• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biological studies

Search Result 3,881, Processing Time 0.037 seconds

Emerging perspectives on mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation in Alzheimer's disease

  • Yoo, Seung-Min;Park, Jisu;Kim, Seo-Hyun;Jung, Yong-Keun
    • BMB Reports
    • /
    • v.53 no.1
    • /
    • pp.35-46
    • /
    • 2020
  • Despite enduring diverse insults, mitochondria maintain normal functions through mitochondrial quality control. However, the failure of mitochondrial quality control resulting from excess damage and mechanical defects causes mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to various human diseases. Recent studies have reported that mitochondrial defects are found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and worsen AD symptoms. In AD pathogenesis, mitochondrial dysfunction-driven generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their contribution to neuronal damage has been widely studied. In contrast, studies on mitochondrial dysfunction-associated inflammatory responses have been relatively scarce. Moreover, ROS produced upon failure of mitochondrial quality control may be linked to the inflammatory response and influence the progression of AD. Thus, this review will focus on inflammatory pathways that are associated with and initiated through defective mitochondria and will summarize recent progress on the role of mitochondria-mediated inflammation in AD. We will also discuss how reducing mitochondrial dysfunction-mediated inflammation could affect AD.

Actinobacteria Isolation from Metal Contaminated Soils for Assessment of their Metal Resistance and Plant Growth Promoting (PGP) Characteristics

  • Tekaya, Seifeddine Ben;Tipayno, Sherlyn;Chandrasekaran, Murugesan;Yim, Woo-Jong;Sa, Tong-Min
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
    • /
    • v.45 no.4
    • /
    • pp.593-601
    • /
    • 2012
  • Heavy metals and metalloids removal can be considered as one of the most important world challenges because of their toxicity and direct impact on human health. Many processes have been introduced but biological processes of remediation seem to offer the most suitable solution in terms of efficiency and low cost. Actinobacteria constitute one of the major microbial populations in soil, and this can be attributed to their adaptive morphological structure as well as their exceptional metabolic power. Among microbes, actinobacteria are morphologic intermediate between fungi and bacteria. Studies on microbial diversities in metal contaminated lands have shown that actinobacteria may constitute a dominantly active microbiota in addition to ${\alpha}$ Proteobacteria. Furthermore, isolation studies have shown metal removal mechanisms which are reminiscent of notable multiresistant strains, such as Cupriavidus metallidurans. Apart from members of genus Streptomyces, which produce more than 90% of commercialized antibiotics, and the nitrogen fixing Frankia, little attention has been given to other members of this phylum. This is because of difficult culture condition requirements and maintenance. In this review, we focused on specific isolation of actinobacteria and their potential applications in metal bioremediation and plant growth promotion.

A Systematized Overview of Published Reviews on Biological Hazards, Occupational Health, and Safety

  • Alexis Descatha;Halim Hamzaoui;Jukka Takala;Anne Oppliger
    • Safety and Health at Work
    • /
    • v.14 no.4
    • /
    • pp.347-357
    • /
    • 2023
  • Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic turned biological hazards in the working environment into a global concern. This systematized review of published reviews aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the specific jobs and categories of workers exposed to biological hazards with the related prevention. Methods: We extracted reviews published in English and French in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Two authors, working independently, subsequently screened the potentially relevant titles and abstracts recovered (step 1) and then examined relevant full texts (step 2). Disagreements were resolved by consensus. We built tables summarizing populations of exposed workers, types of hazards, types of outcomes (types of health issues, means of prevention), and routes of transmission. Results: Of 1426 studies initially identified, 79 studies by authors from every continent were selected, mostly published after 2010 (n = 63, 79.7%). About half of the reviews dealt with infectious hazards alone (n = 38, 48.1%). The industrial sectors identified involved healthcare alone (n = 16), laboratories (n = 10), agriculture (including the animal, vegetable, and grain sectors, n = 32), waste (n = 10), in addition of 11 studies without specific sectors. The results also highlighted a range of hazards (infectious and noninfectious agents, endotoxins, bioaerosols, organic dust, and emerging agents). Conclusion: This systematized overview allowed to list the populations of workers exposed to biological hazards and underlined how prevention measures in the healthcare and laboratory sectors were usually well defined and controlled, although this was not the case in the agriculture and waste sectors. Further studies are necessary to quantify these risks and implement prevention measures that can be applied in every country.

Paradigm Shift in the Study of Treatment Resistant Depression (치료저항성 우울증의 연구에서 패러다임의 전환)

  • Kim, Yong-Ku
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
    • /
    • v.23 no.2
    • /
    • pp.37-40
    • /
    • 2016
  • Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a major public health problem. It is estimated that about 30% of patients with major depressive disorder do not show substantial clinical improvement to somatic or psychosocial treatment. Most of studies for TRD have focused on the subjects already known as TRD. Patients with unipolar depressive episodes that do not respond satisfactorily to numerous sequential treatment regimens were included in the TRD studies. Such post hoc experimental design can be regarded only as consequences of having TRD, rather than as causal risk factors for it. Although informative, data derived from such studies often do not allow a distinction to be made between cause and effect. So, we should shift paradigm toward examining the risk for developing TRD in untreated depressed patients. To deal with this problem, untreated depressed patients should be enrolled in the study to identify biological markers for treatment resistance. The peripheral or central biological markers should be explored before starting treatment. Subsequent systematic administration of treatments with appropriate monitoring in the subjects can determine the risk for developing treatment resistance in untreated individuals. Such information could give a cue to improve the initial diagnosis and provide more effective treatment for TRD.

Analysis of studies on Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san) to establish the fundament for Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) (EBM 기반구축을 위한 방풍통성산 실험 연구 분석)

  • Kim, Jung-Hoon;Lee, Jun-Kyoung;Shin, Hyeun-Kyoo
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
    • /
    • v.24 no.1
    • /
    • pp.1-15
    • /
    • 2011
  • Objective : To establish the fundament for EBM of Traditional Korean Medicine, the papers on Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san) frequently used in medical institutions of Traditional Korean Medicine were analyzed through researching domestic and international papers. Methods : The papers were classified by the registration of domestic or international journals, the year of publishment, experimental fields and the kinds of studies on biological activities. Results : Among 324 volumes of papers on Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san), 38 volumes were selected according to selective criteria. 18 volumes were published in domestic journals, 20 volumes were in Japanese journal. The papers on instrumental analyses reported the quantification of standard compounds of herbal medicines in Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san) using HPLC method. The papers on biological activities of Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san) showed inhibitory effect to obesity, arteriosclerosis, allergic response, inflammation, pain, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, atopy, diabete mallatus and improvement of gastrointestinal activity and cerebral blood circulation. Among biological activities, papers on anti-obesity effect were reported mostly. Conclusions : Further studies including anti-obesity activity need to be preceeded to establish the fundament for EBM of Bangpungtongseong-san (Fangfengtongsheng-san).