Caffeine protects against hippocampal alterations in type 2 diabetic rats via modulation of gliosis, inflammation and apoptosis

Fast, Accurate, and Versatile Data Analysis Platform for the Quantification of Molecular Spatiotemporal Signals

Optical recording of intricate molecular dynamics is becoming an indispensable technique for biological studies, accelerated by the development of new or improved biosensors and microscopy technology. This creates major computational challenges to extract and quantify biologically meaningful spatiotemporal patterns embedded within complex and rich data sources, many of which cannot be captured with existing methods. Here, we introduce Activity Quantification and Analysis (AQuA2), a fast, accurate, and versatile data analysis platform built upon advanced machine learning techniques. It decomposes complex live imaging-based datasets into elementary signaling events, allowing accurate and unbiased quantification of molecular activities and identification of consensus functional units. We demonstrate applications across a wide range of biosensors, cell types, organs, animal models, and imaging modalities. As exemplar findings, we show how AQuA2 identified drug-dependent interactions between neurons and astroglia, and distinct sensorimotor signal propagation patterns in the mouse spinal cord.

Prenatal aripiprazole induces alterations of rat placenta: a histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study

Antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are used to treat many psychiatric illnesses as schizophrenia. Typical antipsychotic drugs (TAPDs) are being used; however, they have many side effects. Atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs) are newer medications with known fewer side effects. Aripiprazole (ARI) is an AAPD, recommended by healthcare providers, even during pregnancy. It can cross the placental barrier and enter fetal circulation, so it might be possible that ARI can adversely impair normal placental development and growth, if it is given prenatally. ARI was applied orally to pregnant female rats in two doses (3& 6 mg/kg body weight). On gestation day 20, the mothers were sacrificed, and the placentas were removed and processed for general histological and electron microscopic evaluations. Immunohistochemistry was done using anti-PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen), anti-Bax (for apoptosis) and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor alpha (VEGFA). Morphological evaluation revealed degenerative changes in the placenta as dark nuclei, vacuolization, and cyst formation. Ultra-structurally, there was degeneration of cellular components including organelles and nuclei. These changes were found in different cells of the basal and labyrinth zones and were dose dependent. Immunohistochemistry revealed upregulation of Bax and VEGFA and downregulation of PCNA. Prenatal administration of the AAPD, ARI to pregnant female rats resulted in histological changes in the placenta. Additionally, there was a decrease in cellular proliferation and increase in apoptosis, and vascular impairment. This indicates placental atrophy and dysgenesis and might suggest possible teratogenic effects to ARI, which needs further evaluation.

Bitter yet beneficial: The dual role of dietary alkaloids in managing diabetes and enhancing cognitive function

With the rising prevalence of diabetes and its association with cognitive impairment, interest in the use of dietary alkaloids and other natural products has grown significantly. Understanding how these compounds manage diabetic cognitive dysfunction (DCD) is crucial. This comprehensive review explores the etiology of DCD and the effects of alkaloids in foods and dietary supplements that have been investigated as DCD therapies. Data on how dietary alkaloids like berberine, trigonelline, caffeine, capsaicin, 1-deoxynojirimycin, nuciferine, neferine, aegeline, tetramethylpyrazine, piperine, and others regulate cognition in diabetic disorders were collected from PubMed, Research Gate, Web of Science, Science Direct, and other relevant databases. Dietary alkaloids could improve memory in behavioral models and modulate the mechanisms underlying the cognitive benefits of these compounds, including their effects on glucose metabolism, gut microbiota, vasculopathy, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress. Evidence suggests that dietary alkaloids hold promise for improving cognition in diabetic patients and could open exciting avenues for future research in diabetes management.

Current therapeutic targets and multifaceted physiological impacts of caffeine

Caffeine, which shares consubstantial structural similarity with purine adenosine, has been demonstrated as a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist for eliciting most of the biological functions at physiologically relevant dosages. Accumulating evidence supports caffeine's beneficial effects against different disorders, such as total cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Conversely, paradoxical effects are also linked to caffeine ingestion in humans including hypertension-hypotension and tachycardia-bradycardia. These observations suggest the association of caffeine action with its ingested concentration and/or concurrent interaction with preferential molecular targets to direct explicit events in the human body. Thus, a coherent analysis of the functional targets of caffeine, relevant to normal physiology, and disease pathophysiology, is required to understand the pharmacology of caffeine. This review provides a broad overview of the experimentally validated targets of caffeine, particularly those of therapeutic interest, and the impacts of caffeine on organ-specific physiology and pathophysiology. Overall, the available empirical and epidemiological evidence supports the dose-dependent functional activities of caffeine and advocates for further studies to get insights into the caffeine-induced changes under specific conditions, such as asthma, DNA repair, and cancer, in view of its therapeutic applications.