Dl-3n-butylphthalide can effectively treat cerebral ischemia; however, the mechanisms underlying the effects of dl-3n-butylphthalide on microcirculation disorders fol owing diffuse brain injury remain unclear. In this study, models of diffuse brain injury were established in Sprague-Dawley rats with the vertical impact method. Dl-3n-butylphthalide at 80 and 160 mg/kg was given via intraperitoneal injection immediately after diffuse brain injury. Ultrastructural changes in the cerebral cortex were observed using electron microscopy. Cerebral blood flow was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry, vascular density was marked by tannic acid-ferric chloride staining, vascular permeability was es-timated by the Evans blue method, brain water content was measured using the dry-wet method, and rat behavior was measured by motor function and sensory function tests. At 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours after administration of dl-3n-butylphthalide, reduced cerebral ultrastructure damage, in-creased vascular density and cerebral blood flow, and improved motor and sensory functions were observed. Our findings demonstrate that dl-3n-butylphthalide may have protective effects against diffuse brain injury by ameliorating microcirculation disorder and reducing blood-brain barrier dam-age and cerebral edema.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
Persimmon leaf flavonoid has been shown to enhance brain ischemic tolerance in mice, but its mechanism of action remains unclear. The bilateral common carotid arteries were occluded using a micro clip to block blood flow for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of ischemic preconditioning, 200, 100, and 50 mg/kg persimmon leaf flavonoid or 20 mg/kg ginaton was intragastrical y administered per day for 5 days. At 1 hour after the final administration, ischemia/reperfusion models were estab-lished by blocking the middle cerebral artery for 2 hours. At 24 hours after model establishment, compared with cerebral ischemic rats without ischemic preconditioning or drug intervention, plasma endothelin, thrombomodulin and von Wil ebrand factor levels significantly decreased and intercel-lular adhesion molecule-1 expression markedly reduced in brain tissue from rats with ischemic pre-conditioning. Simultaneously, brain tissue injury reduced. Ischemic preconditioning combined with drug exposure noticeably improved the effects of the above-mentioned indices, and the effects of 200 mg/kg persimmon leaf flavonoid were similar to 20 mg/kg ginaton treatment. These results indicate that ischemic preconditioning produces tolerance to recurrent severe cerebral ischemia. However, persimmon leaf flavonoid can elevate ischemic tolerance by reducing inflammatory reactions and vascular endothelial injury. High-dose persimmon leaf flavonoid showed an identical effect to ginaton.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
Baicalin, a type of flavonoid extracted from the dried root of Scutel aria baicalensis georgi, has been shown to effectively inhibit cellapoptosis. Therefore, we assumed that baicalin would suppress colistin sulfate-induced neuronal apoptosis. PC12 cells exposed to colistin sulfate (62.5-500 μg/mL) for 24 hours resulted in PC12 cellapoptosis. In addition, caspase-3 activity, lactate dehydrogenase level and free radical content increased in a dose-dependent manner. Subsequently, PC12 cells were pretreated with baicalin (25, 50 and 100 μg/mL), and exposed to 125 μg/mL colistin sulfate. cellmorphology markedly changed, and cellviability increased. Moreover, caspase-3 activity, lac-tate dehydrogenase level and free radical content decreased. Results indicated that baicalin inhib-ited colistin sulfate-induced PC12 cellapoptosis by suppressing free radical injury, and reducing caspase-3 activity and lactate dehydrogenase activity.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
Previous studies have shown that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, a compound extracted from wine- pro-cessed Fructus corni, has a protective effect on hippocampal neurons. The present study was de-signed to explore the related mechanisms. Our study revealed that high and medium doses (10, 1μmol/L) of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural could improve the morphology of H2O2-treated rat hippocampal neurons as revealed by inverted phase-contrast microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. MTT results showed that incubation with high and medium doses of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural caused a significant increase in the viability of neuronal cells injured by H2O2. Flow cytometry assays con-firmed that H2O2 could induce cellapoptosis, while high and medium doses of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural had a visible protective effect on apoptotic rat hippocampal neurons. Re-al-time PCR and western blot analysis showed that high and medium doses of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural prevented H2O2-induced up-regulation of p53, Bax and caspase-3 and antagonized the down-regulation of Bcl-2 induced by H2O2 treatment. These results suggested that 5-hydroxymethylfurfural could inhibit apoptosis of cultured rat hippocampal neurons injured by H2O2 via increase in Bcl-2 levels and decrease in p53, Bax and caspase-3 protein expression lev-els.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
