{"title":"Astrocytes: the neglected stars in the central nervous system and drug addiction.","authors":"Wenjun Chen, Shiqiu Meng, Ying Han, Jie Shi","doi":"10.1515/mr-2022-0006","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2022-0006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the advent of improved tools to examine the astrocytes, which have been believed to play a supportive role in the central nervous system (CNS) for years, their participation in the operation of the CNS and drug addiction was unveiled. Assisting the formation and function of the CNS, astrocytes are involved in physiological and pathological brain activities. Drug addiction is a pervasive psychiatric disorder, characterized by compulsive drug-taking behavior and high rate of relapse, impacting individual health and society stability and safety. When exposed to drugs of abuse, astrocytes go through a series of alterations, contributing to the development of addiction. Here we review how astrocytes contribute to the CNS and drug addiction. We hope that understanding the interaction between addictive drugs and astrocytes may help discover new mechanisms underlying the addiction and produce novel therapeutic treatments.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 4","pages":"417-426"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/31/46/mr-2-4-mr-2022-0006.PMC10388769.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10303013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data mining and mathematical models in cancer prognosis and prediction.","authors":"Chong Yu, Jin Wang","doi":"10.1515/mr-2021-0026","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2021-0026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer is a fetal and complex disease. Individual differences of the same cancer type or the same patient at different stages of cancer development may require distinct treatments. Pathological differences are reflected in tissues, cells and gene levels etc. The interactions between the cancer cells and nearby microenvironments can also influence the cancer progression and metastasis. It is a huge challenge to understand all of these mechanistically and quantitatively. Researchers applied pattern recognition algorithms such as machine learning or data mining to predict cancer types or classifications. With the rapidly growing and available computing powers, researchers begin to integrate huge data sets, multi-dimensional data types and information. The cells are controlled by the gene expressions determined by the promoter sequences and transcription regulators. For example, the changes in the gene expression through these underlying mechanisms can modify cell progressing in the cell-cycle. Such molecular activities can be governed by the gene regulations through the underlying gene regulatory networks, which are essential for cancer study when the information and gene regulations are clear and available. In this review, we briefly introduce several machine learning methods of cancer prediction and classification which include Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Decision Trees (DTs), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and naive Bayes. Then we describe a few typical models for building up gene regulatory networks such as Correlation, Regression and Bayes methods based on available data. These methods can help on cancer diagnosis such as susceptibility, recurrence, survival etc. At last, we summarize and compare the modeling methods to analyze the development and progression of cancer through gene regulatory networks. These models can provide possible physical strategies to analyze cancer progression in a systematic and quantitative way.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 3","pages":"285-307"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/eb/ae/mr-2-3-mr-2021-0026.PMC10388766.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10314698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spontaneous pain as a challenge of research and management in chronic pain.","authors":"Longyu Ma, Shuting Liu, Ming Yi, You Wan","doi":"10.1515/mr-2022-0007","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2022-0007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spontaneous pain occurring without apparent external stimuli, is a significant complaint of individuals with chronic pain whose mechanisms, somewhat surprisingly, remain poorly understood. Over the past decades, neuroimaging studies start to reveal brain activities accompanying spontaneous pain. Meanwhile, a variety of animal models and behavioral tests have been established, including non-reflexive tests and free-choice tests, which have been shown to be effective in assessing spontaneous pain. For the spontaneous pain mechanisms, multiple lines of research mainly focus on three aspects: (1) sensitization of peripheral nociceptor receptors and ion channels, (2) spontaneous neuronal firing and abnormal activity patterns at the dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord level, (3) functional and structural alterations in the brain, particularly the limbic system and the medial pain pathway. Despite accumulating evidence revealing distinct neuronal mechanisms from evoked pain, we are still far from full understanding of spontaneous pain, leaving a big gap between bench and bedside for chronic pain treatment. A better understanding of the neural processes in chronic pain, with specific linkage as to which anatomical structures and molecules related to spontaneous pain perception and comorbidities, will greatly improve our ability to develop novel therapeutics.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 3","pages":"308-319"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/27/52/mr-2-3-mr-2022-0007.PMC10388751.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10314694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qin Zheng, Xintong Dong, Dustin P Green, Xinzhong Dong
