Vinpocetine improves dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease rats by reducing oxidative stress and activating the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the commonest neurodegenerative disorder. It reduces motor and cognitive function in patients. Vinpocetine (Vinp) has the effects of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, and could improve cognitive function in patients. This study was aimed to investigating the therapeutic effects of Vinp on dyskinesia in a 6-Hydroxydopamine hydrobromide (6-OHDA)-induced PD rat model. We constructed a PD rat model by injecting 6-OHDA, and intervened with Vinp for 7 days. The motor function of the rats was evaluated by an open-field test and rotation test. Besides, H&E staining was applied to observe the changes of dopaminergic neurons in the striatum. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the rat striatum were detected. We assessed the impact of Vinp on α-synuclein (α-Syn) and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway-related molecules by western blot and qRT-PCR. Rats in the PD group showed reduced horizontal movement frequency and number of squares crossed, increased contact time and rotation frequency, and reduced number of dopaminergic neurons accompanied by severe morphological damage. Vinp treatment increased the horizontal movement frequency and number of squares crossed, reduced the contact time, and rotation frequency in PD rats. Also, Vinp downregulated α-Syn protein expression and MDA level, while upregulated SOD activity in the striatum of PD rats. Furthermore, Vinp treatment activated the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in the striatum of PD rats. In conclusion, Vinp improved the dyskinesia in 6-OHDA-induced PD rats by alleviating oxidative stress, and these effects may be associated with activating the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis presenting as transient ischemic attacks: A case report.

Cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (CSVT) is a rare form of venous thromboembolism. Recurrent transient ischemic attacks were extremely rare clinical manifestation of CSVT. We reported a case of transient ischemic attack as an exceptionally rare form of CSVT. A 29-year-old woman presented with a headache and four episodes of a transient right limb weakness, numbness, and dysphasia lasting approximately 15 mins over the course of 2 weeks. Magnetic resonance venography revealed a superior sagittal sinus thrombosis with numerous prominent enlarged and dilated venous. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed venous infarction of the left frontal lobe. Transient ischemic attack-like episodes stopped with anticoagulation. We suggested that the patients with transient ischemic attack and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure should be carefully investigated in terms of CSVT.

Correction to: Silencing RNF13 Alleviates Parkinson's Disease - Like Problems in Mouse Models by Regulating the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK Pathway.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01746-x.

Antidepressant functions of Jie Yu Chu Fan capsule in promoting hippocampal nerve cell neurogenesis in a mouse model of chronic unpredictable mild stress.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a major public health challenge that imposes a great societal burden. Depression has been attributed to the decreased level of neurotransmitters and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Chinese herbal medicine Jie Yu Chu Fan (JYCF) capsule has been shown to be effective in the management of depression. However, the mechanism has yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the activity of JYCF against depression by establishing a mouse model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) with fluoxetine as the positive control drug. METHODS: The open field test, sucrose preference test, forced swim test, and tail suspension test were carried out to observe the behavioral changes of animals. The levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and 5-hydroxytryptamine, as well as their respective metabolic products 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid (HVA), and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in the mouse hippocampi were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cell proliferation and apoptosis, and early and mature nerve cells in the hippocampi were observed by immunofluorescence. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to identify BDNF expression in the hippocampi. RESULTS: After 5 weeks of unpredictable stimulation, a CUMS mouse model was successfully obtained, as indicated by sharply decreased sucrose preference and locomotor activity, as well as an increased immobility time in the forced swim test. Our results demonstrated that treatment with JYCF (1 and 5 g/kg) and fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) dramatically reversed the behavioral abnormalities in CUMS mice. At 1 g/kg, JYCF significantly increased NE, DA, and HVA levels in the hippocampi of CUMS mice. JYCF up-regulated the mRNA expression of BDNF and promoted cell proliferation in hippocampi of CUMS mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that JYCF exhibits antidepressant activity comparable to that of fluoxetine in CUMS mice. Moreover, the antidepressant-like activity of JYCF was shown to be mediated by enhancing hippocampal nerve cell neurogenesis through increasing the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters and BDNF expression.

Silencing RNF13 Alleviates Parkinson's Disease - Like Problems in Mouse Models by Regulating the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK Pathway.

The objective of this study was to understand if RNF13 can affect Parkinson's disease (PD) model mice by modulating the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-mediated IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK pathway. C57BL/6 mice injected with MPTP to establish PD mice models were divided into Control, MPTP, MPTP + sh-RNF13, and MPTP + sh-NC groups. Rotarod, balance beam, and open-field tests were used to assess the behavioral changes of experimental mice. Immunofluorescence assay was used to determine TH-positive expression in substantia nigra, TUNEL staining to detect apoptosis, and Western blotting to measure the expression of IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK pathway. Besides, SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+ were assigned into Control, MPP+, MPP+ + sh-RNF13, and MPP+ + sh-NC groups in vitro to detect cell viability, apoptosis and Ca2+ level. When compared with those Control mice, MPTP mice showed decreased retention time spent on rotarod performance and prolonged time on balance beam test, as well as evident reductions in floor plane (FP) movements, moving time, moving distance, and mean velocity in open-field test, which had an obvious increase of TUNEL-positive cells, significant decrease of TH-positive cells, and remarkable up-regulations of RNF13, p-IRE1α/IRE1α, TRAF2, ASK1, and p-JNK/JNK. Meanwhile, MPTP mice treated with sh-RNF13 were improved in all above indexes. In vitro, MPP+ treated SH-SY5Y cells had decreased cell viability and increased cell apoptosis, as well as the upregulated IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK pathway proteins and Ca2+ level. RNF13 knockdown improved all above indexes in SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+. Silencing RNF13 can alleviate motor dysfunction and dopamine neuronal damage in PD mice by inhibiting ERS-mediated IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1-JNK pathway.

