Muscarinic Receptors Expression in the Peripheral Blood Cells Differentiate Dementia with Lewy Bodies from Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND

Central nervous system disruption of cholinergic (ACh) signaling, which plays a major role in cognitive processes, is well documented in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The expression of muscarinic ACh receptors type 1 and 4 (CHRM1 and CHRM4) has been reported to be altered in the brain of DLB patients.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to assess the peripheral gene expression of CHRM1 and 4 in DLB as a possible marker as compared to AD and healthy control (HC) subjects.

METHODS

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 21 DLB, 13 AD, and 8 HC matched subjects. RT-PCR was performed to estimate gene expression of CHRM1 and CHRM4.

RESULTS

Peripheral CHRM1 expression was higher and CHRM4 was lower in DLB and AD compared to HC, whereas both CHRM1 and CHRM4 levels were higher in AD compared to DLB patients. Receiver operating characteristics curves, with logistic regression analysis, showed that combining peripheral CHRM1 and CHRM4 levels, DLB and AD subjects were classified with an accuracy of 76.0%.

CONCLUSION

Alterations of peripheral CHRM1 and CHRM4 was found in both AD and DLB patients as compared to HC. CHRM1 and CHRM4 gene expression resulted to be lower in DLB patients compared to AD. In the future, peripheral CHRM expression could be studied as a possible marker of neurodegenerative conditions associated with cholinergic deficit and a possible marker of response to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 in Sudanese women diagnosed with cervical carcinoma

Objectives

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix is one of the leading causes of death in developing countries. Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is the major risk factor to develop malignant lesions HR types (HPV16 and HPV18) account for about 70% of all invasive cervical cancers worldwide. It is estimated that 833 Sudanese women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 534 die from the disease every year. The present study aimed to detect HPV 16, and determine the association of HPV16 with age and various grades of cervical carcinoma in patients with clinically confirmed cervical SCC.

Materials and Methods

A total of 158 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues blocks from Sudanese women diagnosed as cervical cancer and benign were collected between 2012 and 2016 at Omdurman Maternity Hospital and National Laboratories, Khartoum, Sudan. HPV DNA detection was done using HPV 16 specific primers in real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

The frequency of HPV 16 was identified among 10.34% (n = 6) and 6% (n = 6) women with abnormal cytology and normal cytology, respectively. Based on age, high prevalence rate of HPV 16 was observed among age group 61-70 in women with malignant cases. The degree of differentiation, an important classification in SCC cases revealed that 5% (n = 3) cases had moderately differentiated SCC and two of them were keratinized SCC. In addition, 3.4% (n = 2) SCC cases were keratinized and well differentiated.

Conclusion

Overall, the prevalence of HPV types 16 was higher but had no significant association with cervical SCC in Sudanese women.

Early constraint-induced movement therapy affects behavior and neuronal plasticity in ischemia-injured rat brains

Constraint-induced movement therapy is an effective rehabilitative training technique used to improve the restoration of impaired upper extremity movement after stroke. However, whether constraint-induced movement therapy is more effective than conventional rehabilitation in acute or sub-acute stroke remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to identify the optimal time to start constraint-induced movement therapy after ischemic stroke and to explore the mechanisms by which constraint-induced movement therapy leads to post-stroke recovery. Sixty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham-surgery group, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion group, early constraint-induced movement therapy group, and late constraint-induced movement therapy group. Rat models of left middle cerebral artery occlusion were established according to the Zea Longa line embolism method. Constraint-induced movement therapy was conducted starting on day 1 or day 14 in the early constraint-induced movement therapy and late constraint-induced movement therapy groups, respectively. To explore the effect of each intervention time on neuromotor function, behavioral function was assessed using a balance beam walking test before surgery and at 8 and 21 days after surgery. The expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor and Nogo receptor were evaluated using real time-polymerase chain reaction and western blot assay to assess the effect of each intervention time. The results showed that the behavioral score was significantly lower in the early constraint-induced movement therapy group than in the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and late constraint-induced movement therapy groups at 8 days. At 21 days, the scores had significantly decreased in the early constraint-induced movement therapy and late constraint-induced movement therapy groups. At 8 days, only mild pyknosis appeared in neurons of the ischemic penumbra in the early constraint-induced movement therapy group, which was distinctly better than in the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion group. At 21 days, only a few vacuolated cells were observed and no obvious inflammatory cells were visible in late constraint-induced movement therapy group, which was much better than at 8 days. The mRNA and protein expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor were significantly higher, but expression levels of Nogo receptor were significantly lower in the early constraint-induced movement therapy group compared with the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and late constraint-induced movement therapy groups at 8 days. The changes in expression levels at 21 days were larger but similar in both the early constraint-induced movement therapy and late constraint-induced movement therapy groups. Besides, the protein nerve growth factor level was higher in the late constraint-induced movement therapy group than in the early constraint-induced movement therapy group at 21 days. These results suggest that both early (1 day) and late (14 days) constraint-induced movement therapy induces molecular plasticity and facilitates functional recovery after ischemic stroke, as illustrated by the histology. The mechanism may be associated with downregulation of Nogo receptor expression and upregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor expression.

Lipocalin-2 expression and serum levels as early predictors of type 2 diabetes mellitus in obese women

Obesity and diabetes are increasing in epidemic proportions globally. Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) is an inflammatory adipocytokine and obesity-related marker of low-grade inflammation. We aimed to investigate, for first time, the possible role of LCN-2 expression and serum levels in prediction of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among obese Egyptian women. This study included 188 obese women and 180 controls. Obese women were subdivided into three subgroups according to their fasting blood glucose, normal glucose tolerance (NGT), IGT and T2DM. Circulating LCN-2 expression levels were determined by real time polymerase chain reaction. Serum LCN-2 concentrations were assessed by ELISA. Our findings revealed that LCN-2 expression and serum levels were higher in obese women compared to lean controls. They were higher in IGT and T2DM obese cases than in NGT obese women. Receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed that LCN-2 expression level was a useful biomarker discriminating IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women (AUC were 0.735 and 0.740, respectively). It was an independent predictor of IGT and T2DM among obese women. Serum LCN-2 level was a useful biomarker discriminating IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women (AUC were 0.705 and 0.728, respectively). It was independent predictor of T2DM without predicting IGT among obese women. The power of combined LCN-2 serum levels and expression in discriminating between IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women was high (AUC = 0.717 and 0.741, respectively). In conclusion, LCN-2 expression and serum levels could discriminate IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women and early predicting T2DM among obese women. While, LCN-2 expression level was the independent predictor of IGT in obese women. Combination of both LCN-2 expression and serum levels improved their diagnostic value in early detection of IGT and T2DM among obese women. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(2):88-97, 2017.