{"title":"Peripheral mechanisms of chronic pain.","authors":"Qin Zheng, Xintong Dong, Dustin P Green, Xinzhong Dong","doi":"10.1515/mr-2022-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2022-0013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Acutely, pain serves to protect us from potentially harmful stimuli, however damage to the somatosensory system can cause maladaptive changes in neurons leading to chronic pain. Although acute pain is fairly well controlled, chronic pain remains difficult to treat. Chronic pain is primarily a neuropathic condition, but studies examining the mechanisms underlying chronic pain are now looking beyond afferent nerve lesions and exploring new receptor targets, immune cells, and the role of the autonomic nervous system in contributing chronic pain conditions. The studies outlined in this review reveal how chronic pain is not only confined to alterations in the nervous system and presents findings on new treatment targets and for this debilitating disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":" ","pages":"251-270"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/2c/b2/mr-2-3-mr-2022-0013.PMC9381002.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40352580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oxytocin and arginine vasopressin: a bridge between acupuncture and autism spectrum disorder.","authors":"Rong Zhang, Jisheng Han, Songping Han","doi":"10.1515/mr-2022-0001","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2022-0001","url":null,"abstract":"In the Sui Dynasty (581–618) of China, Chao’s “On the Etiology of Diseases” described the “hun se” (muddleheaded) and “yu chi” (language delay) phenotypes, which are clinically manifested as a lack of speech and neurodevelopmental retardation in children (Figure 1). Since the first report of early infantile autism by Kanner in 1943 [1], the diagnosis of autism has undergone several revisions, and this broader group of disorders was renamed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 2013 [2]. The phenotypes of ASD extend beyond the classic form of autism described by Dr. Leo Kanner, as evidenced by the observation that an increasing number of peoplewith some autistic traits, including social and communication deficits and stereotyped repetitive behaviors, have normal intelligence. In recent years, the prevalence of ASD has reached 1 in 44 8-year-old children in the United States [3] and 1 in 143 6–12-year-old children in China [4]. As rapid advances in genetic research and neuroscience have clarified this disorder more than 200 highly plausible ASD-risk genes or copy number variants and environmental risk factors have been identified. These complex etiologies cause structural and functional brainwide alterations, resulting in abnormal cortical development, synaptic dysfunction, circuit-level brain dysfunction, and neuroinflammation, which can, in turn, lead to behavioral phenotypes in ASD. However, there is currently no true medication available for effectively treating ASD, and early behavior modification has long been regarded as the only effective treatment technique. There is still a long way to go in terms of new drug development, with aripiprazole and risperidone being the only FDA-approved medications for treating severe symptoms of ASD. Several other new drugs have failed in phase two or three clinical trials.","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 2","pages":"119-124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/24/5f/mr-2-2-mr-2022-0001.PMC10471124.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10309490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shelan Liu, Min Kang, Na Zhao, Yali Zhuang, Shijian Li, Tie Song
{"title":"Comprehensive narrative review of real-world COVID-19 vaccines: viewpoints and opportunities.","authors":"Shelan Liu, Min Kang, Na Zhao, Yali Zhuang, Shijian Li, Tie Song","doi":"10.1515/mr-2021-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2021-0021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Currently, people all over the world have been affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Fighting against COVID-19 is the top priority for all the countries and nations. The development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is considered the optimal way of ending the pandemic. Three hundred and 44 vaccines were in development, with 149 undergoing clinical research and 35 authorized for emergency use as to March 15 of 2022. Many studies have shown the effective role of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections as well as serious and fatal COVID-19 cases. However, tough challenges have arisen regarding COVID-19 vaccines, including long-term immunity, emerging COVID-19 variants, and vaccine inequalities. A systematic review was performed of recent COVID-19 vaccine studies, with a focus on vaccine type, efficacy and effectiveness, and protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants, breakthrough infections, safety, deployment and vaccine strategies used in the real-world. Ultimately, there is a need to establish a unified evaluation standard of vaccine effectiveness, monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness, along with the virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 variants; and determine the most useful booster schedule. These aspects must be coordinated to ensure timely responses to beneficial or detrimental situations. In the future, global efforts should be directed toward effective and immediate vaccine allocations, improving vaccine coverage, SARS-CoV-2 new variants tracking, and vaccine booster development.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 2","pages":"169-196"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/f3/3a/mr-2-2-mr-2021-0021.PMC9274757.