Analysis of the Improvement Effect of Nervonic Acid Extracted from Xanthoceras Sorbifolium Bunge Oil on Antioxidant Response and Inflammatory Response in Parkinson's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: An extract of Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge (XSB) oil called nervonic acid (NA) was studied for its potential to ameliorate oxidative stress and inflammation in people living with Parkinson's disease (PD). Recrystallization column chromatography was performed to isolate NA from the XSB oil. Twenty-five C57BL/6 mice (8-10 weeks old) were randomly assigned to one of five groups (control, model, low, medium, and high dosage). METHODOLOGY: Except for the control group, all of the experimental animals received an intraperitoneal injection of 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The next phase was administering varied doses of NA produced from XSB oil to mice. Control, model, low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose groups were created at random from SH-SY5Y and PC-12 cell cultures. Our study's control groups exhibited typical normative conduct. RESEARCH: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine oxidative stress (OS) and inflammatory factors (IFs) in cells. By the time recrystallization column chromatography had finished its analysis, the concentration of NA had increased by a factor of roughly 26. RESULTS: The model and high-dose groups showed similar levels of apoptosis in behavior (p > 0.05). All three NA treatment groups showed decreases in IFs and increases in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and GSH-Px mRNA (p < 0.05). NA, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemical, has shown promising results in PD animal and cell models. CONCLUSIONS: NA synthesized from XSB oil will soon be available for use in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. With the use of deep learning, patients will be able to arrest their health deterioration and enjoy an improved standard of living.

Berberine Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Replication in HEK293T Cells.

Berberine exhibits polytrophic medicinal roles in various diseases and is safe and effective. However, its role and the underlying mechanism in the replication of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) remain unreported. This research aimed to determine the functional mechanisms of berberine on HSV-1 infection. We determined the CC50 (405.11 ± 15.67 µM) and IC50 (45.6 ± 6.84 µM) of berberine on HEK293T cells infected with HSV-1. Berberine inhibited the transcription and translation of HSV-1 activity-related genes (gD, ICP-4, ICP-5, and ICP-8) in HSV-1-infected HEK293T cells dose-dependently. Berberine also inhibited the phosphorylation of MAPK proteins (JNK and p38) and inflammatory responses induced by HSV-1 infection in HEK293T cells dose-dependently. In conclusion, berberine attenuates HSV-1 replication through its activity, infective ability, and inflammatory response. Our research indicated that berberine may be a candidate drug for HSV-1 infection.

Nervonic acid amends motor disorder in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1515/tnsci-2020-0171.].

Endovascular therapy for acute basilar artery occlusion caused by vertebral artery dissection: Case report.

RATIONALE: The best endovascular therapy revascularization strategies for acute ischemic stroke caused by vertebral artery dissection (VAD) are unclear. We describes a case of basilar artery (BA) occlusion caused by extracranial VAD, in which we used a stent-retriever to achieve thrombectomy in the BA through the contralateral vertebral artery (VA). PATIENT CONCERNS: A 32-year-old male presented with a sudden-onset headache accompanied by articulation disorder, left-sided weakness, and tinnitus in the left ear. DIAGNOSIS: Digital subtraction angiography showed the V1 to V2 segment dissection of the left VA and occlusion of the BA. INTERVENTIONS: Thrombectomy was performed through the thinner right VA with three passes of the Solitaire FR device 4 × 20 mm in the BA, and angiograms showed modified treatment in cerebral ischemia 3 reperfusion of BA and left VA V4 segment still occluded. OUTCOMES: The patient had a modified Rankin Scale of 2 at 90 days, and re-established blood flow of the left VA and BA. LESSONS: When extracranial VAD complicated with BA occlusion, choosing the clean-road path to perform a BA thrombectomy may be a fast and effective treatment strategy.

