The Ethanolic Extract of Polygala paniculata L. Blocks Panx1 Channels and Reduces Ischemic Brain Infarct in a Dose- and Sex-Dependent Way.

Polygala paniculata L. is a native plant from tropical America. The therapeutic potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of P.

Development and Application of a Novel Pressure System for Evaluating Trauma Severities Using a Physiological Approach After Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats.

Objective: The fluid percussion injury (FPI) model is a surgical method for mimicking traumatic brain injury (TBI) models as it automatically and accurately measures peak impact pressure. Nevertheless, its elevated costs have led numerous researchers to develop more inexpensive alternative methods. Therefore, we used a copy of the classic FPI device to develop a novel method to evaluate the pressure pulse and determine injury severity with even more precision during the surgical procedure to induce an injury.

The antinociceptive effect of manual acupuncture in the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in visceral and somatic acute pain models and its laterality dependence.

Aims: The vagus nerve provides an important route to the central nervous system, and its brain projections are involved in nociceptive control and pain perception. We investigated the effect of ABVN stimulation on the inhibition of nociceptive signaling and the role of the cholinergic system in its neurobiological effects in models of visceral-somatic pain in rats, as well as the potential difference in stimulus laterality.

Materials And Methods: Male and female Wistar rats were pretreated with auricular acupuncture in the ABVN and submitted to the visceral-somatic nociception model by acetic acid or somatic nociception by formalin.

Worst spasticity in patients post-stroke associated with MNSOD ALA16VAL polymorphism and interleukin-1β.

The MnSOD Ala16Val single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has shown to be associated to risk factors of several metabolic and vascular diseases. However, little is known about interaction between MnSOD Ala16Val SNP in stroke, a frequent neurologic disease that involves clinic manifestations such as motor deficits and spasticity. In this sense, we decided to investigate the relationship between MnSOD Ala16Val SNP with spasticity in stroke and also its influence on interleukin levels, BDNF, and glycolipid parameters.

Preclinical Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Investigation of 5'-Methoxynobiletin from Ageratum conyzoides: In vivo and In silico Approaches.

Purpose: 5'-methoxynobiletin (5'-MeONB), a polymethoxyflavone isolated from A. conyzoides, has shown anti-inflammatory property. Nevertheless, the antinociceptive activity and pre-clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) characteristics of 5'-MeONB remain unknown.

Aerobic Exercise Attenuates Kidney Injury, Improves Physical Performance, and Increases Antioxidant Defenses in Lungs of Adenine-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease Mice.

The association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and pulmonary pathophysiological changes is well stablished. Nevertheless, the effects of aerobic exercise (AE) on lungs of CKD need further clarification. Thus, Swiss mice were divided in control, AE, CKD, and CKD + AE groups.

Cognitive functional therapy (CFT) compared with core training exercise (CTE) in patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS): A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the efficacy of cognitive functional therapy (CFT) compared to core training exercise (CTE) on pain and specific disability of patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS).

Design: This will be a randomized controlled clinical trial of two groups with blinded evaluators.

Setting: The study will be conducted at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and a private clinic in Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.

Simple and fast UPLC-MS method for quantifying the anti-inflammatory candidate 5'-methoxynobiletin in rat plasma: Validation and application in a preliminary pharmacokinetic study.

This study presents the development and validation of a fast and simple bioanalytical ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) method intended for quantifying the anti-inflammatory candidate 5'-methoxynobiletin (5'-MeONB) in rat plasma. Standard of 5'-MeONB was purified from A. conyzoides extract by using preparative HPLC.

Sustained glial reactivity induced by glutaric acid may be the trigger to learning delay in early and late phases of development: Involvement of p75 receptor and protection by N-acetylcysteine.

Degeneration of striatal neurons and cortical atrophy are pathological characteristics of glutaric acidemia type I (GA-I), a disease characterized by accumulation of glutaric acid (GA). The mechanisms that lead to neuronal loss and cognitive impairment are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to verify if acute exposure to GA during the neonatal period is sufficient to trigger apoptotic processes and lead to learning delay in early and late period.

Mood disorders are associated with the reduction of brain derived neurotrophic factor in the hypocampus in rats submitted to the hipercaloric diet.

Adipose tissue accumulation, resulting from the consumption of hypercaloric foods, can cause a dysfunction of the endocrine system. Such endocrine changes can influence the expression of various neurochemicals including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) - associated with cognitive and emotional problems. Here, we investigated the effects of a hypercaloric diet on depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in young rats along with concomitant changes in BDNF expression levels in the hippocampus.

Capsaicin-sensitive fibers mediate periorbital allodynia and activation of inflammatory cells after traumatic brain injury in rats: Involvement of TRPV1 channels in post-traumatic headache.

Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is a condition that frequently affects individuals after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Inflammation is one of the major causes of this disability. However, little is known about the trigger for, and endurance of, this painful process.

Predictors of Pain Recurrence After Lumbar Facet Joint Injections.

Introduction: Facet joint injections (FJIs) of anesthetic and corticosteroids are useful for the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain (LBP). In the current study, we evaluated the efficacy of FJI on LBP treatment and the predictive variables of pain recurrence after FJI.

Methods: We included and followed prospectively forty-three consecutive patients with chronic LBP treated with FJI.

Functional Recovery Occurs Even After Partial Remyelination of Axon-Meshed Median and Ulnar Nerves in Mice.

