Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alter Metabolites of Brain Cholesterol Homeostasis in An Alzheimer’s Model

Objective: Disruption of cholesterol homeostasis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) plays a crucial role in diseasepathogenesis, making it a potential therapeutic target. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show promise in treatingcognitive impairment and provide a novel therapeutic approach. This study aims to investigate the effects of MSCs onspecific metabolites associated with brain cholesterol homeostasis in an AD rat model.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, animals were divided into three groups: control, AD, andAD+MSCs. AD was induced using amyloid beta (Aβ) and confirmed through the Morris water maze (MWM) behaviouraltest and Congo red staining. MSCs were extracted, characterised via flow cytometry, subjected to osteoblast andadipose differentiation, and injected intraventricularly. The cholesterol metabolite levels were measured using gaschromatography-mass spectrometry (GC)-MS and compared among the groups.Results: Treatment with MSCs significantly improved memory function in the AD+MSCs group compared to theAD group and the number of beta-amyloid plaques decreased according to histological assessment. Disturbancesin the brain cholesterol metabolites that included desmosterol, 7-dehydrocholesterol, 24S-hydroxycholesterol,27-hydroxycholesterol and cholesterol were observed in the AD group compared to the control group. Treatment withMSCs resulted in significant alterations in the levels of these metabolites.Conclusion: The findings indicate that MSC therapy has the potential to improve AD by modulating brain cholesterolhomeostasis and promoting the differentiation of stem cells into nerve cells. The results emphasize the importance ofinvestigating the role of cholesterol metabolites in the context of MSC therapy to gain deeper insights into underlyingmechanisms of the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs in AD

Association of Maternal Hair Cortisol Level with Neonatal Facial Pain Expression Based on Newborns’ Gender

Introduction: Mental and physical state of mothers during pregnancy affects the development of fetus. This study aimed to investigate the role of neonates’ gender in pain responses and its association with maternal stress during pregnancy and programming. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 105 neonates (53 females and 52 males) born in hospitals of Gorgan, Northern Iran. The pain stimulus was intramuscular injection of vitamin K, a routine procedure performed for infants at birth. The first injection was done for all subjects under the same conditions. The neonatal infant pain scale was used for assessment of pain intensity in newborns. Maternal stress during pregnancy was assessed by measuring hair cortisol levels. Data analysis was done using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean pain intensity score before, during and after the injection between male and female newborns. During the injection, the mean pain score of male neonates whose mothers had higher cortisol levels was significantly higher than male neonates whose mothers had normal cortisol levels (P-value=0.01). However, there was no significant relationship between cortisol level and pain intensity score of newborns. Conclusions: Our results show that the mean pain score during the injection is significantly higher in male neonates whose mothers have higher cortisol levels. There is no significant relationship between cortisol level and pain intensity score of newborn

sj-docx-1-imj-10.1177_10815589221145043 – Supplemental material for Organochlorine pesticides, oxidative stress biomarkers, and leukemia: a case–control study

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-imj-10.1177_10815589221145043 for Organochlorine pesticides, oxidative stress biomarkers, and leukemia: a case–control study by Arash Rafeeinia, Gholamreza Asadikaram, Mehrnaz Karimi Darabi, Moslem Abolhassani, Vahid Moazed and Mojtaba Abbasi-Jorjandi in Journal of Investigative Medicine</p