Manuel Desco

• MD, MS Eng, PhD
• Head of Department at Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, University Carlos III de Madrid

Experience-dependent plastic changes in the brain underlying complex forms of learning are generally initiated when organisms are awake, and this may limit the earliest developmental time at which learning about external events can take place. It is not known whether waking-like brain function is present prenatally in higher vertebrate (bird or mam...

Intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy (IOERT) involves a modified strategy of conventional radiation therapy and surgery. The lack of specific planning tools limits the spread of this technique. The purpose of the present study is to describe a new simulation and planning tool and its initial evaluation by clinical users. The tool works on...

Standard image reconstruction methods for fluorescence Diffuse Optical Tomography (fDOT) generally make use of L2-regularization. A better choice is to replace the L2 by a total variation functional that effectively removes noise while preserving edges. Among the wide range of approaches available, the recently appeared Split Bregman method has bee...

The main goal of this study was to investigate the neural substrates of fluid reasoning and visuospatial working memory in adolescents with precocious mathematical ability. The study population comprised two groups of adolescents: 13 math-gifted adolescents and 14 controls with average mathematical skills. Patterns of activation specific to reasoni...

Childbirth is a life-changing event in a mother’s life. While the transition to motherhood has recently been recognized as one of the most neuroplastic periods in adulthood, no study has yet explored whether the hippocampus and amygdala change during the peripartum in relation to childbirth experience and perinatal depression symptoms. In this long...

Optical tissue clearing techniques can render large-scale tissue samples and whole organs transparent to apply cell-resolution 3D imaging techniques, revolutionizing the fields of biological research and pathological diagnosis, and providing never-before seen structural information. There are several widely used protocols, but they have shortcoming...

Infective endocarditis (IE) represents a significant concern among hospital-acquired infections, frequently caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Nuclear imaging is emerging as a noninvasive and precise diagnostic tool. However, the gold standard radiotracer [¹⁸F]-FDG cannot distinguish between infection and inflammation, res...

Conventional strategies aimed at mitigating beam-hardening artifacts in computed tomography (CT) can be categorized into two main approaches: (1) postprocessing following conventional reconstruction and (2) iterative reconstruction incorporating a beam-hardening model. While the former fails in low-dose and/or limited-data cases, the latter substan...

Radiation dose and image quality in radiology are influenced by the X-ray prime factors: KVp, mAs, and source-detector distance. These parameters are set by the X-ray technician prior to the acquisition considering the radiographic position. A wrong setting of these parameters may result in exposure errors, forcing the test to be repeated with the...

This review offers a comprehensive exploration of optimized drug delivery systems tailored for controlled release and their crucial role in addressing cerebrovascular diseases. Through an in‐depth analysis, various controlled release methods, including nanoparticles, liposomes, hydrogels, and other emerging technologies are examined. Highlighting t...

According to the so-called disconnection hypothesis, the loss of synaptic inputs from the medial temporal lobes (MTL) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may lead to reduced activity of target neurons in cortical areas and, consequently, to decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in those areas. The aim of this study was to assess whether hypoperfusion in pari...

The use of flow cytometry in mice is constrained by several factors, including the limited availability of mouse-specific antibodies and the need to work with small volumes of peripheral blood. This is particularly challenging for longitudinal studies, as serial blood samples should not exceed 10% of the total blood volume in mice. To address this,...

Multiple complex biological processes take place during pregnancy, including the migration of fetal cells to maternal circulation and their subsequent engraftment in maternal tissues, where they form microchimerisms. Fetal microchimerisms have been identified in several tissues; nevertheless, their functional role remains largely unknown. Different...

X-ray imaging is a cornerstone in medical diagnosis, constituting a significant portion of the radiation dose encountered by patients. Despite the imperative to reduce radiation doses, conventional image processing methods for X-ray denoising often struggle with heuristic parameter calibration and prolonged execution times. Deep Learning solutions...

Background The beam‐hardening effect due to the polychromatic nature of the X‐ray spectra results in two main artifacts in CT images: cupping in homogeneous areas and dark bands between dense parts in heterogeneous samples. Post‐processing methods have been proposed in the literature to compensate for these artifacts, but these methods may introduc...

Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) has become an emerging technology since its first application for 3D in-vivo imaging of the development of a living organism. An extensive number of works have been published, improving both the speed of acquisition and the resolution of the systems. Furthermore, multispectral imaging allows the effect...

Neocaridina davidi, a small freshwater shrimp native to Asia, specifically China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, possesses remarkable resistance to poor water quality and offers various advantages over other invertebrate species to examine crucial issues in neuroscience and other related areas. These advantages include robustness, ease of maintenance,...

Purpose. The Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacterium is one of the leading causes of infection in humans. The lack of specific noninvasive techniques for diagnosis of staphylococcal infection together with the severity of its associated complications support the need for new specific and selective diagnostic tools. This work presents the succ...

