Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most prevalent growth factor in the central nervous system (CNS). It is essential for the development of the CNS and for neuronal plasticity. Because BDNF plays a crucial role in development and plasticity of the brain, it is widely implicated in psychiatric diseases. This review provides a summary of clinical and preclinical evidence for the involvement of this ubiquitous growth factor in major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, addiction, Rett syndrome, as well as other psychiatric and neurodevelopmental diseases. In addition, the review includes a discussion of the role of BDNF in the mechanism of action of pharmacological therapies currently used to treat these diseases, such antidepressants and antipsychotics. The review also covers a critique of experimental therapies such as BDNF mimetics and discusses the value of BDNF as a target for future drug development.

/pdf/brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor-and-neuropsychiatric-3p8rehjqed.pdf

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Despite numerous existing potent antibiotics and other antimicrobial means, bacterial infections are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the need to develop additional bactericidal means has significantly increased due to the growing concern regarding multidrug-resistant bacterial strains and biofilm associated infections. Consequently, attention has been especially devoted to new and emerging nanoparticle-based materials in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy. The present review discusses the activities of nanoparticles as an antimicrobial means, their mode of action, nanoparticle effect on drug-resistant bacteria, and the risks attendant on their use as antibacterial agents. Factors contributing to nanoparticle performance in the clinical setting, their unique properties, and mechanism of action as antibacterial agents are discussed in detail.

/pdf/alternative-antimicrobial-approach-nano-antimicrobial-fcpo20i2qt.pdf

Alternative Antimicrobial Approach: Nano-Antimicrobial Materials

A wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been explored for their essential oils in the past few decades. Essential oils are complex volatile compounds, synthesized naturally in different plant parts during the process of secondary metabolism. Essential oils have great potential in the field of biomedicine as they effectively destroy several bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. The presence of different types of aldehydes, phenolics, terpenes, and other antimicrobial compounds means that the essential oils are effective against a diverse range of pathogens. The reactivity of essential oil depends upon the nature, composition, and orientation of its functional groups. The aim of this article is to review the antimicrobial potential of essential oils secreted from MAPs and their possible mechanisms of action against human pathogens. This comprehensive review will benefit researchers who wish to explore the potential of essential oils in the development of novel broad-spectrum key molecules against a broad range of drug-resistant pathogenic microbes.

/pdf/antimicrobial-properties-of-plant-essential-oils-against-37kgibalwu.pdf

Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Essential Oils against Human Pathogens and Their Mode of Action: An Updated Review.

With tens of thousands of plant species on earth, we are endowed with an enormous wealth of medicinal remedies from Mother Nature. Natural products and their derivatives represent more than 50% of all the drugs in modern therapeutics. Because of the low success rate and huge capital investment need, the research and development of conventional drugs are very costly and difficult. Over the past few decades, researchers have focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines or botanical sources, an important group of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy. With a long history of herbal usage for the clinical management of a variety of diseases in indigenous cultures, the success rate of developing a new drug from herbal medicinal preparations should, in theory, be higher than that from chemical synthesis. While the endeavor for drug discovery from herbal medicines is “experience driven,” the search for a therapeutically useful synthetic drug, like “looking for a needle in a haystack,” is a daunting task. In this paper, we first illustrated various approaches of drug discovery from herbal medicines. Typical examples of successful drug discovery from botanical sources were given. In addition, problems in drug discovery from herbal medicines were described and possible solutions were proposed. The prospect of drug discovery from herbal medicines in the postgenomic era was made with the provision of future directions in this area of drug development.

/pdf/new-perspectives-on-how-to-discover-drugs-from-herbal-2ft9vjq80g.pdf

New Perspectives on How to Discover Drugs from Herbal Medicines: CAM's Outstanding Contribution to Modern Therapeutics.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, and Cinnamon cassia), the eternal tree of tropical medicine, belongs to the Lauraceae family. Cinnamon is one of the most important spices used daily by people all over the world. Cinnamon primarily contains vital oils and other derivatives, such as cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, and cinnamate. In addition to being an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, lipid-lowering, and cardiovascular-disease-lowering compound, cinnamon has also been reported to have activities against neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. This review illustrates the pharmacological prospective of cinnamon and its use in daily life.

