Progesterone treatment in rats after severe global cerebral ischemia promotes hippocampal dentate gyrus neurogenesis and functional recovery.

Objective: Rats treated with progesterone (P4) after ischemia show an adequate functional performance despite a significant loss of hippocampal pyramidal neurons, suggesting that P4 could favour a permissive microenvironment for cerebral plasticity mechanisms. The possibility of P4 treatment promoting the survival of newly generated hippocampal neurons, in relation to the performance of ischemic rats in a spatial learning task, was assessed in this study.

Methods: Adult male rats were subjected to a severe global cerebral ischemia episode (30 min) and treated with P4 or its vehicle at 15 min, 2, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h of reperfusion.

A novel flow cytometry tool for fibrosis scoring through hepatic stellate cell differentiation.

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are a central fibrogenic cell type that contributes to collagen accumulation during chronic liver disease. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from HCV patients are phagocytized by HSCs and induce their differentiation. This study aimed to characterize HSCs differentiation using a flow cytometry tool for fibrosis scoring.

Effects of progesterone on neurite growth inhibitors in the hippocampus following global cerebral ischemia.

In this study, the effects of progesterone (P4) on the immunoreactivity to the neurite growth inhibitor Nogo-A, its receptor (Ng-R), and its effector Rho-A in the rat hippocampus, in association with parameters of spatial learning and memory following global cerebral ischemia, were assessed. Adult male rats were subjected to global cerebral ischemia (15 min), and treated with P4 or its vehicle at 15 min, 2, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h of reperfusion. Immunoreactivity to Nogo-A, Ng-R, and Rho-A was evaluated at 24 h, 72 h or 7 d, or at 14 d of reperfusion after rats were tested in the Morris Water Maze (MWM).

Post-ischemic administration of progesterone reduces caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation in the hippocampus following global cerebral ischemia.

Delayed death of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons following global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion may be mediated, in part, by caspase-3 activation resulting in DNA fragmentation. Progesterone (P4) is known to exert neuroprotective effects in several models of brain injury. This study was designed to assess the effect of P4 on caspase-3 levels and activation, and DNA fragmentation in the hippocampus following global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.

Genetic polymorphism of IL28B in hepatitis C-infected haemophilia patients in Israel.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the IL28B gene were identified as major predictors of treatment response (sustained virologic response--SVR) and spontaneous clearance of HCV. Haemophilia patients have the highest prevalence of HCV, and are a unique target for genetic studies. The Israeli population is ethnically heterogeneous; therefore, genetic variability is anticipated.