Invasive Circuitry-Based Neurotherapeutics: Stereotactic Ablation and Deep Brain Stimulation for OCD

Psychiatric neurosurgery, specifically stereotactic ablation, has continued since the 1940s, mainly at a few centers in Europe and the US. Since the late 1990s, the resurgence of interest in this field has been remarkable; reports of both lesion procedures and the newer technique of deep brain stimulation (DBS) have increased rapidly. In early 2009, the US FDA granted limited humanitarian approval for DBS for otherwise intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the first such approval for a psychiatric illness. Several factors explain the emergence of DBS and continued small-scale use of refined lesion procedures. DBS and stereotactic ablation have been successful and widely used for movement disorders. There remains an unmet clinical need: current drug and behavioral treatments offer limited benefit to some seriously ill people. Understandings of the neurocircuitry underlying psychopathology and the response to treatment, while still works in progress, are much enhanced. Here, we review modern lesion procedures and DBS for OCD in the context of neurocircuitry. A key issue is that clinical benefit can be obtained after surgeries targeting different brain structures. This fits well with anatomical models, in which circuits connecting orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), basal ganglia, and thalamus are central to OCD pathophysiology and treatment response. As in movement disorders, dedicated interdisciplinary teams, here led by psychiatrists, are required to implement these procedures and maintain care for patients so treated. Available data, although limited, support the promise of stereotactic ablation or DBS in carefully selected patients. Benefit in such cases appears not to be confined to obsessions and compulsions, but includes changes in affective state. Caution is imperative, and key issues in long-term management of psychiatric neurosurgery patients deserve focused attention. DBS and contemporary ablation also present different patterns of potential benefits and burdens. Translational research to elucidate how targeting specific nodes in putative OCD circuitry might lead to therapeutic gains is accelerating in tandem with clinical use

Role of microbes in plant protection using intersection of nanotechnology and biology

Published online: 15 Aug 2018Plant pathogens are one of the dominating components which restrain crop productivity. Preliminary step headed for managing plant disease is to accurately recognize the pathogen under lab, glasshouse, and field conditions. Modern approach, such as culture-based, antibody-based rapid methods and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR), entrusts on multiple assays to precisely identify the specific plant pathogens which are further time-consuming and lack high sensitivity. Nanobiotechnology ameliorates crop productivity through transmission of genes to target sites for breeding of varieties resistant to different plant pathogens with focus on improving sensitivity. Intersection of nanotechnology and biology also improves specificity and agility of pathogen detection which further facilitates crop disease management. Bio-fabrication of nanoparticles like silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) is used as novel antimicrobials for the management of pathogenic microorganisms that inhibits fungal hyphae and conidial germination in agricultural crops. Biological agents reduce metal which leads to capping of nanoparticles through the secretion of various enzymes. A modern class of protein nanocompartments called as encapsulins that encapsulate cargo proteins are found in bacteria and archaea. Nanobiotechnology also reduces detection times of crop pathogens and cost by the development of biosensors and phage proteins. In this chapter we emphasize on microbial semblance in nanobiotechnology applications that precede to integrated disease management of agricultural crops including precise diagnostic layout of plant diseases and modification of crop environments to adversely affect crop pathogens