Molecular diagnostics provide a powerful method to detect and diagnose various neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The confirmation of such diagnosis allows early detection and subsequent medical counseling that help specific patients to undergo clinically important drug trials. This provides a medical pathway to have better insight of neurogenesis and eventual cure of the neurodegenerative diseases. In this short review, we present recent advances in molecular diagnostics especially biomarkers and imaging spectroscopy for neurological diseases. We describe advances made in Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease (HD), and finally present a perspective on the future directions to provide a framework for further developments and refinements of molecular diagnostics to combat neurodegenerative disorders.

Resveratrol, a natural stilbene present at relatively high concentrations in grape skin and seeds and red wine, is known for its purported antioxidant activity in the vascular and nervous systems. In contrast to its direct antioxidant role within the central nervous system, recent research supports a protective mechanism through increasing endogenous cellular antioxidant defenses, which triggers a cascade of parallel neuroprotective pathways. A growing body of in vitro and in vivo evidence indicates that resveratrol acts through multiple pathways and reduces ischemic damage in vital organs, such as the heart and the brain, in various rodent models. Most of the protective biological actions of resveratrol have been associated with its antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic properties and other indirect pathways. Continued public interest and increasing resveratrol supplements on the market warrant a review of the available in vitro and in vivo science reported in the stroke-related literature. Rigorous clinical trials evaluating the effects of resveratrol in stroke are absent, though the general population consumption appears to be relatively safe. Resveratrol has shown potential for treating stroke in laboratory animals and in vitro human cell studies, yet there is still a need for human research in preclinical settings. This review summarizes many of the findings on the neuroprotective potential of resveratrol in cerebral stroke, focusing on both the in vitro and in vivo experimental models and some proposed mechanisms of action.

Monocrotophos (MCP) is a widely used organophosphate (OP) pesticide. We studied apoptotic changes and their correlation with expression of selected cytochrome P450s (CYPs) in PC12 cells exposed to MCP. A significant induction in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decrease in glutathione (GSH) levels were observed in cells exposed to MCP. Following the exposure of PC12 cells to MCP (10−5 M), the levels of protein and mRNA expressions of caspase-3/9, Bax, Bcl2, P53, P21, GSTP1-1 were significantly upregulated, whereas the levels of Bclw, Mcl1 were downregulated. A significant induction in the expression of CYP1A1/1A2, 2B1/2B2, 2E1 was also observed in PC12 cells exposed to MCP (10−5 M), whereas induction of CYPs was insignificant in cells exposed to 10−6 M concentration of MCP. We believe that this is the first report showing altered expressions of selected CYPs in MCP-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. These apoptotic changes were mitochondria mediated and regulated by caspase cascade. Our data confirm the involvement of specific CYPs in MCP-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells and also identifies possible cellular and molecular mechanisms of organophosphate pesticide-induced apoptosis in neuronal cells.