Multifarious Trajectories in Plant-Based Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Northern and Southern Eastern Europe

Over the last century in the European context, animal production has been transformed by the dynamics of centralization and decentralization due to political and economic factors. These processes have influenced knowledge related to healing and ensuring the welfare of domestic animals. Therefore, our study aimed to document and compare current and past ethnoveterinary practices, and to identify trajectories in ethnoveterinary knowledge in study regions from both northern and southern Eastern Europe. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, we conducted 476 interviews, recording the use of 94 plant taxa, 67 of which were wild and 24 were cultivated. We documented 452 use reports, 24 of which were related to the improvement of the quality or quantity of meat and milk, while the other 428 involved ethnoveterinary practices for treating 10 domestic animal taxa. Cattle were the most mentioned target of ethnoveterinary treatments across all the study areas, representing about 70% of all use reports. Only four plant species were reported in five or more countries (Artemisia absinthium, Hypericum spp., Linum usitatissimum, Quercus robur). The four study regions located in Northern and Southern Eastern Europe did not present similar ethnoveterinary knowledge trajectories. Bukovinian mountain areas appeared to hold a living reservoir of ethnoveterinary knowledge, unlike the other regions. Setomaa (especially Estonian Setomaa) and Dzukija showed an erosion of ethnoveterinary knowledge with many uses reported in the past but no longer in use. The current richness of ethnoveterinary knowledge reported in Bukovina could have been developed and maintained through its peculiar geographical location in the Carpathian Mountains and fostered by the intrinsic relationship between the mountains and local pastoralists and by its unbroken continuity of management even during the Soviet era. Finally, our results show some patterns common to several countries and to the veterinary medicine promoted during the time of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union and its centralized animal breeding system, resulted in a decline of ethnoveterinary knowledge as highly specialized veterinary doctors worked in almost every village. Future research should examine the complex networks of sources from where farmers derive their ethnoveterinary knowledge

Inventing a herbal tradition: The complex roots of the current popularity of Epilobium angustifolium in Eastern Europe

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Currently various scientific and popular sources provide a wide spectrum of ethnopharmacological information on many plants, yet the sources of that information, as well as the information itself, are often not clear, potentially resulting in the erroneous use of plants among lay people or even in official medicine. Our field studies in seven countries on the Eastern edge of Europe have revealed an unusual increase in the medicinal use of Epilobium angustifolium L., especially in Estonia, where the majority of uses were specifically related to “men's problems”. The aim of the current work is: to understand the recent and sudden increase in the interest in the use of E. angustifolium in Estonia; to evaluate the extent of documented traditional use of E. angustifolium among sources of knowledge considered traditional; to track different sources describing (or attributed as describing) the benefits of E. angustifolium; and to detect direct and indirect influences of the written sources on the currently documented local uses of E. angustifolium on the Eastern edge of Europe. Materials and methods: In this study we used a variety of methods: semi-structured interviews with 599 people in 7 countries, historical data analysis and historical ethnopharmacological source analysis. We researched historical and archival sources, and academic and popular literature published on the medicinal use of E. angustifolium in the regions of our field sites as well as internationally, paying close attention to the literature that might have directly or indirectly contributed to the popularity of E. angustifolium at different times in history. Results: Our results show that the sudden and recent popularity in the medical use of E. angustifolium in Estonia has been caused by local popular authors with academic medical backgrounds, relying simultaneously on “western” and Russian sources. While Russian sources have propagated (partially unpublished) results from the 1930s, “western” sources are scientific insights derived from the popularization of other Epilobium species by Austrian herbalist Maria Treben. The information Treben disseminated could have been originated from a previous peak in popularity of E. angustifolium in USA in the second half of the 19th century, caused in turn by misinterpretation of ancient herbals. The traditional uses of E. angustifolium were related to wounds and skin diseases, fever, pain (headache, sore throat, childbirth), and abdominal-related problems (constipation, stomach ache) and intestinal bleeding. Few more uses were based on the similarity principle. The main theme, however, is the fragmentation of use and its lack of consistency apart from wounds and skin diseases. Conclusions: Historical ethnobotanical investigations could help to avoid creating repeating waves of popularity of plants that have already been tried for certain diseases and later abandoned as not fully effective. There is, of course, a chance that E. angustifolium could also finally be proven to be clinically safe and cost-effective for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, but this has not yet happened despite recent intensive research. Documented traditional use would suggest investigating the dermatological, intestinal anti-hemorrhagic and pain inhibiting properties of this plant, if any

The Rat Brain Transcriptome: From Infancy to Aging and Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease-like Pathology

It has been suggested that functional traits of the adult brain—all of which are established early in life—may affect the brain’s susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Results of our previous studies on senescence-accelerated OXYS rats, a model of sporadic AD, support this hypothesis. Here, to elucidate the molecular genetic nature of the aberrations revealed during brain maturation, we analyzed transcriptomes (RNA-seq data) of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus of OXYS rats and Wistar (control) rats in the period of brain maturation critical for OXYS rats (ages P3 and P10; P: postnatal day). We found more than 1000 differentially expressed genes in both brain structures; functional analysis indicated reduced efficiency of the formation of neuronal contacts, presumably explained mainly by deficits of mitochondrial functions. Next, we compared differentially expressed genes in the rat PFC and hippocampus from infancy to the progressive stage of AD-like pathology (five ages in total). Three genes (Thoc3, Exosc8, and Smpd4) showed overexpression in both brain regions of OXYS rats throughout the lifespan. Thus, reduced efficiency of the formation of neural networks in the brain of OXYS rats in infancy likely contributes to the development of their AD-like pathology

