International Conference on Neurooncology and Neurosurgery September 17-18, 2018 Dubai, UAE

Stefan Reguli is a Neurosurgeon working in the University Hospital Ostrava Poruba, Czech Republic. His main field is Neuro-oncology, especially treating patients with gliomas. He is Coordinator of Ostrava Neuro-Oncology Center and has participated in several studies focused on basic brain tumor research.

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most frequent primary brain tumor of astrocytic origin. The prognosis of GBM patients is very poor with median of overall survival ranging between 12 and 15 months from diagnosis despite conventional therapeutic protocol consisting of maximal surgical resection followed by concomitant chemo-radiotherapy with Temozolomide and adjuvant Temozolomide in monotherapy. Therefore, a lot of financial resources and a great deal of effort are spent in the research of new therapeutic approaches that could prolong the survival of GBM patients. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a relatively new class of noncoding gene regulators playing critical roles in tumor biology, including GBM. From this perspective, lncRNAs seem to be promising therapeutic targets in GBM patients. We performed NGS analysis of fresh-frozen histopathologically confirmed GBM tissues and non-tumor brain tissues obtained from non-dominant anterior temporal cortexes resected during surgery for intractable epilepsy with no signs of dysplastic changes. Informed consent approved by the local Ethical Commission was obtained from each patient before the treatment. rRNA depletion and cDNA library preparation were performed with GeneRead rRNA depletion kit (Qiagen) and NEXTflex rapid directional qRNA-Seq Kit (Bioo Scientific), respectively. Sequencing was done using NextSeq 500 high output kit and NextSeq 500 instrument (both Illumina). Statistical analysis evaluated protein-coding and non-coding RNAs and their sequential variants with non-zero RPKM (reads per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads) at least in one sample. We used CLC genomic workbench for the alignment and target counts. Targeted regulation of ZFAS1 level has been carried out by the transient transfection of specific siRNA in GBM stable cell lines (A172, U87MG and T98G). The success of transfection and viability were analyzed in vitro using qRT-PCR and MTT assay, respectively. We have demonstrated a dysregulation of many lncRNAs and protein-coding RNAs in GBM tissue in comparison with non-tumor brain tissue. However, the forced down regulation of ZFAS1, one of the most up-regulated lncRNAs in GBM tissue, was not found to have an impact on the viability of GBM cell lines in vitro.

Olaitan J. Jeremiah completed her B.Pharm. degree from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria with a distinction in 2010. She also completed a masters degree in pharmacology from the same university between 2012 and 2014 and was appointed a lecturer in the department of pharmacology, OAU, during the course of her M.Sc programme. Ms. O. J. Jeremiah is presently undertaking her PhD in neuropharmacology at the School of Pharmacy of RCSI, Dublin 2, under the supervision of Dr. Benedict K. Ryan (BSc(Pharm), MPharm, PhD, MPSI).

Depression affects approximately 4.4% of the world’s population (over 300 million people) and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Being a heterogenous disease, its pathophysiology has been linked with a number of distinct factors including metabolic factors. For instance, research has shown an association between depression and insulin resistance (IR). Its comorbidity with IR is known to increase disease severity, while also predisposing to antidepressant ineffectiveness. Some insulin sensitivity-enhancing lifestyle and dietary-related adjuncts have been found to improve antidepressant effectiveness. These include exercise, vitamin D supplementation, zinc supplementation and hygienic-dietary recommendations. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize available clinical evidence from the literature (by searching CENTRAL, MEDLINE PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, ClinicalTrials.gov and EU clinical trials register), with a view to establishing a link between the insulin sensitivity- enhancing potential of these adjuncts and their antidepressant treatment response-improving potential. Sixteen randomized controlled trials with 827 depressed patients were included in this meta-analysis. Adjunctive therapy with any of the above stated lifestyle/dietary adjuncts was compared with conventional antidepressant treatment with or without placebo. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to separately combine the effects estimates of studies that reported binary outcomes (% remission) and those that reported continuous outcomes- mean change in standard depression rating scale (HAM-D, BDI and MADRS) scores, from baseline to follow-up. The results of this analysis will be discussed during this presentation as this will add to the body of evidence on the utility of insulin sensitivity-enhancing non-pharmacological therapies in enhancing conventional antidepressant treatment response.