Myosin inhibitor mavacamten is the only targeted treatment available for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease caused by hundreds of genetic variants that affect mainly sarcomeric myosin and its negative regulator cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C, encoded by MYBPC3). Here, we have examined whether the reported limited efficacy of ma...

Curcumin is a natural molecule widely tested in preclinical and clinical studies due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Nevertheless, its high hydrophobicity and low bioavailability limit in vivo applications. To overcome curcumin´s drawbacks, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have emerged as potential drug delivery systems due to...

Bone defects treatment may require the use of biomaterials that behave as a support and promote bone regeneration. Limitations associated with the use of autografts and allografts make it necessary to design new synthetic bone substitutes. Some of the most promising biomaterials currently under investigation are based on nanocarbonate hydroxyapatit...

Schizophrenia is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder with an inflammatory/prooxidant component. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been evaluated in schizophrenia as an adjuvant to antipsychotics, but its role as a preventive strategy has not been sufficiently explored. We aimed to evaluate the potential of NAC administration in two-time windows before t...

Pregnancy is a unique neuroplastic period in adult life. This longitudinal study tracked brain cortical changes during the peripartum period and explored how the type of childbirth affects these changes. We collected neuroanatomic, obstetric and neuropsychological data from 110 first-time mothers during late pregnancy and early postpartum, as well...

Surgical menopause causes a sharp drop in estrogen levels in middle‐aged women, thus preventing the gradual physiological adaptation that is characteristic of the perimenopause. Previous studies suggest that surgical menopause might increase the risk of dementia later in life. In addition, the transition to motherhood entails long‐lasting endocrine...

Preclinical PET animal studies require immobilization of the animal, typically accomplished through the administration of anesthesia, which may affect the radiotracer biodistribution. The use of 18F point sources attached to the rat head is one of the most promising methods for motion compensation in awake rat PET studies. However, the presence of...

Introduction Heart failure is characterized by a metabolic reprogramming changing from fatty acids to glucose as the preferential fuel of the failing myocardium. Whether metabolic reprograming is a therapeutic target remains controversial. Purpose To evaluate whether a nutritional intervention rewiring cardiac metabolism towards a fatty acids has...

Among other factors such as random, attenuation and scatter corrections, uniform spatial resolution is key to performing accurate quantitative studies in Positron emission tomography (PET). Particularly in preclinical PET studies involving simultaneous acquisition of multiple animals, the degradation of image resolution due to the depth of interact...

Introduction: Goat milk is notable as a cost-effective source of exosomes, also known as small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These nanoparticle-like structures are naturally secreted by cells and have emerged as potential diagnostic agents and drug delivery systems, also supported by their proven therapeutic effects. However, the complexity of goa...

Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia ¹ . Its multifactorial profile includes a strong vascular factor, partially driven by an early haemostatic dysregulation. Accordingly, fibrin, the main protein component of blood clots, is significantly increased in AD‐patients’ brains ² . Furthermore, amyloid‐β contributes to...

Background and Aims Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disturbance in clinical care. Even mild presentations are associated with poor prognosis and increased mortality, in spite of which there is a trend to minimize the importance of small variations in natremia, that have historically been dismissed as not having negative consequences des...

Several studies performed on human subjects have examined the effects of adolescent cannabis consumption on brain structure or function using brain imaging techniques. However, the evidence from these studies is usually heterogenous and affected by several confounding variables. Animal models of adolescent cannabinoid exposure may help to overcome...

X-ray scatter in planar radiography degrades the contrast resolution of the image, thus reducing its diagnostic utility. Antiscatter grids partially block scattered photons at the cost of increasing the dose delivered by two- to four-fold and posing geometrical restrictions that hinder their use for other acquisition settings, such as portable radi...

The microbiota-gut-brain axis is a complex interconnected system altered in schizophrenia. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy to antipsychotics in clinical trials, but its role in the microbiota-gut-brain axis has not been sufficiently explored. We aimed to describe the effect of NAC administration dur...

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone, associated with an inflammatory process. Imaging plays an important role in establishing the diagnosis and the most appropriate patient management. However, data are lacking regarding the use of preclinical molecular imaging techniques to assess osteomyelitis progression in experimental models. This study...

Pregnancy is a transformative life event that causes profound changes in almost every system of the mother's body. Recent research has recognized that pregnancy is also a unique neuroplastic period in adult life. This longitudinal study tracked the cortical brain adaptations taking place during the unexplored period of the peripartum and examined w...

Aim: To compare the in vivo bone formation capacity of of biomaterials designed as bone substitutes with respect to iliac crest autograft, one based on carbonate hydroxiapatite and the other one on bioactive mesoporous glass. Materials and methods: Experimental study consisting on 14 adult female New Zeland rabbits where a critical defect was ma...

