ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the effects of scorpion venom heat-resistant protein (SVHRP) on kainic acid induced-damage of cultured primitive rat hippocampal neuropeptide Y-nergic neurons.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We observed morphological changes, celluar vigor, NPY-immunoreactivity and NPY mRNA expression by means of Thionine staining, MTT assay, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively, on the primitively cultured Sprague-Dawley rat hippocampal neuron treated with KA and SVHRP for 24 h.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MTT assay and morphologic analysis showed that SVHRP markedly increased neuron survival-rate, and protected them from kA-induced damage. The expression of NPY-immunoreactivity and NPY mRNA in SVHRP group increased obviously compared with other groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SVHRP protected the primitively cultured hippocampal neurons from KA-induced neuroexcitotoxicity and promoted the expression of NPY.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Rats , Cell Death , Cells, Cultured , Hippocampus , Cell Biology , Metabolism , Kainic Acid , Pharmacology , Neurons , Metabolism , Pathology , Neuropeptide Y , Metabolism , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Scorpion Venoms , PharmacologyABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the protective effect of nicotine on dopaminergic neurons and its mechanisms in mice with Parkinson's disease (PD) induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>C57BL/6J mice were injected with MPTP for 8 days to establish PD model. Nicotine was given for 10 days in the pretreatment group. Animals were examined behaviorally with the pole test and traction test. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were investigated by the immunocytochemistry (ICC) method. The ultrastructural changes of caudate nucleus(CN) were observed by electron microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The results showed that pretreatment nicotine could improve the dyskinesia of PD mice markedly. Simultaneously, TH (P < 0.01) neurons and GABA (P < 0.05) neurons were much more in the pretreatment group when compared with those in the model group. The ultrastructural injury of the pretreatment group was also ameliorated.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Nicotine has a protective effect on the dopaminergic neurons in the MPTP-treated mice.</p>
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Male , Mice , Caudate Nucleus , Disease Models, Animal , Dopaminergic Neurons , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Neuroprotective Agents , Pharmacology , Nicotine , Pharmacology , Parkinson Disease , Drug Therapy , Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase , Metabolism , gamma-Aminobutyric Acid , MetabolismABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between cough variant asthma (CVA) and mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection.Methods Fifty children with CVA were chosen as the experimental group at random,and 50 children with acute upper respiratory infection,who went to the hospital in the same time and with similar age,were chosen as control group.The MP-IgM of children in both groups were tested by the granule agglutinating method.Results Significant difference (? 2=9.013 P