Changes in plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide and serum neuron specific enolase in rats with acute cerebral ischemia after low-frequency electrical stimulation with different waveforms and intensities

Following acute cerebral ischemia in rats, plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide decreased and the level of serum neuron specific enolase and the volume of the infarction increased. Square-wave and triangular-wave electrical stimulation with low or high intensities could increase the plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide, decrease the serum neuron specific enolase and reduce the infarction volume in the brain in rats with cerebral ischemia. There was no significant difference between different wave forms and intensities. The experimental findings indicate that low-frequency electrical stimulation with varying waveforms and intensities can treat acute cerebral ischemia in rats.

Plasma level of neuron specific enolase in patients with acute cerebral infarction:A case-control study

BACKGROUND： The plasma level of neuron specific enolase （NSE） can be used to diagnose and evaluate neuronal injury and predict early prognosis. OBJECTIVE： To observe the dynamic changes in plasma levels of NSE in patients with acute cerebral infarction, and to investigate its correlations with disease severity and prognosis. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： This non-randomized, concurrent case-control experiment was performed at the Department of Neurology, First Hospital Affiliated to Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between May and July 2007. PARTICIPANTS： Eighteen patients with acute cerebral infarction, who received treatment at the Department of Neurology, First Hospital Affiliated to Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between May and July 2007, were recruited into the patient group. An additional 10 healthy individuals, who received health examinations simultaneously, were included as controls. METHODS： Following admission （within 3 days） and at days 6, 12, and 30 subsequent to acute cerebral infarction attack, 3 mL venous blood was taken from each patient before the morning meal to determine the plasma level of NSE by enzyme-labeled immunosorbent assay. One-time blood extraction was performed in each healthy subject during the health examination for the same purpose as in patients. At 6 and 30 days following acute cerebral infarction attack, CT examination was performed for calculation of cerebral infarction volume according to the Tada formula. Following admission and at 30 days of disease invasion, all patients were scored by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale （NIHSS, 13 items）. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Comparison of NSE plasma level between acute cerebral infarction patients and healthy individuals; correlations of NSE plasma level in acute cerebral infarction patients with cerebral infarction volume, NIHSS score, and prognosis. RESULTS： Following admission and at days 6 and 12 of disease invasion, the plasma level of NSE was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group （P 〈 0.05）. Following admission and at day 30 of disease invasion, the NIHSS scores of the patient group were 17.706 and 11.222, respectively. Following admission and at day 6 of disease invasion, the plasma level of NSE was positively correlated with cerebral infarction volume （r = 0.503, 0.435, P 〈 0.05）, but it was negatively correlated with NIHSS score （r = -0.571, 0.368, P 〈 0.05）. The plasma level of NSE was mostly correlated with cerebral infarction volume, followed by NIHSS score, and lastly prognosis, with regression coefficients of 0.386, 0.343, and 0.340, respectively. CONCLUSION： The plasma level of NSE is higher in patients with acute cerebral infarction than in the healthy population. It can reflect infarct severity and predict early prognosis of acute cerebral infarction.

Micro RNA-9 promotes the neuronal differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by activating autophagy

MicroRNA-9 （miR-9） has been shown to promote the differentiation of bone marrow mesen-chymal stem cells into neuronal cells, but the precise mechanism is unclear. Our previous study conifrmed that increased autophagic activity improved the efifciency of neuronal differentiation in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Accumulating evidence reveals that miRNAs adjust the autophagic pathways. This study used miR-9-1 lentiviral vector and miR-9-1 inhibitor to modulate the expression level of miR-9. Autophagic activity and neuronal differentiation were measured by the number of light chain-3 （LC3）-positive dots, the ratio of LC3-II/LC3, and the expression levels of the neuronal markers enolase and microtubule-associated protein 2. Re-sults showed that LC3-positive dots, the ratio of LC3-II/LC3, and expression of neuron speciifc enolase and microtubule-associated protein 2 increased in the miR-9＋ group. The above results suggest that autophagic activity increased and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were prone to differentiate into neuronal cells when miR-9 was overexpressed, demonstrating that miR-9 can promote neuronal differentiation by increasing autophagic activity.

