Laxmikant Deshpande

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• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Virginia Commonwealth University

Approximately 175,000 to 250,000 of the returning veterans from the 1991 Persian Gulf War exhibit chronic multi-symptom illnesses that includes neurologic co-morbidities such as depression, anxiety and cognitive impairments. Amongst a host of causative factors, exposure to low levels of the nerve agent Sarin has been strongly implicated for express...

Organophosphate (OP) chemicals include nerve agents and pesticides, and there is a growing concern of OP-based chemical attacks against civilians. Current antidotes are essential in limiting immediate mortality associated with OP exposure. However, further research is needed to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying long-term neurological def...

Organophosphate (OP) compounds, including paraoxon (POX), are similar to nerve agents such as sarin. There is a growing concern that OP agents could be weaponized to cause mass civilian causalities. We have developed a rodent survival model of POX toxicity that is being used to evaluate chronic morbidity and to screen for medical countermeasures ag...

Alterations in hippocampal neuronal Ca²⁺ and Ca²⁺-dependent systems have been implicated in mediating some of the long-term neuroplasticity changes associated with acquired epilepsy (AE). However, there are no studies in an animal model of AE that directly evaluate alterations in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]i) and Ca²⁺ homeostatic me...

Developing cannabinoid-based medication along with marijuana's recreational use makes it important to investigate molecular adaptations the endocannabinoid system undergoes following prolonged use and withdrawal. Repeated cannabinoid administration results in development of tolerance and produces withdrawal symptoms that may include seizures. Here...

Neutrophil elastase (NE), elevated in the cystic fibrosis (CF) airway, causes macrophage phagocytic failure. We previously reported that NE increases the release of protease Calpain-2 in macrophages. We hypothesized that NE mediates macrophage failure through activation of Calpains. We demonstrate that Calpain inhibition rescued NE induced macropha...

Hepatic xenobiotic metabolism and transport decline with age, while intact xenobiotic metabolism is associated with longevity. However, few studies have examined the genome-wide impact of epigenetic aging on these processes. We used reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) to map DNA methylation changes in liver DNA from mice ages 4 and 2...

Approximately one-third of Gulf War veterans suffer from Gulf War Illness (GWI), which encompass mood disorders and depressive symptoms. Deployment-related exposure to organophosphate (OP) compounds has been associated with GWI development. Epigenetic modifications have been reported in GWI veterans. We previously showed that epigenetic histone dys...

Organophosphate (OP) compounds are highly toxic and include pesticides and chemical warfare nerve agents (CWNA). OP exposure inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme, causing cholinergic overstimulation that can evolve into status epilepticus (SE) and produce lethality. Furthermore, OP-induced SE survival is associated with mood and memory dysfunct...

Organophosphate (OP) compounds are highly toxic and include household, industrial, agricultural, and chemical warfare nerve agents (CWNA). OP exposure inhibits acetylcholinesterase enzyme, causing cholinergic overstimulation that can evolve into status epilepticus (SE) and produce lethality. Furthermore, OP-SE survival is associated with mood and m...

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor, classically associated with the regulation of xenobiotic metabolism in response to environmental toxins. In recent years, transgenic rodent models have implicated AhR in aging and longevity. Moreover, several AhR ligands, such as resveratrol and quercetin, are compounds...

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation is a major contributor to poor brain pathology across many disease conditions. Specifically, the upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF in the hippocampus activates its receptor TNFR1, reducing AMPA receptor trafficking to impair LTP and associated behavioral outcomes. Studies using animal models of GWI...

Organophosphate (OP) chemicals include commonly used pesticides and chemical warfare agents, and mechanistically they are potent inhibitors of the cholinesterase (ChE) enzyme. Epidemiological studies report long-term neuropsychiatric issues, including depression and cognitive impairments in OP-exposed individuals. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is one of the m...

Organophosphate (OP) chemicals include commonly used pesticides and also chemical warfare agents, and mechanistically they are potent inhibitors of the cholinesterase (ChE) enzyme. While a chronic low-dose OP exposure does not produce acute cholinergic crises, epidemiological studies report long-term neuropsychiatric issues including depression and...

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multisymptomatic disorder that afflicts over 1/3rd of the 1991 GW veterans. It spans multiple bodily systems and presents itself as a syndrome exhibiting diverse symptoms including fatigue, depression, mood, and memory and concentration deficits, musculoskeletal pain and gastrointestinal distress in GW veterans....

