Role of Cytokines in Schizophrenia

Role of Cytokines in Schizophrenia Introduction: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder. Over 1% of the world population is affected by this mental disorder (Bakhshi Chance, 2015). A cytokine hypothesis has been proposed, which elucidates the role of cytokines in this disease. Cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-ÃŽÂ ±, sIL-2R, and IL-1RA were found to be over-expressed by the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (Potvin et al., 2008; Goldsmith et al., 2016), in which interleukin-6 is considered to be the key player in schizophrenia. IL-6 has glycoprotein gp130 as a common membrane receptor and as a signal transducer, which can have both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory effects (Scheller et al., 2011). The anti-inflammatory effects of interleukins present in the blood serum of patients with schizophrenia must be understood. Upcoming therapeutic research focuses on astrocytes due to their expression of class II MHC antigens and the production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines. The hypothesized outcome is that IL-6 also induces anti- inflammatory effects which help the astrocytes to maintain the homeostasis. This will enable the researchers to explore further the pathophysiology of schizophrenia based on the cytokine hypothesis. The effects of IL-6 on astrocytes will open the door to a new area of research and will help in exploring the effects. The impact of the research on Healthcare: According to the data and statistics from the community studies of the European Union (EU), 27% of the adult population experienced at least one mental disorder in the past year (World Health, 1992). In Ireland, both private healthcare sector and public healthcare sector exists to assist the people of Republic of Ireland during an illness (Book, 2007). The Irish legislations Health Act 2004 governs the public health care system which is responsible for the people living in Ireland (Pearson et al., 2012). In the year 2010, à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2,862 Euros was spent on the health of a single individual residing in Ireland of which 79% was provided by the Irish government (Pearson et al., 2012). Looking the statistics, it is summarized that nearly seven people out of 100 spend the money for treating schizophrenia that would be approximately à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬20,900 Euros. Biomarkers are biological markers such as viral proteins, cytokine, hormones, etc. which can be used as a measurable indicato r of the biological state or condition (OConnell et al., 2014).   The main challenges in the biomarkers identification of schizophrenia are the unknown pathophysiology. However, biomarkers such as cytokines are considered due to the development of new hypotheses such as the cytokine hypothesis (Mansur et al., 2012). Understanding the roles of IL-6 in schizophrenia, can be used as a biomarker for the initial clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia patients, and to help create individualized treatment plans. The timescale for a product launch: If the research is proven successful, IL-6 based biomarker assays and treatments will be developed as a product from pharmaceutical companies. The developed products such as biomarker assays for IL-6 over or under expression detection and anti-IL-6 drugs will undergo the process of ethical approval and clinical trials which include four major stages. They are pre-clinical trials, clinical trials (Phase I, II and III), ethical approval and marketing (Phase IV) which would take a period of 20 to 30 years (DiMasi et al., 2003). There are anti-IL-6 drugs already in the market for the treatment of diseases which are related to Auto-immunity and other immune-based diseases which can cross the blood-brain barrier. These drugs may take a period of 8 -15 years to is the anticipated timescale for the proposed benefits to come into the market for the utilization of the schizophrenia patients. The importance of the product: The anti-inflammatory effects of IL-6 occur due to classical signaling pathway in which IL-6 binds to the membrane-bound cell surface receptor (IL-6R). Trans-signaling pathway provides the pro-inflammatory implications of the IL-6 (Scheller et al., 2011). Blocking the Trans-signaling pathway of the IL-6 is the target for the anti-IL-6 drugs. This might hold the capabilities for the treatment of Schizophrenia. The biomarker assays for IL-6 detection may help a person to identify whether the person is susceptive to schizophrenia shortly. This can help the doctor to give personalized treatment for the person based on the medical technologies available. The importance of the IL-6 product can be understood from the article Young people have the highest rate of psychiatric admissions which was published in Irish Times on 21 July 2016. The article discussed the young people (20 to 24) who are getting admitted to psychiatric hospitals for the 2015 (Edwards, 2016). The major diseases diagnosed for the admission are schizophrenia, depression, alcoholic disorders and mania which increases day by day (Edwards, 2016). Correlation with public, governmental