Ameliorates Neural Damage Induced by Experimental Ischemic Stroke and Radiation Exposure.

Ischemic stroke and cranial radiotherapy may induce brain inflammatory response, oxidative stress, apoptosis and neuronal loss, and impairment of neurogenesis. has anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-aging properties, may produce both neuroprotective and radioprotective effects. In this narrative review paper, we described the neuroprotective effect of in different animal models of experimental ischemic stroke and limited studies in irradiated animal models.

The neuroprotective effects of icariin on ageing, various neurological, neuropsychiatric disorders, and brain injury induced by radiation exposure.

Epimedium brevicornum Maxim, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used for the treatment of impotence, sinew and bone disorders, "painful impediment caused by wind-dampness," numbness, spasms, hypertension, coronary heart disease, menopausal syndrome, bronchitis, and neurasthenia for many years in China. Recent animal experimental studies indicate that icariin, a major bioactive component of epimedium may effectively treat Alzheimer's disease, cerebral ischemia, depression, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, as well as delay ageing. Our recent study also suggested that epimedium extract could exhibit radio-neuro-protective effects and prevent ionizing radiation-induced impairment of neurogenesis.

Early postnatal irradiation-induced age-dependent changes in adult mouse brain: MRI based characterization.

Background: Brain radiation exposure, in particular, radiotherapy, can induce cognitive impairment in patients, with significant effects persisting for the rest of their life. However, the main mechanisms leading to this adverse event remain largely unknown. A study of radiation-induced injury to multiple brain regions, focused on the hippocampus, may shed light on neuroanatomic bases of neurocognitive impairments in patients.

Astroglial connexins in epileptogenesis.

The astroglial network connected through gap junctions assembling from connexins physiologically balances the concentrations of ions and neurotransmitters around neurons. Astrocytic dysfunction has been associated with many neurological disorders including epilepsy. Dissociated gap junctions result in the increased activity of connexin hemichannels which triggers brain pathophysiological changes.

The Neuroprotective Effect of Amitriptyline on Radiation-Induced Impairment of Hippocampal Neurogenesis.

The radioprotective effect of amitriptyline, an inhibitor of acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase), on radiation-induced impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis, loss of interneuron, and animal weight changes was investigated in BALB/c mice by immunostaining of biomarkers for cell division (Ki67), immature neurons (doublecortin or DCX), and interneurons (parvalbumin or PV) in the dentate gyrus (DG) of hippocampus. The results indicated that preirradiation (with 10 mg/kg, 2 times per day, for 7 consecutive days) or postirradiation (with 10 mg/kg, 2 times per day, for 14 consecutive days) treatment (pretreatment or posttreatment) with intraperitoneal injection of amitriptyline prevented the loss of newly generated neurons, proliferating cells, and interneurons in the subgranular zone of the DG. At the molecular level, pretreatment or posttreatment inhibited the expression of sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase 1 () gene which codes for ASMase.

Oncolytic herpes simplex virus tumor targeting and neutralization escape by engineering viral envelope glycoproteins.

Oncolytic herpes simplex viruses (oHSVs) have been approved for clinical usage and become more and more popular for tumor virotherapy. However, there are still many issues for the oHSVs used in clinics and clinical trials. The main issues are the limited anti-tumor effects, intratumor injection, and some side effects.

Identification of Putative UL54 (ICP27) Transcription Regulatory Sequences Binding to Oct-1, v-Myb, Pax-6 and Hairy in Herpes Simplex Viruses.

An oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV) has proven amenable in oncolytic virotherapy and was approved to treat melanoma. The immediate-early (IE) protein ICP27 encoded by gene UL54 is essential for HSV infection. Post-transcriptional modification of UL54 would increase tumor targeting of oHSVs.

The Disparity of Impairment of Neurogenesis and Cognition After Acute or Fractionated Radiation Exposure in Adolescent BALB/c Mice.

