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Am J Forensic Med Pathol 2020 Jun 30. Epub 2020 Jun 30.

From the Department of Pathology.

The use of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) to support autopsy pathology has increased in recent decades. To some extent, PMCT has also been contemplated as a potential alternative to conventional postmortem examination. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of PMCT to detect specific pathologic findings in the head and brain in natural hospital deaths. Read More

Animal 2020 Jun 17:1-6. Epub 2020 Jun 17.

Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW2678, Australia.

Correct diagnosis of cause of death is necessary to suggest the most effective management interventions to reduce perinatal lamb mortality. Haemorrhage on the surface of the brain has been used as a field diagnostic tool to allocate lambs to a cause of death category, but the usefulness of this method was unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether gross pathology was related to neuronal death and whether haemorrhage of the central nervous system (CNS) was distinct between differing causes of death, enabling indicators to be used in field diagnoses. Read More

JAMA Neurol 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

Importance: Indicators of early-life cognitive enrichment (ELCE) have been associated with slower cognitive decline and decreased dementia in late life. However, the mechanisms underlying this association have not been elucidated.

Objective: To examine the association of ELCE with late-life Alzheimer disease (AD) and other common dementia-related pathological changes. Read More

Sud Med Ekspert 2020 ;63(3):35-39

First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov (Sechenov University) Ministry of Health of Russia, Moscow, Russia.

The aim of work is to study dynamics of frequency of alcohol intoxications incidence revealed at forensic examination of corpses in Moscow. Frequency of intoxications incidence was determined as index making a share part of cases where ethyl alcohol was found in blood of corpses, comparing to total number of forensic autopsies. For every calendar year of the five-year period from 2014 till 2018 the comparative analysis of frequency of incidence of alcohol intoxications at concrete types of death was carried out. Read More

Sud Med Ekspert 2020 ;63(3):13-15

Samarkand Medical Institute, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Authors determined the morphological and morphometric characteristics of nerve and vascular structures in death from blood loss complicated by hemorrhagic shock. The medulla oblongata of 12 corpses of persons who died from stab wounds of blood vessels and internal organs with sharp instruments at different times of the postmortem period was studied. Studies were carried out at stages of 6-8 hours, 12-14 hours, 18-20 hours, 24 hours or more of the postmortem period. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2020 Jun 27. Epub 2020 Jun 27.

Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44511, Egypt.

Aflatoxicosis is a serious health condition resulted from aflatoxin (AF)-producing fungi. Major health threats resulted from AFs and reflect on the livestock industry with great economic losses. There are limited scientific evidences concerning the AFs in ruminant, therefore it is important to evaluate AFs health hazards in cattle. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2020 Jun 10;313:110362. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Centro Universitário Christus: Street Adolfo Gurgel, 133, Cocó, Fortaleza-Ceará, Brazil.

Human identification and postmortem intervals can be difficult to estimate when corpses are found in drowning situations, and forensic odontologists can bring valuable input to forensic science investigations of this type. Studies that simulate real scenarios are crucial for providing parameters that can be used in real cases. The present study created the necessary circumstances, i. Read More

Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020 Jun 10;119:104773. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, 22184 Lund, Sweden.

Neuropsychiatric disturbances with altered social cognition, depression and anxiety are among the most debilitating early features in the fatal neurodegenerative disorder Huntington disease (HD) which is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. The underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not known. Neuropathological analyses of postmortem human HD hypothalamic tissue have demonstrated loss of the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin. Read More

J Vet Diagn Invest 2020 Jun 26:1040638720937105. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Companion Exotic Animal Medicine & Surgery Service, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA (Tarbert).

Ferret systemic coronaviral disease (FSCD) is a well-established cause of mortality in domestic ferrets. We describe herein novel findings in a case of FSCD that was diagnosed and medically managed following virus detection by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of surgical biopsy samples. Hematologic changes in this ferret suggested spread of the virus to the bone marrow, which was confirmed by IHC staining of a postmortem sample. Read More

Metabolites 2020 Jun 23;10(6). Epub 2020 Jun 23.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beaumont Health System, 3601 W. 13 Mile Road, Royal Oak, MI 48073, USA.