and business sectors Public awareness campaigns and outreach to the doctors is the primary step in spreading the importance of the IL-6 as a biomarker for schizophrenia research. The second phase would be to use the primary media tools such as newspaper and radios so that the people does not expect from the research or get panic or distressed by the research. If the product is ethically permitted and the research becomes a success a contract between a pharmaceutical company or a medical diagnostic device company for establishing the result in the society. The completed biomarker assays for IL-6 detection product would be straightforward and easy to use similar to us such as a blood sugar and cholesterol test which can be utilized by the public without the doctors supervision. Biomarker assay kinds of products are advertised in the media such as television, newspaper, the internet, etc. for the maximum dissemination of the product. In the case of anti-IL-6 drugs, a patent is claimed by the pharma company which owns the contract, and a certain amount of percentage is given as royalty to the researcher. The patent is registered in a common government body, and the prize is sometimes fixed by the government of the country which accepts the drug. Conclusion: Schizophrenia is perhaps the most daunting psychiatric disorder, characterized by its life-altering symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions. There is currently no precise explanation of its pathophysiology. Schizophrenia is explained as the biochemical imbalance in the brain which may exist due to many factors. Upcoming therapeutic research focuses on astrocytes due to its expression of class II MHC antigens and the production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines. By combining the Cytokine hypothesis and Neurodevelopmental hypothesis, it is possible to understand the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the role of astrocytes in maintaining the homeostasis and cytoarchitecture of the brain. The cytokine IL-6 has been regarded as a pro-inflammatory cytokine, but it also has many anti-inflammatory and regenerative activities. Understanding the roles of IL-6 in schizophrenia can be used for the initial clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia patients, and to help create individuali zed treatment plans. Products such as biomarker assays for IL-6 and anti-IL-6 drugs can be developed for the treatment of schizophrenia from the research. The anticipated timescale for these drugs or assays to come into the market can take a period of 8 -15 years. A decade is not a big issue for the young people who are getting admitted to psychiatric hospitals diagnosed a schizophrenic patient. This can help the doctor to give personalized treatment for the person based on the medical technologies available. References: Bakhshi, K. Chance, S.A. (2015) The neuropathology of schizophrenia: A selective review of past studies and emerging themes in brain structure and cytoarchitecture. Neuroscience, 303, 82-102. Book, I.S. (2007) Irish Statute Book. DiMasi, J.A., Hansen, R.W. Grabowski, H.G. (2003) The price of innovation: new estimates of drug development costs. Journal of health economics, 22, 151-185. Edwards, E. (2016) Young people have highest rate of psychiatric admissions. In Secondary Edwards, E. (ed) Secondary Young people have highest rate of psychiatric admissions, pp. Pages, http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/young-people-have-highest-rate-of-psychiatric-admissions-1.2729673 (February 24, 2017). Goldsmith, D.R., Rapaport, M.H. Miller, B.J. (2016) A meta-analysis of blood cytokine network alterations in psychiatric patients: comparisons between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Mol Psychiatry, 21, 1696-1709. Mansur, R.B., Zugman, A., Asevedo, E.M., da Cunha, G.R., Bressan, R.A. Brietzke, E. (2012) Cytokines in schizophrenia: possible role of anti-inflammatory medications in clinical and preclinical stages. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 66, 247-260. OConnell, K.E., Thakore, J. Dev, K.K. (2014) Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels are raised in female schizophrenia patients treated with clozapine. Schizophr Res, 156, 1-8. Pearson, M., Lafortune, G. Vincent, F. (2012) Health spending in Europe falls for the first time in decades. In Secondary Pearson, M., Lafortune, G. Vincent, F. (eds) Secondary Health spending in Europe falls for the first time in decades, pp. Pages, http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/healthspendingineuropefallsforthefirsttimeindecades.htm (February 24, 2017). Potvin, S., Stip, E., Sepehry, A.A., Gendron, A., Bah, R. Kouassi, E. (2008) Inflammatory cytokine alterations in schizophrenia: a systematic quantitative review. Biol Psychiatry, 63, 801-808. Scheller, J., Chalaris, A., Schmidt-Arras, D. Rose-John, S. (2011) The pro- and anti-inflammatory properties of the cytokine interleukin-6. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1813, 878-888. World Health, O. (1992) The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders : clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. World Health Organization, Geneva.

