NF-κB subunits are differentially distributed in cells of lumbar dorsal root ganglia in naïve and diabetic rats.

Previous studies demonstrated that nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation is decreased in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of rats having streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. DRG contain cell bodies of neurons that convey sensory signals from the periphery. To determine the relationship between diabetes-induced neuropathy and NF-κB expression in DRG, behavioral, immunohistochemical, and biochemical studies were performed on naïve and 3-month diabetic rats.

Defective translocation of PKCepsilon in EtOH-induced inhibition of Mg2+ accumulation in rat hepatocytes.

Background: Rats chronically fed ethanol for 3 weeks presented a marked decreased in total hepatic Mg(2+) content and required approximately 12 days to restore Mg(2+) homeostasis upon ethanol withdrawal. This study was aimed at investigating the mechanisms responsible for the EtOH-induced delay.

Methods: Hepatocytes from rats fed ethanol for 3 weeks (Lieber-De Carli diet-chronic model), rats re-fed a control diet for varying periods of time following ethanol withdrawal, and age-matched control rats fed a liquid or a pellet diet were used.

Effects of p38 MAPK inhibition on early stages of diabetic retinopathy and sensory nerve function.

Purpose. p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is known to play a regulatory role in inflammatory processes in disease. Inflammation has been linked also to the development of diabetic retinopathy in rodents.

The serum of dysautonomia patients enhances proliferation and signaling in Schwann cells.

Disorders of the autonomic nervous system, or dysautonomias, affect a large segment of the population, especially women, and represent a diagnostic challenge. Identification of biomarkers for autonomic disorders, and the subsequent development of screening methods, would benefit diagnosis and symptom management. We studied the effect of sera from fifteen well-characterized dysautonomia patients (mean age 49+/-16 years, 10 females, 5 males) and ten control subjects (mean age 31+/-14 years, 5 females, 5 males) on the proliferation of cultured Schwann cells and activity of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in these cells.

Delayed restoration of Mg2+ content and transport in liver cells following ethanol withdrawal.

Liver cells from rats chronically fed a Lieber-De Carli diet for 3 wk presented a marked decreased in tissue Mg(2+) content and an inability to extrude Mg(2+) into the extracellular compartment upon stimulation with catecholamine, isoproterenol, or cell-permeant cAMP analogs. This defect in Mg(2+) extrusion was observed in both intact cells and purified liver plasma membrane vesicles. Inhibition of adrenergic or cAMP-mediated Mg(2+) extrusion was also observed in freshly isolated hepatocytes from control rats incubated acutely in vitro with varying doses of ethanol (EtOH) for 8 min.