Liubov S Kalinichenko

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder. It is currently treated with antipsychotic drugs (APD). However, APD’s work only in a limited number of patients and may have cognition impairing side effects. A growing body of evidence points out the potential involvement of abnormal sphingolipid metabolism in the pathophysiology of schizophr...

For a proper representation of the causal structure of the world, it is adaptive to consider both evidence for and evidence against causality. To take punishment as an example, the causality of a stimulus is unlikely if there is a temporal gap before punishment is received, but causality is credible if the stimulus immediately precedes punishment....

For a proper representation of the causal structure of the world, one must consider both evidence for and evidence against causality. To take punishment as an example, the causality of a stimulus is reasonable if the stimulus precedes punishment, whereas causality can be ruled out if the punishment occurred first. This is reflected in the associati...

Serotonin (5-HT) is a vital modulatory neurotransmitter responsible for regulating most behaviors in the brain. An inefficient 5-HT synaptic function is often linked to various mental disorders. Primarily, membrane proteins controlling the expression and activity of 5-HT synthesis, storage, release, receptor activation, and inactivation are critica...

Point mutations in the α‐synuclein coding gene may lead to the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is often accompanied by other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and drug use disorders, which typically emerge in adulthood. Some of these point mutations, such as SNCA and A30T, have been linked to behavioral effects that a...

Alcohol consumption is a widespread behaviour that may eventually result in the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Alcohol, however, is rarely consumed in pure form but in fruit- or corn-derived preparations, like beer. These preparations add other compounds to the consumption, which may critically modify alcohol intake and AUD risk. We inv...

Rationale The dopamine D4 receptors (DRD4) play a key role in numerous brain functions and are involved in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders. DRD4 ligands have been shown to moderate anxiety, reward and depression-like behaviours, and cognitive impairments. Despite a series of promising but ambiguous findings, the therapeutic advant...

Prenatal stress is a critical life event often resulting in mental illnesses in the offspring. The critical developmental processes, which might trigger a cascade of molecular events resulting in mental disorders in adulthood, are still to be elucidated. Here we proposed that sex hormones, particularly testosterone, might determine the “development...

Depression is a common mood disorder characterised by high comorbidity with other mental and somatic diseases. New studies reveal a shared genetic base for mental core symptoms and somatic comorbidities. Functional analyses showed multiple brain–body pathways involved. This may help considering new therapeutic approaches for depression as a system’...

Alcohol use, abuse, and addiction, and resulting health hazards are highly sex-dependent with unknown mechanisms. Previously, strong links between the SMPD3 gene and its coded protein neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (NSM) and alcohol abuse, emotional behavior, and bone defects were discovered and multiple mechanisms were identified for females. Here we...

Cognitive processes, particularly learning and memory, are crucial brain mechanisms mediating the successful adaptation of individuals to constantly changing environmental conditions. Impairments in memory performance during neurodegenerative disorders or dementias affect life quality of patients as well as their relatives and careers, and thus hav...

Mental disorders are highly comorbid and occur together with physical diseases, which are often considered to arise from separate pathogenic pathways. We observed in alcohol-dependent patients increased serum activity of neutral sphingomyelinase. A genetic association analysis in 456,693 volunteers found associations of haplotypes of SMPD3 coding f...

Background The therapeutic effects of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are mainly attributed to their postsynaptic inhibitory functions on the dopamine D2 receptor, which, however, cannot explain the delayed onset of full therapeutic efficacy. It was previously shown that APDs accumulate in presynaptic vesicles during chronic treatment and are released l...

Sphingolipids and enzymes of the sphingolipid rheostat determine synaptic appearance and signaling in the brain, but sphingolipid contribution to normal behavioral plasticity is little understood. Here we asked how the sphingolipid rheostat contributes to learning and memory of various dimensions. We investigated the role of these lipids in the mec...

Objective Parkinson disease (PD) has useful symptomatic treatments that do not slow the neurodegenerative process, and no significant disease‐modifying treatments are approved. A key therapeutic target in PD is α‐synuclein (αS), which is both genetically implicated and accumulates in Lewy bodies rich in vesicles and other lipid membranes. Reestabli...

Background: Ceramides are lipid molecules determining cell integrity and intercellular signaling, and thus, involved in the pathogenesis of several psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. However, little is known about the role of particular enzymes of the ceramide metabolism in the mechanisms of normal behavioral plasticity. Here, we studied...

Cocaine addiction is a severe psychiatric condition for which currently no effective pharmacotherapy is available. Brain mechanisms for the establishment of addiction‐related behaviors are still not fully understood, and specific biomarkers for cocaine use are not available. Sphingolipids are major membrane lipids, which shape neuronal membrane com...

