In Rats, Whole and Refined Grains Decrease Bone Mineral Density and Content through Modulating Osteoprotegerin and Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa B.

Wheat is a staple grain in most parts of the world and is also frequently used in livestock feed. The current study looked at the impact of a wheat grain diet on bone turnover markers. Thirty male rats (n = 10) were separated into three groups of ten. The rats in Group 1 were fed a chow diet, while the rats in Group 2 were provided whole grains. The rats in Group 3 were fed refined grains. Each rat's bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured after 12 weeks in the tibia of the right hind limb. We also looked at the amounts of bone turnover indicators in the blood. TRAP-5b (Tartrate-resistant acid Phosphatase 5b), NTx (N-telopeptide of type I collagen), DPD (deoxypyridinoline), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and osteocalcin (OC), as well as the levels of Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa B (RANK) and osteoprotegerin (OPG). Rats fed whole and refined grains showed lower BMC and BMD (p < 0.05) than the control group rats. The grain diet resulted in lower OPG, OC, and ALP levels than the chow-fed rats, as well as significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels of RANK, DPD, TRAB 5b, and NTx. In a rat model, an exclusive whole or refined grain diet lowered bone turnover and mass.

COVID-19 Induced New-onset Psychosis: A Case Report from Oman.

Neurobehavioral impairment associated with COVID-19 infection has been recently documented in the literature. COVID-19 infection has also been associated with an increased risk for developing psychiatric symptoms, including rare reports on psychosis. We report a case of a 46-year-old male with no significant medical, family, and psychiatric history admitted to the hospital with COVID-19-related psychosis. Possible contributory factors for his condition are discussed, including the relationship between infections and the brain circuitry, inadvertent iatrogenic effects of pharmaceuticals used to manage COVID-19, as well as diathesis-stress associated with the tribulation of the prevailing pandemic.

Post-Stroke Psychiatric and Cognitive Symptoms in West Asia, South Asia and Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Recent research has shown that the prevalence of stroke incidents and the number of survivors in developing countries surpass those from developed countries. This study aimed to enumerate the prevalence of post-stroke psychiatric and cognitive symptoms among stroke survivors from West and South Asia and Africa through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data from each country was systematically acquired from five major databases (PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/Medline, and Google Scholar (for any missing articles and grey literature)). Meta-analytic techniques were then used to estimate the prevalence of various post-stoke psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. A total of 36 articles were accrued from 11 countries, of which 25 were evaluated as part of the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of post-stroke depression as per the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale ranged from 28.00 to 50.24%. Pooled prevalence of post-stroke anxiety based on the HADS and SCAN was 44.19% and 10.96%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of post-stroke cognitive impairment as per the Mini-Mental Status Examination was 16.76%. This present review has suggested that both psychiatric and cognitive symptoms are common among stroke survivors. Concerted efforts are needed to institute robust studies using culturally sensitive measures to contemplate mechanisms that address the unmet needs of this vulnerable population.

Late Language Emergence: A literature review.

Infants usually say their first word at the age of 12 months; subsequently, within the next 6-12 months, they develop a vocabulary of approximately 50 words, along with the ability to make two-word combinations. However, late talkers (LTs) demonstrate delayed speech in the absence of hearing impairments, cognitive developmental issues or relevant birth history. The prevalence of late language emergence (LLE) in toddlers is reported to be 10-15%. Studies of LTs are both theoretically and clinically significant. Early diagnosis and clinical intervention may result in relatively stable speech capabilities by the early school years. The present article aimed to review both theoretical and empirical studies regarding LLE within the process of first language acquisition, as well as methods for the early diagnosis of delayed speech in children and the authors' own clinical and theoretical recommendations.

Protective Effects of Antioxidants in Huntington's Disease: an Extensive Review.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Onset of HD occurs between the ages of 30 and 50 years, although few cases are reported among children and elderly. HD appears to be less common in some populations such as those of Japanese, Chinese, and African descent. Clinical features of HD include motor dysfunction (involuntary movements of the face and body, abnormalities in gait, posture and balance), cognitive impairment (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and psychiatric disorders (dementia). Mutation in either of the two copies of a gene called huntingtin (HTT), which codes genetic information for a protein called "huntingtin (Htt)", precipitates the disease in an individual. Expansion of cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) triplet repeats in the HTT gene results in an abnormal Htt protein. Intracellular neuronal accumulation of the mutated Htt protein (mHtt) causes distinctive erratic movements associated with HD. Further, excessive accumulation of the HTT gene repeats causes abnormal production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the ensuing mitochondrial (MT) oxidative stress in neurons. Since there is neither a cure nor a promising strategy to delay onset or progression of HD currently available, therapeutics are mainly focusing only on symptomatic management. Several studies have shown that MT dysfunction-mediated oxidative stress is a key factor for the neurodegeneration observed in HD. Supplementation of antioxidants and nutraceuticals has been widely studied in the management of oxidative damage, an associated complication in HD. Therefore, various antioxidants are used as therapeutics for managing and/or treating HD. The present review aimed at delving into the abnormal cellular changes and energy kinetics of the neurons expressing the mHtt gene and the therapeutic roles of antioxidants in HD.

Antioxidant therapies in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder among children and adults. Impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity are hallmark of ADHD. While ADHD is not on the autism spectrum, they are related in several ways as they have some overlapping symptoms. The pathogenesis of ADHD has so far remained enigmatic, however, there is some evidence suggesting critical association among ADHD and the level of oxidative stress which trigger cell membrane damage, changes in inner structure and function of proteins, as well as structural damage to DNA which eventually culminate into development of ADHD. Although stimulants as well as some classes of non-stimulants are used to ameliorate symptom of ADHD, various adverse effects have been associated with such compounds. To date, treatment of ADHD is done with a combination of medications, behavior modifications, psycho-education, family therapy and life-style changes. The American Academy of Pediatrics officially promote stimulant medications and/or behavior therapy as 'first line of therapy'. In addition to the presently therapeutic armamentarium, evidences are emerging on relevancy of natural products. There has been an interest on the therapeutic role of antioxidants in the treatment of ADHD. The present review aims to highlight the beneficiary role played by different antioxidants in mitigating the symptoms of ADHD.

