Nervous system, biochemistry

So what has gone wrong in the nervous system biochemistry of victims of depression The answer to that question is not completely clear but we have substantial insights. 

Bercik P, Verdu EF, Foster JA, et al. Chronic gastrointestinal inflammation induces anxiety-like behavior and alters central nervous system biochemistry in mice. Gastroenterology. 2010 139 2102—2112.e2101. 

In addition to its role in preventing scurvy (see Human Biochemistry box Ascorbic Acid and Scurvy and also Chapter 6), ascorbic acid also plays important roles in the brain and nervous system. It also mobilizes iron in the body, prevents anemia, ameliorates allergic responses, and stimulates the immune system. 

Liquid chromatography/electrochemistry (LCEC) has become recognized as a powerful tool for the trace determination of easily oxidizable and reducible compounds. This is because detection of as little as 0.1 pmol of material is readily accomplished with relatively simple and inexpensive equipment. Initial interest in LCEC was generated by the determination of several aromatic matabolites of tyrosine in the central nervous system. However, the application of LCEC into other areas of biochemistry has begun at a growing pace. A bibliography of LCEC applications is available... 

Methods for visualizing individual neurons and glia in vivo have depended for more than 100 years on histo-chemical reactions with cytoskeletal elements and even now these methods have not been surpassed. Because cytoskeletal structures play a particularly prominent role in the nervous system, cytoskeletal proteins represent a large fraction of total brain protein, comprising perhaps a third or more of the total. In fact, much of our knowledge about cytoskeletal biochemistry is based on studies of proteins purified from brain. The aims of this chapter are twofold first to provide an introduction to the cytoskeletal elements themselves and second to examine their role in neuronal function. Throughout, the emphasis will be on the cytoskeleton as a vital, dynamic component of the nervous system. 

The nervous system contains an unusually diverse set of intermediate filaments (Table 8-2) with distinctive cellular distributions and developmental expression [21, 22]. Despite their molecular heterogeneity, all intermediate filaments appear as solid, rope-like fibers 8-12 nm in diameter. Neuronal intermediate filaments (NFs) can be hundreds of micrometers long and have characteristic sidearm projections, while filaments in glia or other nonneuronal cells are shorter and lack sidearms (Fig. 8-2). The existence of NFs was established long before much was known about their biochemistry or properties. As stable cytoskeletal structures, NFs were noted in early electron micrographs, and many traditional histological procedures that visualize neurons are based on a specific interaction of metal stains with NFs. 

A series of International Neurochemical Symposia led to the organization of the International Society for Neurochemistry and subsequently the ASN. The first symposium volume (1954) was titled Biochemistry of the Developing Nervous System and the second volume (1956), contains an historically interesting chapter which begins ... 

Though some very elegant methods are now available to study the biochemistry of the brain and nervous system, none has yet discovered any generalized marker chemicals which will serve as reliable indicators or early warnings of neurotoxic actions or potential actions. There are, however, some useful methods. Before looking at these, however, one should understand the basic problems involved. 

We understand many aspects of the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the human nervous system. The central points are the subjects of this chapter. As we come to understand them, much of great interest will be revealed to us. We will get important insights into how the nervous system functions and, in disease, malfunctions. We will also begin to understand why many molecules are effective in treatment of mental health disorders or induce abnormal states of consciousness in people. 

It is the purpose of this chapter to discuss the neuroeffector, octopamine, and its related biochemistry in the arthropod nervous system as a target area for the rational discovery of control agents in the light of the criteria listed in Table I. 

Hong J-S, Tilson HA, Yoshikawa K Effects of lithium and haloperidol administration on the rat brain levels of Substance P. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 224 590-597, 1983 Honig A, Bartlett JR, Bouras N, et al Amino acid levels in depression a preliminary investigation. J Psychiatr Res 22 159-164, 1989 Honjo H, Ogino Y, Natitoh K, et al In vivo effects by estrone sulphate on the central nervous system on senile dementia [Alzheimer s type). Journal of Steroid Biochemistry 34 521-525, 1989... 

In designing drugs to target immune-mediated messengers, it is important to appreciate the anatomy and biochemistry of the immune system. The anatomy of the immune system is not nearly as well delineated as that for the other messenger systems, such as the nervous system. The foot soldiers of the immune system are the leukocytes (white blood cells), which do the majority of the work within the immune system. Leukocytes may be subcategorized as follows ... 

Nature is economical in her means. She uses many of the same chemicals to accomplish her nervous purposes within the brain that she has already used to the same ends throughout the body. The good news is that once you have worked out the biochemistry and pharmacology of a neuromodulator in the body, you can apply a lot of what you know to its action in the brain. The bad news is that every time you target, for example, the acetylcholine system of the brain, you also hit the body. That means that the heart, the bowel, the salivary glands, and all the rest of the organs innervated by the autonomic nervous system are influenced. What is worse, the target sites within the brain may not only be as spatially dispersed as in the periphery, but may also be as functionally differentiated ... 

