BDNF expression raises a handful of sensible questions. This page answers them in order, starting with the fundamentals and moving to applications.
Reviewed 2025-11-02. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Claims about enhanced focus, memory, or mood in healthy people rest mostly on anecdotal reports and community discussion rather than on controlled data. It remains unclear whether any cognitive benefit observed in patients recovering from brain injury would extend to uninjured users. Dose-response relationships, long-term safety, and interactions with other drugs are not well characterized in the peer-reviewed literature. Questions about optimal route of administration and treatment duration likewise remain open.
Semax binds to melanocortin receptors and is thought to influence neuronal survival and plasticity rather than to act through the adrenal axis. Laboratory work has shown increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in treated tissue. Changes in c-Fos, a marker of neuronal activation, have also been reported. Because the peptide is rapidly degraded by peptidases, its effects are generally attributed to downstream signaling cascades rather than to sustained receptor occupancy.
Published studies are dominated by animal models of stroke, ischemia, and cognitive impairment, with a smaller number of human trials conducted in Russia. Many of the human reports are small, single-center, and published in Russian-language journals, which limits independent scrutiny. Outcome measures vary between studies and often rely on clinician-rated scales rather than objective biomarkers. Systematic reviews have noted the methodological weaknesses and called for larger, preregistered trials before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Published studies examine a fairly narrow set of endpoints. Rodent experiments commonly measure maze learning, infarct volume after induced ischemia, and tissue levels of neurotrophic factors. Clinical reports from Russian centres describe attention, memory and recovery scores in patients after stroke or transient ischemic attack. Most of those human studies are small and few have been repeated by independent groups. Outcome measures differ between studies, which limits direct comparison.
Circulation time for the peptide is short because peptidases cleave it readily. The Pro-Gly-Pro tail is thought to slow breakdown compared with the bare ACTH fragment, but the gain appears modest. Absorption after intranasal dosing is limited, and only a fraction of a dose is expected to reach the central nervous system. Laboratory concentrations therefore sit well above levels achieved systemically, a gap that complicates translation from bench findings to clinical claims.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | White lyophilized powder | Typical for synthetic peptides |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Also soluble in saline |
| Storage temperature | -20 C or below | Protect from repeated freeze-thaw |
| Analytical method | Reverse-phase HPLC | Confirms purity and identity |
| Common synonym | ACTH(4-10) analog | Reflects structural origin |
Proposed mechanisms center on neurotrophic signaling rather than on classical melanocortin receptor activation. Rodent experiments have reported shifts in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor after administration, together with changes in the associated receptor systems. Several authors argue that the peptide acts largely through its degradation products and their interaction with peptidergic pathways, but this remains a hypothesis rather than a settled finding. No single molecular target has been identified in a way that the field broadly accepts.
Published research covers ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment, optic nerve conditions and attention-related measures. Much of the human evidence comes from small trials conducted in one country, which limits how far the results generalize. Animal models supply the larger share of the data, and effects seen in rodents do not transfer automatically to people. Reviews have noted that methodological reporting is often incomplete, making it difficult to pool results or compare treatment schedules across studies.
exosome 1. (protein complex) An intracellular multi-protein complex which serves the function of degrading various types of RNA molecules. 2. (vesicle) A type of membrane-bound extracellular vesicle produced in many eukaryotic cells by the inward budding of an endosome and the subsequent fusion of the endosome with the plasma membrane, causing the release of the vesicle into various extracellular spaces, including biological fluids such as blood and saliva, where they may serve any of a wide variety of physiological functions, from waste management to intercellular signaling.
