Selenium Alleviates Inflammation in Staphylococcus aureus-Induced Mastitis via MerTK-Dependent Activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway in Mice.

Mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection not only causes serious economic losses, but also affects human health. Se plays an important role in body immunity. However, the mechanisms by which Se regulates mastitis induced by S. aureus are still principally unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Se can inhibit mastitis induced by S. aureus through regulation of MerTK. Sixty BALB/c female mice were fed low, normal, or high Se concentrations for 7 weeks and then randomly divided into six groups (Se-Low Control group (LSN), Se-Normal Control group (NSN), Se-High Control group (HSN), Se-Low S. aureus group (LSS), Se-Normal S. aureus group (NSS), Se-High S. aureus group (HSS)). The regulation of Se on MerTK was detected via histopathological staining, western blot analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and qRT-PCR. With increased selenium concentrations, the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α decreased, while the phosphorylation levels of MerTK, PI3K, AKT, and mTOR increased. Therefore, this study showed that Se could alleviate S. aureus mastitis by activating MerTK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

Improving motivation through real-time fMRI-based self-regulation of the nucleus accumbens.

OBJECTIVE: Impaired nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation is associated with amotivation and anhedonia, which are resistant to treatment with antipsychotics and antidepressants in schizophrenia. In this study, healthy participants were trained to self-regulate the activation of their NAcc, a brain region that plays an important role in motivation, using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neurofeedback. METHOD: The experimental group (N = 19) received feedback from the NAcc, whereas the control group (N = 5) received "sham" feedback from the posterior parahippocampal gyrus, a control brain region not normally related to motivation. All participants were trained to use mental strategies to regulate their NAcc activations in a 3T MRI scanner. RESULTS: For the learning effect of NAcc regulation, we found that the majority of participants (74%) in the experimental group successfully learned to self-regulate the NAcc. They also showed improved behavioral performance in motivation and decreased functional connectivity between the NAcc and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and an increase in small-world properties in the reward circuit after training, indicating improved information integration in reward processing. However, improvement in motivation and modification of function connectivity were not observed in the sham control group and the participants who failed to self-regulate the NAcc in the experimental group. Self-regulation was influenced by the baseline motivation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the NAcc could be self-regulated using real-time fMRI neurofeedback and can result in improved motivation in cognitive tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record

A trend toward smaller optical angles and medial-ocular distance in schizophrenia spectrum, but not in bipolar and major depressive disorders.

Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are subtle signs of fetal developmental abnormalities that have been considered to be among the most replicated risk markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. However, quantitative approaches are needed to measure craniofacial MPAs. The present study adopted an imaging-based quantitative approach to examine craniofacial MPAs across the spectrum of schizophrenia and affective disorders, to address their sensitivity and specificity. We sampled 31 patients with schizophrenia, 30 of their unaffected relatives, and 30 individuals with schizotypal personality traits, as well as 37 non-schizotypal controls. We also examined 17 patients with bipolar disorder and 19 patients with major depressive disorder. Five craniofacial MPAs were measured on anterior-posterior commissure-aligned T1-weighted images of an individual's native brain space: medial-ocular distance, lateral-ocular distance, optical angle, maximum skull length, and skull-base width. Compared to non-schizotypal controls, patients with schizophrenia and their relatives showed a trend toward having smaller optical angles and medial-ocular distance, while no difference was found in patients with bipolar or major depressive disorders, suggesting some degree of specificity to schizophrenia. Our approach may benefit future research on craniofacial MPAs as risk markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and may eventually be useful in strategies to enhance risk stratification using multiple risk markers.

Structural neural correlates of multitasking: A voxel-based morphometry study.

Multitasking refers to the ability to organize assorted tasks efficiently in a short period of time, which plays an important role in daily life. However, the structural neural correlates of multitasking performance remain unclear. The present study aimed at exploring the brain regions associated with multitasking performance using global correlation analysis. Twenty-six healthy participants first underwent structural brain scans and then performed the modified Six Element Test, which required participants to attempt six subtasks in 10 min while obeying a specific rule. Voxel-based morphometry of the whole brain was used to detect the structural correlates of multitasking ability. Grey matter volume of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was positively correlated with the overall performance and time monitoring in multitasking. In addition, white matter volume of the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) was also positively correlated with time monitoring during multitasking. Other related brain regions associated with multitasking included the superior frontal gyrus, the inferior occipital gyrus, the lingual gyrus, and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. No significant correlation was found between grey matter volume of the prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area 10) and multitasking performance. Using a global correlation analysis to examine various aspects of multitasking performance, this study provided new insights into the structural neural correlates of multitasking ability. In particular, the ACC was identified as an important brain region that played both a general and a specific time-monitoring role in multitasking, extending the role of the ACC from lesioned populations to healthy populations. The present findings also support the view that the ATR may influence multitasking performance by affecting time-monitoring abilities.