Nervonic acid amends motor disorder in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVES: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a kind of common neurodegenerative disease in the world. Previous studies have proved that nervonic acid (NA), extracted from Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge, has the potentials of neuroprotection. However, the effect of NA on the PD remained unknown. This study was designed to investigate the NA's potential function and relative mechanism on motor disorder. METHODS: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) was used for producing parkinsonism motor disorder on male C57BL/6 mice. Toxicity experiments and behavioral assay were performed to evaluate the effect of NA. Besides, the expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and α-synuclein, as well as striatal dopamine (DA), serotonin, and their metabolites were explored through immunoblotting and chromatography after NA treatment in vivo. RESULTS: We found that NA could alleviate the MPTP-induced behavioral deficits dose-dependently. Moreover, NA has no toxic effects on the mouse liver and kidney. Of note, we found that NA significantly reduced the impact of MPTP impairment and striatal DA, serotonin, and metabolites were remained unaffected. In addition, tyrosine hydroxylase was upregulated while α-synuclein being downregulated and the oxidative stress was partially repressed evidenced by the upregulation of superoxide dismutase and glutathione activity after NA treatment. CONCLUSION: Our findings unveil NA's potential for protecting motor system against motor disorder in the PD mouse model without any side effects, indicating NA as an alternative strategy for PD symptom remission.

Cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in COPD mediated via CCR1/JAK/STAT /NF-κB pathway.

Inflammation is an important cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and its acute exacerbation. However, the critical role of C-C chemokine receptor (CCR)1 in progression of cigarette smoke-induced chronic inflammation remains unclear. We studied CCR1 expression using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in COPD patients and controls. Cytokine levels in peripheral blood were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In vitro, we investigated Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling in cigarette smoke extract-induced or CCR1 deficiency/overexpressed mouse macrophage cell line MH-S by RT-PCR and western blot, and measured the cytokine levels in the supernatant with ELISA. We found that CCR1 expression was upregulated in COPD patients and there was a negative correlation between CCR1 mRNA levels and predicted % forced expiratory volume in 1 min. Inflammatory cytokine levels in the peripheral blood were higher in COPD patients than controls, and these were positively correlated with CCR1 levels. CCR1 was shown to play a critical role in regulating smoke-induced inflammation via JAK/STAT3/NF-κB signaling in vitro. CCR1 may play a critical role in airway inflammation in COPD. Additionally, understanding the molecular mechanism may help develop novel methods for the treatment of COPD.

Selection and identification of a precocious line of Eimeria intestinalis with enlarged oocysts and deletion of one generation of schizogony.

Rabbit coccidiosis is a common parasitic disease and responsible for enormous economic losses in the rabbit industry. Eimeria intestinalis, one of the highly pathogenic and common Eimeria species infecting rabbits, is considered as an indispensable species for the development of live oocyst vaccines against rabbit coccidiosis. In this study, we report the successful selection of a precocious line (EIP8) from a wild-type strain of E. intestinalis (WT) by successively collecting and propagating the early excreted progeny oocysts. The EIP8 line had a prepatent period of only 132 h compared to 204 h for the WT. Oocysts of EIP8 were notably different from those produced by the WT strain by their significantly larger size (mean length: 29.3 vs 27.6 µm and mean width 20.5 vs 19.8 µm). Examination of tissue sections prepared from EIP8-infected rabbits revealed that this precocious line undergoes only two generations of schizogony before differentiating into gametocytes by 120 h post-infection. In contrast, WT parasites undergo three generations of schizogony and gametocytes are present by 168 h post-infection. EIP8 multiplication capacity reduced by more than 35-fold and a concomitant decrease in pathogenicity was detected. Interestingly, immunization with 103 or 104 EIP8 oocysts provided sufficient protection against homologous challenge with wild-type parasites, as body weight gain of immunized and challenged rabbits was similar to that of untreated animals, as well as more than 90% reduction of oocyst output was detected in immunized and challenged animals when compared to unimmunized and challenged animals. Together, these results show that the EIP8 precocious line of E. intestinalis is an attenuated immunogenic strain and a suitable candidate for the development of a live vaccine against rabbit coccidiosis.