Upper limb nerve injuries are common, and their treatment poses a challenge for physicians and surgeons. Experimental models help in minimum exploration of the functional characteristics of peripheral nerve injuries of forelimbs. This study was conducted to characterize the functional recovery (1, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days) after median and ulnar nerve crush in mice and analyze the histological and biochemical markers of nerve regeneration (after 21 days).

Overground gait training promotes functional recovery and cortical neuroplasticity in an incomplete spinal cord injury model.

Aim: Evidence suggests that task-specific gait training improves locomotor impairments in people with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI); however, plastic changes in brain areas remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the possible effects of a task-specific overground gait training on locomotor recovery and neuroplasticity markers in the cortex, cerebellum, and lumbar spinal cord in an experimental model of incomplete-SCI.

Main Methods: Using a blind, basic experimental design, 24 adult Wistar rats underwent a surgical procedure and were allocated into sham, non-trained SCI (SCI), and trained SCI (Tr-SCI) groups.

Peanut leaf extract has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity but no acute toxic effects.

Arachis hypogaea L. (peanut) leaves have been popularly used for the treatment of insomnia and inflammation, but no toxicological study has been performed for this plant preparation. This study aimed to examine the phytochemical composition of peanut leaf hydroalcoholic extract (PLHE) and describe its potential toxic effects and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Galangin Prevents Increased Susceptibility to Pentylenetetrazol-Stimulated Seizures by Prostaglandin E2.

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases. It is characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures, where one-third of patients are refractory to existing treatments. Evidence revealed the association between neuroinflammation and increased susceptibility to seizures since there is a pronounced increase in the expression of key inflammatory mediators, such as prostaglandin E (PGE), during seizures.

Modulation of Na/K- ATPase activity by triterpene 3β, 6β, 16β-trihidroxilup-20 (29)-ene (TTHL) limits the long-term secondary degeneration after traumatic brain injury in mice.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health problem characterized by a combination of immediate mechanical dysfunction of the brain tissue, and secondary damage. Based on the hypothesis that selected targets, such as Na K-ATPase are involved in the secondary damage after TBI and modulation of this enzyme activity by triterpene 3β, 6β, 16β-trihidroxilup-20 (29)-ene (TTHL) supports the ethnomedical applications of this plant, we decided to investigate whether previous TTHL treatment interrupts the progression of pathophysiology induced by TBI. Statistical analyses revealed that percussion fluid injury (FPI) increased Na,K-ATPase activity in all isoform (α and α) 15 min after neuronal injury.

Determinants for Meaningful Clinical Improvement of Pain and Health-Related Quality of Life After Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Intractable Pain.

Objectives: Previous studies demonstrated significant improvement in mean pain scores and quality of life (QOL) scales in patients with chronic pain who underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS). However, the number of individuals who experience relevant improvements in QOL, termed the meaningful clinical improvement (MCI), is not known. The present study investigated changes in pain measurements based on MCI after SCS.

Pulmonary and muscle profile in pneumosepsis: A temporal analysis of inflammatory markers.

In sepsis, greater understanding of the inflammatory mechanism involved would provide insights into the condition and into its extension to the muscular apparatus in critically ill patients. Therefore, this study evaluates the inflammatory profile of pneumosepsis induced by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.p.

Involvement of the Cholinergic Parameters and Glial Cells in Learning Delay Induced by Glutaric Acid: Protection by N-Acetylcysteine.

Dysfunction of basal ganglia neurons is a characteristic of glutaric acidemia type I (GA-I), an autosomal recessive inherited neurometabolic disease characterized by deficiency of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase (GCDH) and accumulation of glutaric acid (GA). The affected patients present clinical manifestations such as motor dysfunction and memory impairment followed by extensive striatal neurodegeneration. Knowing that there is relevant striatal dysfunction in GA-I, the purpose of the present study was to verify the performance of young rats chronically injected with GA in working and procedural memory test, and whether N-acetylcysteine (NAC) would protect against impairment induced by GA.

Sulfonyl(thio)urea derivative induction of insulin secretion is mediated by potassium, calcium, and sodium channel signal transduction.

Aim: To investigate the mechanism of action of sulfonyl(thio)urea derivative (SD) on glycemia and on insulin secretion in pancreatic islets.

Methods: Wistar rats were divided into hyperglycemic control group, rats received 4 g/kg body weight glucose plus sitagliptin 10 mg/kg (p.o.

Behavioural, metabolic and neurochemical effects of environmental enrichment in high-fat cholesterol-enriched diet-fed mice.

While chronic high-fat feeding has long been associated with the rising incidence of obesity/type 2 diabetes, recent evidence has established that it is also associated with deficits in hippocampus-dependent memory. In this regard, environmental enrichment (EE) is an animal housing technique composed of increased space, physical activity, and social interactions, which in turn increases sensory, cognitive, motor, and social stimulation. EE leads to improved cerebral health as defined by increased neurogenesis, enhanced learning and memory and resistance to external cerebral insults.

Effects of spinal manipulation and pain education on pain in patients with chronic low back pain: a protocol of randomized sham-controlled trial.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) has more than doubled in the last 20 years, probably influenced by biopsychosocial factors. Noninvasive treatments have been applied in individuals with chronic nonspecific LBP as spinal manipulation and pain education. However, the neurophysiological effects of these treatments are not clear.