Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells engineered to overexpress growth factors accelerate outcomes in hair growth

Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) are used in tissue repair and regeneration; however, the mechanisms involved are not well understood. We investigated the hair growth-promoting effects of hUCB-MSCs treatment to determine whether hUCB-MSCs enhance the promotion of hair growth. Furthermore, we attempted to identify the factors responsible for hair growth. The effects of hUCB-MSCs on hair growth were investigated in vivo, and hUCB-MSCs advanced anagen onset and hair follicle neogeneration. We found that hUCB-MSCs co-culture increased the viability and up-regulated hair induction-related proteins of human dermal papilla cells (hDPCs) in vitro. A growth factor antibody array revealed that secretory factors from hUCB-MSCs are related to hair growth. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were increased in co-culture medium. Finally, we found that IGFBP-1, through the co-localization of an IGF-1 and IGFBP-1, had positive effects on cell viability; VEGF secretion; expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), CD133, and β-catenin; and formation of hDPCs 3D spheroids. Taken together, these data suggest that hUCB-MSCs promote hair growth via a paracrine mechanism.

Tardive Dyskinesia and Tardive Dystonia with Second-Generation Antipsychotics in Bipolar Disorder Patients Unexposed to First-Generation Antipsychotics

OBJECTIVES: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are frequently used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. However, there is still no consensus on their risk of tardive movement syndromes especially for first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs)-naive patients. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of SGAs-related tardive dyskinesia and tardive dystonia in patients with bipolar disorder, in a naturalistic out-patient clinical setting. METHODS: The authors assessed 78 non-elderly patients with bipolar (n = 71) or schizoaffective disorder (n = 7) who received SGAs with a combined use of mood stabilizers for more than three months without previous exposure to FGAs. Multiple direct assessments were performed and hospital records longer than one recent year describing any observed tardive movement symptoms were also reviewed. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of tardive dyskinesia and tardive dystonia were 7.7% and 6.4%, respectively. These patients were being treated with ziprasidone, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, or paliperidone at the time of the onset of the movement symptoms. Tardive dyskinesia was mostly observed in the orolingual area, and tardive dystonia was most frequently detected in oromandibular area. A past history of acute dystonia was significantly associated with presence of both tardive movement syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that SGAs-related tardive movement syndromes occur in a substantial portion of bipolar disorder patients. Acute dystonia, a reported risk factor of tardive movement syndromes in the era of FGAs is confirmed as a risk factor of both tardive dyskinesia and tardive dystonia that were induced-by SGAs.

Association Study of ANK3 Polymorphism and Risk of Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVES: Previous genome-wide association studies have indicated the association between ankyrin 3 (ANK3) and the vulnerability of schizophrenia. We investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering the whole ANK3 locus and schizophrenia in the Korean population. METHODS: The study subjects were 582 patients with schizophrenia and 502 healthy controls. Thirty-eight tag SNPs on ANK3 and five additional SNPs showing significant association with schizophrenia in previous studies were genotyped. RESULTS: Three (rs10994181, rs16914791, rs1938526) of 43 SNPs showed a nominally significant association (p < 0.05) with at least one genotype model. But none of these associations remained significant after adjusting for multiple testing errors with Bonferroni's correction. CONCLUSIONS: We could not identify a significant association between ANK3 and schizophrenia in the Korean population. However, three SNPs showing an association signal with nominal significance need to be investigated in future studies with higher statistical power and more specific phenotype crossing the current diagnostic categories.