Papers by Daniela G. Glavan
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Dec 3, 2019
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Mar 17, 2023
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
PubMed, Jul 9, 2020
It has long been suspected that the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis plays a role in the... more It has long been suspected that the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis plays a role in the pathophysiology of depression. Whether this association exists or not, and if it does, the degree of its significance, remain highly disputed. The issue is further complicated as no consensus currently exists on cortisol sampling timepoints or methods. Our study aimed to evaluate HPA functionality by evaluating plasma cortisol levels in a cohort of patients diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We enrolled 96 subjects admitted for a major depressive episode and tested serum cortisol levels for 80 of them. We found that only 15 (12%) had values that were outside the normal reference range, with 14 of these being below the normal threshold. We also interviewed the patients and obtained self-reported information regarding previous depressive episodes, treatment administration, anxiety, suicidal ideas and suicidal gestures. Our study did not find a significant association between cortisol levels and the number of previous depressive episodes, the presence of feelings of anxiety, suicidal ideas or suicidal gestures. While our cohort did not find an association between cortisol levels and depression other authors have reported significantly different results and as such, more research is needed in order to establish or infirm this hypothesis.
Scientific Reports, Sep 22, 2021
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally for all ages, and as such presents a very ... more Suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally for all ages, and as such presents a very serious problem for clinicians worldwide. However, the underlying neurobiological pathology remains to a large extent unknown. In order to address this gap, we have carried out a genomewide investigation of the gene expression in the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and thalamus in post-mortem brain samples obtained from 20 suicide completers and 7 control subjects. By KEGG enrichment analysis indicated we identified novel clusters of downregulated pathways involved in antigen neutralization and autoimmune thyroid disease (amygdala, thalamus), decreased axonal plasticity in the hippocampus. Two upregulated pathways were involved in neuronal death in the hippocampus and olfactory transduction in the thalamus and the prefrontal cortex. Autoimmune thyroid disease pathway was downregulated only in females. Metabolic pathways involved in Notch signaling amino acid metabolism and unsaturated lipid synthesis were thalamus-specific. Suicide-associated changes in the expression of several genes and pseudogenes that point to various functional mechanisms possibly implicated in the pathology of suicide. Two genes (SNORA13 and RNU4-2) involved in RNA processing were common to all brain regions analyzed. Most of the identified gene expression changes were related to region-specific dysregulated manifestation of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders (SNORD114-10, SUSd1), motivation, addiction and motor disorders (CHRNA6), long-term depression (RAB3B), stress response, major depression and schizophrenia (GFAP), signal transduction at the neurovascular unit (NEXN) and inhibitory neurotransmission in spatial learning, neural plasticity (CALB2; CLIC6, ENPP1). Some of the differentially expressed genes were brain specific non-coding RNAs involved in the regulation of translation (SNORA13). One, (PARM1) is a potential oncogene and prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer with no known function in the brain. Disturbed gene expression involved in antigen neutralization, autoimmunity, neural plasticity, stress response, signal transduction at the neurovascular unit, dysregulated nuclear RNA processing and translation and epigenetic imprinting signatures is associated with suicide and point to regulatory non-coding RNAs as potential targets of new drugs development. Abbreviations SNP Single-nucleotide polymorphism WGCNA Weighted gene coexpression network analysis lncRNAs Long non-coding RNAs LDHB Lactate dehydrogenase B ARNTL2 Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator like 2 FAH Fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase
Contemporary clinical neuroscience, 2021
Romanian Journal of Morphology and Embryology, Jan 12, 2022
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonC... more This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License, which permits unrestricted use, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium, non-commercially, provided the new creations are licensed under identical terms as the original work and the original work is properly cited.
Aging and disease
Glia cells are essential for brain functioning during development, aging and disease. However, th... more Glia cells are essential for brain functioning during development, aging and disease. However, the role of astroglia plays during brain development is quite different from the role played in the adult lesioned brain. Therefore, a deeper understanding of pathomechanisms underlying astroglia activity in the aging brain and cerebrovascular diseases is essential to guide the development of new therapeutic strategies. To this end, this review provides a comparison between the transcriptomic activity of astroglia cells during development, aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including cerebral ischemia. During fetal brain development, astrocytes and microglia often affect the same developmental processes such as neuro-/gliogenesis, angiogenesis, axonal outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and synaptic pruning. In the adult brain astrocytes are a critical player in the synapse remodeling by mediating synapse elimination while microglia activity has been associated with changes in synaptic plasticity and remove cell debris by constantly sensing the environment. However, in the lesioned brain astrocytes proliferate and play essential functions with regard to energy supply to the neurons, neurotransmission and buildup of a protective scar isolating the lesion site from the surroundings. Inflammation, neurodegeneration, or loss of brain homeostasis induce changes in microglia gene expression, morphology, and function, generally referred to as "primed" microglia. These changes in gene expression are characterized by an enrichment of phagosome, lysosome, and antigen presentation signaling pathways and is associated with an up-regulation of genes encoding cell surface receptors. In addition, primed microglia are characterized by upregulation of a network of genes in response to interferon gamma. Conclusion. A comparison of astroglia cells transcriptomic activity during brain development, aging and neurodegenerative disorders might provide us with new therapeutic strategies with which to protect the aging brain and improve clinical outcome.