Immunohistochemical localization of NGF, BDNF, and their receptors in a normal and AMD-like rat retina

Abstract Background Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness in developed countries, and the molecular pathogenesis of AMD is poorly understood. A large body of evidence has corroborated the key role of neurotrophins in development, proliferation, differentiation, and survival of retinal cells. Neurotrophin deprivation has been proposed to contribute to retinal-cell death associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Little is known about the expression of the immature form of neurotrophins (proneurotrophins) and their mature form [e.g., nerve growth factor (proNGF and mNGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (proBDNF and mBDNF)] in the retina during physiological aging and against the background of AMD. In addition, cell-specific localization of proteins NGF and BDNF in the retina during AMD development is not clear. Here, we evaluated contributions of the age-related alterations in the neurotrophin system to the development of AMD-like retinopathy in OXYS rats. Methods Male OXYS rats at preclinical (20 days), early (3 months), and late (18 months) stages of the disease and age-matched male Wistar rats (as controls) were used. We performed immunohistochemical localization of NGF, BDNF, and their receptors TrkA, TrkB, and p75NTR by fluorescence microscopy in retinal sections from OXYS and Wistar rats. Results We found increased NGF staining in Muller cells in 18-month-old OXYS rats (progressive stage of retinopathy). In contrast, we observed only subtle changes in the labeling of mature BDNF (mBDNF) and TrkB during the development of AMD-like retinopathy in OXYS rats. Using colocalization with vimentin and NeuN, we detected a difference in the cell type–specific localization of mBDNF between OXYS and Wistar rats. We showed that the mBDNF protein was located in Muller cells in OXYS rats, whereas in the Wistar retina, mBDNF immunoreactivity was detected in Muller cells and ganglion cells. During the development of AMD-like retinopathy, proBDNF dominated over mBDNF during increasing cell loss in the OXYS retina. Conclusions These data indicate that alterations in the balance of neurotrophic factors in the retina are involved in the development of AMD-like retinopathy in OXYS rats and confirm their participation in the pathogenesis of AMD in humans

Students’ Coping with Mental States Caused by Intrapersonal Conflict

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of internal conflict’s intensity among students according to three parameters (loneliness, guilt, and resentment), taking into account digital technology use. The research was conducted in 2020 in Moscow (Russian Federation) among 98 university students, who were diagnosed with intrapersonal conflict. Interviewing methods and Gestalt therapy were used to reduce the intensity of internal conflicts. The level of three parameters among students at the beginning and at the end of the study was taken into account: loneliness, resentment, guilt. The number of students with a high level of loneliness decreased 25 times (p≤0.001) after therapy. The number of students with an average level of loneliness increased because students with a high level of loneliness moved into this category. The number of students with a maximum level of resentment decreased fivefold, and there was a 17-fold decrease in students with a high level of resentment (p≤0.001). There were no students with a maximum level of guilt after the consultation, while the number of students with a high level of guilt decreased only 0.5 times (p≤0.05) because students from the previous category moved to this one. The most popular activities among students were Internet use (100% of students), reading books (61 students, p≤0.05 compared to the Internet use), and watching TV (32 students, p≤0.01)

Quantitative Metabolomic Analysis of Changes in the Rat Blood Serum during Autophagy Modulation: A Focus on Accelerated Senescence

Autophagy is involved in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and the removal of damaged proteins and organelles and is necessary to maintain cell metabolism in conditions of energy and nutrient deficiency. A decrease in autophagic activity plays an important role in age-related diseases. However, the metabolic response to autophagy modulation remains poorly understood. Here, we for the first time explored the effects of (1) autophagy activation by 48 h fasting, (2) inhibition by chloroquine (CQ) treatment, and (3) combined effects of fasting and CQ on the quantitative composition of metabolites in the blood serum of senescent-accelerated OXYS and control Wistar rats at the age of 4 months. By means of high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy, we identified the quantitative content of 55 serum metabolites, including amino acids, organic acids, antioxidants, osmolytes, glycosides, purine, and pyrimidine derivatives. Groups of 48 h fasting (induction of autophagy), CQ treatment (inhibition of autophagy), and combined effects (CQ + fasting) are clearly separated from control groups by principal component analysis. Fasting for 48 h led to significant changes in the serum metabolomic profile, primarily affecting metabolic pathways related to fatty acid metabolism, and led to metabolism of several amino acids. Under CQ treatment, the most affected metabolites were citrate, betaine, cytidine, proline, tryptophan, glutamate, and mannose. As shown by two-way ANOVA, for many metabolites the effects of autophagy modulation depend on the animal genotype, indicating a dysregulation of metabolome reactivity in OXYS rats. Thus, the metabolic responses to modulation of autophagy in OXYS rats and Wistar rats are different. Altered metabolites in OXYS rats may serve as potential biomarkers of the manifestation of the signs of accelerated aging. Metabolic signatures characteristic to fasting and CQ treatment revealed in this work might provide a better understanding of the connections between metabolism and autophagy