Example of Interview Protocol

Interview Protocol: 1. How would you define biology? 2. How would you define life? 3. Give 5 examples of life and explain why they exhibit life. 4. What is the smallest unit of life? 5. Is soil alive? Why or why not? 6. Is air alive? Why or why not? 7. What body part makes us most alive? Why? Interview #1 Interviewer (LH): How would you define biology? Interviewee (BM): Um.. as a part of life LH: Okay, how would you define life? BM: Uh.. everything around you†¦from the sky to the grass LH: Can you give 5 examples of life and explain why they exhibit life.BM: Plants, because you need them to breathe oxygen, yourself, because you are you, animals, because they are part of the food chain (she flashed a thumbs up here because she was proud she recalled this information), the sun, because you need it to grow and not be moody, and water, water because everything needs water. LH: Nice.. what is the smallest unit of life? BM: Um†¦um.. um†¦I know this†¦ LH: I know you doâ € ¦ (Another minute passed and never recalled despite looking around the room and looking directly at the cell poster) LH: Is soil alive? Why or why not?BM: Yes, because you can make it grow. LH: Is air alive? Why or why not? BM: Um†¦(about 30 second delay)†¦I am going to say no†¦ LH: Why not? BM: (she shrugs) LH: Okay, go back to how you defined life. How do you define life? What makes something alive to you? BM: It grows and survives. LH: Okay, so is air alive? BM: No, because it doesn’t grow. LH: One of your examples of life was the human body. What part of the human body makes you most alive and why? BM: Your heart because it makes everything move. Because you can live without a brain, can’t you? You can be brain dead.LH: But once your heart gives out then you are dead? BM: Yes, because you still can live†¦ LH: Without a brain but not without a heart? BM: You can live more without a brain then a heart. LH: Very nice, thank you for participatin g. Interview #2: Interviewer (LH): How would you define biology? Interviewee (YC): The study of life. LH: And†¦how do you define life? YC: Something that moving, breathing, functioning LH: Ok.. can you give me five examples of life and explain why they exhibit life. YC: Plants, cause they grow, humans, cause they move around, they function, they think and they also grow.. m.. wait†¦animals cause that’s like humans†¦. um.. LH: Two more YC: I really can’t think of two more. Those are the only ones I can think of right now. LH: Ok, so plants, animals and humans, what is the smallest unit of life? YC: The cell LH: And, is soil alive to you? Why or why not? YC: Um.. yeah because it makes things grow. LH: Okay.. is air alive to you? Why or why not? YC: No, because in order to be alive you have to be, like, functioning, growing, moving and air is just two chemicals put together to make one chemical. LH: Okay, and what body part makes a human being most alive an d why?YC: The heart because without your heart you can’t function, you can’t, because your heart makes your whole body function so without that you won’t be able to function. Because the heart is the one that produces the blood and the blood sends out to all of your†¦um.. cells and all your body parts. It also sends out reflexes. It also helps with your reflexes and everything. LH: Nice, thank you. Analysis: The most surprising part of the interview came after the interview when the two subjects started arguing about their answers. I invited two friends to come after school but interviewed them separately.After I was done with the second interview, the girls started discussing how they answered each question. Their focus was specifically on the last two questions: is air alive and what part of the body makes a human being alive? They started discussing molecules and molecular interactions in air that could create life or prevent life depending on the qualit y of air. In addition, they considered the importance of the brain in the human body and discussed the implications of being brain dead but still alive. After some discussion, the girls decided the brain is the coach and the heart is the player.Both students are basketball players so it helped them to process the information by relating to basketball. In other words, the coach gives direction but the players still have to execute the plays. Another point of interest was the correlation of grades with ease and accuracy of recall. My first subject is receiving a B in my class and the second subject an A. The first subject knew the concepts but had more difficulty with the exact definition. The first subject talked around topics demonstrating knowledge of content standards but had difficulty pinpointing her ideas.The second subject gave exact definitions and answers quickly. The comfort level was visible in the answers provided, both in accuracy and timing. In addition, despite discuss ing the characteristics of life, I realized both students still created a superficial definition of life. They summarized life as something that moves and grows and breathes, but they did not consider reproduction and they are made of cells and more technical aspects of the definition of life. The students also had trouble with their own definition when I started asking them about specific questions regarding living/non-living parts.Although it was interesting the second subject had a greater connection between her definition and her explanation of why a heart is the most critical organ for life. I also noticed when giving examples of life, both subjects focused on broad categories of life: plants, animals, humans and neglected specific examples of living things. I would be interested to see if a younger student would name specific living things or focus on broad categories. I suspect the broad categories come from the fact we are studying cells and just studied ecology and the focu s is on plant versus nimal or consumer versus producer. After completing my interview I realized my questions were too narrow. I tried to predict what the students would say and create appropriate follow-up questions but the questions still had short answers. I need to reflect on how to write my questions to solicit longer responses with more detail to demonstrate feeling. The discrepancy between what I anticipated and what happened could be the result of the nature of the survey and the focus on content compared to my research survey that focuses on experiences and emotions.