Human de novo CtBP1 R331W variant was linked to hypotonia , ataxia, developmental delay, and tooth enamel defect syndrome (HADDTS) HADDTS), however, mechanistic insights are missing. We aimed to characterize and investigate the implication of CtBP1 loss on muscle mass maintaining signaling cascades using mice behavior, immunoblotting and histology.

Background The therapeutic effects of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are mainly attributed to their post synaptic inhibitory functions on the dopamine D2 receptor, which however, cannot explain the delayed onset of full therapeutic efficacy. It was previously shown that APDs accumulate in presynaptic vesicles during chronic treatment and are released l...

Germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH) is a detrimental form of neonatal CNS injury. Following GMH-mediated eNOS inhibition, inflammation arises, contributing to GMH-induced brain injury. We investigated the beneficial effects of Serelaxin, a clinical tested recombinant Relaxin-2 protein, on brain injury after GMH in rats. We investigated whether effects...

Psychostimulants are widely abused drugs that may cause addiction in vulnerable individuals. While the reward circuitry of the brain is involved in addiction establishment, various pathways in the brain may provide protection at the molecular level that limits the acute and chronic effects of drugs. These targets may be used for strategies designed...

Depression and alcohol dependence are associated with increased plasma ceramide concentrations in humans. Pharmacological increase in C16 ceramide concentrations in the dorsal hippocampus (DH) induced a depressive-like phenotype in naïve mice. However, the effects of C16 ceramide on alcohol consumption and anxiety-like behavior as well as the behav...

Emotional stress leads to the development of peripheral disorders and is recognized as a modifiable risk factor for psychiatric disorders, particularly depression and anxiety. However, not all individuals develop the negative consequences of emotional stress due to different stress coping strategies and resilience to stressful stimuli. In this revi...

Major depression and alcohol use disorder are severe psychiatric diseases affecting the world's population with high comorbidity level. However, the pathogenesis of this comorbidity remains unclear, and no selective treatment for this condition is available. A pathogenic pathway and a possible therapeutic target for the treatment of depression-alco...

There is still no widely effective pharmacotherapy for alcohol addiction available in the clinic. FK506‐binding protein 51 (FKBP51) is a negative regulator of the glucocorticoid receptor signaling pathway that regulates the stress‐induced glucocorticoid feedback circuit. Here we asked whether selective inhibitors of FKBP51, exemplified by SAFit2, m...

Axonal pathology precedes dopaminergic cell loss in Parkinson's disease (PD), indicating a dying back axonopathy of nigrostriatal projections. Although most attention focused on the dopaminergic system, increasing evidence implies a compromised serotonergic system in PD as well. By combining immunohistological and biochemical approaches, a profound...

Alcohol use disorder and depression show a high comorbidity at clinical level with no treatment available selectively for this condition. A hyperfunction of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) and resulting ceramide overload were recently identified as one pathway into this comorbidity. Here we analyzed the involvement of ASM, one of the main enzymes invol...

Gait and postural control dysfunction are prototypical symptoms compromising quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Hallmarks of cellular pathology are dopaminergic degeneration and accumulation of the cytosolic protein alpha-synuclein, linked to impaired autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP) clearance. Physical exercise improves ga...

Psychoactive drug use is a common behavior in many societies worldwide, frequently associated with drug instrumentalization. Regular use may develop into drug addiction, which is a severe psychiatric disorder with multiple pathological effects to virtually all organ systems. Treatment strategies for addiction are often insufficient with no broadly...

Alcohol is a widely consumed drug that can lead to addiction and severe brain damage. However, alcohol is also used as self-medication for psychiatric problems, such as depression, frequently resulting in depression-alcoholism comorbidity. Here, we identify the first molecular mechanism for alcohol use with the goal to self-medicate and ameliorate...

Changes in peripheral blood cytokine contents in behaviorally passive and active Wistar rats were assessed at different time points after acute stressing using a restraint model during the dark part of the day. In passive animals, decreases in the concentrations of most of the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines studied were most marked immediatel...

The nature of the effects of melatonin on lipid peroxidation, assessed in terms of changes in thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive products, were studied in the peripheral blood in behaviorally passive and active Wistar rats. The acute rat stress model consisted of 1-h restraint with electrocutaneous stimulation. I.p. injection of melatonin (2 mg/kg)...

This work was designed to study a change in cytokine content in the peripheral blood of behaviorally passive and active Wistar rats at various time intervals after acute stress on the model of night-time immobilization. A decrease in the concentration of most pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in passive animals was most pronounced immediately an...