Aims: Deployment-related exposures to organophosphate (OP) compounds are implicated for Gulf War Illness (GWI) development in First GW veterans. However, reasons for the persistence of GWI are not fully understood. Epigenetic modifications to chromatin are regulatory mechanisms that can adaptively or maladaptively respond to external stimuli. Thes...

Gulf War Illness (GWI) refers to a multi-system disorder that afflicts approximately 30% of First Gulf War (GW) veterans. Amongst the symptoms exhibited, mood and memory impairment are commonly reported by GW veterans. Exposure to organophosphate (OP) compounds which target the cholinergic system is considered a leading cause for GWI symptoms. It i...

Organophosphorus (OP) compounds are chemical threat agents and are irreversible inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase that lead to a hypercholinergic response that could include status epilepticus (SE). SE particularly targets the heart and brain and despite existing therapies, it is still associated with significant mortality and morbidity...

Loss of intracellular calcium homeostasis is an established mechanism associated with neuronal dysfunction and status epilepticus. Sequestration of free cytosolic calcium into endoplasmic reticulum by Mg²⁺/Ca²⁺ adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) is critical for maintenance of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Exposing hippocampal cultures to low-mag...

Approximately 33% of U.S. soldiers from the first Gulf War suffer from a multi-system disorder known as the Gulf War Illness (GWI). GW veterans suffer from a cluster of symptoms that prominently include fatigue and can include mood-related symptoms. Compared to traditional antidepressants, ketamine (KET) produces a fast-onset and long-lasting antid...

Exposure to organophosphates (OP) during the First Gulf War is among one of the factors for Gulf War Illness (GWI) development in veterans and it has been challenging to treat GWI symptoms with existing therapies. Ketamine produces a rapid-onset and sustained antidepressant response, but there is no evidence whether ketamine treatment is effective...

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multi-symptom disorder afflicting the veterans of the First Gulf War, and includes neurological symptoms characterized by depression and memory deficits. Chronic exposure to organophosphates (OP) is considered a leading cause for GWI, yet its pathobiology is not fully understood. We recently observed chronic elev...

Organophosphate (OP) chemicals include pesticides such as parathion, and nerve gases such as sarin and soman and are considered major chemical threat agents. Acute OP exposure is associated with a cholinergic crisis and status epilepticus (SE). It is also known that the survivors of OP toxicity exhibit neurobehavioral deficits such as mood changes,...

Status Epilepticus (SE) is a major neurological emergency and is considered a leading cause of Acquired Epilepsy (AE). We have shown that SE produces neuronal injury and prolonged alterations in hippocampal calcium levels ([Ca²⁺]i) that may underlie the development of AE. Interventions preventing the SE-induced Ca²⁺ plateau could therefore prove to...

Over 20 yr have elapsed since the end of the First Gulf War, yet approximately one-third of the veterans exhibit Gulf War Illness (GWI) symptoms, particularly depression and memory impairments. Exposure to organophosphate (OP) compounds is implicated for GWI development. The role of calcium (Ca 2+) signaling in learning, memory, and mood is well es...

Organophosphate (OP) compounds which include nerve agents and pesticides are considered chemical threat agents. Currently approved antidotes are crucial in limiting OP mediated acute mortality. However, survivors of lethal OP exposure exhibit delayed neuronal injury and chronic behavioral morbidities. In this study, we investigated neuroprotective...

Cannabinoids have been used medicinally for centuries, and in the last decade, attention has focused on their broad therapeutic potential particularly in seizure management. While some cannabinoids have demonstrated anticonvulsant activity in experimental studies, their efficacy for managing clinical seizures has not been fully established. This co...

The brain endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays an essential role in regulating central physiological processes that underlie learning and memory, anxiety, depression, addiction, appetite and feeding, pain, neuronal excitability and protection. A primary mode through which the ECS functions in the brain is via its regulation of synaptic transmission,...

Paraoxon (POX) is an active metabolite of organophosphate (OP) pesticide parathion that has been weaponized and used against civilian populations. Exposure to POX produces high mortality. OP poisoning is often associated with chronic neurological disorders. In this study, we optimize a rat survival model of lethal POX exposures in order to mimic bo...

Status epilepticus (SE) is a major clinical emergency that is associated with high mortality and morbidity. SE causes significant neuronal injury and survivors are at a greater risk of developing acquired epilepsy and other neurological morbidities, including depression and cognitive deficits. Benzodiazepines and some anticonvulsant agents are drug...