Epilepsy not-otherwise-specified (ENOS) is one of the most common causes of chronic disorders impacting human health, with complex multifactorial etiology and clinical presentation. Understanding the metabolic processes associated with the disorder may aid in the discovery of preventive and therapeutic measures. Post-mortem brain samples were harvested from the frontal cortex (BA8/46) of people diagnosed with ENOS cases ( = 15) and age- and sex-matched control subjects ( = 15). Read More

Can J Ophthalmol 2020 Jun 22. Epub 2020 Jun 22.

Ocular Pathology Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Ophthalmology, The MUHC-McGill University, Montreal, Que.

Objective: Patients have shown a lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) after cataract surgery. Histopathology studies have reported trabecular meshwork (TM) changes in pseudophakic eyes with posterior chamber intraocular lens (PCIOL) and have eluded to the mechanisms for IOP decrease. Unlike PCIOLs, TM histopathology changes after implantation of an anterior chamber intraocular lens (ACIOL) have not been studied, to our knowledge. Read More

PLoS One 2020 25;15(6):e0235251. Epub 2020 Jun 25.

CIRALE, USC 957, BPLC, INRA, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, Maisons-Alfort, France.

Osteoarthritis is a common cause of pain and economic loss in both humans and horses. The horse is recognized as a suitable model for human osteoarthritis, because the thickness, structure, and mechanical properties of equine articular cartilage are highly comparable to those of humans. Although a number of equine experimental osteoarthritis models have been described in the literature, these cases generally involve the induction of osteoarthritis in just one joint of each animal. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2020 Jun 21;21(12). Epub 2020 Jun 21.

VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is abundant in glial cells in the brain and CA type II isoform (CA II) activity in the hippocampus plays an important role in buffering extracellular pH transients produced by neural activity. Chronic ethanol exposure results in respiratory and metabolic acidosis, producing shifts in extracellular pH in the brain and body. These neurophysiological changes by ethanol are hypothesized to contribute to the continued drinking behavior and physical withdrawal behavior in subjects consuming ethanol chronically. Read More

Schizophr Res Treatment 2020 31;2020:5176834. Epub 2020 May 31.

Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, NYC, NY 10029, USA.

We used whole human genome microarray screening of highly enriched neuronal populations from two thalamic regions in postmortem samples from subjects with schizophrenia and controls to identify brain region-specific gene expression changes and possible transcriptional targets. The thalamic anterior nucleus is reciprocally connected to anterior cingulate, a schizophrenia-affected cortical region, and is also thought to be schizophrenia affected; the other thalamic region is not. Using two regions in the same subject to identify disease-relevant gene expression differences was novel and reduced intersubject heterogeneity of findings. Read More

Eur Urol Focus 2020 May 31. Epub 2020 May 31.

Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address:

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), involves multiple organs. Testicular involvement is largely unknown.

Objective: To determine the pathological changes and whether SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in the testes of deceased COVID-19 patients. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2020 Jun 10;313:110358. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Department of Dental Materials Science, School of Dentistry, Aichi Gakuin University, 1-100 Kusumoto-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8650, Japan; Center for Advanced Oral Science, School of Dentistry, Aichi Gakuin University, 1-100 Kusumoto-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8650, Japan.

One of the important issues during the response to a mass disaster is the identification of victims. In this study, we verified the use of the occlusal morphology of molars for individual identification. The aim of this study was to establish a simple new method for identifying individuals from molar data. Read More

J Neurosci 2020 Jun 19. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Friedman Brain Institute, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA

Chronic stress in both humans and rodents induces a robust downregulation of neuroligin-2, a key component of the inhibitory synapse, in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) that modifies behavioral coping mechanisms and stress resiliency in mice. Here we extend this observation by examining the role of two other inhibitory synapse constituents, vesicular GABA transporter (vGAT) and gephyrin, in the NAc of male mice that underwent chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) and in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). We first performed transcriptional profiling of vGAT and gephyrin in postmortem NAc samples from a cohort of healthy controls, medicated and non-medicated MDD patients. Read More

