Parthenolide inhibits neuroinflammation and promotes neurogenesis in the ischemic striatum following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in the adult rat brain / 细胞与分子免疫学杂志

AIM: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that parthenolide suppresses ischemia-induced neuroinflammation in the MCAO model of adult rat. METHODS: MCAO rats were treated i.p. with parthenolide (500 μg/kg). Brain sections were analyzed for BrdU, BrdU-DCX, BrdU-Tuj-1, BrdU-MAP-2 and BrdU-GFAP staining. Total protein was extracted from ischemic striatum, and Western blot was used to determine TNF-α expression. RESULTS: Cerebral ischemia increases expression of TNF-α in the ischemic striatum. Parthenolide suppressed the expression of TNF-α and enhances the proliferation of newborn cells in the ischemic striatum. The cell number of BrdU~+-DCX~+, BrdU~+-Tuj-1~+, and BrdU~+-MAP-2~+ is increased in the ischemic striatum after parthenolide treatment at 3 d, 7 d or 28 d after MCAO. Furthermore, parthenolide depressed the cell number of BrdU~+-GFAP~+ in the ischemic striatum at 3 d, 7 d and 28 d after MCAO. CONCLUSION: Parthenolide inhibits neuroinflammation induced by cerebral ischemia and promotes neurogenesis in the ischemic striatum. Further study of the effects of parthenolide on inflammatory gene expression using model animal systems as described here are critical to elucidating their mechanisms of action.

Study on the differentiation of neural stem cells in hippocampus of rat model of Parkinson's disease / 临床神经病学杂志

Objective To explore the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in hippocampus of rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods Rat models of PD were made by injection 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into striatum. 5-bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu) was injected into the abdomens of PD rats for 14 days before they were killed. The expressions of Brdu/Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Brdu/ Neuronal nuclear antigen (Neun) were determined by immunocytochemistry. The distinctive marker for Brdu/GFAP and Brdu/Neun labeling method was used to determine the phenotype of the differentiated cells.Results After PD models were established, the Brdu/GFAP and Brdu/Neun positive cells appeared at 7 d, increased gradually at 14 d, and peaked at 28 d. In these double labelled cells, Brdu/GFAP positive cells were more than Brdu/Neun positive cells.Conclusions Direct injection of 6-OHDA into the striatum stimulates the proliferation of inherent NSCs in hippocampus of rats. Large amounts of NSCs differentiate into astrocytes and small amounts of them turn into neurons.