Effects of andrographolide on postoperative cognitive dysfunction and the association with NF-κB/MAPK pathway.

The present study investigated the effects of andrographolide on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in aged rats to gain insight of the underlying mechanism, which may provide theoretical basis for the clinical application of andrographolide to prevent POCD in older patients. Thirty aged male rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups: Control, model and andrographolide groups. The Morris water maze test was used to examine the spatial memory and learning ability of the rats postoperatively.

The negative effects of chronic exposure to isoflurane on spermatogenesis via breaking the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal equilibrium.

This study aims to investigate the negative effects of chronic exposure to isoflurane on spermatogenesis and explore the underlying mechanisms. Sixty male rats were randomly allocated to two groups: control group, receiving no treatment, and anesthesia group, administrated exposure to isoflurane (2 ppm) for 25 consecutive days (1 h/day). The negative effects of chronic exposure to isoflurane were evaluated by analyzing the median eminence GnRH content, the relevant hormone levels, some sperm parameters and the mRNA expressions for some reproduction-related genes.