Browsing by Author "Ciolac, Dumitru"

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    Clinical and Radiological Deterioration in a Case of Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease following SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Hints to Accelerated Age-Dependent Neurodegeneration
    (MDPI, 2021-11-19) Ciolac, Dumitru; Racila, Renata; Duarte, Carolina; Vasilieva, Maria; Manea, Diana; Gorincioi, Nadejda; Condrea, Alexandra; Crivorucica, Igor; Zota, Eremei; Efremova, Daniela; Crivorucica, Veaceslav; Ciocanu, Mihail; Movila, Alexandru; Groppa, Stanislav A.; Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of Dentistry
    Systemic inflammation and the host immune responses associated with certain viral infections may accelerate the rate of neurodegeneration in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare, transmissible neurodegenerative disease. However, the effects of the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 infection on the pathogenesis of CJD are unknown. In this study, we describe the case of an elderly female patient with sporadic CJD that exhibited clinical deterioration with the emergence of seizures and radiological neurodegenerative progression following an infection with SARS-CoV-2 and severe COVID-19. Despite efforts to control the progression of the disease, a dismal outcome ensued. This report further evidences the age-dependent neurological effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection and proposes a vulnerability to CJD and increased CJD progression following COVID-19.
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    Dissecting the Spectrum of Stroke Risk Factors in an Apparently Healthy Population: Paving the Roadmap to Primary Stroke Prevention
    (MDPI, 2023-01-20) Efremova, Daniela; Ciolac, Dumitru; Zota, Eremei; Glavan, Danu; Ciobanu, Natalia; Aulitzky, Wolfgang; Nics, Anna Maria; Trinka, Eugen; Yamada, Chiaki; Movila, Alexandru; Groppa, Stanislav A.; Biomedical Sciences and Comprehensive Care, School of Dentistry
    We aimed to investigate, for the first time, the spectrum of stroke risk factors specific to the population of the Republic of Moldova. The subjects were examined according to a pre-established protocol of risk factor estimation. The study involved 300 subjects, including 60% women and 40% men, with a mean age of 49.9 ± 14.5 years. The most common risk factor was abdominal obesity, identified in 75% of subjects; general obesity was detected in 48%, while 32% of subjects were overweight and 20% were normally weighted. Hypertension was observed in 44%; 8% of those examined had atrial fibrillation, and 9% had diabetes mellitus. Left myocardial hypertrophy on ECG was present in 53% of subjects, and acute ischemic changes in 2%. Laboratory observations detected that glycosylated hemoglobin increased by 7%, and >50% had dyslipidemia. Total cholesterol was significantly elevated by 58%, LDL-cholesterol was increased by 32%, and HDL-cholesterol was decreased by 9%. Homocysteine was increased in 55% and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in 28% of subjects. These results indicate the presence of modifiable risk factors and the necessity to elaborate on the primary prevention strategies aimed at minimizing the burden of stroke in the population of the Republic of Moldova.
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    IL-34 exacerbates pathogenic features of Alzheimer’s disease and calvaria osteolysis in triple transgenic (3x-Tg) female mice
    (Elsevier, 2023) Ho, Anny; Ngala, Bidii; Yamada, Chiaki; Garcia, Christopher; Duarte, Carolina; Akkaoui, Juliet; Ciolac, Dumitru; Nusbaum, Amilia; Kochen, William; Efremova, Daniela; Groppa, Stanislav; Nathanson, Lubov; Bissel, Stephanie; Oblak, Adrian; Kacena, Melissa A.; Movila, Alexandru; Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of Dentistry
    Hallmark features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) include elevated accumulation of aggregated Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides, hyperphosphorylated Tau (p-Tau), and neuroinflammation. Emerging evidence indicated that interleukin-34 (IL-34) contributes to AD and inflammatory osteolysis via the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1r). In addition, CSF-1r is also activated by macrophage colony-stimulating factor-1 (M-CSF). While the role of M-CSF in bone physiology and pathology is well addressed, it remains controversial whether IL-34-mediated signaling promotes osteolysis, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation in relation to AD. In this study, we injected 3x-Tg mice with mouse recombinant IL-34 protein over the calvaria bone every other day for 42 days. Then, behavioral changes, brain pathology, and calvaria osteolysis were evaluated using various behavioral maze and histological assays. We demonstrated that IL-34 administration dramatically elevated AD-like anxiety and memory loss, pathogenic amyloidogenesis, p-Tau, and RAGE expression in female 3x-Tg mice. Furthermore, IL-34 delivery promoted calvaria inflammatory osteolysis compared to the control group. In addition, we also compared the effects of IL-34 and M-CSF on macrophages, microglia, and RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenesis in relation to AD pathology in vitro. We observed that IL-34-exposed SIM-A9 microglia and 3x-Tg bone marrow-derived macrophages released significantly elevated amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, compared to M-CSF treatment in vitro. Furthermore, IL-34, but not M-CSF, elevated RANKL-primed osteoclastogenesis in the presence of Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides in bone marrow derived macrophages isolated from female 3x-Tg mice. Collectively, our data indicated that IL-34 elevates AD-like features, including behavioral changes and neuroinflammation, as well as osteoclastogenesis in female 3x-Tg mice.