Comparison of Cognitive Performance and Cardiac Function Between Three Different Rat Models of Vascular Dementia.

Purpose: Establishing an ideal animal model is essential for studying the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of vascular dementia (VD). The present study was designed to compare the differences of behavior, cerebral blood flow (CBF), cardiac output and the levels of myocardial enzyme of three different VD rat models.

Methods: The rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group (SHAM), permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion group (BCCAO), BCCAO combined with sodium nitroprusside (2.

Improving Collateral Circulation: A Potential Adjunctive Strategy to Prevent or Slow the Progression of Vascular Dementia.

Vascular dementia (VaD), a cognitive disorder caused by cerebrovascular pathologies, is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, being second only to Alzheimer's disease. Researches have shown that adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF) is the first condition for maintaining the structural integrity and normal function of the brain, and VaD is generally considered to be resulted from neuronal loss due to reduced CBF. Collateral circulation, a compensation mechanism for CBF, provides an alternative vascular pathway for blood to reach ischemic tissues, which has been confirmed to be associated with better clinical outcomes of ischemic diseases.

Injection Promotes Vasodilation by Enhancing eNOS Activity Through the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway .

Vasomotor dysfunction is one of the key pathological aspects of shock and heart failure (HF). injection (SFI) has been widely used for the treatment of shock and HF in China. Pharmacological studies have suggested that SFI can reduce peripheral circulation resistance and improve microcirculation.

Correction: Cognitive Improvement during Treatment for Mild Alzheimer's Disease with a Chinese Herbal Formula: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase: a potential therapeutic target for cerebrovascular diseases.

Endothelial nitric oxide (NO) is a significant signaling molecule that regulates cerebral blood flow (CBF), playing a pivotal role in the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. However, achieving the expected therapeutic efficacy is difficult using direct administration of NO donors. Therefore, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) becomes a potential therapeutic target for cerebrovascular diseases.

Oleanolic Acid Inhibiting the Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells into Astrocyte by Down-Regulating JAK/STAT Signaling Pathway.

To investigate the effect of oleanolic acid (OA) on the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) induced by A[Formula: see text] via regulating the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, a neurotoxicity cell model involving the induction of NSCs by soluble A[Formula: see text] (5 [Formula: see text]M) was used. The WST-1 method and immunofluorescence tests were used respectively to detect the activity of cell model and the expression of GFAP[Formula: see text]/DAPI and Tubulin[Formula: see text]/DAPI. Western blotting and real-time PCR analyses were used to observe the effects of OA on NSCs differentiation by examining key targets of the JAK/STAT signal transduction pathway.

Cognitive Improvement during Treatment for Mild Alzheimer's Disease with a Chinese Herbal Formula: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To explore the efficacy of Chinese herbal formula compared with donepezil 5 mg/day in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Patients with mild AD meeting the criteria were randomized into Chinese herbal formula Yishen Huazhuo decoction (YHD) group and donepezil hydrochloride (DH) group during the 24-week trial. The outcomes were measured by ADAS-cog, MMSE, ADL, and NPI with linear mixed-effect models.

Qingnaoyizhi decoction suppresses the formation of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells in cultured neural stem cells by inhibiting the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathway.

Objective: Inactivation of the Janus kinase 2 in treated NSCs. Furthermore, QNYZD may play a direct role in suppressing the formation of GFAP-positive cells and enhancing neuronal differentiation by inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 activation. Overall, these results provide insights into the possible mechanism underlying QNYZD-mediated neurogenesis.

Traditional Chinese medicine's intervention in endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation and nitric oxide synthesis in cardiovascular system.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most dangerous diseases which has become a major cause of human death. Many researches evidenced that nitric oxide (NO)/endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) system plays a significant role in the occurrence and development of CVD. NO, an important signaling molecule, closely associated with the regulation of vasodilatation, blood rheology, blood clotting and other physiological and pathological processes.

[Effective Components of three kinds of shen-supplementing Chinese medicine on self-renewal and neuron-like differentiation of NSCs in AD mouse embryos: an experimental research].

Objective: To observe the regulatory effects of psoralen, oleanolic acid, and stilbene glucoside, three active components of psoralea fruit, glossy privet fruit and tuber fleeceflower root respectively, on Aβ25-35induced self-renewal and neuron-like differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs).

Methods: Embryonic NSCs werein vitro isolated and cultured from Kunming mice of 14-day pregnancy, and randomly divided into the control group, the Aβ25-35 group, the Aβ25-35 +psoralen group, the Aβ25-35 +oleanolic acid group, and the Aβ25-35 + stilbene glucoside group. The intervention concentration of Aβ25-35 was 25 µmol/L, and the intervention concentration of three active components of Chinese medicine was 10(-7)mol/L.