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9840418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019.","authors":"Chensi Yao, Yingying Yang, Xiaolin Tong","doi":"10.1515/mr-2022-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2022-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly since its outbreak in 2019, which constitutes a pandemic. As of March 28, 2022, there were 4,76,374,234 confirmed cases and 6,108,976 confirmed deaths globally, which seriously threatened human life and health [1]. COVID-19, declared a pandemic by TheWorld Health Organization (WHO), is one of thegreatest challenges theworldhas faced for centuries. In the face of the sudden disease outbreak, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has developed over thousands of years, has achieved remarkable progress in the global fight against the pandemic. With effective policies and measures, China has contributed “Chinese solutions”worth noting in the global response to the pandemic. Nowadays, the situation of pandemic prevention and is grim worldwide. We should promptly summarize the experience, learnings, and achievements of TCM in dealing with the current pandemic, and pay attention to the distinct advantages of TCM. Under the context of pandemic prevention and control, TCM should be involved in the early, comprehensive, and in-depth management of patients. Health policy guarantee mechanisms should be improved to implement practical strategies for the prevention and control of major emerging infectious diseases globally.","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":" ","pages":"115-118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8a/0f/mr-2-2-mr-2022-0003.PMC9274758.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40613838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhaomin Feng, Yi Zhang, Yang Pan, Daitao Zhang, Lei Zhang, Quanyi Wang
{"title":"Mass screening is a key component to fight against SARS-CoV-2 and return to normalcy.","authors":"Zhaomin Feng, Yi Zhang, Yang Pan, Daitao Zhang, Lei Zhang, Quanyi Wang","doi":"10.1515/mr-2021-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2021-0024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had highly transmissible and pathogenic, which caused serious economic loss and hazard to public health. Different countries have developed strategies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic that fit their epidemiological situations, capacities, and values. Mass screening combined with control measures rapidly reduced the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the essential role of diagnostics capacity in the control of communicable diseases. Mass screening has been increasingly used to detect suspected COVID-19 cases and their close contacts, asymptomatic case, patients attending fever clinics, high-risk populations, employees, even all population to identify infectious individuals. Mass screening is a key component to fight against SARS-CoV-2 and return to normalcy. Here we describe the history of mass screening, define the scope of mass screening, describe its application scenarios, and discuss the impact and challenges of using this approach to control COVID-19. We conclude that through a comprehension screening program and strong testing capabilities, mass screening could help us return to normalcy more quickly.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":" ","pages":"197-212"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/ab/f8/mr-2-2-mr-2021-0024.PMC9274759.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40613837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"MicroRNAs in cardiovascular diseases.","authors":"Huaping Li, Jiabing Zhan, Chen Chen, Daowen Wang","doi":"10.1515/mr-2021-0001","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2021-0001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, despite the wide diversity of molecular targets identified and the development of therapeutic methods. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small (about 22 nucleotides) non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level in the cytoplasm and play complicated roles in different CVDs. While miRNA overexpression in one type of cell protects against heart disease, it promotes cardiac dysfunction in another type of cardiac cell. Moreover, recent studies have shown that, apart from cytosolic miRNAs, subcellular miRNAs such as mitochondria- and nucleus-localized miRNAs are dysregulated in CVDs. However, the functional properties of cellular- and subcellular-localized miRNAs have not been well characterized. In this review article, by carefully revisiting animal-based miRNA studies in CVDs, we will address the regulation and functional properties of miRNAs in various CVDs. Specifically, the cell-cell crosstalk and subcellular perspective of miRNAs are highlighted. We will provide the background for attractive molecular targets that might be useful in preventing the progression of CVDs and heart failure (HF) as well as insights for future studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 2","pages":"140-168"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/7a/6b/mr-2-2-mr-2021-0001.PMC10471109.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10309489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Extracellular matrix in cancer progression and therapy.","authors":"Xiuxiu He, Byoungkoo Lee, Yi Jiang","doi":"10.1515/mr-2021-0028","DOIUrl":"10.1515/mr-2021-0028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The tumor ecosystem with heterogeneous cellular compositions and the tumor microenvironment has increasingly become the focus of cancer research in recent years. The extracellular matrix (ECM), the major component of the tumor microenvironment, and its interactions with the tumor cells and stromal cells have also enjoyed tremendously increased attention. Like the other components of the tumor microenvironment, the ECM in solid tumors differs significantly from that in normal organs and tissues. We review recent studies of the complex roles the tumor ECM plays in cancer progression, from tumor initiation, growth to angiogenesis and invasion. We highlight that the biomolecular, biophysical, and mechanochemical interactions between the ECM and cells not only regulate the steps of cancer progression, but also affect the efficacy of systemic cancer treatment. We further discuss the strategies to target and modify the tumor ECM to improve cancer therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74151,"journal":{"name":"Medical review (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"2 2","pages":"125-139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/5d/60/mr-2-2-mr-2021-0028.PMC10471113.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10302999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}