Phytol: A review of biomedical activities

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Auguist 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyPhytol (PYT) is a diterpene member of the long-chain unsaturated acyclic alcohols. PYT and some of its derivatives, including phytanic acid (PA), exert a wide range of biological effects. PYT is a valuable essential oil (EO) used as a fragrance and a potential candidate for a broad range of applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. There is ample evidence that PA may play a crucial role in the development of pathophysiological states. Focusing on PYT and some of its most relevant derivatives, here we present a systematic review of reported biological activities, along with their underlying mechanism of action. Recent investigations with PYT demonstrated anxiolytic, metabolism-modulating, cytotoxic, antioxidant, autophagy- and apoptosis-inducing, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, immune-modulating, and antimicrobial effects. PPARs- and NF-κB-mediated activities are also discussed as mechanisms responsible for some of the bioactivities of PYT. The overall goal of this review is to discuss recent findings pertaining to PYT biological activities and its possible applications

Regulatory role of sphingosine kinase and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor signaling in progenitor/stem cells

10.4252/wjsc.v10.i9.119WORLD JOURNAL OF STEM CELLS109119-13

Enfoques del análisis transcriptómico en astrocitos: posibles objetivos farmacológicos

9 páginasLos astrocitos son células gliales importantes involucradas en la regulación iónica del líquido extracelular en el Sistema Nervioso Central (SNC), la formación de la barrera hematoencefálica (BHE) y el soporte de las neuronas para el mantenimiento de los intermediarios del ciclo de Krebs. Aunque se sabe que estas células son importantes para el funcionamiento del cerebro, varias de sus funciones y su desarrollo no se han dilucidado por completo. En este contexto, la identificación de los algoritmos utilizados para su análisis juega un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias en el estudio de los astrocitos. El objetivo principal de esta revisión es resumir las técnicas que han ayudado a obtener datos transcriptómicos en astrocitos y los nuevos algoritmos que se utilizaron para realizar el análisis de datos experimentales, dilucidando nuevos estudios en los que estos habían sido utilizados

Sleep Disorders Associated With Alzheimer's Disease: A Perspective

Sleep disturbances, as well as sleep-wake rhythm disturbances, are typical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that may precede the other clinical signs of this neurodegenerative disease. Here, we describe clinical features of sleep disorders in AD and the relation between sleep disorders and both cognitive impairment and poor prognosis of the disease. There are difficulties of the diagnosis of sleep disorders based on sleep questionnaires, polysomnography or actigraphy in the AD patients. Typical disturbances of the neurophysiological sleep architecture in the course of the AD include deep sleep and paradoxical sleep deprivation. Among sleep disorders occurring in patients with AD, the most frequent disorders are sleep breathing disorders and restless legs syndrome. Sleep disorders may influence circadian fluctuations of the concentrations of amyloid-β in the interstitial brain fluid and in the cerebrovascular fluid related to the glymphatic brain system and production of the amyloid-β. There is accumulating evidence suggesting that disordered sleep contributes to cognitive decline and the development of AD pathology. In this mini-review, we highlight and discuss the association between sleep disorders and AD