The Protective Effects of Salidroside from Exhaustive Exercise-Induced Heart Injury by Enhancing the PGC-1 α -NRF1/NRF2 Pathway and Mitochondrial Respiratory Function in Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that salidroside (SAL) can protect heart from exhaustive exercise-induced injury by enhancing mitochondrial respiratory function and mitochondrial biogenesis key signaling pathway PGC-1α-NRF1/NRF2 in rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups: sedentary (C), exhaustive exercise (EE), low-dose SAL (LS), and high-dose SAL (HS). After one-time exhaustive swimming exercise, we measured the changes in cardiomyocyte ultrastructure and cardiac marker enzymes and mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) complexes activities in situ. We also measured mitochondrial biogenesis master regulator PGC-1α and its downstream transcription factors, NRF1 and NRF2, expression at gene and protein levels. RESULTS: Compared to C group, the EE group showed marked myocardium ultrastructure injury and decrease of mitochondrial respiratory function (P < 0.05) and protein levels of PGC-1α, NRF1, and NRF2 (P < 0.05) but a significant increase of PGC-1α, NRF1, and NRF2 genes levels (P < 0.05); compared to EE group, SAL ameliorated myocardium injury, increased mitochondrial respiratory function (P < 0.05), and elevated both gene and protein levels of PGC-1α, NRF-1, and NRF-2. CONCLUSION: Salidroside can protect the heart from exhaustive exercise-induced injury. It might act by improving myocardial mitochondrial respiratory function by stimulating the expression of PGC-1α-NRF1/NRF2 pathway.

Molecular analysis of single oocyst of Eimeria by whole genome amplification (WGA) based nested PCR.

PCR-based molecular tools are widely used for the identification and characterization of protozoa. Here we report the molecular analysis of Eimeria species using combined methods of whole genome amplification (WGA) and nested PCR. Single oocyst of Eimeria stiedai or Eimeriamedia was directly used for random amplification of the genomic DNA with either primer extension preamplification (PEP) or multiple displacement amplification (MDA), and then the WGA product was used as template in nested PCR with species-specific primers for ITS-1, 18S rDNA and 23S rDNA of E. stiedai and E. media. WGA-based PCR was successful for the amplification of these genes from single oocyst. For the species identification of single oocyst isolated from mixed E. stiedai or E. media, the results from WGA-based PCR were exactly in accordance with those from morphological identification, suggesting the availability of this method in molecular analysis of eimerian parasites at the single oocyst level. WGA-based PCR method can also be applied for the identification and genetic characterization of other protists.

Development of transgenic lines of Eimeria tenella expressing M2e-enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (M2e-EYFP).

Eimeria parasites are obligate intracellular apicomplexan protists that can cause coccidiosis, resulting in substantial economic losses in the poultry industry annually. As the component of anticoccidial vaccines, seven Eimeria spp. of chickens are characterized with potent immunogenicity. Whether genetically modified Eimeria spp. maintains this property or not needs to be verified. In this study, two identical transgenic lines of Eimeria tenella were developed by virtue of single sporocyst isolation from a stably transfected population expressing fused protein of M2 ectodomain of avian influenza virus (M2e) and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP). The chromosomal integration and expression of M2e-EYFP were confirmed by Southern blot, plasmid rescue and Western blot analysis. We found that the reproduction of transgenic parasites was higher than that of the parental strain. Chickens challenged with wild type E. tenella after immunization with 200 oocysts of transgenic parasites had similar performance compared to those in non-immunized and non-challenged group. In another trial, the performance of transgenic parasite-immunized birds was also comparable to that of the Decoquinate Premix-treated chickens. These results suggest that this transgenic line of E. tenella is capable of inducing potent protection against homologous challenge as a live anticoccidial vaccine. Taking together, our study indicates that transgenic eimerian parasites have the potential to be developed as a vaccine vehicle for animal use in the future.