OBJECTIVE This work aimed to investigate the anti-epileptic effects of valepotriate isolated from Valeriana jatamansi Jones and studied its possible mechanisms. METHODS The anti-epileptic effects of valepotriate were studied using maximal electroshock-induced seizure (MES), pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced epilepsy, and pentobarbital sodium-induced sleeping model in mice. The possible anti-ep...

A rare kind of antibody, known as anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) autoantibody, is found in some patients. The antibody works against the GAD enzyme, which is essential in the formation of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter found in the brain. Patients found with this antibody present with motor and cognitive problems due to low levels or lack of GABA, because...

Abstract An active site is normally located inside enzymes, hence substrates should go through a tunnel to access the site. Tunnel engineering powerful strategy for refining catalytic properties of enzymes. Here, P450 Bs? HI (Q85H/V170I) derived from hydroxylase Bacillus subtilis was chosen as study model, which reported potential decarboxylase. However, this enzyme showed low decarboxylase act...

Stiff-person syndrome is an autoimmune syndrome defined by muscle spasms and rigidity of proximal and axial muscles. Glutamic acid decarboxylase is the autoantigen found in 60%–80% of stiff person syndrome patients. Stiff person syndrome, cerebellar variant was characterized in a subpopulation of patients (5 of 38) with stiff person syndrome and concomitant cerebellar dysfunction and confirmed ...

Background: Retinoic acid as one of the most important regulators for cell differentiation was examined in this study for differentiation of human umbilical mesenchymal cells (hUCM). Methods: After isolation, hUCM were evaluated for mesenchymal stem cell properties by flow cytometry and alkaline phosphatase assay. Also, doubling time of the cells and their differentiation potential into adipoge...