Int J Surg Pathol 2020 Jun 19:1066896920935195. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

. A novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been affecting almost all nations around the world. Most infected patients who have been admitted to intensive care units show SARS signs. Read More

Avian Dis 2020 Jun;64(2):203-209

Department of Internal Noninfectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Trakia University, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

This article outlines pathomorphologic findings of a study involving commercial mule ducks with confirmed influenza A H5N8 infections after a series of outbreaks in Bulgaria. Examinations were carried out after performing necropsy on dead birds from three different age groups (up to 15, 20 to 30, and 40+ days of age) fattened on different farms. Among birds of all ages, gross lesions were present as lesions affecting the heart. Read More

Neurology 2020 Jun 16. Epub 2020 Jun 16.

Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI - ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.

Objectives: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is considered to have potential neuro-invasiveness that might lead to acute brain disorders or contribute to respiratory distress in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study investigates the occurrence of structural brain abnormalities in non-survivors of COVID-19 in a virtopsy framework.

Methods: In this prospective, monocentric, case series study, consecutive patients who fulfilled the following inclusion criteria benefited from an early postmortem structural brain MRI: death <24 hours, SARS-CoV-2 detection on nasopharyngeal swab specimen, chest computerized tomographic (CT) scan suggestive of COVID-19, absence of known focal brain lesion, and MRI compatibility. Read More

BMC Vet Res 2020 Jun 16;16(1):200. Epub 2020 Jun 16.

Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-Minami, Tottori, Japan.

Background: In cattle, the lingual diseases are primarily diagnosed postmortem by histopathological examination of the affected tongues obtained after the death or during necropsy. In humans, ultrasonography has been used to provide differential diagnoses, and for preoperative or intraoperative planning of glossectomy in various lingual diseases. This is a bovine clinical case report, in which ultrasonography for sudden swelling of the tongue, which was possibly caused by snake bite, was utilized as a preoperative indication to perform a glossectomy. Read More

Aging (Albany NY) 2020 Jun 13;12(11):10912-10930. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Institute of Neuroscience, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.

Autophagy has been reported to play a dual "double-edged sword" role in the occurrence and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). To assess the relationship between AD and autophagy, the dynamic changes of autophagic flux in the brain of postmortem AD patients, animal models and cell models were studied. The results showed that autophagosomes (APs) accumulation and expression of lysosomal markers were decreased in the brains of AD patients. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Apr;36(2):199-203

School of Forensic Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, China.

Abstract: Objective To study the relations of the dural thickness and the biomechanical parameters with postmortem interval （PMI） of human cadavers, and to explore the feasibility of the two indexes used for PMI estimation. Methods Dural samples were collected at different postmortem intervals of 6 h, 12 h, 18 h, 24 h, 30 h, 36 h, 48 h, 60 h, 72 h, 84 h and 96 h, then fabricated into 4.0 cm×1. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Apr;36(2):187-191

Department of Forensic Medicine, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221004, Jiangsu Province, China.

Abstract: Objective To infer postmortem interval （PMI） based on spectral changes of the dorsal skin of rats within 15 days postmortem using Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy. Methods The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation after anesthesia, and then placed at 25 ℃ and relative humidity of 50%. The FTIR spectral data collected from the dorsal skin at PMI points were modeled with machine learning technique. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Apr;36(2):164-168

School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.