Substance use disorders are more prevalent in schizophrenia, but the causal links between both conditions remain unclear. Maternal immune activation (MIA) is associated with schizophrenia which may be triggered by stressful experiences during adolescence. Therefore, we used a double-hit rat model, combining MIA and peripubertal stress (PUS), to stu...

Imaging using radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies can provide, non-invasively, molecular information which allows for the planning of the best treatment and for monitoring the therapeutic response in cancer, as well as in chronic inflammatory diseases. In the present study, our main goal was to evaluate if a pre-therapy scan with radiolabelled anti...

This study evaluates the long-term effects of a six and 14-week morphine withdrawal in rats pretreated with a cannabinoid agonist (CP-55,940, CP) during periadolescence. Wistar rats (33 males; 32 females) were treated with CP or its vehicle (VH) from postnatal day (PND) 28-38. At PND100, rats performed morphine self-administration (MSA, 15d/12 h/se...

Resumen Objetivo: Comparar in vivo la capacidad de formación ósea de dos tipos de biomateriales diseñados como sustitutivos óseos respecto a autoinjerto de cresta iliaca, uno basado en carbonatohidroxiapatita y otro en vidrio mesoporoso bioactivo. Material y método: Estudio experimental compuesto por 14 conejos de Nueva Zelanda hembras adultas dond...

Introduction: Prenatal infections are associated with an increased risk of the onset of schizophrenia. Rodent models of maternal immune stimulation (MIS) have been extensively used in preclinical studies. However, many of these studies only include males, omitting pathophysiological features unique to females. The aim of this study is to characteri...

Understanding the signaling cascades that govern adipocyte metabolism and differentiation is necessary for the development of therapies for obesity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key mediators in adipogenesis, but their specific role is not completely understood. In this study, siRNA knockdown of Tlr2 in 3T3-L1 cells allowed them to differentiate...

Background and Purpose Reperfusion therapy is the standard of care for ischaemic stroke; however, there is a need to identify new therapeutic targets able to ameliorate cerebral damage. Neutrophil β1 adrenoceptors (β1AR) have been linked to neutrophil migration during exacerbated inflammation. Given the central role of neutrophils in cerebral damag...

Background Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are emerging natural nanoplatforms in cancer diagnosis and therapy, through the incorporation of signal components or drugs in their structure. However, for their translation into the clinical field, there is still a lack of tools that enable a deeper understanding of their in vivo pharmacokinetics or...

Sulcal width, defined as the physical distance between opposing sulcal banks, has shown promise as a biomarker. We present the first method to obtain a vertex-wise representation of this metric directly on the brain's cortical surface. The algorithm samples the surface at different depths and estimates the distances between the opposing sulcal bank...

Objective: Neuroimaging studies in children with ADHD indicate that their brain exhibits an atypical functional connectivity pattern characterized by increased local connectivity and decreased distant connectivity. We aim to evaluate if the local and distant distribution of functional connectivity is also altered in adult samples with ADHD who have...

Objective Neuroimaging studies in children with ADHD indicate that their brain exhibits an atypical functional connectivity pattern characterized by increased local connectivity and decreased distant connectivity. We aim to evaluate if the local and distant distribution of functional connectivity is also altered in adult samples with ADHD who have...

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are self-renewing, multipotent cells which give rise to all components of the central nervous system (CNS) during embryogenesis, but also activate in response to injury and disease and maintain a certain level of neurogenic activity throughout adulthood. This activity takes place in specialized regions of the brain, the neu...

Emerging evidence points to the transition to parenthood as a critical window for adult neural plasticity. Studying fathers offers a unique opportunity to explore how parenting experience can shape the human brain when pregnancy is not directly experienced. Yet very few studies have examined the neuroanatomic adaptations of men transitioning into f...

The archetypical folded shape of the human cortex has been a long-standing topic for neuroscientific research. Nevertheless, the accurate neuroanatomical segmentation of sulci remains a challenge. Part of the problem is the uncertainty of where a sulcus transitions into a gyrus and vice versa. This problem can be avoided by focusing on sulcal fundi...

Introduction: The clinical practice and outcome results of intraoperative electron radiation therapy (IOeRT) in cancer patients have been extensively reported over 4 decades. Electron beams can be delivered in the promising FLASH dose rate. Methods and materials: Several cancer models were approached by two alternative radiobiological strategies...

There is evidence that in schizophrenia, imbalances in inflammatory and oxidative processes occur during pregnancy and in the early postnatal period, generating interest in the potential therapeutic efficacy of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Mangiferin is a polyphenolic compound abundant in the leaves of Mangifera indica L. that has r...

Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most aggressive and deadliest cancers in human beings due to its invasiveness and other factors. Histopathological analysis is crucial for a proper diagnosis. Optical tissue clearing is a novel field that allows 3D image acquisition of large-scale biological tissues. Optical clearing and immunolabeling for 3D fluore...