Hypothermia is a powerful neuroprotective method when induced following cardiac arrest, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. The physiological effects of hypothermia are multifaceted and therefore a better knowledge of its therapeutic targets will be central to developing innovative combination therapies to augment the protective benefits of hypothe...

Stroke is the major cause of acquired epilepsy in the adult population. The mechanisms of ischemia-induced epileptogenesis are not completely understood, but glutamate is associated with both ischemia-induced injury and epileptogenesis. The objective of this study was to develop an in vitro model of epileptogenesis induced by glutamate injury in or...

Epilepsy, a common neurological disorder, is characterized by the occurrence of spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges (SREDs). Acquired epilepsy is associated with long-term neuronal plasticity changes in the hippocampus resulting in the expression of spontaneous recurrent seizures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and characterize...

Status epilepticus (SE) is a major neurological disorder and SE survivors often develop acquired epilepsy and cognitive deficits. Thus, it is important to stop SE and limit brain damage. However, rapid pharmacoresistance develops to anticonvulsants as seizure duration lengthens. Recently, acetaminophen was reported to increase endocannabinoid level...

Status epilepticus is a clinical emergency that can lead to the development of acquired epilepsy following neuronal injury. Understanding the pathophysiological changes that occur between the injury itself and the expression of epilepsy is important in the development of new therapeutics to prevent epileptogenesis. Currently, no anti-epileptogenic...

Organophosphate (OP) compounds are among the most lethal chemical weapons ever developed and are irreversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. Exposure to majority of OP produces status epilepticus (SE) and severe cholinergic symptoms that if left untreated are fatal. Survivors of OP intoxication often suffer from irreversible brain damage and c...

The major brain injuries leading to the development of acquired epilepsy include status epilepticus, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Despite differences in the initiating events, these injuries share common molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of epilepsy. Following injury, increased accumulation of extracellular glutamate leads to...

Many studies suggest that the majority of seizure-induced cell death is associated with status epilepticus (SE); in contrast, spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges (SREDs) associated with epilepsy do not cause neuronal death. Extracellular factors affecting neuronal responsiveness, and compensatory changes in brain physiology, complicate as...

Status epilepticus is a clinical emergency defined as continuous seizure activity or rapid, recurrent seizures without regaining consciousness and can lead to the development of acquired epilepsy, characterized by spontaneous, recurrent seizures. Understanding epileptogenesis--the transformation of healthy brain tissue into hyperexcitable neuronal...

Cannabinoids have been shown to cause CB1-receptor-dependent anticonvulsant activity in both in vivo and in vitro models of status epilepticus (SE) and acquired epilepsy (AE). It has been further demonstrated in these models that the endocannabinoid system functions in a tonic manner to suppress seizure discharges through a CB1-receptor-dependent p...

Status epilepticus (SE) is an acute neurological emergency associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Age has been shown to be a critical factor in determining outcome after SE. Understanding the causes of this increased mortality with aging by developing an animal model to study this condition would play a major role in studying mechanis...

We prospectively compared the clinical course of 119 patients treated for status epilepticus (SE) in private practice community hospitals and 344 SE patients treated in the VCU university hospitals in Richmond, Virginia USA over a 2-year period to test the hypothesis that SE presents with the same mortality and clinical patterns in both clinical se...

Betel use involves oral placement of shards of areca nut (Areca catechu palm seed containing the cholinergic agonist arecoline) wrapped with slaked lime in a betel leaf (Piper betle plant) or various chopped or powdered products containing areca nut and/or parts of the betel plant. Additives to this mixture include catechu (areca palm extract), spi...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors often suffer from a post-traumatic syndrome with deficits in learning and memory. Calcium (Ca(2+)) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of TBI-induced neuronal death. However, the role of long-term changes in neuronal Ca(2+) function in surviving neurons and the potential impact on TBI-induced cognitive...

Although great advances have been made in the development of treatments for epilepsy, acquired epilepsy following brain injury still comprises approximately 50% of all the cases of epilepsy. Thus, development of drugs that would prevent or decrease the onset of epilepsy following brain injury represents an important area of research. Here, we inves...

Epilepsy affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide, and there is a pressing need to develop new anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and understand their mechanisms of action. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a novel AED and despite its increasingly widespread clinical use, its mechanism of action is as yet undetermined. Intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) reg...

