Study of hyperhomocysteinemia in rats elucidates tracks to treating migraine

A paper saw light in Behavioural Brain Research.

2021-06-09

(Press-News.org) Homocysteine (HCY) is a sulfur-containing aminoacid, which attract more and more attention as the increase of homocysteine level associates with a number of pathological conditions. Hyperhomocysteinemia (hHCY) is an elevation of HCY level in plasma and develops due to genetic mutations of enzymes involved in regulation of HCY metabolism, nutritional deficiencies of vitamins B12, B6 and folate; chronic renal failure; alcoholism, smoking, excess coffee consumption, hypothyroidism; taking a number of medications like antiepileptic drugs and LDOPA; and aging. hHcy is a well-known independent risk factor for cardio-vascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and associated with common pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. High level of oxidative stress was shown in brain tissues of rodents in the model of hHCY. Population studies suggested a link between migraine and HCY level, especially migraine with aura; however, there is no evidence of this link in animal studies. Migraine is a disabling neurovascular disorder, characterized mainly by unilateral pulsating headache and several neurological symptoms, including hypersensitivity to light known as photophobia, which is one of the leading symptoms of migraine. Moreover, migraine sufferers often acquire various autonomic, cognitive and emotional dysfunctions, including depression and anxiety. About a third of migraine patients complain of transient aura symptoms starting from minutes to hours before the headache or during the headache phase. Cortical spreading depression is a slowly propagating wave of transient neuronal and glial depolarization - an electrical phenomenon of the brain underlies the migraine with aura. In this study, the team used the model of prenatal hHCY to evaluate the sensitivity of rats to cortical spreading depression and behavioral features of migraine. Electrophysiological data indicated that rats with an elevated plasma level of HCY have a higher susceptibility to the development of the cortical spreading depression. Moreover, in the behavioral tests, the authors revealed typical migraine related symptoms in rats with hHCY, such as mechanical allodynia, photophobia and higher anxiety. Taken together, the findings support a link between HCY and migraine with aura; this suggests that timely correction of the elevated HCY level in persons from higher risk groups may be beneficial for treatment. The study is part of a project related to the investigation of the etiology of migraine. Using experimental animal models, one can reveal mechanisms underlying the excitability of the brain cortex and peripheral afferents innervating the meninges, which triggers migraine attacks. Moreover, the search for endogenous factors provoking migraines will help to develop strategies for the correction of pathological conditions. The researchers plan to analyze sensitivity of rats with hHCY in nitroglycerine-induced hyperalgesia, photophobia and anxiety, which is widely used to imitate migraine symptoms in rodents. To reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the higher susceptibility of rats with hHCY to migraine-like symptoms, they will assess the excitability of the peripheral part of the trigeminal system, including recordings of the electrical activity of trigeminal nerve and the membrane properties of isolated trigeminal neurons. Finally, the authors will develop and test strategies for correcting high homocysteine levels, such as administrating vitamins of the B group or antioxidants.

INFORMATION:

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study: Important contribution to spintronics has received little consideration until now

2021-06-09

The movement of electrons can have a significantly greater influence on spintronic effects than previously assumed. This discovery was made by an international team of researchers led by physicists from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). Until now, a calculation of these effects took, above all, the spin of electrons into consideration. The study was published in the journal "Physical Review Research" and offers a new approach in developing spintronic components. Many technical devices are based on conventional semiconductor electronics. Charge currents are used to store and process information in these components. However, this electric current generates heat and energy is lost. To get around this problem, ...

Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Generates Robust Immune Responses Against COVID-19 Variants

2021-06-09

BOSTON - In the three months since Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, more than 10 million Americans have received the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The single-shot viral vector vaccine -- developed in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) immunologist Dan Barouch, MD, PhD -- was authorized for use based on clinical trial data showing strong clinical efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 in the United States, Latin ...

A new culprit in antibacterial resistance: cysteine persulfide

2021-06-09

A joint research project based in Kumamoto University, Japan has developed a new, highly sensitive analytical method that can detect degraded β-lactam antibacterial agents used in the treatment of bacterial infections. With this method, researchers found that reactive sulfur species produced by bacteria degrade and inactivate β-lactam antibiotics. Bacteria are different from animal cells in that their outer layer is covered with a rigid structure called a cell wall. β-lactam antimicrobial agents interfere with the processes that form the cell wall. This results in bacteria no longer being able to withstand their own internal pressure so they rupture and die. β-lactam antimicrobial agents are very potent ...

