AHU Faculty Scholarship

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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12521/6
The AHU Faculty Scholarship Collection presents the publications authored by AHU Faculty. The collection includes publications from across faculty members' careers, including both works written during their time and AHU and works written before they joined the university.

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Browsing AHU Faculty Scholarship by Author "Ahangari, Raheleh"

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    Global Health Complications of Obesity
    (Elsevier, 2020) Moini, Jahangir; Ahangari, Raheleh; Miller, Carrie; Samsam, Mohtashem
    Global Health Complications of Obesity presents a valuable resource for research scientists and clinicians by covering the burden of obesity and related diseases and serving as a starting point for in-depth discussions in academic settings and for obesity-treatment specialists. Obesity is associated with a statistically higher risk of heart disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and many other diseases. This succinct resource focuses on the current data, research and management of obesity. It is essential reading for healthcare professionals, endocrinologists, nutritionists, public health students and medical students.
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    Neuromodulation in the Treatment of Migraine: Progress in Nerve Stimulation
    (2017) Samsam, Mohtashem; Ahangari, Raheleh
    Migraine is a type of primary headache disorder that can become chronic and disabling. The exact pathomechanism of migraine is not known very well and its treatment is also difficult in some cases. There are several medications for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine including the “triptan” family drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-epileptic drugs, beta-blockers, and Ca2+-channel blockers1 and those against calcitonin gene-related peptide or its receptor that are reviewed elsewhere.2 However, there are some medically intractable headaches or patient management is unsatisfactory or medications are poorly tolerated3 or there are contraindications. Therefore, neuromodulation and nerve stimulation methods that have proven effective in clinical research may provide an additional treatment option for acute and preventive treatment of migraine. In this brief review, we will discuss recent advances using neuromodulatory techniques that are currently used in the treatment of headaches in clinical studies. These include the electrical stimulation of occipital nerve, sphenopalatine ganglion, supraorbital nerve, and transcutaneous electrical stimulation of vagus nerve as well as single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. Several clinical studies have conducted neurostimulation for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine in recent years but more studies are necessary to see their efficacy and long-term effect.
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    Neuropeptides and Other Chemical Mediators, and the Role of Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Primary Headaches
    (2010) Samsam, Mohtashem; Covenas, Rafael; Ahangari, Raheleh; Yajeya, Javier
    Primary headaches including the migraine, cluster, and tension headaches are common neurological disorders which cause pain and disability to the patients. The pathomechanism of migraine is not very well understood however, current clinical findings indicate a possible primary brain disorder due to activation of the brain and brainstem as triggers for migraine. The headache phase of migraine may be due to activation of the peripheral nerves including the trigeminal nerve and others innervating the cranial blood vessels and release of vasoactive substances including the calcitonin generelated peptides (CGRP), possibly leading to vasodilation and brainstem activation. Several of our studies in an experimental model of pain using electrical stimulation of the trigeminal ganglion in rats focused on various neuropeptides release from the peripheral and central trigeminal nerve terminals, however, clinically only the CGRP in migraine and CGRP and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in cluster headache were found in patient's blood. Although several drugs are used in the treatment of migraine, the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the triptan family of drugs are the first choice drugs recommended for the treatment of acute migraine headache. Although clinically very few studies detected other vasoactive/inflammatory molecules in the blood of migraine patients, sensitization of peripheral axons can involve many inflammatory mediators affecting the peripheral tissue substrates of pain. Moreover, central sensitization in the trigeminal nucleus can also contribute to additional pain responses. This article reviews neuropeptides and other molecules involved in primary headaches and major drugs proposed for their treatment in recent years.
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    Pathophysiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Revisiting Gastrointestinal Involvement and Immune Imbalance
    (2014) Samsam, Mohtashem; Ahangari, Raheleh; Naser, Saleh A.
    Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) comprise a group of neurodevelopmental abnormalities that begin in early childhood and are characterized by impairment of social communication and behavioral problems including restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Several genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ASD, most of them are involved in neuronal synaptogenesis. A number of environmental factors and associated conditions such as gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities and immune imbalance have been linked to the pathophysiology of ASD. According to the March 2012 report released by United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of ASD has sharply increased during the recent years and one out of 88 children suffers now from ASD symptoms. Although there is a strong genetic base for the disease, several associated factors could have a direct link to the pathogenesis of ASD or act as modifiers of the genes thus aggravating the initial problem. Many children suffering from ASD have GI problems such as abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, gastroesophageal reflux, and intestinal infections. A number of studies focusing on the intestinal mucosa, its permeability, abnormal gut development, leaky gut, and other GI problem raised many questions but studies were somehow inconclusive and an expert panel of American Academy of Pediatrics has strongly recommended further investigation in these areas. GI tract has a direct connection with the immune system and an imbalanced immune response is usually seen in ASD children. Maternal infection or autoimmune diseases have been suspected. Activation of the immune system during early development may have deleterious effect on various organs including the nervous system. In this review we revisited briefly the GI and immune system abnormalities and neuropeptide imbalance and their role in the pathophysiology of ASD and discussed some future research directions.