Papers by Anamaria Jurcau
Bioengineering, Nov 20, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Journal of Personalized Medicine, Nov 30, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Life
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Neural Regeneration Research, 2023
Journal of Personalized Medicine
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) represents an uncommon disorder characterized by cystic lung destr... more Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) represents an uncommon disorder characterized by cystic lung destruction and chronic respiratory failure. Lung damage caused by various mechanisms may represent a hypothesis for studying the association between LAM and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is the most prevalent autoinflammatory rheumatic disease and may affect the lungs as an extra-articular manifestation. Despite their distinct clinical presentations, the pathophysiology of both disorders includes dysregulated immunological function, abnormal cellular development, and inflammation. Current research suggests a potential relationship between RA and LAM, as some RA patients have been reported to develop LAM. However, the association of RA and LAM raises important therapeutic dilemmas. For this reason, the trajectory of a patient who was identified in our medical records as suffering from both LAM and RA, treated with many novel molecules and biological therapy, but with a negative outcome due...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Aging is the most prominent risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Aging associates with... more Aging is the most prominent risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Aging associates with a chronic inflammatory state both in the periphery and in the central nervous system, the evidence thereof and the mechanisms leading to chronic neuroinflammation being discussed. Nonetheless, neuroinflammation is significantly enhanced by the accumulation of amyloid beta and accelerates the progression of Alzheimer’s disease through various pathways discussed in the present review. Decades of clinical trials targeting the 2 abnormal proteins in Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid beta and tau, led to many failures. As such, targeting neuroinflammation via different strategies could prove a valuable therapeutic strategy, although much research is still needed to identify the appropriate time window. Active research focusing on identifying early biomarkers could help translating these novel strategies from bench to bedside.
Antioxidants
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, has increasing incidence, increasing ... more Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, has increasing incidence, increasing mortality rates, and poses a huge burden on healthcare. None of the currently approved drugs for the treatment of AD influence disease progression. Many clinical trials aiming at inhibiting amyloid plaque formation, increasing amyloid beta clearance, or inhibiting neurofibrillary tangle pathology yielded inconclusive results or failed. Meanwhile, research has identified many interlinked vicious cascades implicating oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and chronic neuroinflammation, and has pointed to novel therapeutic targets such as improving mitochondrial bioenergetics and quality control, diminishing oxidative stress, or modulating the neuroinflammatory pathways. Many novel molecules tested in vitro or in animal models have proven efficient, but their translation into clinic needs further research regarding appropriate doses, delivery routes, and possible side effects. Cell-ba...
Nutrients
The prolonged immobilization associated with COVID-19 infection and the restrictions imposed by t... more The prolonged immobilization associated with COVID-19 infection and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have determined major changes in physical activity and eating habits, with a negative impact on physical performance. This study monitored non-pharmacological interventions (diet therapy and probiotics) in managing sarcopenia for patients with recent SARS-CoV-2 history (14 days). A prospective study was performed on 200 patients (between December 2020–December 2021), with SPPB score < 9, randomly divided into: Group K—DP (93 patients) with dietary therapy (protein 1.2–1.5 g/kg) and probiotics for two months; and Group K—non-DP (107 patients) without diet therapy and probiotics. All patients were included in a specific physical training program (40 min), three sessions per week. Skeletal muscle index (SMI), serum albumin, and hemoglobin were determined. The SMI was initially low for both groups without significant statistical differences (6.5 ± 0.52 kg/m2 for Group K—non-DP...
Biomedicines
Despite the identification of an expanded CAG repeat on exon 1 of the huntingtin gene located on ... more Despite the identification of an expanded CAG repeat on exon 1 of the huntingtin gene located on chromosome 1 as the genetic defect causing Huntington’s disease almost 30 years ago, currently approved therapies provide only limited symptomatic relief and do not influence the age of onset or disease progression rate. Research has identified various intricate pathogenic cascades which lead to neuronal degeneration, but therapies interfering with these mechanisms have been marked by many failures and remain to be validated. Exciting new opportunities are opened by the emerging techniques which target the mutant protein DNA and RNA, allowing for “gene editing”. Although some issues relating to “off-target” effects or immune-mediated side effects need to be solved, these strategies, combined with stem cell therapies and more traditional approaches targeting specific pathogenic cascades, such as excitotoxicity and bioavailability of neurotrophic factors, could lead to significant improvem...
Biomedicines
Huntington’s disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease described 150 years ago by George ... more Huntington’s disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease described 150 years ago by George Huntington. The genetic defect was identified in 1993 to be an expanded CAG repeat on exon 1 of the huntingtin gene located on chromosome 4. In the following almost 30 years, a considerable amount of research, using mainly animal models or in vitro experiments, has tried to unravel the complex molecular cascades through which the transcription of the mutant protein leads to neuronal loss, especially in the medium spiny neurons of the striatum, and identified excitotoxicity, transcriptional dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, impaired proteostasis, altered axonal trafficking and reduced availability of trophic factors to be crucial contributors. This review discusses the pathogenic cascades described in the literature through which mutant huntingtin leads to neuronal demise. However, due to the ubiquitous presence of huntingtin, astrocytes are also dysfunctional, a...
Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research-Dementia, 2021
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2021
Its increasing incidence has led stroke to be the second leading cause of death worldwide. Despit... more Its increasing incidence has led stroke to be the second leading cause of death worldwide. Despite significant advances in recanalization strategies, patients are still at risk for ischemia/reperfusion injuries in this pathophysiology, in which neuroinflammation is significantly involved. Research has shown that in the acute phase, neuroinflammatory cascades lead to apoptosis, disruption of the blood–brain barrier, cerebral edema, and hemorrhagic transformation, while in later stages, these pathways support tissue repair and functional recovery. The present review discusses the various cell types and the mechanisms through which neuroinflammation contributes to parenchymal injury and tissue repair, as well as therapeutic attempts made in vitro, in animal experiments, and in clinical trials which target neuroinflammation, highlighting future therapeutic perspectives.
Romanian Journal of Neurology, 2008
Oxidative stress has a major role in the pathogenesis of ischemic and mainly of reperfusion injur... more Oxidative stress has a major role in the pathogenesis of ischemic and mainly of reperfusion injuries in many organs, including the brain. This is the reason why several researches were dedicated to finding efficient antioxidant therapies capable of reducing the extent of the lesions. The present paper shows that alpha-lipoic acid administered early in cardioembolic strokes can improve the functional outcome of the patients by reducing the oxidative stress.
Romanian Journal of Neurology, 2012
Introduction. Romania ranks third worldwide for stroke mortality. Although high blood pressure (B... more Introduction. Romania ranks third worldwide for stroke mortality. Although high blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for stroke incidence and determinant of outcome, the management of BP in acute stroke remains undefined. The present study assesses patients recruited into the 'Efficacy of Nitric Oxide in Stroke' (ENOS) trial from Romania, one of 19 participating countries. Methods. ENOS is an international multicentre prospective randomised controlled trial that is assessing the safety and efficacy of: (i) lowering BP with transdermal glyceryl trinitrate, and (ii) whether pre-stroke antihypertensive therapy should be continued or stopped temporarily, in acute ischaemic stroke or primary intracerebral haemorrhage (PICH). Interventions are given for 7 days and the primary outcome, modified Rankin Scale (mRS), is measured at 90 days. Results. 135 patients were recruited from 3 Romanian sites between March 2009 and August 2011; 56% of these patients were also in the contin...
Background: The prospective study aims at identifying features predictive of early onset of demen... more Background: The prospective study aims at identifying features predictive of early onset of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: 89 non-demented PD patients underwent a complex evaluation (demographic data, UPDRS, Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale - UMSAR, Insomnia Severity Index - ISI, Neuro-Psychiatric Inventory - NPI, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale - HDRS, Mini Mental State Examination) at baseline and at 3-year follow-up. Results: At 3-year follow-up 43.8% of patients developed dementia. An ordinal regression of MMSE at follow-up showed that dementia developed in patients with autonomic dysfunctions (odds ratio 16.18, 95% CI 3.16 to 82.77, p = 0.001), old age (odds ratio 1.24, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.39, p < 0.001), and insomnia (odds ratio 1.23, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.38, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with signs of autonomic dysfunction and insomnia are at higher risk for developing dementia and deserve closer monitoring of cognitive symptoms.
Biomedicines, 2022
Recanalization therapy is increasingly used in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. However, i... more Recanalization therapy is increasingly used in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. However, in about one third of these patients, recanalization is followed by ischemia/reperfusion injuries, and clinically to worsening of the neurological status. Much research has focused on unraveling the involved mechanisms in order to prevent or efficiently treat these injuries. What we know so far is that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are significantly involved in the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion injury. However, despite promising results obtained in experimental research, clinical studies trying to interfere with the oxidative pathways have mostly failed. The current article discusses the main mechanisms leading to ischemia/reperfusion injuries, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, excitotoxicity, and oxidative stress, and reviews the clinical trials with antioxidant molecules highlighting recent developments and future strategies.
Oxidative stress has been involved in the pathogenesis of several neurological diseases including... more Oxidative stress has been involved in the pathogenesis of several neurological diseases including acute stroke. The paper describes the main features of the oxygen and nitrogen reactive species, their role in damage caused by stroke, and briefly indicates the effects
Background: Oxidative stress in acute ischemic stroke was extensively evaluated in the past years... more Background: Oxidative stress in acute ischemic stroke was extensively evaluated in the past years. Attempts to influence it in animal models of stroke showed benefit, but in human clinical trials the results were disappointing. Material and Methods: The oxidative stress was evaluated by sequentially measuring the malondialdehyde levels in a series of 100 consecutive ischemic stroke patients. Stroke subtype was classified according to the TOAST criteria. Patients with undetermined stroke subtype and with other causes of increased oxidative stress were excluded. Results: Oxidative stress was significantly increased only in cardioembolic stroke. This can be explained by the fact that the embolus is not adherent to the vessel wall and often undergoes spontaneous fragmentation and lysis, reestablishing the blood flow. Spontaneous recanalisation of the vessel leads also to haemorrhagic transformation often seen in cardioembolic strokes. On the other hand, reestablishing the blood flow sup...
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience
With the larger variety of methods employed, recanalization therapy is increasingly used to treat... more With the larger variety of methods employed, recanalization therapy is increasingly used to treat acute ischemic stroke resulting in about one-third of patients undergoing early neurological deterioration, in which ischemia/reperfusion injuries are the main cause, leading to increases in the infarcted area, the no-reflow phenomenon, or hemorrhagic transformation. Efficient prevention or treatment of these injuries depends on extensive knowledge of the involved mechanisms. These pathways have dual, damaging, and neuroprotective effects, depending on the timing or protein subtype involved. The current article reviews the main mechanisms contributing to the pathophysiology of these injuries, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular calcium overload, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and neuroinflammation.
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Papers by Anamaria Jurcau