Search results for: Akhlaq A. Farooqui
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Molecular Neurobiology > 2018 > 55 > 9 > 7389-7400
The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory that “kidneys give rise to marrow, and the brain is the sea of marrow” has been a guide for the clinical application of kidney, qi and blood tonics for prevention and treatment of dementia and improvement in memory. As low resistance end-organs, both the brain and the kidneys are subjected to blood flow of high volumes throughout the cardiac cycle. Alzheimer’s...
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex and devastating clinical condition that produces loss of motor and sensory functions below the injury site, often affecting young and healthy individuals throughout the world (Beattie et al., 2000). Functional recovery is very limited because injured axons within the brain and spinal cord are unable to regenerate spontaneously and therapeutic strategies to reestablish...
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Ceramide (N-acylsphingosine) forms the backbone of all complex sphingolipids. It is composed of the long-chain sphingoid base, sphingosine, in N-linkage to a variety of acyl groups (varying in length from C14 to C26) (Fig. 8.1). In addition to serving as a precursor to complex sphingolipids, ceramide is a potent signaling molecule capable of regulating vital cellular functions.
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The cannabinoid system-mediated signaling involves specific G protein-coupled receptors (CB1, CB2, and CB3), exogenous (marijuana-derived cannabinoids), endogenous cannabinoids ligands (2-arachidonoylglycerol, anandamide, noladin, virodhamine, and N-arachidonyl-dopamine), and a machinery associated with the synthesis and degradation of endocannabinoid. The endocannabinoid system is associated with...
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Eicosanoids are signaling molecules generated through enzymic oxidation of arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) by cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and 2) (O’Banion, 1999; Vane et al., 1998; Phillis et al., 2006), lipoxygenases (LOX) (Kuhn and O’Donnell, 2006; Kim et al., 2008), and epoxygenases (EPOX) (Phillis et al., 2006; Spector, 2009). Eicosanoids include prostaglandins (PGs), leukotriene (LTs), lipoxins (LXs),...
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Neurodegeneration is a complex, progressive, and multifaceted process that results in neural cell dysfunction and death in brain and spinal cord. Adult brain and spinal cord contain terminally differentiated postmitotic neurons with downregulated cell division controlling mechanisms (silencing of cyclin-dependent kinases) and upregulated anti-apoptotic mechanisms such as neurotrophic factor signaling,...
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Sphingosine is an 18-carbon amino alcohol with an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain. It is found in sphingolipids (cerbroside, sulfatide, and ganglioside) as well as phospholipid (sphingomyelin) (Fig. 9.1). Sphingomyelin (SM) is the major membrane sphingolipid and is the precursor for ceramide and sphingosine. Like ceramide, sphingosine not only regulates activities of phospholipases (PLA2, PLC, and PLD),...
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Neurodegenerative diseases are a debilitating group of diseases associated with site-specific premature and slow death of specific neuronal populations and synapses in brain and spinal cord that modulate thinking, skilled movements, decision making, cognition, and memory (Graeber and Moran, 2002; Soto and Estrada, 2008). These diseases include Alzheimer disease (AD), Parkinson disease (PD), Huntington...
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Normalfunctioning of brain requires a very high metabolic rate, which is obtained by an uninterrupted supply of both glucose and oxygen. Glucose and oxygen are needed by brain for the production of ATP, which maintains the high metabolic rate. High metabolic rate is required for maintaining the appropriate ionic gradients across the neural membranes (low intracellular Na+, high K+, and very low cytosolic...
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n–3 and n–6 fatty acids are the major families of PUFA that are components of the human diet. After ingestion, both n–3 and n–6 fatty acids are distributed to every cell in the body where they are actively involved in many physiological processes, including modulation of cardiovascular, immune, hormonal, metabolic, neuronal, and visual functions (Farooqui, 2009). At the cellular level, these...
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Neuroprotectins and resolvins are subfamilies of endogenous oxygenated metabolites derived from n-3 or ω-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5, EPA and docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6, DHA) (Serhan et al., 2000, 2002; Hong et al., 2003; Marcheselli et al., 2003). EPA not only modulates neuronal activity, but also participates in balancing the immune function by reducing arachidonic acid (20:4, ARA)...
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Lysophospholipids are metabolic intermediates in glycerophospholipid metabolism. In unstimulated neural cells, lysophospholipids occur at low levels (0.5–3%). They are transiently synthesized during the remodeling of glycerophospholipids (Farooqui et al., 2000a). Lysophospholipids interact with neural membrane’s lipid and enzyme components and modulate activities of membrane-associated enzymes and...
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Interest in the potential health benefits of fish oil increased immensely after epidemiological studies indicated a remarkably low incidence of death from ischemic heart disease in Greenland Eskimos, despite their consumption of a high-fat and cholesterol-enriched diet (Bang et al., 1976). Low incidences of ischemic heart disease have also been reported in coastal-dwelling Turkish and Japanese populations...
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Neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases are mediated by synergistic action of excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and misfolding and deposition of specific proteins in the brain tissue (Fig. 10.1) (Farooqui, 2009a). Among neurotraumatic diseases, the onset of stroke may be modulated by age, genes, diet, and lifestyle. Spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI)...
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Traumatic brain injury is a silent epidemic and major source of death and disability worldwide in modern society. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.4 million US individuals sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) per year of which, approx 50,000 people die from TBI each year and 85,000 people suffer long-term disabilities. In the USA, more than 5.3 million...
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Neural membranes are composed of phospholipids, sphingolipids, cholesterol, and proteins. The distribution of lipids in two leaflets of lipid bilayer is asymmetric (Ikeda et al., 2006; Yamaji-Hasegawa and Tsujimoto, 2006). Asymmetric distribution of lipids is needed for structural integrity necessary for protein function. Sphingolipids and cholesterol interact with each other via hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic...
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Stroke (ischemic injury) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, accounting for 5 million deaths per year. Oxygen deprivation due to stroke leads to rapid neuronal death and dysfunction of the body part controlled by the affected neurons. Thus, stroke is not only responsible for mortality and morbidity but also for serious long-term disability, including paralysis, cognitive deficits,...
