Remission of Suicidal Ideation in Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder with Flupenthixol

There are currently no licensed pharmacological treatments for Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. This case report describes a 50-year-old male who two years previously had been brought to the attention of psychiatric services following an overdose with intention to end his life. He was subsequently diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) and, following further suicide attempts and trials of mainstream pharmacological treatments, responded to flupenthixol IM 20 mg fortnightly, experiencing complete remission from his suicidal ideation. Clinicians should be aware of EUPD presenting in later life and should consider the role of typical antipsychotics, including flupenthixol, in the treatment of suicidal ideation in patients with EUPD. Age-specific guidance on EUPD management would be of use to clinicians, especially in the management of older patients, as current guidance is based on findings within a narrow age group.

Plant trans-golgi network/early endosome pH regulation requires cation chloride cotransporter (CCC1)

Plant cells maintain a low luminal pH in the Trans-Golgi-Network/Early Endosome (TGN/EE), the organelle in which the secretory and endocytic pathways intersect. Impaired TGN/EE pH regulation translates into severe plant growth defects. The identity of the proton pump and proton/ion antiporters that regulate TGN/EE pH have been determined, but an essential component required to complete the TGN/EE membrane transport circuit remains unidentified - a pathway for cation and anion efflux. Here, we have used complementation, genetically encoded fluorescent sensors, and pharmacological treatments to demonstrate that Arabidopsis Cation Chloride Cotransporter (CCC1) is this missing component necessary for regulating TGN/EE pH and function. Loss of CCC1 function leads to alterations in TGN/EE-mediated processes including endocytic trafficking, exocytosis and response to abiotic stress, consistent with the multitude of phenotypic defects observed in ccc1 knockout plants. This discovery places CCC1 as a central component of plant cellular function.

Active Targeted Nanoformulations via Folate Receptors: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

In normal tissues, the expression of folate receptors is low and limited to cells that are important for embryonic development or for folate reabsorption. However, in several pathological conditions some cells, such as cancer cells and activated macrophages, overexpress folate receptors (FRs). This overexpression makes them a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases to obtain a selective delivery of drugs at altered cells level, and thus to improve the therapeutic efficacy and decrease the systemic toxicity of the pharmacological treatments. Two strategies have been used to achieve this folate receptor targeting: (i) the use of ligands with high affinity to FRs (e.g., folic acid or anti-FRs monoclonal antibodies) linked to the therapeutic agents or (ii) the use of nanocarriers whose surface is decorated with these ligands and in which the drug is encapsulated. This manuscript analyzes the use of FRs as a target to develop new therapeutic tools in the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases with an emphasis on the nanoformulations that have been developed for both therapeutic and imaging purposes.

Pharmacological Management of Pattern Hair Loss

Pattern hair loss (PHL) is a condition that worsens with time and the only way it can be slowed down is with pharmacological intervention. Pharmacological treatments for PHL, from an evidenced-based perspective with respect to safety and efficacy, are limited to only two drugs, minoxidil and finasteride. However, there are a host of drugs being used, off-label with limited evidence. This article attempts to review the literature on this topic, and the authors add to this, with their experience of over two decades on incorporating pharmacologic treatments along with hair transplantation in their management of PHL.

Investigating Non-pharmacological Treatments for Psychological Problems Associated with Epilepsy: A Narrative Review

Epilepsy is one of the problems and diseases that accompanies a person for the rest of his/her life after diagnosis. This disease can severely affect a person’s physical condition and lead to psychological problems. Many patients with epilepsy suffer from psychological problems and are under the supervision of a psychiatrist, and they take medications to control the mental state. However, many patients are reluctant to take other medications, including psychiatric medications, due to long-term use of the drug. Therefore, in this study, we examined nonpharmacological treatments for psychological problems caused by epilepsy. In addition to developing epilepsy and receiving medications for the disease, these patients develop mental illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety, and cognitive processes that require treatment. After searching for texts published in various English language databases, the required items were obtained. First, some of the psychosocial consequences of epilepsy, including negative attitude towards epilepsy, social stigma, family factors, quality of life, and sexual activity, were evaluated. Furthermore, the concurrency of psychological disorders (stress, depression, anxiety, cognitive processes, and theory of mind) along with non-pharmacological treatments were investigated.

Long COVID a New Derivative in the Chaos of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Emergent Pandemic?

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a multisystem illness caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which can manifest with a multitude of symptoms in the setting of end-organ damage, though it is predominantly respiratory. However, various symptoms may remain after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, and this condition is referred to as “Long COVID” (LC). Patients with LC may develop multi-organ symptom complex that remains 4–12 weeks after the acute phase of illness, with symptoms intermittently persisting over time. The main symptoms are fatigue, post-exertional malaise, cognitive dysfunction, and limitation of functional capacity. Pediatric patients developed the main symptoms of LC like those described in adults, although there may be variable presentations of LC in children. The underlying mechanisms of LC are not clearly known, although they may involve pathophysiological changes generated by virus persistence, immunological alterations secondary to virus–host interaction, tissue damage of inflammatory origin and hyperactivation of coagulation. Risk factors for developing LC would be female sex, more than five early symptoms, early dyspnea, previous psychiatric disorders, and alterations in immunological, inflammatory and coagulation parameters. There is currently no specific treatment for LC, but it could include pharmacological treatments to treat symptoms, supplements to restore nutritional, metabolic, and gut flora balance, and functional treatments for the most disabling symptoms. In summary, this study aims to show the scientific community the current knowledge of LC.

A New Paradigm to Indicate Antidepressant Treatments

This article develops the idea that clinical depression can be seen as a typical human response, largely rooted in human culture, to events of loss or times of adversity. Various biological, psychological, and social factors may cause some individuals to have a depressive reaction that is ineffectually limited in time and/or severity. Recovery occurs mainly based on natural resilience mechanisms, which come into play spontaneously, but which are sometimes inhibited or blocked by specific pathological biopsychosocial mechanisms. One of the mechanisms for this could be the influence of the circuits that regulate pleasure and happiness, along the dorsal diencephalic connection (DDC) pathway from the forebrain to the midbrain via the habenula. Therapy works by undermining the biopsychosocial factors that prevent the natural recovery mechanism from working. Treatment should, therefore, be seen as facilitating rather than causing natural recovery. This approach is in line with the high recovery rate after placebo treatments and the positive influence of pharmacological treatments with completely different sites of action. Acceptance of this model means that when studying new treatments for depression, a new paradigm must be applied in which the relative value of antidepressant treatment is specifically weighted in terms of enabling the natural resilience process.