The effects of melatonin supplementation on neurobehavioral outcomes and clinical severity in rodent models of multiple sclerosis; a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Through the antioxidant and anti-inflammation pathways, melatonin is proposed as a safe and effective intervention in neurological diseases. This study aims to evaluate the effects of melatonin supplementation on the neurobehavioral and clinical outcomes in animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: This study was conducted following the PRISMA statement. Animal studies that reported the effects of melatonin in preclinical MS models, including the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and cuprizone model for demyelination are included in this study. A systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus up was conducted in April 2023. The collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Experimental Studies (CAMARADES) critical appraisal tool was used for the quality assessment of the studies and the quantitative synthetizes were conducted using the comprehensive meta-analysis software. RESULTS: Out of 542 studies, finally 21 studies, including 14 studies in the EAE model and 7 studies of the toxic demyelination method with cuprizone were included. The route of administration was intraperitoneal in 18 studies, oral in 2 studies, and subcutaneous in 1 study. The quantitative synthesis of the EAE clinical severity scale was associated with significant differences (standardized mean difference [SDM]: - 2.52; - 3.61 to - 1.42; p value < 0.01). In subgroup analyses, the difference was statistically significant in the mouse subgroup (SMD: - 2.60; - 3.74 to - 1.46; p value < 0.01). DISCUSSION: This study encountered that melatonin may be associated with improved behavioral and cognitive outcomes of preclinical models of MS with acceptable safety profiles. FUNDING: The research was supported by the Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (grant number: 71005).

Brain-to-brain interface technology: A brief history, current state, and future goals.

A brain-to-brain interface (BBI), defined as a combination of neuroimaging and neurostimulation methods to extract and deliver information between brains directly without the need for the peripheral nervous system, is a budding communication technique. A BBI system is made up of two parts known as the brain-computer interface part, which reads a sender's brain activity and digitalizes it, and the computer-brain interface part, which writes the delivered brain activity to a receiving brain. As with other technologies, BBI systems have gone through an evolutionary process since they first appeared. The BBI systems have been employed for numerous purposes, including rehabilitation for post-stroke patients, communicating with patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, locked-in syndrome and speech problems following stroke. Also, it has been proposed that a BBI system could play an important role on future battlefields. This technology was not only employed for communicating between two human brains but also for making a direct communication path among different species through which motor or sensory commands could be sent and received. However, the application of BBI systems has provoked significant challenges to human rights principles due to their ability to access and manipulate human brain information. In this study, we aimed to review the brain-computer interface and computer-brain interface technologies as components of BBI systems, the development of BBI systems, applications of this technology, arising ethical issues and expectations for future use.