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Symptoms of schizophrenia (SZ) typically emerge during adolescence to young adulthood, which gives a window before full-blown psychosis for early intervention. Strategies for preventing the conversion from the prodromal phase to the psychotic phase are warranted. Heterozygous (Het) Disc1 mutant mice are considered a prodromal model of SZ, suitable for studying psychotic conversion. We evaluated the preventive effect of chronic N-acetylcysteine (NAC) administration, covering the prenatal era to adulthood, on the reaction following the Amph challenge, which mimics the outbreak or conversion of psychosis, in adult Het Disc1 mice. Biochemical and morphological features were examined in the striatum of NAC-treated mice. Chronic NAC treatment normalized the Amph-induced activity in the Het Disc1 mice. Furthermore, the striatal phenotypes of Het Disc1 mice were rescued by NAC including dopamine receptors, the expression of GSK3s, MSN dendritic impairments, and striatal PV density. The current study demonstrated a potent preventive effect of chronic NAC treatment in Disc1 Het mice on the acute Amph test, which mimics the outbreak of psychosis. Our findings not only support the benefit of NAC as a dietary supplement for SZ prodromes, but also advance our knowledge of striatal dopamine receptors, PV neurons, and GSK3 signaling pathways as therapeutic targets for treating or preventing the pathogenesis of mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollutants are substances in the air that have harmful effects on humans and the ecological environment. Although slight elevations in carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are commonly observed in apparently healthy persons, potential associations between CEA levels and chronic low-grade inflammation induced by air pollution have yet to be documented. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study to estimate the association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and the CEA. A total of 9728 participants from health examinations were enrolled for the analysis and linked with their residential air pollutant data including ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter (PM10). The results showed that every increase of 1 ppm O3 significantly increased the mean differences of the CEA blood concentration by 0.005 ng/mL. Each increase of 1 ppm CO significantly reduced the mean differences of the CEA blood concentration by 0.455 ng/mL. Although smoking and alcohol drinking also increased the CEA levels, with adjustment of these confounders we identified a significant association between serum CEA in the general population and levels of the air pollutants O3 and CO. In conclusion, the serum CEA concentrations and short-term air pollutants O3 and CO exposure were found to have a significant relationship; however, its mechanism is still unclear. Moreover, long-term air pollution exposure and changes in CEA concentration still need to be further evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO/ZnS nanocomposite-based nanostructures exhibit dual light and gas sensing capabilities. To further boost the light/dual sensing properties, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were incorporated into the core-shell structures. Multiple material characterizations revealed that Au NPs were successfully well spread and decorated on ZnO/ZnS nanostructures. Furthermore, our findings show that the addition of Au NPs could enhance both 365 nm UV light sensing and hydrogen gas sensing in terms of light/gas sensitivity and light/gas response time. We postulate that the optimization of gas/light dual sensing capability may result from the induced electric field and inhabitation of electron-hole recombination. Owing to their compact size, simple fabrication, and stable response, ZnO/ZnS/Au NPs-based light/gas dual sensors are promising for future extreme environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is a multifactorial developmental neuropsychiatric disorder. This study examined the interplay of maternal infection and postweaning social isolation, which are prenatal and postnatal risk factors, respectively. Pregnant mice received poly I:C or saline injection on gestation day 9 and the pups were weaned at postnatal day 28. After weaning, male offspring were randomly assigned into group-rearing and isolation-rearing groups. In their adulthood, we performed behavioral tests and characterized the histochemical features of their mesocorticolimbic structures. The sociability and anxiety levels were not affected by either manipulation, but synergistic effects of the two hits on stress-coping behavior was observed. Either of the single manipulations caused defects in sensorimotor gating, novel object recognition and spatial memory tests, but the combination of the two hits did not further exacerbate the disabilities. Prenatal infection increased the number of dopaminergic neurons in midbrain, whereas postweaning isolation decreased the GABAergic neurons in cortex. Single manipulation reduced the dendritic complexity and spine densities of neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dentate gyrus. Our results support the current perspective that disturbances in brain development during the prenatal or postnatal period influence the structure and function of the brain and together augment the susceptibility to mental disorders, such as schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]