Cover Sheet For Submission Of A Work For Assessment

Cover sheet for submission of work for assessment UNIT DETAILS Unit name Fundamentals of Marketing Class day/time Wednesday / 2.30pm Office use only Unit code MKT10007 Assignment no. 1 Due date Friday 19th August Name of lecturer/teacher Mr Gordon Campbell Tutor/marker’s name Ms Shamain Wickramasinghe Faculty or school date stamp STUDENT(S) Family Name(s) Given Name(s) Student ID Number(s) (1) Kushani Gunawardana 100028905 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP 1. I/we have not impersonated, or allowed myself/ourselves to be impersonated by any person for the purposes of this assessment. 2. This assessment is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other source†¦show more content†¦Plagiarism occurs when the origin of the material used is not appropriately cited. Student signature/s I/we declare that I/we have read and understood the declaration and statement of authorship. (1) Kushani (4) (2) (5) (3) (6) ________________________________________ Further information relating to the penalties for plagiarism, which range from a formal caution to expulsion from the University is contained on the Current Students website at www.swin.edu.au/student/ Copies of this form can be downloaded from the Student Forms web page at www.swinburne.edu.au/studentforms/ PAGE 1 OF 1 1.0 Introduction to the Report This report demonstrate how Kraft cheese cheddar behave to impress consumer decisions to purchase using the Marketing Mix strategy. This report also clarify and investigate the current brand environment and the reliability of the Marketing Mix. The Marketing Mix contain four Ps and Brand position is the area that live in the customer’s mind. This report discuss the purchase at the Woolworths super market in Roxburgh Park on 8/11/2016. 2. Analysis of the Marketing Mix and the Brand Positioning 2.1 The product and the product category The Kraft cheese cheddar product is a cheese; a cheddar has more flavour and it is hard. This product go with the ‘savoury spread’ category. 2.2 The 4Ps 2.2.1

Cancer A Common Misconception About Cancer - 5956 Words

INTRODUCTION What is Cancer? A common misconception about cancer is that it is a relatively new disease. Cancer, like many diseases have been prevalent in the populations of many species, not just humans, for millennia. In fact it was a Roman doctor who translated the Greek word â€Å"carcinos† into â€Å"cancer†, a Latin word meaning â€Å"crab†. The reason why cancer is referred to as a crab is because a cancer â€Å"adheres to any part that it seizes upon in an obstinate manner like a crab† (Ramzi S. Cotran et al. Robbins- Pathologic Basis of Disease, 1999). Cancer or neoplasm is any new abnormal growth that is growing in a very fast and uncoordinated way compared to normal tissues. What we refer to as a tumour is in fact the same as a neoplasm and any non-neoplastic usage of the term tumour has passed into limbo. A neoplasm can be benign or malignant whereas cancer refers to malignant neoplasm. Cancer Today Cancer is one of the most well-known and most talked about disease in today’s world. This is because the incidence of the disease has never been higher. It is estimated that around 2.5 million people in the UK today, have been diagnosed with cancer. This figure has increased by around 500,000 in the last five years, and it is said that by the end of 2016 over a thousand people will be diagnosed with cancer every day in the UK. According to Cancer Research UK, 1 in 2 people today will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime. The reason why the incidence of cancer hasShow MoreRelatedBreast Cancer : Education Is Vital871 Words   |  4 PagesBreast Cancer: Education is Vital Every nineteen seconds a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the world, yet controversy still surrounds the issue of breast cancer education and recommendations for screenings (ww5.komen.org). 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