Neuroendocrinol Lett · Jun 2006
Controlled Clinical TrialImproved circadian sleep-wake cycle in infants fed a day/night dissociated formula milk.
On the basis of the circadian nutritional variations present in breast milk, and of the implications for the sleep/wake cycle of the nutrients present in infant formula milks, we designed a formula milk nutritionally dissociated into a Day/Night composition. The goal was to improve the bottle-fed infant's sleep/wake circadian rhythm. A total of 21 infants aged 4-20 weeks with sleeping difficulties were enrolled in the three-week duration study. ⋯ In week 1 (control), the infants received both by day and by night a standard formula milk; in week 2 (inverse control), they received the dissociated milk inversely (Night/Day instead of Day/Night); and in week 3, they received the Day/Night dissociated formula concordant with the formula design. When the infants were receiving the Day/Night dissociated milk in concordance with their environment, they showed improvement in all the nocturnal sleep parameters analyzed: total hours of sleep, sleep efficiency, minutes of nocturnal immobility, nocturnal awakenings, and sleep latency. In conclusion, the use of a chronobiologically adjusted infant formula milk seems to be effective in improving the consolidation of the circadian sleep/wake cycle in bottle-fed infants.