Stage I, 6 h to 14 h after last dose: Drug craving, anxiety, irritability, perspiration, and mild to moderate dysphoria Stage II, 14 h to 18 h after last dose: Yawning, heavy perspiration, mild depression, lacrimation, crying, headaches, runny nose, dysphoria, also intensification of the above symptoms, "yen sleep" (a waking trance-like state) Stage III, 16 h to 24 h after last dose: Increase in all of the above, dilated pupils, piloerection (goose bumps), muscle twitches, hot flashes, cold flashes, aching bones and muscles, loss of appetite, and the beginning of intestinal cramping Stage IV, 24 h to 36 h after last dose: Increase in all of the above including severe cramping, restless legs syndrome, loose stool, insomnia, elevation of blood pressure, fever, increase in frequency of breathing and tidal volume, tachycardia (elevated pulse), restlessness, nausea Stage V, 36 h to 72 h after last dose: Increase in all of the above, fetal position, vomiting, free and frequent liquid diarrhea, weight loss of 2 kg to 5 kg per 24 h, increased white cell count, and other blood changes Stage VI, after completion of above: Recovery of appetite and normal bowel function, beginning of transition to post-acute withdrawal symptoms that are mainly psychological, but may also include increased sensitivity to pain, hypertension, colitis or other gastrointestinal afflictions related to motility, and problems with weight control in either direction In advanced stages of withdrawal, ultrasonographic evidence of pancreatitis has been demonstrated in some patients and is presumably attributed to spasm of the pancreatic sphincter of Oddi. The withdrawal symptoms associated with morphine addiction are usually experienced shortly before the time of the next scheduled dose, sometimes within as early as a few hours (usually 6 h to 12 h) after the last administration. Early symptoms include watery eyes, insomnia, diarrhea, runny nose, yawning, dysphoria, sweating, and, in some cases, a strong drug craving. Severe headache, restlessness, irritability, loss of appetite, body aches, severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, tremors, and even stronger and more intense drug craving appear as the syndrome progresses. Severe depression and vomiting are common. During the acute withdrawal period, systolic and diastolic blood pressures increase, usually beyond premorphine levels, and heart rate increases, which have potential to cause a heart attack, blood clot, or stroke. Chills or cold flashes with goose bumps alternating with flushing (hot flashes), kicking movements of the legs, and excessive sweating are also characteristic symptoms. Severe pains in the bones and muscles of the back and extremities occur, as do muscle spasms. At any point during this process, a suitable narcotic can be administered that will dramatically reverse the withdrawal symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 h and 96 h after the last dose and subside after about 8 to 12 days. Sudden discontinuation of morphine by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is rarely fatal. Morphine withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol, barbiturate, or benzodiazepine withdrawal. The psychological dependence associated with morphine addiction is complex and protracted. Long after the physical need for morphine has passed, addicts will usually continue to think and talk about the use of morphine (or other drugs) and feel strange or overwhelmed coping with daily activities without being under the influence of morphine. Psychological withdrawal from morphine is usually a long and painful process. Addicts often experience severe depression, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, forgetfulness, low self-esteem, confusion, paranoia, and other psychological problems. Without intervention, the syndrome will run its course, and most of the overt physical symptoms will disappear within 7 to 10 days including psychological dependence. A high probability of relapse exists after morphine withdrawal when neither the physical environment nor the behavioral motivators that contributed to the abuse have been altered. Testimony of morphine's addictive and reinforcing nature is its relapse rate. Users of morphine have one of the highest relapse rates among all drug users, ranging up to 98% in the estimation of some medical experts.
=== Debridement === In maggot therapy, large numbers of small maggots consume necrotic tissue far more precisely than is possible in a normal surgical operation, and can debride a wound in a day or two. The area of a wound's surface is typically increased with the use of maggots due to the undebrided surface not revealing the actual underlying size of the wound. They derive nutrients through a process known as "extracorporeal digestion" by secreting a broad spectrum of proteolytic enzymes that liquefy necrotic tissue, and absorb the semi-liquid result within a few days. In an optimum wound environment maggots molt twice, increasing in length from about 2 mm to about 10 mm, and in girth, within a period of 48–72 hours by ingesting necrotic tissue, leaving a clean wound free of necrotic tissue when they are removed.