Besides local neuronal damage caused by the primary insult, central nervous system injuries may secondarily cause a progressive cascade of related events including brain edema, ischemia, oxida-tive stress, excitotoxicity, and dysregulation of calcium homeostasis. Hypothermia is a beneficial strategy in a variety of acute central nervous system injuries. Mild hypothermia can treat high intra-cranial pressure fol owing traumatic brain injuries in adults. It is a new treatment that increases sur-vival and quality of life for patients suffering from ischemic insults such as cardiac arrest, stroke, and neurogenic fever fol owing brain trauma. Therapeutic hypothermia decreases free radical produc-tion, inflammation, excitotoxicity and intracranial pressure, and improves cerebral metabolism after traumatic brain injury and cerebral ischemia, thus protecting against central nervous system dam-age. Although a series of pathological and physiological changes as wel as potential side effects are observed during hypothermia treatment, it remains a potential therapeutic strategy for central nervous system injuries and deserves further study.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
Shaoyang acupoints are the most frequently used in migraine treatment. However, the central anal-gesic mechanism remains poorly understood. Studies have demonstrated that single stimulus of the verum acupuncture in healthy subjects can induce significant connectivity or activity changes in pain-related central networks compared with sham acupuncture. However, these findings are not indicative of the central analgesic mechanism of acupuncture at Shaoyang acupoints. Thus, we recruited 100 migraine sufferers and randomly assigned them into five groups: Shaoyang uncommon acupoint, Shaoyang common acupoint, Yangming uncommon acupoint, non-acupoint control, and blank control groups. Subjects were subjected to evaluation of curative effects and functional MRI prior to and after 10 and 20 acupuncture treatments. Al subjects were diagnosed by physicians and enrol ed fol owing clinical physical examination. Subjects were observed during 1-4 weeks after inclusion. At the fifth week, the first clinical evaluation and resting functional MRI were conducted. The Shaoyang uncom-mon acupoint, Shaoyang common acupoint, Yangming uncommon acupoint, and non-acupoint control grousp then were treated with acupuncture, five times per week, 20 times in total over 4 weeks. The second and third clinical evaluations and resting functional MRI screenings were conducted fol owing 10 and 20 acupuncture treatments. The blank control group was observed during the 5 to 8 week pe-riod, fol owed by clinical evaluation and resting functional MRI. The aim of this study was to examine changes in brain functional activity and central networks in subjects with migraine undergoing acu-puncture at Shaoyang uncommon acupoints. This study provides a further explanation of the central analgesic mechanism by which acupuncture at Shaoyang acupoints treats migraine.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
The individual difference and non-repeatability in acupuncture have not only restricted the devel-opment of acupuncture, but have also affected the specificity of acupoints. The present study used instruments to control needle depth, lifting and thrusting frequency, and the duration of acupuncture. Effects of the quantified acupuncture were observed at Neiguan (PC6) with different stimulation parameters. A frequency of 1, 2, or 3 Hz and duration of 5, 60, or 180 seconds were used to observe cerebral blood flow and ratio of infarct volume recovery. Results showed that stimulation at Neiguan with a frequency of 1 Hz and long duration of 180 seconds or 2/3 Hz and long duration of 5/60 se-conds significantly increased cerebral blood flow and decreased the ratio of infarct volume. Interac-tions between frequency and duration play a critical role in quantified acupuncture therapy.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
The electrophysiological properties of potassium ion channels are regarded as a basic index for determining the functional differentiation of neural stem cells. In this study, neural stem cells from the hippocampus of newborn rats were induced to differentiate with neurotrophic growth factor, and the electrophysiological properties of the voltage-gated potassium ion channels were observed. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the rapidly proliferating neural stem cells formed spheres in vitro that expressed high levels of nestin. The differentiated neurons were shown to express neuron-specific enolase. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the neural stem cells were actively dividing and the percentage of cells in the S + G2/M phase was high. However, the ratio of cells in the S + G2/M phase decreased obviously as differentiation proceeded. Whole-cellpatch-clamp re-cordings revealed apparent changes in potassium ion currents as the neurons differentiated. The potassium ion currents consisted of one transient outward potassium ion current and one delayed rectifier potassium ion current, which were blocked by 4-aminopyridine and tetraethylammonium, respectively. The experimental findings indicate that neural stem cells from newborn rat hippo-campus could be cultured and induced to differentiate into functional neurons under defined condi-tions in vitro. The differentiated neurons expressed two types of outward potassium ion currents similar to those of mature neurons in vivo.
作者： 刊期： 2013年第28期