Abstract: Objective To retrospectively analyze the forensic pathological postmortem examination and clinical data of children who died of viral pneumonia in identification of cause of death cases and to discuss the clinical characteristics and pathological features of viral pneumonia in children, in order to provide reference to pathological diagnosis of viral pneumonia in children caused by 2019 novel coronavirus （2019-nCoV） infection. Methods Postmortem examination data from 61 cases of children whose causes of death were identified as viral pneumonia in recent years were collected from the Center of Forensic Identification, Southern Medical University. The gender, age, clinical symptoms and pathological features were comparatively analyzed. Read More

Mol Neurobiol 2020 Jun 11. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Although the neurobiological basis for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not yet been fully clarified, converging lines of evidence implicated a role of neuroinflammation in the etiological pathway of this disorder. The present article provided a systematic review of publications regarding the involvement of different components of neuroinflammation in postmortem brain samples of subjects diagnosed with ASD. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science was conducted, which was supplemented by manual searching of reference lists of included articles. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2020 May 19;313:110336. Epub 2020 May 19.

Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Multi-isotope analysis (e.g., Sr-Pb-O-H-C-N) of human scalp hair is routinely used in forensic investigations of human remains to constrain the geographic origin of unidentified bodies, and to investigate antemortem mobility patterns. Read More

J Forensic Sci 2020 Jun 11. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, IN, 47907.

Intraosseous T1-weighted (T1W) and short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity changes-so-called bone marrow edema-may be able to differentiate antemortem and postmortem fractures in human forensic imaging. The primary objective of this study was to investigate this hypothesis using an animal model. Three juvenile Landrace pigs were anesthetized and underwent MRI of both tibiae and both radii using a 1. Read More

Leg Med (Tokyo) 2020 Jun 2;46:101724. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-8670, Japan; Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. Electronic address:

Hypochlorous acid, produced by myeloperoxidase upon neutrophil activation, can oxidize various compounds and exert antimicrobial activity in vivo. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the reactions of the unsaturated phosphatidylcholines, which abound in cell membranes, with hypochlorous acid, we identified and examined phosphatidylcholine chlorination and oxidation products formed under various reaction conditions. We first investigated the products of unsaturated phosphatidylcholine and hypochlorous acid reaction with respect to hypochlorite concentration and reaction time. Read More

Clin Proteomics 2020 29;17:19. Epub 2020 May 29.

Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322 USA.

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by progressive cognitive decline. Protein biomarkers of AD brain pathology, including β-amyloid and Tau, are reflected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), yet the identification of additional biomarkers linked to other brain pathophysiologies remains elusive. We recently reported a multiplex tandem-mass tag (TMT) CSF proteomic analysis of nearly 3000 proteins, following depletion of highly abundant proteins and off-line fractionation, across control and AD cases. Read More

Meat Sci 2020 May 23;169:108202. Epub 2020 May 23.

Instituto de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Valle de Mexicali, Baja California 21705, México. Electronic address:

Twenty Dorper × Katahdin male lambs (body weight = 33.9 ± 0.4 kg and age = 4. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2020 Oct 26;239:118535. Epub 2020 May 26.

Department of Forensic Pathology, College of Forensic Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address:

The identification of antemortem, perimortem and postmortem fractures is very important for forensic pathologists and anthropologists. However, traditional methods are subjective, time-consuming, and have low accuracy, which do not fundamentally solve the problem. In this study, we utilized Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and chemometrics to identify antemortem, perimortem and postmortem fractures in a rabbit tibial fracture model. Read More

Am J Forensic Med Pathol 2020 Jun 3. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

From the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland.

Heart weight is routinely measured at postmortem examination and is critical to determine whether the heart is enlarged (ie, cardiomegaly). Cardiomegaly has the potential to cause sudden death by being electrically unstable, resulting in fatal arrhythmias. The majority of fatal cardiac arrhythmias is ventricular in origin and is assumed that ventricular size is disproportionately larger in cardiomegaly. Read More

Brain Inj 2020 Jun 4;34(7):965-974. Epub 2020 Jun 4.

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Background: Detection of brain-specific miRNAs in the peripheral blood could serve as a surrogate marker of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Here, we systematically identified brain-enriched miRNAs, and tested their utility as TBI biomarkers in the acute phase of care.