Key to carbon-free cars? Look to the stars

2021-06-09

For nearly half a century, astrophysicists and organic chemists have been on the hunt for the origins of C6H6, the benzene ring - an elegant, hexagonal molecule comprised of 6 carbon and 6 hydrogen atoms. Astrophysicists say that the benzene ring could be the fundamental building block of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, the most basic materials formed from the explosion of dying, carbon-rich stars. That swirling mass of matter would eventually give shape to the earliest forms of carbon - precursors to molecules some scientists say are connected to ...

Warmer temperatures lessen COVID-19 spread, but control measures still needed

2021-06-09

New research shows transmission of the virus behind COVID-19 varies seasonally, but warmer conditions are not enough to prevent transmission. The study, led by Imperial College London researchers and published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to incorporate environmental data into epidemiological models of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19. The team show that temperature and population density are the most important factors determining how easily the virus spreads, but only in the absence of mobility-restricting measures, such as lockdowns. First author of the study Dr Tom Smith, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "Our results ...

Study: Hope for critically endangered gorillas in eastern DRC

2021-06-09

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo (June 9, 2021) - A new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has updated the global population estimate for the Critically Endangered Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) - the world's largest gorilla subspecies- to 6,800 individuals from a previous global estimate of 3,800 individuals. This revised estimate comes from recent field surveys conducted in one of this animal's largest remaining strongholds, in areas that were previously inaccessible for surveys. However, these gorillas continue to be heavily impacted by ongoing insecurity, and by human incursion into their remaining habitat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Publishing in the American Journal of Primatology, ...

Common mechanism found for diverse brain disorders: Study

2021-06-09

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have identified a common mechanism underlying a spectrum of epilepsy syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, that are caused by variations in a gene encoding a vital transporter protein in the brain. Their findings, reported last month in the journal Brain, suggest that boosting transporter function via genetic or pharmacological means could be beneficial in treating brain disorders linked to these genetic variations. "This points (to) a clear direction of treating a wide spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders, from various epilepsy syndromes (and) autism to neurodevelopmental delay and intellectual ...

Study suggests unmedicated, untreated brain illness is likely in mass shooters

2021-06-09

June 9, 2021 - The first analysis of medical evidence on domestic mass shooters in the U.S. finds that a large majority of perpetrators have psychiatric disorders for which they have received no medication or other treatment, reports a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "Without losing sight of the larger perspective that most who are violent are not mentally ill, and most of the mentally ill are not violent, our message is that mental health providers, lawyers, and the public should be made aware that some unmedicated patients do pose an increased risk of violence," according to the report by Ira D. Glick, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine and colleagues. In-depth analysis of ...

Corals' natural 'sunscreen' may help them weather climate change

2021-06-09

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists are one step closer to understanding why some corals can weather climate change better than others, and the secret could be in a specific protein that produces a natural sunscreen. As their name implies, Hawaiian blue rice corals sport a deep blue pigment, which is created by chromoprotein and filters out harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Although UV damage may produce long-term impacts to reproduction in many coral species--including brown rice coral--it may not have the same effect on blue rice coral. The findings of this study were published June 9 in ...

The impact of double-cropping

2021-06-09

From 1980 to 2016, grain production in Brazil increased more than fourfold, and the country now stands as the world's largest soybean exporter and the second largest exporter of corn. The two main drivers of this increase in food production were cropland expansion and double-cropping, harvesting two crops, such as corn and soybeans, from the same field in a single year. While cropland expansion has long been recognized as one of the drivers behind the increase in Brazil's agricultural output, a new study published in Nature Food quantifies for the first time the impact that double-cropping also ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Printed skin to replace animal testing

Precision medicine could be possible in the fight against antibiotic resistance

Researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University identify new targeted approach to protect neurons against degeneration

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

[Press-News.org] Study of hyperhomocysteinemia in rats elucidates tracks to treating migraine
A paper saw light in Behavioural Brain Research.