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Nanoparticles: The Promising Future of Advanced Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurological Disorders
Published in Suvardhan Kanchi, Rajasekhar Chokkareddy, Mashallah Rezakazemi, Smart Nanodevices for Point-of-Care Applications, 2022
Poojith Nuthalapati, Sudharshan Asaithambi, Malavika Kumar, Dinesh Reddy
Parkinson's disease is the second most prominent neurodegenerative condition worldwide, after Alzheimer's disease. It is seen in the absence of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain and the generation of α-synuclein aggregates (Lewy bodies). While now known to occur in the brain, pathological trends that arise from neurodegeneration in PD may potentially be due to impairment and depletion of several brain regions, including neurotransmitter concentrations and their metabolites, proteins that accumulate besides Lewy bodies, and others [24]. The symptoms of PD are mainly motor in nature. They include tardive dyskinesia, motor issues like tremors, slurred speech, writing problems, and non-motor issues like cognitive, mental, and autonomic problems. Owing to the drawbacks, the existing therapies for PD cannot prevent or alleviate the severity of the condition; instead, they only serve to improve the symptoms. On top of this, the inadequacy of medications for crossing the BBB is a difficulty in treating PD. To meet the sector's demands, more efficient care modalities must be produced in greater quantities. The nanotechnological method can tackle this issue since it has demonstrated notable efficacy in reversing or avoiding disease conditions, encouraging functional recovery of injured neurons, providing neuroprotection, and enabling the distribution of drugs that transcend the BBB [25].
Nano-System as Therapeutic Means
Published in Jyoti Ranjan Rout, Rout George Kerry, Abinash Dutta, Biotechnological Advances for Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Nanotechnology, 2022
Ananya Ghosh, Aniruddha Mukherjee
With almost 7–10 million cases globally, PD records as the second-most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in seniors after Alzheimer’s. The malady is typically caused by the selective degradation of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) that in turn downregulates the dopamine present in the striatum and Lewy bodies in the neurons. An initial assumption regarding PD was that unlike other neurodegenerative disorders, it does not cause any alterations in the BBB. Later, studies showed that drugs like verapamil and benserazide, which were previously incapable of passing the BBB in healthy animals, were found in abundance in the brains of PD affected animal models. Lewy bodies, which are α-synuclein and protein inclusions in neurons, were also associated with PD, causing the disintegration of the BBB. Additionally, metals, such as iron and manganese were found in profusion in brain lesions of PD patients and animal models. Lactoferrin receptor levels were also found increased in SN dopaminergic neurons of PD affected and implicated that neuronal iron uptake probably endorses dopaminergic neuronal degeneration.
Amphiphilic Nanocarrier Systems for Curcumin Delivery in Neurodegenerative Disorders
Published in Shaker A. Mousa, Raj Bawa, Gerald F. Audette, The Road from Nanomedicine to Precision Medicine, 2020
Miora Rakotoarisoa, Angelina Angelova
The second most common disorder, Parkinson’s disease (PD), affects more than 1% of the population over 60 years of age and 5% over 85. PD is characterized by progressive impairments in locomotive ability such as tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia. These symptoms are attributed to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the formation of Lewy bodies in the brain [8, 9]. Treatments are symptomatic and aim at boosting the depleted levels of dopamine (Table 33.1). The most used drug is levodopa. Dopamine agonists are used when the treatment by levodopa becomes less efficient. The inhibitors of MAO-B and COMT (safinamide, selegiline, rasagiline, and tolcapone) are used to inhibit the activity of the enzymes which degrade dopamine. These medications become less effective as the neurons are continuously lost during disease progression. At the same time, they produce complications marked by the involuntary movements of the patients [8, 9].
Comprehensible instructions from assistive robots for older adults with or without cognitive impairment
Published in Assistive Technology, 2022
Yuko Nishiura, Misato Nihei, Kana Takaeda, Takenobu Inoue
However, evidence of the effectiveness and adaptability of assistive robots is still limited. There were no discussions about what instructions and how approaches from assistive robots are suitable for people with dementia. Dementia is a syndrome with multiple causes like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), etc. (Gale et al., 2018), and is characterized by symptoms such as memory deficit, attention deficit, disorientation (Fujii et al., 2018; Little, 2018). In addition, severity of symptoms changes easily (Lorenz et al., 2017). As a result, older people could use assistive robots for unmet needs and cognitive functions for some time, and could not use them for a long period with positive effects (Kenigsberg et al., 2019; Lorenz et al., 2017). Therefore, it is important that robot instructions are understandable based on individual cognitive characteristics and levels.
Paraquat and Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 2019
Carolina Vaccari, Regina El Dib, Huda Gomaa, Luciane C Lopes, João Lauro de Camargo
As for specificity, an updated interpretation of this viewpoint (Fedak et al. 2015) would rely on detailed experimental studies to identify specific modes and mechanisms of action of the chemical. In the case of paraquat, oxidative stress, astrocyte senescence, alpha-synuclein aggregation, and dopaminergic neurons death are not specific mechanisms through which paraquat might induce PD (Chinta et al. 2018; Kuter et al. 2010; Wakabayashi et al. 2007). For example, alpha-synuclein aggregates (Lewy bodies) are present in conditions other than PD (Kosaka 2014), and there are numerous reasons for their formation including polymorphisms and mutations in the SNCA gene (Singleton et al. 2003) and ineffective ubiquitin-proteasome system (Smith 2018), unrelated to paraquat. Thus, it is advisable to presume non-specificity in the relationship between paraquat and PD.
A survey on computer vision techniques for detecting facial features towards the early diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly
Published in Systems Science & Control Engineering, 2019
Zixiang Fei, Erfu Yang, David Day-Uei Li, Stephen Butler, Winifred Ijomah, Huiyu Zhou
Dementia is progressive cognitive disorder, which typically features cognitive impairments such as memory and language impairment. Dementia involves specific neuropathological changes, including extracellular and intraneuronal parenchymal lesions. As detection of these neuropathological changes cannot be carried out when the patients are alive (Dubois et al., 2010), dementia detection often involves a probabilistic diagnosis. Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells, which leads to abnormal cellular operation and communication. Furthermore, damage to different parts of the brain is found to typically relate to different types of dementia (‘Dementia – Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Tests, Treatment, Care alz.org,’ n.d.). The common types of dementia are Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Vascular Dementia, and Fronto-Temporal Dementia (Gaugler, James, Johnson, Scholz, & Weuve, 2016). Among these types, the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, as 60% to 80% of dementia patients suffering from this type of dementia (Blennow, de Leon, & Zetterberg, 2006).