Methods: Publically available microarray data generated from 29 postmortem human tissues were used to rank 1,364 miRNAs in terms of their degree of brain-specific expression. Read More

Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020 Jun 3. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Human Brain Laboratory, Brain Health Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Rationale: The long-held speculation that the brain serotonin system mediates some behavioral effects of the psychostimulant cocaine is supported in part by the high affinity of cocaine for the serotonin transporter (SERT) and by reports that the serotonin transporter (SERT), estimated by SERT binding, is increased in brain of human chronic cocaine users. Excessive SERT activity and consequent synaptic serotonin deficiency might cause a behavioral (e.g. Read More

Acta Neuropathol Commun 2020 Jun 3;8(1):77. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Institute of Neuroscience, College of Life and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, 110819, Shenyang, P. R. China.

Prominent features of HD neuropathology are the intranuclear and cytoplasmic inclusions of huntingtin and striatal and cortical neuronal cell death. Recently, synaptic defects have been reported on HD-related studies, including impairment of neurotransmitter release and alterations of synaptic components. However, the definite characteristics of synapse dysfunction and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Read More

Brain Tumor Pathol 2020 Jul 1;37(3):118-125. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

Although central nervous system (CNS) metastases are common in advanced cancer, CNS involvement solely by intravascular tumor cells, known as intravascular carcinomatosis, is extremely rare. We report two cases of brain metastasis in which tumor cells were restricted to the vascular lumina without parenchymal involvement, resulting in ischemic lesions. The first patient is a previously healthy young woman who presented with symptoms of community-acquired pneumonia and progressed to respiratory failure. Read More

Zhonghua Bing Li Xue Za Zhi 2020 Jun;49(6):568-575

Department of Pathology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.

To observe the pulmonary changes with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in postmortem needle specimens, to detect the presence of 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) in the lung tissues, and to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics. For 10 decedents with 2019-nCoV infection in Wuhan, bilateral lungs underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous multi-point puncture autopsy, and pulmonary pathological changes were described in routine hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE) slides. Electron microscopy was also performed. Read More

Food Chem 2020 Oct 23;328:127133. Epub 2020 May 23.

Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, PR China. Electronic address:

To explore the molecular mechanisms of meat quality, four high-quality (HQ) samples and four low-quality (LQ) samples from longissimus dorsi muscles were chosen, and tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling combined with mass spectrometry (MS) were performed to find associations between meat quality and proteome profiles. The LQ meats had lower pH, lighter color, and higher drip loss compared to the HQ meats. About 140 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Read More

J Forensic Sci 2020 Jun 1. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Center of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Ghirnatah, Dammam, 32245, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

Examination of the female external genitalia to assess for sexual abuse is performed in living individuals, and the interpretation of the findings is based on evidence-based studies. However, in the deceased, no such studies are available, and postmortem changes could present as suspicious findings that can be mistaken for trauma. Patches of discoloration in the hymen were reported previously in one case as hypostasis (i. Read More

Front Vet Sci 2020 14;7:232. Epub 2020 May 14.

Department of Clinical Sciences, New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Horses underwent either cervical epidural space (CES) catheterization or subarachnoid space (SAS) catheterization while restrained in stocks, under deep sedation (detomidine and morphine) and local anesthesia (mepivacaine 2%) block. Catheters were placed under ultrasound guidance with visualization of the dura, SAS, and spinal cord between the first (C1) and second (C2) cervical vertebrae. Following sedation and sterile skin preparation, operator 1 placed under ultrasound guidance, a 6- or 8-inch Tuohy needle with the bevel oriented caudally. Read More

Adv Exp Med Biol 2020 ;1195:105-116

Ionian University, Corfu, Greece.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) was first described and diagnosed by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906 (Hippius and Neundorfer, Dialogues Clin Neurosc 5:101-108, 2003). According to World Health Organization (WHO), AD is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for as many as 60-70% of senile dementia cases and affecting 47. Read More

Epilepsia 2020 Jun 28;61(6):1240-1252. Epub 2020 May 28.

Epilepsy Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy.

