scholarly journals Neuroprotective Properties of Resveratrol and Its Derivatives—Influence on Potential Mechanisms Leading to the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2749
Author(s):  
Michał Wiciński ◽  
Anna Domanowska ◽  
Eryk Wódkiewicz ◽  
Bartosz Malinowski

The lack of effective Alzheimer’s disease treatment is becoming a challenge for researchers and prompts numerous attempts to search for and develop better therapeutic solutions. Compounds that affect several routes of the neurodegeneration cascade leading to the development of disease are of particular interest. An example of such substances is resveratrol and its synthetic and natural derivatives, which have gained popularity in recent years and show promise as a possible new therapeutic option in the approach to Alzheimer’s disease treatment. In this article, the state of the art evidence on the role of resveratrol (RSV) in neuroprotection is presented; research results are summarized and the importance of resveratrol and its derivatives in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease are underlined. It also focuses on various modifications of the resveratrol molecule that should be taken into account in the design of future research on drugs against Alzheimer’s disease.

Author(s):  
Sónia C. Correia ◽  
Paula I. Moreira ◽  
George Perry

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an intriguing and still unsolved puzzle that has attracted, over the last decades, the interest of the scientific community. Despite the limited knowledge regarding the initial cause(s) of AD, mitochondrial abnormalities have been pinpointed as one of the earliest and strongest events related with the pathological course of this complex neurodegenerative disease. In this sense, the present chapter addresses three distinct but connected pieces of the AD puzzle: (a) how could defects of mitochondrial bioenergetics and dynamics contribute to AD pathology? (b) Could mitochondrial defects promote the disease-defining amyloid-β‎ and tau pathologies, and vice versa? and (c) Are mitochondria feasible therapeutic targets to postpone AD symptomatology and neuropathology, and, if so, how and when? The understanding and connection of these puzzle pieces provide a more comprehensive picture about the fundamental role of mitochondrial (mal)function in the neurodegenerative processes that occur in AD and propels future research interventions aimed to forestall AD-related pathological phenotype by bolstering mitochondrial “health.”


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atif Mehmood ◽  
Muazzam Maqsood ◽  
Muzaffar Bashir ◽  
Yang Shuyuan

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may cause damage to the memory cells permanently, which results in the form of dementia. The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease at an early stage is a problematic task for researchers. For this, machine learning and deep convolutional neural network (CNN) based approaches are readily available to solve various problems related to brain image data analysis. In clinical research, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to diagnose AD. For accurate classification of dementia stages, we need highly discriminative features obtained from MRI images. Recently advanced deep CNN-based models successfully proved their accuracy. However, due to a smaller number of image samples available in the datasets, there exist problems of over-fitting hindering the performance of deep learning approaches. In this research, we developed a Siamese convolutional neural network (SCNN) model inspired by VGG-16 (also called Oxford Net) to classify dementia stages. In our approach, we extend the insufficient and imbalanced data by using augmentation approaches. Experiments are performed on a publicly available dataset open access series of imaging studies (OASIS), by using the proposed approach, an excellent test accuracy of 99.05% is achieved for the classification of dementia stages. We compared our model with the state-of-the-art models and discovered that the proposed model outperformed the state-of-the-art models in terms of performance, efficiency, and accuracy.


Babel ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-504
Author(s):  
Eirini Chatzikoumi

Abstract This article addresses the contribution of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to translation and, specifically, the use of Halliday’s metafunctions in translation studies research. The aim is to provide the state of the art of the main findings and proposals of these studies regarding the role of metafunctions in translation and translation teaching, thus evaluating their relevance and applicability in this field. In order to achieve this, six studies were reviewed, three of them dedicated to metafunctional shifts and three to the use of metafunctions in translation teaching and evaluation. This critical bibliographic review allowed for the corroboration of the contribution of SFL to the field of translation, and for the deduction of relevant aspects for future research and teaching proposals. More precisely, the relevance of the incorporation of semantic metafunctions in translator training and evaluation is confirmed, and the possibility of a distinction between obligatory and optional metafunctional translation shifts is suggested.


2017 ◽  
Vol 128 (8) ◽  
pp. 1426-1437 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.M.A. Engels ◽  
W.M. van der Flier ◽  
C.J. Stam ◽  
A. Hillebrand ◽  
Ph. Scheltens ◽  
...  

Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Doaa M. Hanafy ◽  
Geoffrey E. Burrows ◽  
Paul D. Prenzler ◽  
Rodney A. Hill

With an increase in the longevity and thus the proportion of the elderly, especially in developed nations, there is a rise in pathological conditions that accompany ageing, such as neurodegenerative disorders. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive and memory decline. The pathophysiology of the disease is poorly understood, with several factors contributing to its development, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, cholinergic neuronal apoptotic death, and the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the brain. Current medications are only palliative and cannot stop or reverse the progression of the disease. Recent clinical trials of synthetic compounds for the treatment of AD have failed because of their adverse effects or lack of efficacy. Thus, there is impetus behind the search for drugs from natural origins, in addition to the discovery of novel, conventional therapeutics. Mints have been used traditionally for conditions relevant to the central nervous system. Recent studies showed that mint extracts and/or their phenolic constituents have a neuroprotective potential and can target multiple events of AD. In this review, we provide evidence of the potential role of mint extracts and their derivatives as possible sources of treatments in managing AD. Some of the molecular pathways implicated in the development of AD are reviewed, with focus on apoptosis and some redox pathways, pointing to mechanisms that may be modulated for the treatment of AD, and the need for future research invoking knowledge of these pathways is highlighted.