/pdf/cinnamon-a-multifaceted-medicinal-plant-5wchhrj6bt.pdf

Cinnamon: A Multifaceted Medicinal Plant

The existing reviews of massage therapy (MT) research are either limited to infants, adults, or were conducted prior to the publication of the most recent studies using pediatric samples. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of pediatric MT are reviewed. A literature search yielded 24 RCTs of pediatric MT, defined as the manual manipulation of soft tissue intended to promote health and well-being in recipients between 2 and 19 years of age. Because RCTs of pediatric MT varied considerably in the amount and types of data reported, quantitative and narrative review methods were both used. Singledose and multiple-dose effects were examined separately. Among single-dose effects, significant reductions of state anxiety were observed at the first session (g 1⁄4 0.59, P < 0.05) and the last session (g 1⁄4 1.10, P < 0.01) of a course of treatment. Effects for salivary cortisol (g 1⁄4 0.28), negative mood (g 1⁄4 0.52) and behavior (g 1⁄4 0.37) were non-significant. Three of eleven multiple-dose effects were statistically significant. These were trait anxiety (g 1⁄4 0.94, P < 0.05), muscle tone (g 1⁄4 0.90, P< 0.01) and arthritis pain (g1⁄4 1.33, P< 0.01). Results of studies not permitting effect size calculation were judged to be generally consistent with quantitative results. MT benefits pediatric recipients, though not as universally as sometimes reported. Numerous weaknesses endemic to MT research (e.g. low statistical power, frequent failure to report basic descriptive statistics) are identified, and recommendations for future pediatric MT research are discussed.

/pdf/evidence-based-complementary-and-alternative-medicine-3phhxc1n7u.pdf

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

http://nri.bjmu.edu.cn/docs/20151229181045281692.pdf

NR2B-containing NMDA receptor is required for morphine-but not stress-induced reinstatement.

http://nri.bjmu.edu.cn/english/html/publish/0701.pdf

Peripheral electrical stimulation reversed the cell size reduction and increased BDNF level in the ventral tegmental area in chronic morphine treated rats

The aim of this study was to observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on chronic morphine-induced neuronal morphological changes in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in rats at electron-microscopic level. Fourteen days of administering escalating doses of morphine induced pathological morphological changes of neurons in the VTA: the rough endoplasmic reticulum swelled, membrane configuration of the nucleus and mitochondria blurred, and structure of myelin sheath changed. Both 2 and 100 Hz EA treatment reversed the morphological alterations induced by chronic morphine administration. The findings provide new evidence that EA may serve as a potential therapy in treating opiate addiction.

/pdf/chronic-morphine-induced-neuronal-morphological-changes-in-11je55w6l3.pdf

Chronic morphine-induced neuronal morphological changes in the ventral tegmental area in rats are reversed by electroacupuncture treatment.

Chronic morphine administration decreases the size of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). These transient morphological changes are accompanied by a reduced sensitivity of morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) after chronic exposure to the drug. In this study we examined alterations in the firing rate of DAergic neurons by means of extracellular recording following chronic morphine exposure and applied 100 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) treatment to reverse the reduced firing rate of these neurons. In the first set of experiments we show that in rats, which received chronic morphine treatment for 14 days, a small dose of morphine was not able to induce a CPP response anymore. However, the sensitivity to morphine was reinstated by consecutive EA treatment for 10 days. The electrophysiological response of VTA DA neurons to morphine was markedly reduced in chronic morphine-treated rats compared to saline-treated controls. A substantial recovery of the reactivity of VTA DA neurons to morphine was observed in rats that received 100 Hz EA for 10 days. Our findings suggest that 100 Hz EA is a potential therapy for the treatment of opiate addiction by normalizing the activity of VTA DA neurons.

/pdf/electroacupuncture-treatment-reverses-morphine-induced-50p8gec1w9.pdf

Ning-ning Chu

Papers

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

NR2B-containing NMDA receptor is required for morphine-but not stress-induced reinstatement.

Peripheral electrical stimulation reversed the cell size reduction and increased BDNF level in the ventral tegmental area in chronic morphine treated rats

Chronic morphine-induced neuronal morphological changes in the ventral tegmental area in rats are reversed by electroacupuncture treatment.

Electroacupuncture treatment reverses morphine-induced physiological changes in dopaminergic neurons within the ventral tegmental area.