Neuron-specific Enclose and Myelin Basic Protein in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with First Episode Schizophrenia

In order to study whether patients with schizophrenia have cerebral injury, neuron-specific enolase （NSE） and myelin basic protein （MBP）in cerebrospinal fluid （CSF） of 33 patients with first episode schizophrenia and 9 from the control group were determined by double antibody sandwich enzyme immunoassay method. The results showed that there was significant difference in the NSE contents between the experimental group and control group （P〈0.01）. The NSE contents in CSF in the experimental group were positively correlated with MBP in schizophrenia patients （P〈 0.05）. These findings suggested that patients with schizophrenia had cerebral injury.

Millimeter-wave Exposure Promotes the Differentiation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells into Cells with a Neural Phenotype

This study investigated the ability of millimeter-wave （MMW） to promote the differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells （BMSCs） into cells with a neural phenotype. The BMSCs were primarily cultured. At passage 3, the cells were induced by β-mercaptoethanol （BME） in combination with MMW or BME alone. The expressions of nucleostemin （NS） and neuron-specific enolase （NSE） were detected by immunofluorescent staining and Western blotting respectively to identify the differentiation. The untreated BMSCs predominately expressed NS. After induced by BME and MMW, the BMSCs exhibited a dramatic decrease in NS expression and increase in NSE expression. The differentiation rate of the cells treated with BME and MMW in combination was significantly higher than that of the cells treated with BME alone （P〈0.05）. It was concluded that MMW exposure enhanced the inducing effect of BME on the differentiation of BMSCs into cells with a neural phenotype.

Significance of serum neuron-specific enolase in patients with acute traumatic brain iniurv

Objective: To study the association between serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and the extent of brain damage and the outcome after acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: The release patterns of serum NSE in 78 patients after acute TBI were analyzed by using the enzyme linked immunosobent assay. The levels of NSE were compared with Glasgow coma scale, the category of brain injury and the outcome after 6 months of injury. Results: There were different NSE values in patients with minor (12.96 μg/L±2.39 μg/L), moderate (23.44 μg/L±5.33 μg/L) and severe brain injury (42.68 μg/L±4.57 μg/L). After severe TBI, the concentration of NSE in patients with epidural hematomas was 13.38 μg/L±4.01 μg/L, 24.03 μg/L±2.85 μg/L in brain contusion without surgical intervention group, 55.20 μg/L±6.35 μg/L in brain contusion with surgical intervention group, and 83.85 μg/L±15.82 μg/L in diffuse brain swelling group. There were close correlations between NSE values and Glasgow coma scale (r=-0.608, P<0.01) and the extent of brain injury (r=0.75, P<0.01). Patients with poor outcome had significantly higher initial and peak NSE values than those with good outcome (66.40 μg/L±9.46 μg/L, 94.24 μg/L±13.75 μg/L vs 32.16 μg/L±4.21 μg/L, 34.08 μg/L±4.40 μg/L, P<0.01, respectively). Initial NSE values were negatively related to the outcome (r=-0.501, P<0.01). Most patients with poor outcomes had persisting or secondary elevated NSE values. Conclusions: Serum NSE is one of the valuable neurobiochemical markers for assessment of the severity of brain injury and outcome prediction.

Effect of 8-bromo cyclic AMP on neuron specific enolase, heat shock protein, nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide synthase mRNA in human retinoblastoma HXO Rb44 cells and cell differentiation