Author(s):  
Kaan Varnali

Research focusing on consumer behavior in the mobile context is rapidly accumulating. However, the role of personality traits in explaining and predicting users’ perceptions regarding mobile services and behavior within the mobile context is conspicuously under-researched. If consumers are considered as dispositional entities, this lack of researcher interest on the role of personality traits on the value creation processes of mobile consumers should be scrutinized. Striving to provide guidance as to why and how to incorporate personality-based variables within prospective research models attempting to explain and predict consumer behavior in the mobile context, this research critically assesses the-state-of-the-art and presents a conceptual discussion regarding related future research avenues.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 274-274
Author(s):  
A.E. Barron ◽  
R. Itzhaki ◽  
J. Miklossy

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. PMC.S6509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wostyn ◽  
Kurt Audenaert ◽  
Peter Paul De Deyn

Alzheimer's disease is known to be the most common form of dementia in the elderly. It is clinically characterized by impairment of cognitive functions, as well as changes in personality, behavioral disturbances and an impaired ability to perform activities of daily living. To date, there are no effective ways to cure or reverse the disease. Genetic studies of early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease cases revealed causative mutations in the genes encoding β-amyloid precursor protein and the γ-secretase-complex components presenilin-1 and presenilin-2, supporting an important role of β-amyloid in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Compromised function of the choroid plexus and defective cerebrospinal fluid production and turnover, with diminished clearance of β-amyloid, may play an important role in late-onset forms of Alzheimer's disease. If reduced cerebrospinal fluid turnover is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, then therapeutic strategies to improve cerebrospinal fluid flow are reasonable. However, the role of deficient cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in Alzheimer's disease and the relevance of choroidal proteins as potential therapeutic targets to enhance cerebrospinal fluid turnover have received relatively little research attention. In this paper, we discuss several choroidal proteins, such as Na+-K+ ATPase, carbonic anhydrase, and aquaporin 1, that may be targets for pharmacological up-regulation of cerebrospinal fluid formation. The search for potentially beneficial drugs useful to ameliorate Alzheimer's disease by facilitating cerebrospinal fluid production and turnover may be an important area for future research. However, the ultimate utility of such modulators in the management of Alzheimer's disease remains to be determined. Here, we hypothesize that caffeine, the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the world, may be an attractive therapeutic candidate for treatment of Alzheimer's disease since long-term caffeine consumption may augment cerebrospinal fluid production. Other potential mechanisms of cognitive protection by caffeine have been suggested by recent studies.


Author(s):  
Laia Montoliu-Gaya ◽  
Sandra Villegas

Current therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) are focused on ameliorating symptoms instead of treating the underlying causes of AD. The accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) oligomers, whether by an increase in production or by a decrease in clearance, has been described as the seed that initiates the pathological cascade in AD. Developing therapies to target these species is a vital step in improving AD treatment. Aβ-immunotherapy, especially passive immunotherapy, is a promising approach to reduce the Aβ burden. Up to now, several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been tested in clinical trials on humans, but none of them have passed Phase III. In all likelihood, these trials failed mainly because patients with mild-to-moderate AD were recruited, and thus treatment may have been too late to be effective. Therefore, many ongoing clinical trials are being conducted in patients at the prodromal stage. New structures based on antibody fragments have been engineered intending to improve efficacy and safety. This review presents the properties of this variety of developing treatments and provides a perspective on state-of-the-art of passive Aβ-immunotherapy in AD.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noura Metawa ◽  
Mohamed Elhoseny ◽  
Maha Mutawea

PurposeThis paper aims to provide insights regarding the state of the art of digital transformation for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt and propose avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachA proposed framework for the digitization process in SMEs is developed by providing three layers of working steps toward full automation. The paper also provides an extensive analysis of the main requirements for improving the existing traditional information systems' performance in these enterprises. The challenges of digital transformation and the future research direction are discussed as well.FindingsThis paper provided an overview of the importance of digital transformation in real-life applications. The role of the information systems in building a digitalized information processing environment is covered as well. Also, a framework for the shifting process from the traditional approaches to the digitalized systems is proposed. Besides, the paper overviewed the future research directions related to digital transformation in SMEs, especially in Egypt. These research directions are related to technical challenges during the digital transformation process, such as cybersecurity, big data analytics and multimodality data.Originality/valueDespite the significant governmental and institutions' steps toward full automation and digital transformation, the traditional information systems, infrastructures, and unequipped employees make the digitizing process on-the-fly an open challenge. A technology shift that is not supported by a similar cultural change threatens digital business initiatives and increases the risk of their failure. This paper aims to provide insights regarding the state of the art of digital transformation for SMEs in Egypt and propose avenues for future research.


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