This study was initiated to investigate effects of the novel neuromodulator carisbamate (RWJ 333369) in the hippocampal neuronal culture model of status epilepticus and spontaneous epileptiform discharges. Whole-cell current clamp techniques were used to determine the effects of carisbamate on spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges (SREDs, i...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors often suffer chronically from significant morbidity associated with cognitive deficits, behavioral difficulties and a post-traumatic syndrome and thus it is important to understand the pathophysiology of these long-term plasticity changes after TBI. Calcium (Ca2+) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of...

The hippocampus is especially vulnerable to seizure-induced damage and excitotoxic neuronal injury. This study examined the time course of neuronal death in relationship to seizure duration and the pharmacological mechanisms underlying seizure-induced cell death using low magnesium (Mg2+) induced continuous high frequency epileptiform discharges (i...

Protracted elevation in intracellular calcium caused by the activation of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor is the main cause of glutamate excitotoxic injury in stroke. However, upon excitotoxic injury, despite the presence of calcium entry antagonists, calcium unexpectedly continues to enter the neuron, causing extended neuronal depolarization and...

It is established that the majority but not all of the seizure-induced cell death is associated with status epilepticus while spontaneous recurrent seizures associated with epilepsy do not cause neuronal death. Extracellular effects and compensatory changes in brain physiology complicate assessment of neuronal death in vivo as the result of seizure...

Aging is associated with increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and greater neuronal deficits after stroke and epilepsy. Emerging studies have implicated increased levels of intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) for the neuronal loss associated with aging related disorders. Recent evidence...

Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening neurological disorder associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Benzodiazepines are the initial drugs of choice for the treatment of SE. Despite aggressive treatment, over 40% of SE cases are refractory to the initial treatment with two or more medications. It would be a major advance in th...

Status epilepticus is a serious neurological disorder associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Antiepileptic drugs such as diazepam, phenobarbital and phenytoin are the mainstay of status epilepticus treatment. However, over 20% of status epilepticus cases are refractory to the initial treatment with two or more antiepileptic drugs. E...

Status epilepticus (SE) is a major medical emergency associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the mechanisms that terminate seizure activity and prevent the development of status epilepticus. Cannabinoids possess anticonvulsant properties and the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in regulating seizure du...

Epilepsy is characterized by the occurrence of spontaneous recurrent epileptiform discharges (SREDs) in neurons. A decrease in calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK-II) activity has been shown to occur with the development of SREDs in a hippocampal neuronal culture model of acquired epilepsy, and altered calcium (Ca(2+)) homeostasis...

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. Although epilepsy can be idiopathic, it is estimated that up to 50% of all epilepsy cases are initiated by neurological insults and are called acquired epilepsy (AE). AE develops in 3 phases: (1) the injury [central nervous system (CNS) insult]. (2) epileptogenesis (latency), and (3) the ch...

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. Although epilepsy can be idiopathic, it is estimated that up to 50% of all epilepsy cases are initiated by neurological insults and are called acquired epilepsy (AE). AE develops in 3 phases: (1) the injury [central nervous system (CNS) insult], (2) epileptogenesis (latency), and (3) the ch...

Cannabinoids have been shown to have anticonvulsant properties, but no studies have evaluated the effects of cannabinoids in the hippocampal neuronal culture models of acquired epilepsy (AE) and status epilepticus (SE). This study investigated the anticonvulsant properties of the cannabinoid receptor agonist R(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-[(morpholin...

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. Although epilepsy can be idiopathic, it is estimated that up to 50% of all epilepsy cases are initiated by neurological insults and are called acquired epilepsy (AE). AE develops in 3 phases: (1) the injury (central nervous system [CNS] insult), (2) epileptogenesis (latency), and (3) the ch...

The neurosteroid 3alpha-hydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one (3alpha,5alpha-THP) has been previously shown to induce catalepsy in mice that is modified by GABAergic, dopaminergic, adenosinergic and serotonergic agents. In light of the interaction of this endogenous neurosteroid with GABAergic and dopaminergic transmission, there is potential interest in t...

The neurosteroid 3alpha-hydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one (3alpha,5alpha-THP) induced catalepsy in mice is modified by dopaminergic, adenosinergic and GABAergic agents. In light of serotonergic agents being implicated in antipsychotic-induced catalepsy and their ability to increase brain neurosteroid content, the present study was undertaken to investi...