Maternal high fat diet programs spatial learning and central leptin signaling in mouse offspring in a sex-specific manner.

Environmental factors in early life have been demonstrated to increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, especially the deficiency of the cognitive ability. Leptin has emerged as a key hormone that conveys information on energy stores, but there is growing appreciation that leptin signaling may also play an important role in neurodevelopment. The present study aimed to investigate whether maternal HFD exposure impairs the offspring learning and memory through the programming of central leptin system.

Maternal High-Fat Diet Multigenerationally Programs HPA Function and Behaviors in Male Rat Offspring.

Maternal environmental factors have been demonstrated to exert significant influences on the health of offspring. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is an important neuroendocrine stress system that can be influenced by early life challenges. Our previous research has revealed that the consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) by pregnant and lactating rats leads to the programming of HPA axis activity in male offspring of the first generation (referred to as F1HFD/C).

Maternal High-Fat Diet Multigenerationally Impairs Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity and Memory in Male Rat Offspring.

As advances are made in the field of developmental origins of health and disease, there is an emphasis on long-term influence of maternal environmental factors on offspring health. Maternal high-fat diet (HFD) consumption has been suggested to exert detrimental effects on cognitive function in offspring, but whether HFD-dependent brain remodeling can be transmitted to the next generations is still unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that HFD consumption during rat pregnancy and lactation multigenerationally influences male offspring hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognitive function.

Dynamic increase in neutrophil levels predicts parenchymal hemorrhage and function outcome of ischemic stroke with r-tPA thrombolysis.

Background: The higher level of neutrophil on admission has been reported to predict worse 3-month outcomes in ischemic stroke patients. Our study was to explore the dynamic changes of neutrophil and lymphocyte after r-tPA thrombolysis of ischemic stroke and the relationship with parenchymal hemorrhage (PH) and 3-month function outcome.

Methods: A total of 208 acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with intravenous thrombolysis were included and then received 3-month follow-up in the present study.

Mean Platelet Volume-To-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts Poor Functional Outcomes Among Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated With Intravenous Thrombolysis.

According to previous studies, the mean platelet volume-to-lymphocyte ratio (MPVLR) represents a novel marker of a poor short-term prognosis in patients with a myocardial infarction who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention. We aimed to evaluate the association between MPVLR and clinical outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke who were treated with intravenous thrombolysis. Two hundred forty-one patients with ischemic stroke receiving intravenous thrombolysis were prospectively enrolled in this study.

Maternal high fat diet programs hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in adult rat offspring.

Maternal environmental factors such as diet have profound effects on offspring development and later health. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is an important stress neuroendocrine system that is subject to programming by early life challenges. The present study was further to investigate whether maternal high fat diet (HFD) exposure during rat pregnancy and lactation can alter the HPA axis activity in adult male offspring.

Maternal high-fat diet programs cerebrovascular remodeling in adult rat offspring.

Maternal environmental factors such as diet have consequences on later health of the offspring. We found that maternal high-fat diet (HFD) exposure renders adult offspring brain more susceptible to ischemic injury. The present study was further to investigate whether HFD consumption during rat pregnancy and lactation influences the cerebral vasculature in adult male offspring.

Maternal high-fat diet influences stroke outcome in adult rat offspring.

Diet-induced epigenetic modifications in early life could contribute to later health problem. However, it remains to be established whether high-fat diet (HFD) consumption during pregnancy and the suckling period could predispose the offspring to stroke. The present study investigated the influence of maternal HFD on stroke outcome in adult offspring.

Maternal high fat diet programs stress-induced behavioral disorder in adult offspring.

Early life exposure to specific environmental factors can contribute to development of behavioral disorders in adulthood. Although maternal high fat diet (HFD) consumption during the perinatal period has been reported to program offspring behavior, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of maternal HFD on offspring behavior under nonstressed and stressful conditions, using male Sprague-Dawley offspring, which mothers were fed with HFD or normal diet (ND), receiving chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in the adulthood.

Stress-induced inhibition of LH pulses in female rats: role of GABA in arcuate nucleus.

Stress exerts profound inhibitory effects on reproductive function by suppression of the pulsatile release of GnRH and therefore LH. Besides the corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), this effect also might be mediated via GABAergic signaling within the arcuate nucleus (ARC) since its inhibitory effects on LH pulses and increased activity during stress. In the present study, we investigated the role of endogenous GABAergic signaling within the ARC in stress-induced suppression of LH pulses.

The role of calcitonin gene-related peptide in post-stroke depression in chronic mild stress-treated ischemic rats.

Poststroke depression (PSD) is the most common psychological sequel after stroke. Although the neurological mechanisms of PSD remain to be fully elucidated, numerous studies have implicated the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a potent vasodilatory neuropeptide, as key modulator of the depression. A PSD rat model, which was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and following chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) procedures, was used to investigate the role of CGRP in post-stroke mood disturbances.

GPR54-dependent stimulation of luteinizing hormone secretion by neurokinin B in prepubertal rats.

Kisspeptin, neurokinin B (NKB) and dynorphin A (Dyn) are coexpressed within KNDy neurons that project from the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) to GnRH neurons and numerous other hypothalamic targets. Each of the KNDy neuropeptides has been implicated in regulating pulsatile GnRH/LH secretion. In isolation, kisspeptin is generally known to stimulate, and Dyn to inhibit LH secretion.

High-fat diet increases LH pulse frequency and kisspeptin-neurokinin B expression in puberty-advanced female rats.

To investigate whether the advancement of puberty in response to high-fat diet (HFD) results from a concomitant increase in LH pulse frequency and kisspeptin (Kiss1) and neurokinin B (NKB) signaling in the hypothalamus, blood samples were collected on postnatal day (pnd) 28, 32, or 36 for LH measurement and vaginal opening monitored as a marker of puberty in female rats fed with HFD or standard chow from weaning. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine Kiss1 and kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1r) mRNA levels in brain punches of the medial preoptic area and the arcuate nucleus (ARC), and NKB and NKB receptor (NK3R) mRNA levels in the ARC. There was a gradual increase in LH pulse frequency from pnd 28, reaching significance by pnd 36 in control diet-fed rats.

Genetic diversity and variance of Stentor coeruleus (Ciliophora: Heterotrichea) inferred from inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fingerprinting.

We used inter-simple sequence repeat fingerprinting to analyze the genetic structure of 16 populations of Stentor coeruleus from three lakes and three ponds in China. Using 14 polymorphic primers, a total of 99 discernible DNA fragments were detected, among which 76 (76.77%) were polymorphic, indicating median genetic diversity in these populations.

The inhibitory effects of neurokinin B on GnRH pulse generator frequency in the female rat.

Neurokinin B (NKB) and its receptor (neurokinin-3 receptor) are coexpressed with kisspeptin and dynorphin A (Dyn) within neurons of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, the suggested site of the GnRH pulse generator. It is thought that these neuropeptides interact to regulate gonadotropin secretion. Using the ovariectomized (OVX) and OVX 17β-estradiol-replaced rat models, we have carried out a series of in vivo neuropharmacological and electrophysiological experiments to elucidate the hierarchy between the kisspeptin, NKB, and Dyn signaling systems.

[Biological process of phosphorus turnover in surface water body of Xiamen Harbor. II: Grazing pressure of copepod on phytoplankton].

To understand the roles of copepod in the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus, gut fluorescence method was applied to examine in situ the grazing rate of copepod on the phytoplankton in Xiamen Time Station (XMTS) in May, August and November 2005 and March 2006. In the meanwhile, the abundance and species composition of copepod were investigated, and the grazing pressure of copepod on the phytoplankton was estimated. The results showed that the annual average grazing rate of copepod was 55.