Publications by authors named "Zengjin Yang"

Clinical trials of hypothermia after pediatric cardiac arrest (CA) have not seen robust improvement in functional outcome, possibly because of the long delay in achieving target temperature. Previous work in infant piglets showed that high nasal airflow, which induces evaporative cooling in the nasal mucosa, reduced regional brain temperature uniformly in half the time needed to reduce body temperature. Here, we evaluated whether initiation of hypothermia with high transnasal airflow provides neuroprotection without adverse effects in the setting of asphyxic CA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effects of hypothermia on neonatal encephalopathy may vary topographically and cytopathologically in the neocortex with manifestations potentially influenced by seizures that alter the severity, distribution, and type of neuropathology. We developed a neonatal piglet survival model of hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy and hypothermia (HT) with continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) for seizures. Neonatal male piglets received HI-normothermia (NT), HI-HT, sham-NT, or sham-HT treatments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Striatal neurons of term newborns are highly vulnerable to hypoxia-ischemia (H-I). In a piglet model of H-I, a dopamine D1 receptor antagonist and an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist alone preferentially protect striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons, respectively. Here, we tested the hypothesis whether the combined treatment with SCH23390, a D1 receptor antagonist, and SCH58261, an A2A receptor antagonist, is more efficacious than individual D1 and A2A receptor antagonist treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a highly fatal type of stroke that leads to various types of neuronal death. Recently, ferroptosis, a form of cell death resulting from iron-dependent lipid peroxide accumulation, was observed in a mouse ICH model. N-hydroxy-N'-(4-n-butyl-2-methylphenyl)-formamidine (HET0016), which inhibits synthesis of the arachidonic acid metabolite 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), has shown a protective effect after ICH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The striatal, primary sensorimotor cortical, and thalamic neurons are highly vulnerable to hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in term newborns. In a piglet model of HI that exhibits similar selective regional vulnerability, we tested the hypothesis that early treatment with sulforaphane, an activator of the Nrf2 transcription factor, protects vulnerable neurons from HI injury. Anesthetized piglets (aged 3-7 days) were subjected to 45 min of hypoxia and 7 min of airway occlusion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia resulting in death or lifelong disabilities remains a major clinical disorder. Neonatal models of hypoxia-ischemia in rodents have enhanced our understanding of cellular mechanisms of neural injury in developing brain, but have limitations in simulating the range, accuracy, and physiology of clinical hypoxia-ischemia and the relevant systems neuropathology that contribute to the human brain injury pattern. Large animal models of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia, such as partial or complete asphyxia at the time of delivery of fetal monkeys, umbilical cord occlusion and cerebral hypoperfusion at different stages of gestation in fetal sheep, and severe hypoxia and hypoperfusion in newborn piglets, have largely overcome these limitations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), a cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4A/4F-derived metabolite of arachidonic acid, directly contributes to ischemic neuronal injury. However, little is known about mediators of 20-HETE neurotoxicity after ischemia. Here, we focus on the role of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) in 20-HETE-induced neurotoxicity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

20-HETE, an arachidonic acid metabolite synthesized by cytochrome P450 4A, plays an important role in acute brain damage from ischemic stroke or subarachnoid hemorrhage. We tested the hypothesis that 20-HETE inhibition has a protective effect after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and then investigated its effect on angiogenesis. We exposed hippocampal slice cultures to hemoglobin and induced ICH in mouse brains by intrastriatal collagenase injection to investigate the protective effect of 20-HETE synthesis inhibitor N-hydroxy-N'-(4--butyl-2-methylphenyl)-formamidine (HET0016).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To examine the temporal relationship of cortical autophagic flux with delayed neuronal cell death after hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in neonatal piglets. HI was produced with 45-min hypoxia and 7-min airway occlusion in 3-5-day-old piglets. Markers of autophagic, lysosomal and cell death signaling were studied via immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, and histochemistry in piglet brains.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), a potent vasoconstrictor, is a cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4A/4F-derived metabolite of arachidonic acid. Inhibition of 20-HETE synthesis protects brain from ischemic injury. However, that protection is not associated with changes in cerebral blood flow.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tissue acidosis is a key component of cerebral ischemic injury, but its influence on cell death signaling pathways is not well defined. One such pathway is parthanatos, in which oxidative damage to DNA results in activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and generation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymers that trigger release of mitochondrial apoptosis-inducing factor. In primary neuronal cultures, we first investigated whether acidosis per sé is capable of augmenting parthanatos signaling initiated pharmacologically with the DNA alkylating agent, N-methyl- N'-nitro- N-nitrosoguanidine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we examined the effect of progesterone on histopathologic and functional outcomes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in 10- to 12-month-old mice. Progesterone or vehicle was administered by intraperitoneal injection 1 hour after collagenase-induced ICH and then by subcutaneous injections at 6, 24, and 48 hours. Oxidative and nitrosative stress were assayed at 12 hours post-ICH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the USA. Effective therapeutic strategies for TBI are needed, and increasing attention is turning toward traditional herbal medicine. Rhizoma drynariae is a traditional Chinese medicine that has immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The severity of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia and the delay in initiating therapeutic hypothermia limit the efficacy of hypothermia. After hypoxia-ischemia in neonatal piglets, the arachidonic acid metabolite 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) has been found to contribute to oxidative stress at 3 h of reoxygenation and to eventual neurodegeneration. We tested whether early administration of a 20-HETE synthesis inhibitor after reoxygenation augments neuroprotection with 3-hour delayed hypothermia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The consequences of therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy are poorly understood. Adverse effects from suboptimal rewarming could diminish neuroprotection from hypothermia. Therefore, we tested whether rewarming is associated with apoptosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