India will allow foreign groups to own up to 51 per cent in "multi-brand retailers", as supermarkets are known in India, in the most radical pro-liberalisation reform passed by an Indian cabinet in years; single brand retailers, such as Apple and Ikea, can own 100 percent of their Indian stores, up from the previous cap of 51 percent; both multi-brand and single brand stores in India will have to source nearly a third of their goods from small and medium-sized Indian suppliers; all multi-brand and single brand stores in India must confine their operations to 53-odd cities with a population over one million, out of some 7935 towns and cities in India. It is expected that these stores will now have full access to over 200 million urban consumers in India; multi-brand retailers must have a minimum investment of US$100 million with at least half of the amount invested in back end infrastructure, including cold chains, refrigeration, transportation, packing, sorting and processing to considerably reduce the post harvest losses and bring remunerative prices to farmers; the opening of retail competition will be within India's federal structure of government. In other words, the policy is an enabling legal framework for India. The states of India have the prerogative to accept it and implement it, or they can decide to not implement it if they so choose. Actual implementation of policy will be within the parameters of state laws and regulations. The opening of retail industry to global competition is expected to spur a retail rush to India.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Entomotherapy: Nutritional and Medicinal Benefits === Insects have played a significant role in traditional and modern medicine across various cultures. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Edible Insects Report highlights the nutritional and therapeutic potential of insects, they have high protein content, essential fatty acids, and bioactive compounds. Some traditional healing practices incorporate insects as remedies for inflammatory conditions, infections, and gastrointestinal disorders. In China and other parts of Asia silkworm derived compounds have been used in traditional medicine to treat high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Similarly termites and grasshoppers are utilized in African medicine for their perceived immune boosting effects.
For this reason, people who consume corn as tortillas or hominy are at less risk of niacin deficiency. For treating deficiency, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends administering nicotinamide instead of nicotinic acid, to avoid the flushing side effect commonly caused by the latter. Guidelines suggest using 300 mg/day for three to four weeks. Dementia and dermatitis show improvement within a week. Because deficiencies of other B-vitamins may be present, the WHO recommends a multi-vitamin in addition to the nicotinamide. Hartnup disease is a hereditary nutritional disorder resulting in niacin deficiency. It is named after an English family with a genetic disorder that resulted in a failure to absorb the essential amino acid tryptophan, tryptophan being a precursor for niacin synthesis. The symptoms are similar to pellagra, including red, scaly rash and sensitivity to sunlight. Oral nicotinic acid or nicotinamide is given as a treatment for this condition in doses ranging from 50 to 100 mg twice a day, with a good prognosis if identified and treated early. Niacin synthesis is also deficient in carcinoid syndrome, because of metabolic diversion of its precursor tryptophan to form serotonin.
Agarose gel electrophoresis is the routine method for resolving DNA in the laboratory. Agarose gels have lower resolving power for DNA than acrylamide gels, but they have greater range of separation, and are therefore usually used for DNA fragments with lengths of 50–20,000 bp (base pairs), although resolution of over 6 Mb is possible with pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). It can also be used to separate large protein molecules, and it is the preferred matrix for the gel electrophoresis of particles with effective radii larger than 5-10 nm. The pore size of the gel affects the size of the DNA that can be sieved. The lower the concentration of the gel, the larger the pore size, and the larger the DNA that can be sieved. However low-concentration gels (0.1 - 0.2%) are fragile and therefore hard to handle, and the electrophoresis of large DNA molecules can take several days. The limit of resolution for standard agarose gel electrophoresis is around 750 kb. This limit can be overcome by PFGE, where alternating orthogonal electric fields are applied to the gel. The DNA fragments reorientate themselves when the applied field switches direction, but larger molecules of DNA take longer to realign themselves when the electric field is altered, while for smaller ones it is quicker, and the DNA can therefore be fractionated according to size. Agarose gels are cast in a mold, and when set, usually run horizontally submerged in a buffer solution.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The LSD molecule has two chiral centers at carbons 5 and 8 of the ergoline ring system and hence there are four possible enantiomeric stereoisomers of LSD. Iso-LSD, also known as d-iso-LSD, (+)-iso-LSD, or (5R-8S)-LSD, is one of four possible stereoisomers. The other isomers are LSD (d-LSD, (+)-LSD, or (5R,8R)-LSD), l-iso-LSD ((–)-iso-LSD or (5S,8R)-iso-LSD), and l-LSD ((–)-LSD or (5S,8S)-LSD). None of them are known to have significant psychoactivity in humans besides LSD. LSD is easily epimerized into iso-LSD with base. Consequently, iso-LSD is a common synthetic contaminant in chemical synthesis of LSD. Iso-LSD can be easily epimerized back into LSD. LSD can degrade into iso-LSD depending on temperature, solvent and pH, among other factors. In clinical studies, up to 30% of LSD administered in capsules has been found to isomerize into iso-LSD. Iso-LSD is said to be a metabolite of LSD in animals and humans. However, according to other sources, iso-LSD not a metabolite of LSD but is instead only a contaminant.
In a practical test, hair sample is usually washed with a low polarity solvent (such as dichloromethane) to remove surface contaminations. Then, the sample is pulverized and extracted with a more polar solvent, such as methanol. Although thousand different substances can be determined in a single gas chromatography–mass spectrometry or liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry experiment, due to the low concentration of analytes, practical measurements (see selective ion monitoring) are limited to a smaller number (10-20) of analytes. Designer drugs are usually missed in such measurements, because the analyst must know in advance what chemicals to look for. Most hair testing laboratories use the aforementioned chromato-mass-spectrometry methods for confirmation or for rarely tested drugs only. Mass screening (preliminary or final) is usually done with immunoassays, because of their lower cost.
Another less insidious tactic journals employ is to publish a large portion of its papers, or at least the papers expected to be highly cited, early in the calendar year. This gives those papers more time to gather citations. Several methods, not necessarily with nefarious intent, exist for a journal to cite articles in the same journal which will increase the journal's impact factor. Beyond editorial policies that may skew the impact factor, journals can take overt steps to game the system. For example, in 2007, the specialist journal Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, with an impact factor of 0.66, published an editorial that cited all its articles from 2005 to 2006 in a protest against the "absurd scientific situation in some countries" related to use of the impact factor. The large number of citations meant that the impact factor for that journal increased to 1.44. As a result of the increase, the journal was not included in the 2008 and 2009 Journal Citation Reports. Coercive citation is a practice in which an editor forces an author to add extraneous citations to an article before the journal will agree to publish it, in order to inflate the journal's impact factor. A survey published in 2012 indicates that coercive citation has been experienced by one in five researchers working in economics, sociology, psychology, and multiple business disciplines, and it is more common in business and in journals with a lower impact factor. Editors of leading business journals banded together to disavow the practice.
Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that secretes numerous protein hormones, including leptin, adiponectin, and resistin. These hormones generally influence energy metabolism, which is of great interest to the understanding and treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Their relative roles in modifying appetite, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis are the subjects of intense research, as they may be modifiable causes of morbidity in people with obesity.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is associated with the melanocortin receptor family, particularly subtypes found in the central nervous system. This interaction is separate from the adrenal pathway activated by full-length ACTH.
Peptidases degrade the compound within minutes in circulation. This short half-life is one reason nasal delivery is used, placing the substance close to the olfactory and trigeminal pathways.
No large multicenter trials have been published in English-language journals. The existing human evidence consists mainly of smaller studies conducted in Russia, which limits generalization.
It consists mainly of animal experiments and small clinical reports, with much of the clinical material published in Russian-language journals. Large independent trials are scarce. Separating reliable effects from chance findings is consequently difficult.