Deborah Mash

..Adaptive changes in the SERT densities may contribute to depressed mood and drug craving associated with acute cocaine abstinence...

..These results demonstrate that immunologic and radioligand binding approaches afford specific labeling of the native transport protein in postmortem human brain...

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..However, the accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein with long-term cocaine abuse may put addicts at increased risk for developing the motor abnormalities of Parkinson's disease...

..Overexpression of alpha-synuclein may play a role in cocaine-induced plasticity and regulation of dopamine synaptic tone...

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..Deaths that occurred during winter and spring months accounted for about 70% of deaths among PSP patients. The most common co-morbid condition in PSP was hypertension, present in 50% of cases...

..Our results further demonstrate and expand the varied clinical picture of PSP. Furthermore, we report associations between older age at onset, early dementia, early falls and smoking with shorter PSP duration...

..Findings suggest that positive family history for dementia is associated with DLB with a yet unknown mechanism...

..Our results suggest an association between the severity of PD-related neuropathology in the insular cortex and OH. Further research into the subject is warranted...

..Although our results suggest significant extranigral involvement, the precise etiopathologic mechanisms responsible for the development of VH need further clarification...

..Better determination of subsets of PD patients based upon the presence of specific phenotypic features may improve the accuracy of association studies...

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..When combined with descriptions of the decedents' behavior prior to death, a 2-protein biomarker signature can serve as a reliable forensic tool for identifying the excited delirium syndrome at autopsy...

..These data agree with previous reports in postmortem brain of cocaine abusers and provide support for an association between alpha synuclein and cocaine dependence...

..Extracellular matrix remodeling in the hippocampus may be a persisting effect of chronic abuse that contributes to the compulsive and relapsing nature of cocaine addiction...

..The top gene reported here is the nuclear encoded MRPS6, a building block of the human mitoribosome of the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS). Impairments in mitochondrial OXPHOS have been linked to the pathogenesis of PD...

..Although the role of melatonin, a potent endogenous antioxidant, has been highlighted in PD there is no data on the expression of melatonin receptors in affected CNS regions...

..The "common" LRRK2 G2019S kinase domain substitution has been reported to account for approximately 5% of familial and 1% of sporadic Parkinson disease...

..These results indicate that cytopathology in the LC is an early event in the age-MCI-AD continuum and that it may be listed among the numerous factors that mediate the emergence of the cognitive changes leading to dementia...

..The present study did not find any SNCA multiplications in a series of 58 pathologically confirmed MSA cases excluding this event as a common cause of MSA. The question of a genetic component in MSA remains to be answered...

..Higher brain CYP2B6 activity in smokers and alcoholics may cause altered sensitivity to centrally acting drugs, increased susceptibility to neurotoxins and carcinogenic xenobiotics and contribute to central tolerance to nicotine...

..Knowledge of and an understanding of the current relevant forensic literature on this subject should be available to the reviewer prior to any interpretation of the significance of cocaine upon a specific death...

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..These data suggest that in alcoholics elevated brain CYP2D6 expression may contribute to altered sensitivity to centrally acting drugs and to the mediation of neurotoxic and behavioral effects of alcohol...

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..Furthermore, these changes may mediate persistent drug intake and craving in the human cocaine abuser...

..These convergent findings are consistent with the function of NPY as an anxiolytic peptide and help to explain inter-individual variation in resiliency to stress, a risk factor for many diseases...

..This genomic pathway approach may also offer insights into other complex diseases such as Alzheimer disease, diabetes mellitus, nicotine and alcohol dependence, and several cancers...

..Whether a similar relationship exists in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that frequently reflects a preclinical stage of AD, remains unknown...

..The Lrrk2 kinase domain G2019S substitution is the most common genetic basis of familial and sporadic parkinsonism. Patients harboring the G2019S substitution usually present with clinical Parkinson's disease...

..2.2]oct-7-enes by cycloaddition and subsequent cross-coupling reaction is described. Binding affinity of these novel compounds towards the characteristic receptorial targets of ibogaine is illustrated...

..These guidelines are intended for use by practicing medical examiners and physicians who certify drug deaths, as well as providing education tools for students...

..5' DAT variation is thus a good candidate to contribute to individual differences in a number of human phenotypes...

..These data support the idea that MDMA is a drug with high abuse liability, and long-term self-administration may lead to long-lasting deficits in serotonin neurotransmission...

..A better understanding of how cocaine abuse affects the CNS will facilitate the development of more successful prevention and treatment strategies. ..

..Together, these studies will provide a molecular and circuit-based accounting of the abnormalities in biogenic amine systems in cocaine toxicity. ..

..Both of these methods will be tested on GHB-spiked controls and residual blood and urine specimens obtained from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department and the Emergency Department of Jackson Memorial Hospital. ..

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..These studies may provide a basis for pharmacologically targeting multiple, interactive dysfunctions in the brain in order to halt cocaine abuse in chronic users...

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..A better understanding of how cocaine abuse affects the CNS will facilitate the development of more successful prevention and treatment strategies. ..