Mcllwain, H., and Bachelard, H. S., Biochemistry and the Central Nervous System, Churchill Livingstone, London, 1971. 

Baldwin, J. (1971). Adaptation of enzymes to temperature acetylcholine esterases in the central nervous system of fishes. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 40 B, 181-187. 

Li JY, Jahn R, Dahlstrom A (1994) Synaptotagmin I is present mainly in autonomic and sensory neurons of the rat peripheral nervous system. Neuroscience 63 837-50 Li L, Binz T, Niemann H, Singh BR (2000) Probing the mechanistic role of glutamate residue in the zinc-binding motif of type A botulinum neurotoxin light chain. Biochemistry 39 2399-2405 Ludlow CL, Hallett M, Rhew K, Cole R, Shimizu T et al. (1992) Therapeutic use of type F botulinum toxin. N Engl J Med 326 349-50... 

In this chapter we will review the current state of knowledge about how pheromone production is regulated in female moths. Discussion of PBAN identification and localization within the nervous system will be followed by how PBAN acts to stimulate pheromone biosynthesis. The final major topic will be a discussion of mediators and inhibitors of PBAN action. A considerable amount of information has accumulated with regard to regulation of pheromone biosynthesis in moths since Pheromone Biochemistry (Prestwich and Blomquist, 1987) was first published, and this chapter is not all inclusive. Further information can also be obtained in several reviews (Raina, 1993 Jurenka, 1996 Teal et al., 1996 Rafaeli et al., 1997b Raina, 1997 Rafaeli, 2002). 

The biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and synthesis of the neuropeptides (peptides of the central nervous system) have been in the mainstream of research on... 

Thiamin was the first of the vitamins to be demonstrated to have a clearly defined metabolic function as a coenzyme indeed, the studies of Peters group in the 1920s and 1930s laid the foundations not only of nutritional biochemistry but also of modern metabolic biochemistry and neurochemistry. Despite this, the mechanism by which thiamin deficiency results in central and peripheral nervous system lesions remains unclear in addition to its established coenzyme role, thiamin regulates the activity of a chloride transporter in nerve cells. 

Modern biochemistry and particularly modern nucleic acid chemistry (molecular genetics) are forcing practitioners to re-evaluate their concepts of what constitutes specific diseases. Nowhere is this more evident than in diseases of the nervous system. (Hereditary ataxias are an example discussed above psychoses are an example discussed below.)... 

Professor Bartfai is Director of the Harold L. Dorris Neurological Research Institute, and Chair and Professor of Neuropharmacology at the Scripps Research Institute. He is a native Hungarian he studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry in Budapest. He has a Ph.D. from Stockholm University in biochemistry in 1973 and was Professor of Neurochemistry and Neurotoxicology at the University of Stockholm and Professor of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Karolinska Institute. He has held positions at Yale, UCLA, and Rockefeller University as visiting professor. In 1997, he became Head of Central Nervous System Research at Hoffman La Roche in Basel as Senior Vice Director. He has to this point a 25-year career with 300 publications and dozens of patents in the field of physiological chemistry. He specializes in neuropeptides but embraces other broad areas such as fever. 

Mandel, P. and DeFeudis, F.V., Eds., GABA—Biochemistry and CNS Functions, Plenum Press, New York, 1979 Costa, E. and Di Chiara, G., GABA and Benzodiazepine Receptors, Raven Press, New York, 1981 Racagni, G. and Donoso, A.O., GABA and Endocrine Function, Raven Press, New York, 1986 Squires, R.F., GABA and Benzodiazepine Receptors, CRC Press, Boca Raton, EL, 1988 Martin, D.L. and Olsen, R.W., GABA in the Nervous System The View at Fifty Years, Lippincott, Williams Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, 2000. 

In the mature nervous system, SCs can be divided into three classes based on thek morphology, biochemistry and fimction myeknating Schwann cells (MSCs), non-myeknating Schwann cells (NMSCs) andperisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs) (Figure 8.6). 

Healthy fatty acids like those found in avocados help protect the brain and nervous system from damage. Our brains are 60 percent fat, which needs to be replenished to build healthy brain cells. Avocados also contain more usable protein than an 8-ounce steak. They are alkalizing in the body and help regulate your blood s biochemistry. They make a great addition to salads, can be used to garnish chili or wraps, and can even be the key ingredient in chocolate or berry mousse. See chapter 8 for more recipe ideas. 

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