Circulating Levels of Interleukin-10 and -17 in Patients with Cerebral Sinovenous Thrombosis (CSVT) in Acute and Subacute Stages: A Prospective Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT) is a neurovascular disorder that occurs when a blood clot develops in a vein near the brain. Evaluating the subsequent changes in inflammatory cytokines can better reveal the underlying pathogeneses. OBJECTIVE: To assess the serum levels of interleukin-10 (an anti-inflammatory cytokine) and IL-17 (a pro-inflammatory cytokine) in patients with aseptic non-vasculitic CSVT. METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, 31 patients with aseptic non-vasculitic CSVT (admitted in Namazi Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran) were enrolled. IL-10 and IL-17 serum levels were measured at diagnosis, before initiation of treatment (acute stage), 3 months later (subacute stage). These cytokines were also measured in samples obtained from 30 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects, which were considered as control values. RESULTS: Patients' IL-10 and IL-17 levels were higher in both acute and subacute stages as compared to controls. However, no significant differences existed between the acute stage and control groups for both cytokines. Moreover, subacute levels were significantly higher than their acute and control levels. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the alteration of IL-10 and IL-17 levels in aseptic non-vasculitic CSVT. The rise in subacute IL-10 can be explained by the assumption that IL-10 is released as an anti-inflammatory response to subside the effects of IL-17 mediated reactions. More importantly, the immediate sampling in the acute stage did not allow enough time for triggering the immune system to produce such mediators. However, a balance was established between IL-10 and IL-17 in the subacute stage to prevent further tissue damage.

The effect of sub-anesthetic and anesthetic ketamine on water maze memory acquisition, consolidation and retrieval.

Ketamine, a non-selective inhibitor of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) channels is used in anesthetic or sub-anesthetic doses to induce analgesia, amnesia, to suppress fear, anxiety and depression. Although the ketamine's effect on memory acquisition is known, its effects on other aspects of memory are controversial. Morris water maze is a task which assesses spatial learning and memory. This study was aimed to assess the ketamine's differential effect on water maze memory acquisition, consolidation and retrieval. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350 g) were trained in water maze single training session. 24h later a probe trial which was consisted of a single trial without platform was done. To assess the effect of ketamine on water maze memory acquisition it was administered before training; to assess its effect on memory consolidation it was administered immediately after training and to assess its effect on memory retrieval it was injected before probe trial. Ketamine both in sub-anesthetic and anesthetic doses impaired water maze memory acquisition, its anesthetic dose but not sub-anesthetic dose impaired memory consolidation and on retrieval stage, both doses deteriorated memory retrieval. It seems that NMDA receptor activity is not just necessary during water maze memory acquisition but also their post-learning reactivation is required to maintain memory consolidation and retrieval.