Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery in Morbidly Obese Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Obesity is common in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS); however, safety and efficacy of bariatric surgery in this population remain unclear. A database of 2,918 was retrospectively reviewed, yielding 22 (0.75%) severely obese patients with MS who underwent bariatric surgery. Sixteen surgical patients with complete follow-up data were matched to a nonsurgical control group of MS patients, based on age, BMI, MS subtype, and length of follow-up. MS relapse rates and trends in the timed twenty-five foot walk test (T25FW) were compared. In the surgical group (gastric bypass n=19, sleeve gastrectomy n=3), preoperative BMI was 46.5 ± 7.2 Kg/m2 and average excess weight was 60.4 kg. Follow-up data was collected at 59.0 ± 29.8 months. There were two major and four minor complications. Five patients required readmission and there were no mortalities. Percent excess weight loss was 75.5 ± 27.0%. In the 16 patients with follow-up data, patients who underwent bariatric surgery were significantly faster on the T25FW compared to the nonsurgical population. In conclusion, bariatric surgery is relatively safe and effective in achieving weight loss in patients with MS. In addition, surgery may help patients maintain ambulation. Findings support the need for further studies on bariatric surgery and disease-specific outcomes in this population

Lebanese Cannabis: Agronomic and Essential Oil Characteristics as Affected by Sowing Date and Irrigation Practice

A field experiment was carried out in Lebanon to assess the agronomic and essential oil characteristics of cannabis as affected by sowing date and irrigation practice. The experiment consisted of a split-plot design with the water regime being the main factor (Iopt-irrigated when the readily available soil water is depleted; I50- receiving 50% of the irrigation amounts in Iopt treatments) and sowing date as the sub-plot factor (mid-April; end of April; mid-May). Biometric and seed quality parameters of the cannabis crop were determined. The essential oils (EO) of the inflorescence were subjected to a multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The obtained results revealed that the aboveground fresh biomass, the dry matter, and the plant height were 55.08%, 59.62%, and 43.11% higher in Iopt than in I50, respectively. However, the EO content was neither statistically affected by the irrigation regime nor by the sowing date. Under early sowing, both the water-use efficiency (WUE) for biomass and the EO production reached their highest values. All treatments presented a similar seed composition except that the crude fat and crude protein content were more elevated in Iopt than in I50 treatments. The main extracted essential oils in cannabis inflorescence corresponded to twenty-six identified compounds representing 79.34% of the monoterpenes and 81.25% of the sesquiterpenes. The monoterpenes were highly correlated with the irrigation treatment and early-April sowing while the sesquiterpenes were better enhanced under I50 and end of April to mid-May sowing. The study reveals that agronomic practices lead to differential responses of pharmacologically useful plant compounds for improved health benefits. Further research is required to clarify the potential for cannabis cultivation in Lebanon

Lebanese Cannabis: Agronomic and Essential Oil Characteristics as Affected by Sowing Date and Irrigation Practice

A field experiment was carried out in Lebanon to assess the agronomic and essential oil characteristics of cannabis as affected by sowing date and irrigation practice. The experiment consisted of a split-plot design with the water regime being the main factor (Iopt-irrigated when the readily available soil water is depleted; I50- receiving 50% of the irrigation amounts in Iopt treatments) and sowing date as the sub-plot factor (mid-April; end of April; mid-May). Biometric and seed quality parameters of the cannabis crop were determined. The essential oils (EO) of the inflorescence were subjected to a multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The obtained results revealed that the aboveground fresh biomass, the dry matter, and the plant height were 55.08%, 59.62%, and 43.11% higher in Iopt than in I50, respectively. However, the EO content was neither statistically affected by the irrigation regime nor by the sowing date. Under early sowing, both the water-use efficiency (WUE) for biomass and the EO production reached their highest values. All treatments presented a similar seed composition except that the crude fat and crude protein content were more elevated in Iopt than in I50 treatments. The main extracted essential oils in cannabis inflorescence corresponded to twenty-six identified compounds representing 79.34% of the monoterpenes and 81.25% of the sesquiterpenes. The monoterpenes were highly correlated with the irrigation treatment and early-April sowing while the sesquiterpenes were better enhanced under I50 and end of April to mid-May sowing. The study reveals that agronomic practices lead to differential responses of pharmacologically useful plant compounds for improved health benefits. Further research is required to clarify the potential for cannabis cultivation in Lebanon

Inflammasomes as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in traumatic brain injury and related-neurodegenerative diseases: A comprehensive overview

Given the ambiguity surrounding traumatic brain injury (TBI) pathophysiology and the lack of any Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved neurotherapeutic drugs, there is an increasing need to better understand the mechanisms of TBI. Recently, the roles of inflammasomes have been highlighted as both potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers in different neurodegenerative disorders. Indeed, inflammasome activation plays a pivotal function in the central nervous system (CNS) response to many neurological conditions, as well as to several neurodegenerative disorders, specifically, TBI. This comprehensive review summarizes and critically discusses the mechanisms that govern the activation and assembly of inflammasome complexes and the major methods used to study inflammasome activation in TBI and its implication for other neurodegenerative disorders. Also, we will review how inflammasome activation is critical in CNS homeostasis and pathogenesis, and how it can impact chronic TBI sequalae and increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, we discuss the recent updates on inflammasome-related biomarkers and the potential to utilize inflammasomes as putative therapeutic targets that hold the potential to better diagnose and treat subjects with TBI.This work is partially supported by the grant "UL1TR002736, Miami Clinical, and Translational Science Institute, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities" (PI: J C. Munoz Pareja). Additionally, this work was also supported by grants from NIH for (PI: Yehia Mechref) (1R01GM112490-09, 1U01CA225753-05, and 1R01GM130091-04) and for (PI: JPdRV) (1R01NS113969-01, 1RF1NS125578-01)