Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
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In the past decade, there has been renewed interest in immune/inflammatory changes and their associated oxidative/nitrosative consequences as key pathophysiological mechanisms in schizophrenia and related disorders. Both brain cell components (microglia, astrocytes, and neurons) and peripheral immune cells have been implicated in inflammation and the resulting oxidative/nitrosative stress (O&NS) in schizophrenia. Furthermore, down-regulation of endogenous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms has been identified in biological samples from patients, although the degree and progression of the inflammatory process and the nature of its self-regulatory mechanisms vary from early onset to full-blown disease. This review focuses on the interactions between inflammation and O&NS, their damaging consequences for brain cells in schizophrenia, the possible origins of inflammation and increased O&NS in the disorder, and current pharmacological strategies to deal with these processes (mainly treatments with anti-inflammatory or antioxidant drugs as add-ons to antipsychotics).
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Aug 2015
ReviewOxytocin and the modulation of pain experience: Implications for chronic pain management.
In an acute environment pain has potential protective benefits. However when pain becomes chronic this protective effect is lost and the pain becomes an encumbrance. Previously unheralded substances are being investigated in an attempt to alleviate the burden of living with chronic pain. ⋯ In this review, we discuss previous effective applications of oxytocin in pain-free clinical populations and its potential use in the modulation of pain experience. We also address the slowly growing body of literature investigating the administration of oxytocin in clinical and experimentally induced pain in order to investigate the potential mechanisms of its reported analgesic actions. We conclude that oxytocin offers a potential novel avenue for modulating the experience of pain, and that further research into this area is required to map its therapeutic benefit.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Aug 2015
Review Meta AnalysisBDNF Val66Met polymorphism and hippocampal volume in neuropsychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin involved in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system, especially in the hippocampus, and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several neuropsychiatric disorders. Its Val66Met polymorphism (refSNP Cluster Report: rs6265) is a functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphism affecting the secretion of BDNF and is implicated in differences in hippocampal volumes. ⋯ This meta-analysis suggests that there is no association between this BDNF polymorphism and hippocampal volumes. For each BDNF genotype, the hippocampal volumes were significantly lower in neuropsychiatric patients than in healthy controls.
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Neurosci Biobehav Rev · Aug 2015
Review Meta AnalysisBDNF Val66Met polymorphism and hippocampal volume in neuropsychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin involved in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system, especially in the hippocampus, and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several neuropsychiatric disorders. Its Val66Met polymorphism (refSNP Cluster Report: rs6265) is a functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphism affecting the secretion of BDNF and is implicated in differences in hippocampal volumes. ⋯ This meta-analysis suggests that there is no association between this BDNF polymorphism and hippocampal volumes. For each BDNF genotype, the hippocampal volumes were significantly lower in neuropsychiatric patients than in healthy controls.