Glutamatergic deficits and parvalbumin-containing inhibitory neurons in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We have previously reported that the expression of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for the NR2A subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) class of glutamate receptor was decreased in a subset of inhibitory interneurons in the cerebral cortex in schizophrenia. In this study, we sought to determine whether a deficit in the expression of NR2A mRNA was present in the subset of interneurons that contain the calcium buffer parvalbumin (PV) and whether this deficit was associated with a reduction in glutamatergic inputs in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in schizophrenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined the expression of NR2A mRNA, labeled with a ³⁵S-tagged riboprobe, in neurons that expressed PV mRNA, visualized with a digoxigenin-labeled riboprobe via an immunoperoxidase reaction, in twenty schizophrenia and twenty matched normal control subjects. We also immunohistochemically labeled the glutamatergic axon terminals with an antibody against vGluT1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The density of the PV neurons that expressed NR2A mRNA was significantly decreased by 48-50% in layers 3 and 4 in the subjects with schizophrenia, but the cellular expression of NR2A mRNA in the PV neurons that exhibited a detectable level of this transcript was unchanged. In addition, the density of vGluT1-immunoreactive boutons was significantly decreased by 79% in layer 3, but was unchanged in layer 5 of the PFC in schizophrenia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings suggest that glutamatergic neurotransmission via NR2A-containing NMDA receptors on PV neurons in the PFC may be deficient in schizophrenia. This may disinhibit the postsynaptic excitatory circuits, contributing to neuronal injury, aberrant information flow and PFC functional deficits in schizophrenia.</p

Systematic review on noninvasive assessment of subclinical cardiovascular disease in obstructive sleep apnea: New kid on the block!

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a high burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but a causal relationship between OSA and atherosclerotic CVD remains unclear. We systematically reviewed the literature analyzing the relationship. A review of the Medline database for studies noninvasively evaluating subclinical CVD in OSA was conducted. A total of fifty-two studies were included in this review.Across the studies the prevalence of atherosclerosis, as assessed by coronary artery calcification, carotid intima-media thickness, brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and pulse wave velocity was higher in patients with OSA and correlated with increasing severity and duration of OSA.This study shows OSA is an independent predictor of subclinical CVD as CVD is more likely to occur in patients with long standing and severe OSA. Further research is however necessary to identify specific OSA populations that would benefit from aggressive screening

Research for City Practice

CITY KNOW-HOW: Planetary health and human health are influenced by city lifestyles, city leadership, and city development. Changing the trajectory requires concerted action, and the journal Cities & Health journal is dedicated to supporting the flow of knowledge, in all directions to help make this happen. We are dedicated to supporting communication between researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, communities and decision-makers in cities. The aim of the City Know-how section of the journal is to make research accessible to all, explaining the key messages to and for city leaders, communities and all those professions involved in city policy and practice. In response we would like to hear more about research priorities from those most closely connected with supporting health and health equity through everyday urban lives.No Full Tex

Academic domains as political battlegrounds: A global enquiry by 99 academics in the fields of education and technology

This article theorizes the functional relationship between the human components (i.e., scholars) and non-human components (i.e., structural configurations) of academic domains. It is organized around the following question: in what ways have scholars formed and been formed by the structural configurations of their academic domain? The article uses as a case study the academic domain of education and technology to examine this question. Its authorship approach is innovative, with a worldwide collection of academics (99 authors) collaborating to address the proposed question based on their reflections on daily social and academic practices. This collaboration followed a three-round process of contributions via email. Analysis of these scholars’ reflective accounts was carried out, and a theoretical proposition was established from this analysis. The proposition is of a mutual (yet not necessarily balanced) power (and therefore political) relationship between the human and non-human constituents of an academic realm, with the two shaping one another. One implication of this proposition is that these non-human elements exist as political ‘actors’, just like their human counterparts, having ‘agency’ – which they exercise over humans. This turns academic domains into political (functional or dysfunctional) ‘battlefields’ wherein both humans and non-humans engage in political activities and actions that form the identity of the academic domain.Full Tex