Chronic peripheral inflammation mediated by cytokines such as TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6 is associated with psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. However, it remains elusive which distinct type of peripheral inflammation triggers neuroinflammation and affects hippocampal plasticity resulting in depressive-like behavior. We hypothesized that...

The effect of the epiphyseal hormone melatonin on the activity of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) was studied in peripheral blood erythrocytes of behaviorally passive and active Wistar rats. Acute emotional stress was modeled by immobilization of animals for1...

This work was designed to study the effect of melatonin on lipid peroxidation in the peripheral blood of behaviorally passive and active Wistar rats. Immobilization of rats with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation (1 h) served as a model of acute stress. After intraperitoneal injection of melatonin (2 mg/kg) the intensity of lipid peroxidatio...

Proteomic differences in the hippocampus of stress-resistant and stress-sensitive rats were detected on the model of emotional stress. Differential expression of some proteins was detected in animals with different behavioral activity initially and after experimental stress exposure. Specific involvement of the hippocampus in the realization of str...

The effects of melatonin (epiphyseal neurohormone) on the serum cytokine profi les of rats with different behavioral characteristics were studied after acute emotional stress. One-hour immobilization of animals with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation of subthreshold intensity served as the stress model. Acute stress exposure of animals with...

We studied the effect of a pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β (5 μg/kg intraperitoneally) on blood leukocytes in Wistar rats various behavioral characteristics during acute emotional stress (1-h immobilization with simultaneous delivery of subthreshold electrocutaneous stimulation). Stress exposure was accompanied by a decrease in the total number of...

The cytokine profile of peripheral blood plasma was studied in rats with various behavioral characteristics after acute emotional stress (1-hour immobilization with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation). Under basal conditions the concentrations of pro-inflammatory (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IFN-γ, and granulocyte-monocyte CSF) and anti-inflammatory...

We studied the effect of IL-4 on antioxidant enzyme activity in brain structures (hypothalamus, sensorimotor cortex, and amygdala) in behaviorally passive and active rats. One-hour immobilization of animals with simultaneous delivery of subthreshold electrocutaneous stimulation was used as the model of acute stress. Intraperitoneal injection of IL-...

We compared cytokine profile of rat serum and brain structures after immune status modulation by LPS (30 μg/kg intraperitoneally). The content of inflammatory (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines in biological samples of animals was measured on days 1 and 7 after antigenic stimulation. LPS ad...

We report here a comparison of the effects of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β and the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-4 on measures of blood albumin in rats with different types of behavioral activity in the open field. In the initial state, the total serum albumin concentration in active animals was significantly lower than tha...

We studied the effect of IL-1β on antioxidant enzyme activity in emotiogenic structures of the brain (hypothalamus, sensorimotor cortex, and amygdala) in behaviorally passive and active rats with different sensitivity to stress. One-hour immobilization of animals with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation was used as a model of stress. An intra...

We studied the effect of acute emotional stress (1-h immobilization with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation) on the prooxidant-antioxidant balance in emotiogenic structures of the brain in rats with various behavioral characteristics. TBA-reactive substance content in the hypothalamus of rats remained practically unchanged after stress expos...

We studied the effect of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 on the intensity of free radical processes in emotiogenic brain structures (hypothalamus, sensorimotor cortex, and amygdala) in rats with different prognostic emotional resistance. One-hour immobilization of animals with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation was used as a model of acute s...

We studied the effects of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta and antiinflammatory cytokine interleukin-4 on serum albumin parameters in rats with various behavioural characteristics in the open-field test. Under control conditions, the total concentration of serum albumin in active animals was higher than in passive those. However, the rat...

We compared the effect of a pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 on the state of stress-marker organs in rats with various behavioral characteristics in the open-field test. Intraperitoneal injection of the cytokines was followed by a slight decrease in the relative weight of the thymus, adrenal glands, and spleen in...

We studied the effects of immunomodulatory cytokine interleukin-1β on lipid peroxidation in emotiogenic structures of the brain (hypothalamus, sensorimotor cortex, and amygdala) of behaviorally active and passive rats with different prognostic resistance to stress. Immobilization of animals with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation (1 h) serve...

We studied the effect of interleukin-1β on the behavior of rats with different individual typological characteristics during mild stress in the open-field test. Intraperitoneal injection of interleukin-1β (5 μg/kg, 108 U/mg) was followed by a decrease in orientation and exploratory activity of passive and, particularly, of active animals in the ope...