Objective: Activity-dependent changes have been reported in animal models and in human epileptic specimens and could potentially be used as tissue biomarkers to evaluate the propensity of a tissue to generate seizure activity. In this context, cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) activation was specifically reported in human epileptic foci and related mainly to interictal spike activity. To get further insights into CREB activation in human epilepsy, we analyzed pCREB expression on brain tissue samples from patients who underwent surgery for drug-resistant focal epilepsy, correlating this expression with intracranial stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) recording in a subgroup. Read More

Mol Autism 2020 May 27;11(1):39. Epub 2020 May 27.

Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.

Background: Studies of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have revealed a strong multigenic basis with the identification of hundreds of ASD susceptibility genes. ASD is characterized by social deficits and a range of other phenotypes, implicating complex genetics and involvement of a variety of brain regions. However, how mutations and mis-expression of select gene sets are associated with the behavioral components of ASD remains unknown. Read More

BMC Cancer 2020 May 27;20(1):481. Epub 2020 May 27.

Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California Irvine, California, 92868, USA.

Background: High-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) has been increasingly investigated as a possible tool in the treatment of multiple tumor entities. However, there is only little knowledge on the effect of HIUS on the peritoneum. This preliminary study aims to investigate HIUS' potential for altering the peritoneal surface and potentially improving current treatments for peritoneal metastases. Read More

J Psychiatry Neurosci 2020 May 27;45(4):190134. Epub 2020 May 27.

From Inserm UMR894, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neuroscience, Paris F-75014 France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité - Paris 5, France (Martin, Mathieu, Diaz, Salman, Alterio, Chevarin, Lanfumey, Hamon, Darmon, Masson); the College of Pharmacy, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209 USA (Austin); the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, 39216 USA (Stockmeier); and Inserm UMR-S 1270, Paris, France; Sorbonne Université, Science and Engineering Faculty, Paris, France; Institut du Fer à Moulin, Paris, France (Darmon, Masson).

Background: Altered function of serotonin receptor 1A (5-HT1AR) has been consistently implicated in anxiety, major depressive disorder and resistance to antidepressants. Mechanisms by which the function of 5-HT1AR (expressed as an autoreceptor in serotonergic raphe neurons and as a heteroreceptor in serotonin [5-HT] projection areas) is altered include regulation of its expression, but 5-HT1AR trafficking may also be involved.

Methods: We investigated the consequences of the lack of Yif1B (the 5-HT1AR trafficking protein) on 5-HT neurotransmission in mice, and whether Yif1B expression might be affected under conditions known to alter 5-HT neurotransmission, such as anxious or depressive states or following treatment with fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) in humans, monkeys and mice. Read More

J Anal Toxicol 2020 May 23. Epub 2020 May 23.

School of Forensic Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, People's Republic of China.

In the past dozen years, the cases of tramadol intoxication have become frequent in many countries. Most previous studies focused on tramadol's pharmacology, such as pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenetics. However, the dynamic distribution and postmortem redistribution (PMR) of tramadol remain unclear. Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2020 May 22. Epub 2020 May 22.

Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA. Electronic address:

The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) regulates the expression of many inflammatory genes that are overexpressed in a subset of people with schizophrenia. Transcriptional reduction in one NF-κB inhibitor, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Enhancer Binding Protein 2 (HIVEP2), is found in the brain of patients, aligning with evidence of NF-κB over-activity. Cellular co-expression of HIVEP2 and cytokine transcripts is a prerequisite for a direct effect of HIVEP2 on pro-inflammatory transcription, and we do not know if changes in HIVEP2 and markers of neuroinflammation are occurring in the same brain cell type. Read More

ASN Neuro 2020 Jan-Dec;12:1759091420925335

Axe Neurosciences, Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval.

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, are not a homogeneous population; their morphology, molecular profile, and even their ultrastructure greatly vary from one cell to another. Recent advances in the field of neuroimmunology have helped to demystify the enigma that currently surrounds microglial heterogeneity. Indeed, numerous microglial subtypes have been discovered such as the disease-associated microglia, neurodegenerative phenotype, and Cd11c-positive developmental population. Read More