Objective To study the effect of 8 bromo cyclic AMP (8 Br cAMP) on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) mRNA, NOS and nitric oxide (NO) product, heat shock protein (hsp)70 and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in human retinoblastoma HXO Rb44 cells and the effect related to cell differentiation Methods Cultured human retinoblastoma HXO Rb44 cells were divided into two aliquots One was cultured with 2×10 5 ?mol/L of 8 Br cAMP for 24 hours as the experiment group; the other was treated with no 8 Br cAMP as the control group The cell suspensions in concentration of 1×10 7/ml in both groups were dropped onto the nitrocellulose membrane (NCM) The NOS mRNA was detected with the biotin labeled NOS cDNA probe by RNA dot blot The NOS activity was detected by protein dot blot The immunoreactivity (IR) of hsp70 and NSE was detected by protein dot blot The NO was detected by nitrate reductase method NCM specimens were analyzed by a TLC scanner for detection of the dot blot signal intensity Results The signals of NOS mRNA, NOS activity, hsp70 IR, NSE IR, and NO content in the experiment group were higher than those in the control group ( P <0 05-0 01) Conclusions 8 Br cAMP could increase NO product and the expression of NOS mRNA, NOS , NSE and hsp70 The results indicate that 8 Br cAMP could facilitate synthesis of NO in the neuroblastoma HXO Rb44 cells which could have tendency toward neuron development, suggesting that the increased hsp70, NO and NOS may involve cell differentiation of the retinoblastoma HXO Rb44

Mitogen activated protein kinase signaling pathways participate in the active principle region of Buyang Huanwu decoction-induced differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Our preliminary studies confirmed that an active principle region of Buyang Huanwu decoction, comprising alkaloid, polysaccharide, aglycon, glucoside and volatile oil, can induce bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into neurons. Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling was identified as one of the key pathways underlying this differentiation process. The present study shows phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and phosphorylated p38 protein expression was increased after differentiation. Cellular signaling pathway blocking agents, PD98059 and SB203580, inhibited extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and p38 in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways respectively, mRNA and protein expression of the neuronal marker, neuron specific enolase, and neural stem cell marker, nestin, were decreased in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells after treatment with the active principle region of Buyang Huanwu decoction. Experimental findings indicate that, extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and p38 in mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways participate in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into neuron-like cells, induced by the active principle region of Buyang Huanwu decoction.

咪达唑仑辅助治疗惊厥性癫痫患儿持续状态的效果及安全性

目的探讨咪达唑仑辅助治疗惊厥性癫痫患儿持续状态的效果及安全性。方法回顾性分析2014年1月至2020年4月于我院进行治疗的惊厥性癫痫持续状态患儿40例,按照随机数字表法分为两组,治疗A组20例,给予地西泮、苯巴比妥治疗,治疗B组20例,在治疗A组基础上给予咪达唑仑治疗,观察两组患者药物起效时间和惊厥控制时间、治疗前后血清学NSE、S-100β蛋白水平、不良反应。结果治疗B组的药物起效时间和惊厥控制时间显著短于治疗A组(P<0.05),治疗后治疗B组NSE、S-100β蛋白显著低于治疗A组(P<0.05),治疗B组的不良反应率为15.00%低于治疗A组30.00%,但差异不具有统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论咪达唑仑辅助治疗药物起效迅速,有效缓解惊厥性癫痫持续状态,能通过降低NSE、S-100β蛋白水平减轻中枢神经损伤,用药安全性高。

A protease-activated receptor 1 antagonist protects against global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury after asphyxial cardiac arrest in rabbits

Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury is partially mediated by thrombin, which causes brain damage through protease-activated receptor 1（PAR1）. However, the role and mechanisms underlying the effects of PAR1 activation require further elucidation. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of the PAR1 antagonist SCH79797 in a rabbit model of global cerebral ischemia induced by cardiac arrest. SCH79797 was intravenously administered 10 minutes after the model was established. Forty-eight hours later, compared with those administered saline, rabbits receiving SCH79797 showed markedly decreased neuronal damage as assessed by serum neuron specific enolase levels and less neurological dysfunction as determined using cerebral performance category scores. Additionally, in the hippocampus, cell apoptosis, polymorphonuclear cell infiltration, and c-Jun levels were decreased, whereas extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation levels were increased. All of these changes were inhibited by the intravenous administration of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway inhibitor LY29004（3 mg/kg） 10 minutes before the SCH79797 intervention. These findings suggest that SCH79797 mitigates brain injury via anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects, possibly by modulating the extracellular signal-regulated kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase/c-Jun and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathways.

