A cholinergic hypothesis of the unconscious in affective disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and growth factors: A comparative review

The goal of this article is to clarify the role of various growth factors in the establishment and progression of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is a chronic mental disorder with recurrent intrusive thoughts and/or repetitive compulsive behaviors that increase during stressful periods. Growth and neurotrophic factors may be contributing factors in the pathophysiology of OCD. Many of them are synthesized and released within the central nervous system and act as trophic agents in neurons; some of them are involved in brain growth, development, neurogenesis, myelination and plasticity, while others take part in the protection of the nervous system following brain injuries. This paper attempts to identify all articles investigating the relationship between OCD and neurotrophic and growth factors, in both animal and human studies, with a focus on adult brain studies. Based on the PubMed and Scopus and Science Direct search tools, the available articles and studies are reviewed. Out of 230 records in total, the ones related to our review topic were taken into account to further understand the pathophysiological mechanism(s) of OCD, providing methods to improve its symptoms via the modification of neurotrophins and growth factor imbalances.

Effect of walnut protein hydrolysate on scopolamine-induced learning and memory deficits in mice

A walnut protein hydrolysate (WPH) was prepared by using a mixture of pancreatin and viscozyme L from industrially available defatted walnut meal. The antioxidant effects of WPH were confirmed and quantified by reducing power, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, hydroxyl radical radical-scavenging activity and ABTS⁺· radical-scavenging activity assays. The protective effects of WPH on scopolamine-induced learning and memory deficits in mice were also evaluated based on in vivo behavioral tests. Results showed that WPH administration would lead to significantly decreased latencies while increased crossing times and target times in the spatial probe test, and increased escape latency and decreased error times in the step-down avoidance test for the scopolamine-induced dementia mice. Biochemical results indicated that the ameliorative effects of WPH on scopolamine-induced dementia mice could be attributed to the significantly increased amount of acetylcholine receptors. Therefore, WPH may be a potential therapeutic agent against Alzheimer's disease.

The effect of deficient muscarinic signaling on commonly reported biochemical effects in schizophrenia and convergence with genetic susceptibility loci in explaining symptom dimensions of psychosis

With the advent of DSM 5 criticism has generally centered on a lack of biological validity of the diagnostic criteria. Part of the problem in describing a nosology of psychosis is the tacit assumption of multiple genetic causes each with an incremental loading on the clinical picture that fails to differentiate a clear underlying pathophysiology of high impact. The aim of this paper is to consolidate a primary theory of deficient muscarinic signaling underlying key clinical features of schizophrenia and its regulation by several important genetic associations including neuregulin, DISC and dysbindin. Secondary reductions in markers for GABAergic function and changes in the levels of interneuron calcium binding proteins parvalbumin and calbindin can be attributed to dysfunctional muscarinic transduction. A parallel association exists for cytokine production. The convergent pathway hypothesis is likewise used to model dopaminergic and glutamatergic theories of schizophrenia. The negative symptom dimension is correlated with dysfunction of Akt and ERK transduction, a major point of convergence. The present paradigm predicts the importance of a recent finding of a deletion in a copy number variant of PLCB1 and its potential use if replicated, as one of the first testable biological markers differentiating schizophrenia from bipolar disorder and further subtyping of schizophrenia into deficit and non-deficit. Potential limitations of PLCB1 as a prospective marker are also discussed.