The effect of acute X-ray irradiation with 2 Gy or fractionated exposure with 0.2 Gy continuously for 10 days (0.2 Gy × 10 = 2 Gy) was evaluated in the postnatal day 21 (P21) BALB/c mouse model.

Traditional Chinese Medicine in Neuroprotection after Brain Insults with Special Reference to Radioprotection.

With rapidly increased construction of nuclear power plants worldwide to reduce energy shortage and subsequent environment contamination, routine use of radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis equipment in the clinical medicine, the research on the health effect of radiation exposure has become a very important area to explore. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may be an ideal candidate therapy as it usually produces fewer side effects even with long-term administration. In this paper, we reviewed current therapeutic approaches to prevent radiation-induced brain neuropathological and functional changes.

Radioprotective effect of epimedium on neurogenesis and cognition after acute radiation exposure.

The radioprotective effect of herb epimedium (or yin yang huo) extract (5 g/kg, oral administration daily for 4 weeks) on neurogenesis and cognition after acute radiation exposure with 5.5 Gy was evaluated in Balb/c mice by behavioral tests and immunohistochemical study. The results indicated that epimedium extract could improve animal weight loss, locomotor activity and spatial learning and memory which are similar to pre-irradiation intraperitoneal injection (100 mg/kg) of amifostine phosphate, a well- known radioprotective drug.

Prenatal irradiation-induced brain neuropathology and cognitive impairment.

Embryo/fetus is much more radiosensitive than neonatal and adult human being. The main potential effects of pre-natal radiation exposure on the human brain include growth retardation, small head/brain size, mental retardation, neocortical ectopias, callosal agenesis and brain tumor which may result in a lifetime poor quality of life. The patterns of prenatal radiation-induced effects are dependent not only on the stages of fetal development, the sensitivity of tissues and organs, but also on radiation sources, doses, dose rates.

Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus of Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The mobilization of endogenous neural stem cells in order to substitute lost neurons in the adult brain may reduce the negative effects of patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases. However, abnormal neurogenesis may be harmful and could lead to the worsening of patients' symptoms. In the brains of patients and animal models with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), increased newly generated neurons in the subgranular zone (SGZ) at early stages after brain insults have been speculated to be involved in epileptogenesis.

Cx3cr1 deficiency in mice attenuates hepatic granuloma formation during acute schistosomiasis by enhancing the M2-type polarization of macrophages.

Acute schistosomiasis is characterized by pro-inflammatory responses against tissue- or organ-trapped parasite eggs along with granuloma formation. Here, we describe studies in Cx3cr1(-/-) mice and demonstrate the role of Cx3cr1 in the pathoetiology of granuloma formation during acute schistosomiasis. Mice deficient in Cx3cr1 were protected from granuloma formation and hepatic injury induced by Schistosoma japonicum eggs, as manifested by reduced body weight loss and attenuated hepatomegaly along with preserved liver function.

Hesperidin ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice by inhibiting HMGB1 release.

Hesperidin (HDN), a flavanone glycoside, possesses anti-inflammatory properties and has been suggested to be able to modulate the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) serves as an inflammatory cytokine when released extracellularly and is involved in the pathogenesis of diverse inflammatory disorders. The current study aimed to investigate the involvement of HMGB1 in HDN-induced immunoregulation of ALI.

Characterization and bioactivity of polysaccharides obtained from pine cones of Pinus koraiensis by graded ethanol precipitation.

Pinus koraiensis polysaccharides (PKP) were extracted by hot water from P. koraiensis pine cones. Five polysaccharide fractions named PKP-A, PKP-B, PKP-C, PKP-D and PKP-E were successfully separated at final ethanol concentrations of 30%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80%, respectively.

Chemical composition and antioxidant activities of three polysaccharide fractions from pine cones.

The traditional method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for monosaccharide component analysis with pretreatment of acetylation is described with slight modifications and verified in detail in this paper. It was then successfully applied to the quantitative analysis of component monosaccharides in polysaccharides extracted from the pine cones. The results demonstrated that the three pine cone polysaccharides all consisted of ribose, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucose and galactose in different molar ratios.