Protective effect of melatonin on neurons after oxidative-stress injury

BACKGROUND:It has been suggested that melatonin(MT)can protect secondary neuronal injury.However,the protective effect of MT on neuronal injury in ischemia/reperfusion models in vitro still has not been proved.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the protective effect of MT on central ischemic injury of nerve cells and analyze its possible mechanism.DESIGN:Contrast observational study.SETTING:Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology.MATERIALS:Rats aged 7-8 days and weighing 10-12 g were provided by Medical Experimental Animal Center,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology.MT was provided by Sigma Company,USA.METHODS:The experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,Tongji Hospital,Huazhong University of Science and Technology from October 2002 to March 2004.The effects of MT on the neurodegeneration induced by oxygen-glucose-deprivation(OGD)were tested in cultured rat cerebellar granule cells.Neuron damage was quantitatively assessed by Typan Blue exclusion and MTT assay at different time points after oxygen-glucose-deprivation(90 minutes).DNA gel electrophoresis and acridine orange stain were performed to determine the nature of cell damage.And fluorescence spectrophotometer was used for quantification of intracellular malondialdehyde(MDA)at various time intervals.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Correlation between degrees of neuronal injury and reperfusion times,apoptosis,and production of MDA in cells.RESULTS:①The neuron injury was aggravated with reperfusion time.②The protective effect of MT was time-and dose-dependent when its concentration was not higher than 10μmol/L.③When neurons were exposed to OGD for 90 minutes,part of the cells exhibited typical features of apoptosis:internucleosomal DNA condensation and DNA ladder on agarose gel electrophoresis.MT added to cells recovering from OGD exerted neuroprotective action against OGD-induced apoptosis.④In OGD exposed cultures,the production of MDA burst 12 hours after OGD,while MT significantly decreased the generation of MDA(P<0.05)in a time-dependent manner.CONCLUSION:MT may have therapeutic potential in the prevention and treatment of ischemic/hypoxic neuronal damage,and this neuroprotective action may contribute to the antioxidant nature of MT.

Pollutants, Snails, Oxidative-Stress, Organophosphates, Metals

Aquatic reservoirs remain the ultimate sink of chemical pollutants emanating from anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, mining and industry. Freshwater biota undoubtedly is at risk from the adverse effects of these water pollutants and there is therefore, a need to monitor effects of these chemical pollutants in order to safeguard the health of aquatic biota. We investigated the oxidative stress effects of chlorpyrifos and lead on the freshwater snail Helisoma duryi to assess the potential of using this enzyme system as a biondicator of exposure to environmental pollutants. Groups of snails were exposed to 5 ppb lead acetate and 25 ppb chlorpyrifos for 7 days after which half of the snails were sacrificed and the other half were allowed to recover in clean water and sacrificed after another 7 days. Post mitochondrial fractions were used to measure the activities of the following antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and diphosphotriphosphodiaphorase. Both pollutants enhanced the activities of all the antioxidant enzymes suggesting a defensive mechanism by the snail to combat the oxidative stress due to the organophosphate chlopryrifos and metal pollutant lead. There was a significant recovery of the antioxidant defense system of the snails allowed to recover in clean water shown by the reduced alteration of the antioxidant enzyme activities of the snails allowed to recover for 7 days. This suggests the need to minimize exposure of aquatic biota to chemical pollutants and remediate the polluted water reservoirs in order to safeguard the health of aquatic life.

Calcium Overload Is A Critical Step in Programmed Necrosis of ARPE-19 Cells Induced by High-Concentration H_2O_2

Objective Oxidative stress plays an important role in retinal pigmental epithelium （RPE） death during aging and the development of age-related macular degeneration.Although early reports indicate that reactive oxygen species （ROS） including H2O2 can trigger apoptosis at lower concentrations and necrosis at higher concentrations,the exact molecular mechanism of RPE death is still unclear.The purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular pathways involved in RPE death induced by exogenous ROS,especially at higher concentrations.Methods Cultured ARPE-19 cells were treated with H2O2 at different concentrations and cell viability was measured with the MTT assay.Cell death was morphologically studied by microscopy using APOPercentage assay and PI staining.Furthermore,the impact of oxidative stress on ARPE-19 cells was assessed by HO-1 and PARP-1 Western blotting and by the protection of antioxidant EGCG.Calcium influx was determined using the fura-2 calcium indicator and the role of intracellular calcium overload in ARPE-19 cell death was evaluated following cobalt treatment to block calcium effects.Results H2O2 reduced the viability of ARPE-19 cells in a concentration-dependent manner,which was presented as a typical s-shaped curve.Cell death caused by high concentrations of H2O2 was confirmed to be programmed necrosis.Morphologically,dying ARPE-19 cells were extremely swollen and lost the integrity of their plasma membrane,positively detected with APOPercentage assay and PI staining.24-hour treatment with 500 ？mol/L H2O2 induced remarkable up-regulation of HO-1 and PARP-1 in ARPE-19 cells.Moreover,antioxidant treatment using EGCG effectively protected cells from H2O2-induced injury,increasing cell viability from 14.17%±2.31% to 85.77%±4.58%.After H2O2 treatment,intracellular calcium levels were highly elevated with a maximum concentration of 1200nM.Significantly,the calcium channel inhibitor cobalt was able to blunt this calcium influx and blocked the necrotic pathway,rescuing the ARPE-19 cell from H2O2-induced death.Conclusions At high concentrations,H2O2 induces ARPE-19 cell death through a regulated necrotic pathway with calcium overload as a critical step in the cell death program.

Epalrestat improves motor symptoms by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation in the reserpine induced mouse model of Parkinson’s disease

Background:Parkinson's disease(PD)is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting a large number of elderly people worldwide.The current therapies for PD are symptom-based;they do not provide a cure but improve the quality of life.Muscular dysfunction is the hallmark clinical feature of PD and oxidative stress and inflammation play a critical role in its pathogenesis.Epalrestat is used for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy and is known to improve antioxidative defense mechanisms in the CNS.Therefore,in this study,we investigated the role of Epalrestat in the reserpine induced mouse model of PD.Method:We used Swiss Albino mice for the PD model and tested for akinesia/bradykinesia,muscular rigidity,palpebral ptosis,and tremor,as well as conducting swim and open field tests.Brain samples were used to determine oxidative stress parameters and infiltration of immune cells.Results:Epalrestat treatment significantly improved akinesia and bradykinesia,muscular dysfunctions,tremor level,and gait functions compared to the reserpine group.It also improved the latency in the swim test.Eplarestat significantly reduced lipid peroxidation and NO concentration in different brain tissues and increased the activity of antioxidative enzymes,glutathione,catalase,and superoxide dismutase.Furthermore,Epalrestat reduced neuroinflammation by reducing the number of infiltrating immune cells.Conclusion:Eplarestat improves muscular dysfunction in PD by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.