Relationship of cognitive measures to mRNA levels in lymphocytes from patients with schizophrenia and controls.

Patients with schizophrenia show substantial cognitive deficits and abnormalities in neurotransmitter-related levels of mRNA in brain or peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, the relationship of cognitive deficits as measured by the MATRICS battery and mRNA levels in brain or lymphocytes has not been sufficiently explored. We measured levels of methylation or neurotransmitter-related mRNAs in lymphocytes of 38 patients with chronic schizophrenia (CSZ) and 33 non-psychotic controls (controls) by qPCR using TaqMan probes. We assessed cognitive function in these patients and controls with the MATRICS battery. We used correlation analysis and scatter plots to assess the relationship of lymphocyte mRNA levels to MATRICS domain and composite scores. CSZ subjects had a consistently negative correlation between mRNA levels in lymphocytes and MATRICS cognitive variables of speed of processing, attention-vigilance, working memory, visual learning, and overall composite score. It is uncertain whether these negative correlations represent a causative relation between specific mRNA levels and cognitive deficits. Controls had either positive correlations or non-significant correlations between mRNA and most of the MATRICS variables. There were statistically significant differences in the correlations between mRNA and MATRICS variables between CSZ vs controls for several mRNAs (DNMT1, DNMT3A, BDNF, NR3C1, FPRF3, CNTNAP2). Our data show a different relationship between mRNA levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes and MATRICS cognitive variables in CSZ vs controls. The substantive significance of these differences needs further investigation.

Cracking the intestinal lymphatic system window utilizing oral delivery vehicles for precise therapy.

Oral administration is preferred over other drug delivery methods due to its safety, high patient compliance, ease of ingestion without discomfort, and tolerance of a wide range of medications. However, oral drug delivery is limited by the poor oral bioavailability of many drugs, caused by extreme conditions and absorption challenges in the gastrointestinal tract. This review thoroughly discusses the targeted drug vehicles to the intestinal lymphatic system (ILS). It explores the structure and physiological barriers of the ILS, highlighting its significance in dietary lipid and medication absorption and transport. The review presents various approaches to targeting the ILS using spatially precise vehicles, aiming to enhance bioavailability, achieve targeted delivery, and reduce first-pass metabolism with serve in clinic. Furthermore, the review outlines several methods for leveraging these vehicles to open the ILS window, paving the way for potential clinical applications in cancer treatment and oral vaccine delivery. By focusing on targeted drug vehicles to the ILS, this article emphasizes the critical role of these strategies in improving therapeutic efficacy and patient outcomes. Overall, this article emphasizes the critical role of targeted drug vehicles to the ILS and the potential impact of these strategies on improving therapeutic efficacy and patient outcomes.

Cracking Brain Diseases from Gut Microbes-Mediated Metabolites for Precise Treatment.

The gut-brain axis has been a subject of significant interest in recent years. Understanding the link between the gut and brain axis is crucial for the treatment of disorders. Here, the intricate components and unique relationship between gut microbiota-derived metabolites and the brain are explained in detail. Additionally, the association between gut microbiota-derived metabolites and the integrity of the blood-brain barrier and brain health is emphasized. Meanwhile, gut microbiota-derived metabolites with their recent applications, challenges and opportunities their pathways on different disease treatment are focus discussed. The prospective strategy of gut microbiota-derived metabolites potential applies to the brain disease treatments, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, is proposed. This review provides a broad perspective on gut microbiota-derived metabolites characteristics facilitate understand the connection between gut and brain and pave the way for the development of a new medication delivery system for gut microbiota-derived metabolites.

Deficits in odor discrimination versus odor identification in patients with schizophrenia and negative correlations with GABAergic and DNA methyltransferase mRNAs in lymphocytes.

Introduction: People with schizophrenia have been reported to show deficits in tests of olfactory function. DNA methylation and GABAergic input have been implicated in biochemical processes controlling odor in animal studies, but this has not been investigated in human studies. Methods: In a study of measures of DNA methylation and GABAergic mRNAs in lymphocytes, we also measured odor identification and discrimination with the Sniffin' Sticks battery in 58 patients with chronic schizophrenia (CSZ) and 48 controls. mRNAs in lymphocytes were assessed by qPCR using TaqManTM probes. Cognition was assessed by the MATRICS battery (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) in CSZ and controls, and symptoms in CSZ were assessed by PANSS scale (Positive and Negative Symptom Scale). The relationships of odor deficits with mRNA, cognition, and symptoms were explored by correlation analysis. Variables which significantly differentiated CSZ from controls were explored by logistic regression. Results: Overall, CSZ showed significantly (P≤.001) lower scores on odor discrimination compared to controls, with a moderate effect size, but no difference in odor identification. Deficits in odor discrimination, which has not been standardly assessed in many prior studies, strongly differentiated CSZ from controls. In logistic regression analysis, odor discrimination, but not odor identification, was a significant variable predicting schizophrenia versus control class membership. This is the first study to report relationship between odor deficits and DNA methylation and GABAergic mRNAs in blood cells of human subjects. There were negative correlations of odor identification with DNA methylation enzymes mRNAs and significant negative correlations with odor discrimination and GABAergic mRNAs. Lower odor scores were significantly associated with lower cognitive scores on the MATRICS battery in CSZ but not control subjects. In CSZ, lower odor scores were significantly associated with negative symptom scores, while higher odor identification scores were associated with PANNS Excitement factor. Discussion: Odor discrimination was a more powerful variable than odor identification in discriminating CSZ from controls and should be used more regularly as an odor measure in studies of schizophrenia. The substantive meaning of the negative correlations of odor discrimination and GABAergic mRNA variables in peripheral lymphocytes of CSZ needs more investigation and comparison with results in neural tissue.