Current health sciences journal, Apr 22, 2022
Neurocognitive disorders are a group of disorders characterized by an impaired cognition which ha... more Neurocognitive disorders are a group of disorders characterized by an impaired cognition which has not been present since birth or very early life and represents a decline from a previous attained level of functioning. The case we studied is M.E., a 62 years female, married, from rural area, working as a tailor, without any psychiatric history. She develops psychiatric symptoms during Covid-19 infection and treatment, in November 2020. The patient has been admitted in psychiatric care, in that time, for about one month, for a persistent confusion state during and after this event. These symptoms diminish the patient's level of functioning and seemed to be related with the Covid-19 infection or treatment. Psychological investigation underlines a MMSE 14, severe impairment in attention, short-term and long-term memory. CT evaluation presents normal relation except a moderate general atrophy, according with patient's age. Differential diagnosis will be discussed. The treatment has proven its effectiveness, the patient regaining her ability to orientate, could do housework, good improvement in attention and short-term memory. We emphasize that there is correlation between the Covid-19 infection and confusive state and delirium in patients, as a comorbidity, followed in many cases by chronic progressive neurocognitive disorder, especially in elderly.
Depressive disorder is now one of the most important pathologies worldwide, affecting not only th... more Depressive disorder is now one of the most important pathologies worldwide, affecting not only the mental health of the patient, but also his social status, as well as the community he belongs to. In the case of depression followed-up in ambulatory setting, the sociodemographic factors proved not only to be the onset elements of the disease, but also the significant mediators of the evolution. Risk behaviours had a significant influence on the clinical picture of depression (alcohol consumption and smoking). In this context, the careful monitoring of the effect that these factors have on the patient diagnosed with depressive disorder becomes a necessity in the efficient therapeutic and prevention programs.
Revista de Chimie, 2019
The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between motor and non-motor symptoms in pat... more The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between motor and non-motor symptoms in patients diagnosed with Parkinson. We included in our study 72 patients diagnosed with Parkinson disease:28 female and 44 males. Each patient was evaluated using Non-motor Symptoms Questionnaire for Parkinson Disease, for motor status we used Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part 3 (motor part). The results of our study indicated that there is a correlation between the non-motor state and the motor symptoms but not in all non-motor domains. The study indicates that the digestive symptoms, the, cardiovascular, sleep and miscellaneous correlate with the motor symptoms but urinary symptoms, memory, hallucination, depression and sexual dysfunction does not show an interdependence with the motor state.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2019
Following the failure of acute neuroprotection therapies, major efforts are currently made worldw... more Following the failure of acute neuroprotection therapies, major efforts are currently made worldwide to promote neurological recovery and brain plasticity in the subacute and post-acute phases of stroke. Currently, there is hope that stroke recovery might be promoted by cell-based therapies. The field of stem cell therapy for cerebral ischemia has made significant progress in the last five years. A variety of stem cells have been tested in animal models and humans including adipose stem cells, human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells, human amnion epithelial cells, human placenta amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells, adult human pluripotent-like olfactory stem cells, human bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells, electrically-stimulated human neuronal progenitor cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of human origin. Combination therapies in animal models include a mix of two or more therapeutic factors consisting of bone marrow stromal cells,...
Risk in Contemporary Economy, 2017
The Romanian healthcare system is financed through public and private resources, the main source ... more The Romanian healthcare system is financed through public and private resources, the main source of public income for healthcare being the healthcare social insurance contribution, and the healthcare expense has grown constantly in the last decades. The highest costs in the health care system are those with primary, secondary and tertiary health care, affective disorders being treated in all these levels. Depression, the most common major psychiatric disorder, has an important burden of disease, involving a wide spectrum of disabilities and huge social and economic costs. Bipolar disorder leads also to an important impact on quality of life and a considerable economic burden. Our research analyzed, on a period of three years, the economic impact represented by direct cost of affective disorders, and efficiency indicators of the Romanian health-care system in this field on a sample of 236 health care institutions. Both number of patients and hospitalization days for affective disorders were decreasing, but these diseases still cause significant human and long-term costs. The direct cost per patient exceeds the national average every year. These costs associated with affective disorders and their impact contribute to the estimation of the health determinants.
