Substance P Regulation in Epilepsy

Bibliometric analysis of research in epilepsy and comorbid depression from 2014 to 2023

BACKGROUND

Epilepsy and depression have complicated bidirectional relationships. Our study aimed to explore the field of epilepsy comorbid with depression in a bibliometric perspective from 2014-2023.

AIM

To improve our understanding of epilepsy and depression by evaluating the relationship between epilepsy and depression, bibliometric analyses were performed.

METHODS

Epilepsy and depression-related publications from the last decade were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. We conducted bibliometric and visual analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace, examining authorships, countries, institutions, journals of publication, co-citations of references, connections between keywords, clusters of keywords, and keywords with citation bursts.

RESULTS

Over the past ten years, we collected 1045 research papers focusing on the field of epilepsy and comorbid depression. Publications on epilepsy and depression have shown a general upward trend over time, though with some fluctuations. The United States, with 287 articles, and the University of Melbourne, contributing 34 articles, were the top countries and institutions, respectively. In addition, in the field of epilepsy and depression, Professor Lee, who has published 30 articles, was the most contributing author. The hot topics pay attention to the quality of life in patients with epilepsy and depression.

CONCLUSION

We reported that quality of life and stigma in patients with epilepsy comorbid with depression are possible future hot topics and directions in the field of epilepsy and depression research.

Substance P, A Promising Therapeutic Target in Musculoskeletal Disorders

A large number of studies have focused on the role of substance P (SP) and the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) in the pathogenesis of a variety of medical conditions. This review provides an overview of the role of the SP-NK1R pathway in the pathogenesis of musculoskeletal disorders and the evidence for its role as a therapeutic target for these disorders, which are major public health problems in most countries. To summarize, the brief involvement of SP may affect tendon healing in an acute injury setting. SP combined with an adequate conjugate can be a regenerative therapeutic option in osteoarthritis. The NK1R antagonist is a promising agent for tendinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Research on the SP-NK1R pathway will be helpful for developing novel drugs for osteoporosis.

Review: Neuropathology findings in autonomic brain regions in SUDEP and future research directions

Autonomic dysfunction is implicated from clinical, neuroimaging and experimental studies in sudden and unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Neuropathological analysis in SUDEP series enable exploration of acquired, seizure-related cellular adaptations in autonomic and brainstem autonomic centres of relevance to dysfunction in the peri-ictal period. Alterations in SUDEP compared to control groups have been identified in the ventrolateral medulla, amygdala, hippocampus and central autonomic regions. These involve neuropeptidergic, serotonergic and adenosine systems, as well as specific regional astroglial and microglial populations, as potential neuronal modulators, orchestrating autonomic dysfunction. Future research studies need to extend to clinically and genetically characterized epilepsies, to explore if common or distinct pathways of autonomic dysfunction mediate SUDEP. The ultimate objective of SUDEP research is the identification of disease biomarkers for at risk patients, to improve post-mortem recognition and disease categorisation, but ultimately, for exposing potential treatment targets of pharmacologically modifiable and reversible cellular alterations.

Distribution and Neurochemistry of the Porcine Ileocaecal Valve Projecting Sensory Neurons in the Dorsal Root Ganglia and the Influence of Lipopolysaccharide from Different Serotypes of Salmonella spp. on the Chemical Coding of DRG Neurons in the Cell Cultures

The ileocecal valve (ICV)—a sphincter muscle between small and large intestine—plays important roles in the physiology of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but many aspects connected with the innervation of the ICV remain unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the localization and neurochemical characterization of neurons located in the dorsal root ganglia and supplying the ICV of the domestic pig. The results have shown that such neurons mainly located in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of thoracic and lumbar neuromers show the presence of substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and galanin (GAL). The second part of the experiment consisted of a study on the influence of a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Salmonella serotypes Enteritidis Minnesota and Typhimurium on DRG neurons. It has been shown that the LPS of these serotypes in studied doses does not change the number of DRG neurons in the cell cultures, but influences the immunoreactivity to SP and GAL. The observed changes in neurochemical characterization depend on the bacterial serotype. The results show that DRG neurons take part in the innervation of the ICV and may change their neurochemical characterization under the impact of LPS, which is probably connected with direct actions of this substance on the nervous tissue and/or its pro-inflammatory activity.