Histopathological Analysis from Gallic Acid Administration on Hippocampal Cell Density, Depression, and Anxiety Related Behaviors in A Trimethyltin Intoxication Model.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the effects of gallic acid (GA) administration on trimethyltin chloride (TMT) induced anxiety, depression, and hippocampal neurodegen- eration in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, the rats received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of TMT (8 mg/kg). The animals received either GA (50, 100 and 150 mg/kg) or saline as the vehicle for 14 consecutive days. We measured depression and anxiety levels of the rats by conducting the behavioral tail suspension (TST), elevatedplusmaze (EPM), and novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) tests. Histological analyses were then used to de- termine the cell densities of different hippocampal subdivisions. The data were analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test. RESULTS: GA administration ameliorated anxiety and depression in the behavioral tests. The cell densities in the CA1, CA2, CA3 and DG hippocampal subdivisionsfrom GA-treat- ed rats were higher than saline treated rats. CONCLUSION: GA treatment against TMT-induced hippocampal degeneration altered cellular loss in the hippocampus and ameliorated the depression-anxiety state in rats.

Xenotransplantation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells in a rodent model of Huntington's disease: motor and non-motor outcomes.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have been presented as alternative sources of cells to be transplanted into the brain in neurodegenerative disorders. In this regard, the efficacy of hMSCs transplants in reducing motor and non-motor deficits in a quinolinic acid (QA) rat model of Huntington's disease (HD) was tested in the present study. After unilateral lesions in striatum by QA, the isolated and purified hMSCs from liposuction of healthy male donors were transplanted into the damaged striatum of the rats. The cells were stably transfected with a vector containing TurboGFP and JRed to make it possible to trace them after transplantation. Animals were tested by motor and non-motor function tests at different times after the cell transplantation. The hMSCs survived 7 weeks in the brains. An improvement was observed in behavioral tests such as apomophine-induced rotation, hanging wire, and rotarod for the hMSC-treated rats. Anxiety like behaviors were decreased in hMSCs-treated animals when they were examined using open field, elevated plus maze, light and dark box, and novelty suppressed feeding tests. Compared to QA, the hMSCs treatment decreased motor activities. These results confirmed the potential efficacy of hMSCs in treatment of behavioral defects in HD. Generally, the data demonstrated that xenologous transplantation of hMSCs could be considered as an ideal candidate for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, especially HD.

Histopathological and behavioral assessment of toxin-produced cerebellar lesion: a potent model for cell transplantation studies in the cerebellum.

OBJECTIVE: The cerebellum is a key structure involved in coordinated motor planning, cognition, learning and memory functions. This study presents a permanent model of a toxin produced cerebellar lesion characterized according to contemporary motor and cognitive abnormalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, slow administration of quinolinic acid (QA, 5 µl of 200 µmol, 1 µl/minute) in the right cerebellar hemisphere (lobule VI) caused noticeable motor and cognitive disturbances along with cellular degeneration in all treated animals. We assessed behavioral and histopathological studies over ten weeks after QA treatment. The data were analyzed with ANOVA and the student's t test. RESULTS: The QA treated group showed marked motor learning deficits on the rotating rod test (p=0.0001), locomotor asymmetry on the cylinder test (p=0.0001), dysmetria on the beam balance test (p=0.0001), abnormalities in neuromuscular strength on the hang wire test (p=0.0001), spatial memory deficits in the Morris water maze (MWM, p=0.001) and fear conditioned memory on the passive avoidance test (p=0.01) over a ten-week period compared with the control animals. Histopathological analysis showed loss of Purkinje cells (p=0.001) and granular cell density (p=0.0001) in the lesioned hemisphere of the cerebellum. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study show that QA can remove numerous cells which respond to this toxin in hemispheric lobule VI and thus provide a potential model for functional and cell-based studies.

Increased hippocampal cell density and enhanced spatial memory in the valproic acid rat model of autism.

Autism is characterized by behavioral impairments in three main domains: social interaction; language, communication and imaginative play; and the range of interests and activities. However, neuronal processing studies have suggested that hyper-perception, hyper-attention, and enhanced memory, which may lie at the heart of most autistic symptoms. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered by either Valproic Acid (VPA, 500mg/kg) or Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) during fetal neural tube development on embryonic day 12.5. All offspring were subjected to various tests. The present study examined social interaction, repetitive behaviors, nociception and tactile threshold, anxiety as well as spatial memory. Histological analyses of cells in five regions of the hippocampus were done to determine neuronal density in both groups. A single intra-peritoneal injection of VPA to pregnant rats produced severe autistic-like symptoms in the offspring. The results showed significant behavioral impairments such as a lower tendency to initiate social interactions, enhanced stereotyped, repetitive behaviors, increased nociception threshold and anxiety at postnatal day (PND) 30 and PND 60. The Morris water maze learning paradigm revealed enhanced spatial memory at PND 60. Furthermore, histological analysis showed that the neuronal density in five separate regions of hippocampus (CA1, CA2, CA3, Dentate gyrus and Subiculum) were increased at PND 67. This work suggests that early embryonic exposure to VPA in rats provides a good model for several specific aspects of autism and should help to continue to explore pathophysiological and neuroanatomical hypotheses. This study provides further evidence to support the notion that spatial memory and hippocampal cell density are increased in this animal model of autism.