After hypoxic brain injury, maintaining blood pressure within the limits of cerebral blood flow autoregulation is critical to preventing secondary brain injury. Little is known about the effects of prolonged hypothermia or rewarming on autoregulation after cardiac arrest. We hypothesized that rewarming would shift the lower limit of autoregulation (LLA), that this shift would be detected by indices derived from near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and that rewarming would impair autoregulation during hypertension.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of adenosine A2A receptors in neonatal piglets experiencing global hypoxia-ischemia (H-I) and how they contribute to neuronal injury upon reoxygenation, particularly in striatal neurons.
  • In healthy piglets, the A2A receptor agonist CGS 21680 increased phosphorylation of NMDA receptors and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, while treatment with the A2A antagonist SCH 58261 in ischemic piglets showed improved neurological recovery and protection for striatopallidal neurons.
  • The activation of A2A receptors post-H-I was found to exacerbate oxidative stress and excitotoxicity through harmful signaling pathways associated with protein phosphorylation, leading to neuronal
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The implementation and clinical efficacy of hypothermia in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy are limited, in part, by the delay in instituting hypothermia and access to equipment. In a piglet model of HI, half of the neurons in putamen already showed ischemic cytopathology by 6 hours of recovery. We tested the hypothesis that treatment with the superoxide dismutase-catalase mimetic EUK-134 at 30 minutes of recovery provides additive neuronal protection when combined with 1 day of whole-body hypothermia implemented 4 hours after resuscitation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cerebrovascular autoregulation after resuscitation has not been well studied in an experimental model of pediatric cardiac arrest. Furthermore, developing noninvasive methods of monitoring autoregulation using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) would be clinically useful in guiding neuroprotective hemodynamic management after pediatric cardiac arrest. We tested the hypotheses that the lower limit of autoregulation (LLA) would shift to a higher arterial blood pressure between 1 and 2 days of recovery after cardiac arrest and that the LLA would be detected by NIRS-derived indices of autoregulation in a swine model of pediatric cardiac arrest.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) is a cytochrome P450 metabolite of arachidonic acid that that contributes to infarct size following focal cerebral ischemia. However, little is known about the role of 20-HETE in global cerebral ischemia or neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (H-I). The present study examined the effects of blockade of the synthesis of 20-HETE with N-hydroxy-N'-(4-n-butyl-2-methylphenyl) formamidine (HET0016) in neonatal piglets after H-I to determine if it protects highly vulnerable striatal neurons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Striatal neurons are highly vulnerable to hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in term newborns. In a piglet model of HI, striatal neurons develop oxidative stress and organelle disruption by 3-6 h of recovery and ischemic cytopathology over 6-24 h of recovery. We tested the hypothesis that early treatment with the antioxidants EUK-134 (a manganese-salen derivative that acts as a scavenger of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide or NO and peroxynitrite) or edaravone (MCI-186, a scavenger of hydroxyl radical and NO) protects striatal neurons from HI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Na+,Ca2+-permeable acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) is involved in the pathophysiologic process of adult focal brain ischemia. However, little is known about its role in the pathogenesis of global cerebral ischemia or newborn hypoxia-ischemia (H-I). Here, using a newborn piglet model of asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest, we investigated the effect of ASIC1a-specific blocker psalmotoxin-1 on neuronal injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and subsequent translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor contribute to caspase-independent neuronal injury from N-methyl-d-aspartate, oxygen-glucose deprivation, and ischemic stroke. Some studies have implicated endonuclease G in the DNA fragmentation associated with caspase-independent cell death. Here, we compared wild-type and endonuclease G null mice to investigate whether endonuclease G plays a role in the PARP-dependent injury that results from transient focal cerebral ischemia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF