Effects of Amphotericin B on the expression of neurotoxic and neurotrophic factors in cultured microglia.

Amphotericin B (AmB) is a polyene antibiotic and reported to have therapeutic effects on prion diseases, in which the microglial activation has been suggested to play important roles by proliferating and producing various factors such as nitric oxide, proinflammatory cytokines, and so on. However, the therapeutic mechanism of AmB on prion diseases remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated the effects of AmB on cellular functions of rat primary cultured microglia.

Pyruvate ameliorates the defect in ureogenesis from ammonia in citrin-deficient mice.

Background/aims: Mutations in SLC25A13, encoding the mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate carrier citrin, cause adult-onset type II citrullinemia (CTLN2) in humans. We have previously reported that although citrin-knockout (Ctrn-/-) mice fail to display symptoms of CTLN2, liver perfusion revealed a deficit in ureogenesis from ammonia accompanied by an increase in the perfusate lactate-to-pyruvate (L/P) ratio. The present study explores the effects of pyruvate, aspartate and citrate on improving the abnormalities observed in the Ctrn-/- liver.

Potentiation by high potassium of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production from cultured astrocytes.

Uptake of K+ is an important role of astrocytes to maintain physiological lower extracellular K+ concentration in the CNS. In this study, the effect of high K+ concentration was examined on the cellular function of astrocytes from embryonic rat brain in primary culture. Nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured as an index of cellular function of astrocytes.