Background SPG4 is a subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), an upper motor neuron disorder characterized by axonal degeneration of the corticospinal tracts and the fasciculus gracilis. The few neuroimaging studies that have focused on the spinal cord in HSP are based mainly on the analysis of structural characteristics. Methods We assesse...

Objective: The polychromatic nature of the X-ray spectrum in CT leads to two types of artifacts in the reconstructed image: cupping in homogeneous areas and dark bands between dense parts, such as bones. This fact, together with the energy dependence of the mass attenuation coefficients of the tissues, results in erroneous values in the reconstruc...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an invasive neurosurgical technique based on the application of electrical pulses to brain structures involved in the patient's pathophysiology. Despite the long history of DBS, its mechanism of action and appropriate protocols remain unclear, highlighting the need for research aiming to solve these enigmas. In this...

Vulnerability to addiction may be given by the individual's risk of developing an addiction during their lifetime. A challenge in the neurobiology of drug addiction is understanding why some people become addicted to drugs. Here, we used positron emission tomography (PET) and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) to evaluate changes in brain glucose...

In this paper, we propose a novel Machine Learning Model based on Bayesian Linear Regression intended to deal with the low sample-to-variable ratio typically found in neuroimaging studies and focusing on mental disorders. The proposed model combines feature selection capabilities with a formulation in the dual space which, in turn, enables efficien...

We report a medium-throughput drug-screening platform (METPlatform) based on organotypic cultures that allows to evaluate inhibitors against metastases growing in situ. By applying this approach to the unmet clinical need of brain metastasis, we identified several vulnerabilities. Among them, a blood-brain barrier permeable HSP90 inhibitor showed h...

Curcumin is a polyphenol extracted from the rhizome of the turmeric plant. Beyond its common use as a culinary spice in Eastern Asia, curcumin has been proposed as a therapeutic compound due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. Thus, its efficacy has been evaluated in various inflammatory-based psychiatric disorders...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non‐invasive technique that facilitates the study of brain activity by measuring changes in blood flow. Brain activity signals can be recorded during the alternate performance of given tasks, that is, task fMRI (tfMRI), or during resting‐state, that is, resting‐state fMRI (rsfMRI), as a measure of b...

The archetypical folded shape of the human cortex has been a long-standing topic for neuroscientific research. Nevertheless, the accurate neuroanatomical segmentation of sulci remains a challenge. Part of the problem is the uncertainty of where a sulcus transitions into a gyrus and vice versa. This problem can be avoided by focusing on sulcal fundi...

Stimuli-responsive nanomaterials are very attractive for biomedical applications. They can be activated through external stimuli or by the physico-chemical conditions present in cells or tissues. Here, we describe the preparation of hybrid iron oxide-manganese oxide core-satellite shell nanostructures that change their contrast mode in magnetic res...

Exosomes are cell‐derived nanovesicles with a proven intercellular signaling role in inflammation processes and immune response. Due to their natural origin and liposome‐like structure, these nanometer‐scale vesicles have emerged as novel platforms for therapy and diagnosis. In this work, goat milk exosomes are isolated and fully characterized in t...

There is a bi-directional transplacental cell trafficking between mother and fetus during pregnancy in placental mammals. The presence and persistence of fetal cells in maternal tissues are known as fetal microchimerism (FMc). FMc has high multilineage potential with a great ability to differentiate and functionally integrate into maternal tissue....

Heart diseases are associated with changes in the biomechanical properties of the myocardial wall. However, there is no modality available to assess myocardial stiffness directly. Brillouin microspectroscopy (mBS) is a consolidated mechanical characterization technique, applied to the study of the viscoelastic and elastic behavior of biological sam...

Substance use disorders are more prevalent in schizophrenia, worsening its course and prognosis. Here, we used a double-hit rat model, combining maternal immune activation (MIA) and peripubertal stress (PUS), to study cocaine addiction and the underlying neurobehavioural alterations. We injected lipopolysaccharide or saline on gestational days 15 a...

Escitalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) antidepressant, drug that is currently used as first-line agents for the treatment of depression and it is also used in the treatment of other psychiatric disorders. The main goal of this study was to identify which brain areas are affected by escitalopram administration. This study w...

Women that become mothers face notable physiological adaptations during this life-period. Neuroimaging studies of the last decade have provided grounded evidence that women's brains structurally change across the transition into motherhood. The characterization of this brain remodeling is currently in its early years of research. The current articl...

Purpose : Myopia is a growing global opthalmological concern. One preventative treatment of myopia under development is scleral cross-linking (SXL), where the posterior sclera is stiffened to retard axial length growth. The optimal location and microscopic effects of SXL are still under investigation. Methods : A total of 18 freshly enucleated rab...