The effects of infection on severe stroke patients in the neurological intensive care unit in China.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of infection on severe stroke patients in the neurological intensive care unit and to find the related risk factors for mortality of severe stroke patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study including 343 patients with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke and staying for more than 2 patient-days in the neurological intensive care unit at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from January 2011 to December 2015 to analyse the infection features of patients with severe stroke in the neurological intensive care unit. All analyses were conducted using SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: The mortality rate, hospital staying time and hospital costs between infected and uninfected stroke patients were higher in the infected patients than in the uninfected patients, P < 0.05, and except for the hospital staying time, the mortality rate and hospital costs were both significantly higher in the infected patients. Respiratory tract infection was the most common infection type at all time periods, P < 0.05. However, urinary tract infection increased at 72 h after stroke compared with infection within 72 h after stroke. Blood sugar level, mean arterial pressure, scores of APACHE II, history of stroke, history of heart diseases, infections and respiratory tract infection were significantly different in dead patients compared with the alive patients, P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Infection can significantly influence the mortality rate and hospital costs of stroke patients, and is an independent risk factor for mortality of stroke patients.

A randomized controlled trial of acupressure as an adjunctive therapy to sodium valproate on the prevention of chronic migraine with aura.

BACKGROUND: The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using acupressure as an adjunctive therapy to sodium valproate (SV) combined with acupressure (ASV) on the prevention of chronic migraine with aura (CMA). METHODS: A total of 98 patients with CMA were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group, with 49 patients in each group. The patients in the intervention group received ASV, while the participants in the control group received SV alone. The primary outcome was measured by the numeric rating scale (NRS). The secondary outcomes including frequency of migraine attacks, the times of using analgesics, and quality of life, measured by the short-form 36 Health Survey Scale (SF-36) score. In addition, adverse events (AEs) were also recorded throughout the trial. The outcomes were measured at the end of the 8-week treatment, and 4-week follow-up. RESULTS: After the 8-week treatment and 4-week follow-up, ASV efficacy was not greater than that of SV alone regarding pain relief, as measured using the NRS, and frequency of migraine attacks, consumption of analgesics, and quality of life, as measured using the SF-36. However, ASV can significantly reduce the nausea when compared with SV (P = .04). CONCLUSION: The present results indicate that ASV can decrease migraine-related nausea during treatment, but cannot relieve pain or enhance quality of life in patients with CMA.

Polymorphisms in the PTX1 may not be associated with ischemic stroke susceptibility.

OBJECTIVE: Ischemic stroke is a global health burden due to the increasingly higher incidence rate and mortality rate. Etiological research into the role of genetics in this heterogeneous disease may have diagnostic and prognostic implications. The present study was designed to assess the association between PTX1 SNPs: -717A>G and -286C>T>A, and ischemic stroke risk. METHODS: Risk of ischemic stroke was estimated using summary ORs. The fixed effects model was performed in calculating the pooled ORs. All statistical data were analyzed with STATA software. RESULTS: We combined 4,604 subjects for SNP -717A>G and 3,093 subjects for SNP -286C>T>A. SNP -717A>G was not found to be significantly associated with ischemic stroke risk (GG vs. AA, OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 0.83-1.50, PHet = 0.207; GG + GA vs. AA, OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.93-1.17, PHet = 0.533; GG vs. GA + AA, OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.82-1.47, PHet = 0.220). Meta-analysis of SNP -286C>T>A also demonstrated no statistical evidence of a significant association with ischemic stroke (AA vs. CC, OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.59-1.25, PHet = 0.348; AA vs. CC, OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.80-1.06, PHet = 0.609; AA vs. CC, OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.62-1.30, PHet = 0.374). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the PTX1 gene polymorphisms may not be associated with a predisposition to ischemic stroke.

[Approach to the road of vigorously developing Chinese medicine by scientific location of channels and collaterals].

Through researches of channels and collaterals and clinical practice of many years, the authors understand that Chinese medicine, which considers the human body as an interrelated, mutual constraints, whole, dynamic living system, has gradually become an important part of modern medicine. Channels and collaterals are a closed loop system which is communicated and linked by energy and information in the form of electromagnetic oscillation, reflecting many characteristics similar to quantum. Channels and collaterals are not a fixed organizational structure. Studies on channel and collaterals find that the track of the propagated sensation along channels (PSC) have the phenomenon drifting about. This exactly reflects the law of channels dynamically running. By information triggering and living resonance, channels and collaterals bring into play entirely regulative action. The innovative treatment of channels and collaterals followed by characteristics and laws of quantum can get a better curative effect. Theory of channels in the position of quantum information medical science provides an important breach for modernization of Chinese medicine.