Frontiers in Neurology, 2018
Conclusion: BrdU administered prior to, and after stroke, allows to investigate brain vasculature... more Conclusion: BrdU administered prior to, and after stroke, allows to investigate brain vasculature remodeling in the adult brain.
Romanian journal of morphology and embryology = Revue roumaine de morphologie et embryologie, 2017
Autophagy is a catabolic degradation system used to destroy and recycle the unnecessary or damage... more Autophagy is a catabolic degradation system used to destroy and recycle the unnecessary or damaged components of a cell. Autophagy is present at a basal level in all mammals and is regulated by some conditions, such as oxidative stress, starvation or hypoxia. In aged tissues, increased but also decreased expression of autophagy-specific proteins, Beclin 1, LC3, Atg5 and Atg7 has been reported. Likewise, it could be shown that the lifespan of yeast, nematodes and flies is prolonged by pharmacologically stimulated autophagy using exogenous administered spermidine. Autophagy is potentially implicated in acute lung injury and sepsis, two main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Finally, a quite recent study supports the hypothesis that autophagy might be useful in vascular disease prevention by stimulating cholesterol efflux, which leads to inhibition of necrotic core formation and lipid accumulation. Since autophagy is also implicated in neuro-protection, in Alzheimer's an...
Frontiers in Neuroscience, Jul 9, 2020
Romanian Journal of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
The somatic comorbidities in unipolar depression are a potential risk not only for the unfavorabl... more The somatic comorbidities in unipolar depression are a potential risk not only for the unfavorable course, but also increase the social and economic burden of this disorder. A study conducted on a group of 5054 patients with depressive disorders that were hospitalized in the Neuropsychiatric Hospital of Craiova over a period of 5 years has shown a relatively high frequency of cardiovascular diseases and hyperglycemia, especially in women. The unfavorable course of the mental disorder was significantly associated with a higher frequency of somatic comorbidities, more hospitalizations and a longer duration of hospitalization. These results demonstrate the importance of the multidisciplinary approach for any comorbid association between mental and somatic disorders to improve the outcome of the medical treatment and to ensure a good recovery of the depressive episode.
Medicina, 2020
Background and Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe autoimmune disease characterized... more Background and Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the joints accompanied by the progressive deformation and destruction of cartilage and joint bones. This study aims to gain insight into the outcomes related to adherence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Predicting the medication adherence in RA patients is a key point to improve the treatment outcome. Materials and Methods: A number of 119 Romanian patients with RA were included and divided into two groups: first group included 79 patients treated with conventional therapy and second group included 40 patients treated with biologic therapy. A CQR-9 (compliance questionnaire rheumatology with nine items) and PDSQ (psychiatric diagnostic screening questionnaire) were performed to assess correlations between medication adherence, patient sociodemographic variables, 11 psychiatric scales (major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-c...
Medicina, 2020
Background and Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe autoimmune disease characterized... more Background and Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the joints accompanied by the progressive deformation and destruction of cartilage and joint bones. This study aims to gain insight into the outcomes related to adherence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Predicting the medication adherence in RA patients is a key point to improve the treatment outcome. Materials and Methods: A number of 119 Romanian patients with RA were included and divided into two groups: first group included 79 patients treated with conventional therapy and second group included 40 patients treated with biologic therapy. A CQR-9 (compliance questionnaire rheumatology with nine items) and PDSQ (psychiatric diagnostic screening questionnaire) were performed to assess correlations between medication adherence, patient sociodemographic variables, 11 psychiatric scales (major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, psychosis, agoraphobia, social phobia, drug abuse/dependence, generalized anxiety disorder, somatization disorder, hypochondriasis) and lifestyle (bulimia, alcohol intake). Results: Whilst modelling factors associated with adherence, it was found that women and patients with higher education are more adherent. From the psychiatric indicators, only major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder were found to be positively correlated with therapeutic adherence. None of the assessed lifestyle factors influenced the adherence of RA patients. Conclusion: The knowledge of factors that impact on treatment adherence can be useful for clinicians to guide patient-centred care.
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Papers by Daniela G. Glavan