Comparison of plasma NSE, protein S-100b and EEG changes in traditional arrested-heart procedures and on-pump beating-heart procedures

Objective: To assess the cerebral injury in on-pump beating-heart procedures under mild hypothermia in comparison with traditional on-pump arrested-heart procedures under moderate hypothermia. Methods: Forty patients, 20 with congenital heart disease (CHD) and 20 of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) , were divided into 2 groups: Control group (group A, n =20) including 10 patients suffering from CHD as group Al and the left 10 from RHD as group A2; and experiment group (group B, n =20) which consisting of group B1 (10 with CHD) and group B2 (10 of RHD). The patients in group A underwent traditional arrested-heart procedures, and those in group B were operated on with beating-heart procedures. Arterial blood samples were collected at preoperation (time A) , 20 min after cardiopul-monary bypass (CPB) starting (time B) , 1 h after CPB (time C) and 24 h postoperation (time D) respectively. Plasma contents of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and protein S-100b were measured with sensitive ELISA. All the patients received echoencephalography (EEG) before and 1 week after operation. Results: The plasma contents of protein S-lOOb were increased very significantly at time B, C and D in comparison with those at time A (P<0.01) , and that of patients in group Al was significantly higher than that in group B at time B (P < 0. 05 ). There was no significant difference at other time points. At time B, the plasma contents of NSE were significantly higher in group A than in group B, and in group Al and Bl than in group A2 and B2. What's more, at time B, the former fell back to their pre-operative levels, but the latter remained still higher levels than the preoperative ones ( P < 0.01). No significant difference was found in the abnormality rates of postoperative EEG between 2 groups. Conclusion: The perioperative plasma contents of NSE and protein S-100b are not significantly higher in group B than in group A. On-pump beating-heart procedures do not make more serious cerebral dysfunction than the traditional arrested-heart procedures.

Association of Serum Antioxidant Enzymes and Nervous Tissue Markers in Hypertensive Patients

Background and Purpose: Hypertension has serious effects on cerebral blood vessels. Oxidative stress seems to be implicated in blood pressure elevation, through increased reactive oxygen species and/or decreased antioxidant capacity. Recently blood markers indicating damage to the central nervous system were reported to be increased in hypertensive patients. However, it is unknown whether antioxidant capacity is related to these changes. This study was designed to explore if the concentration of blood markers for nervous tissue damage was associated to antioxidant capacity in hypertensive patients. Methods: Twenty hypertensive patients and 23 healthy controls were studied. They were paired by age, sex, ethnicity, or risk factors. Serum neuron specific enolase (NSE) and S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) were measured as nervous tissue damage markers, as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and gamma-glutamyltransferase). Results: Serum neuronal specific enolase (NSE) and S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) concentrations determined by immunoassay were significantly increased in patients vs. controls. The activities of antioxidant enzymes measured by spectrophotometry showed that plasmatic catalase and erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase were significantly increased in patients, but erythocytic catalase was decreased. Gamma-glutamyltransferase activity was significantly correlated with S100B in hypertensive patients, while erythrocytic catalase activity was decreased in subjects with higher NSE levels. Conclusion: This preliminary investigation suggested that antioxidant status might be modulated through changes in antioxidant enzymatic activity in hypertensive patients. The association of some of these changes with peripheral markers of damage to the central nervous system could indicate that the increased levels of these proteins in hypertension are partly related to oxidative stress.

An open air research study of blast-induced traumatic brain injury to goats

Purpose： we once reported blast-induced traumatic brain injury （bTBI） in confined space. Here, bTBI was studied again on goats in the open air using 3.0 kg trinitrotoluene. Methods： The goats were placed at 2, 4, 6 and 8 m far from explosion center. Trinitrotoluene （TNT） was used as the source of the blast wave and the pressure at each distance was recorded. The systemic physiology, electroencephalogram, serum level of S-100beta, and neuron specific enolase （NSE） were determined pre and post the exposure. Neuroanatomy and neuropathology were observed 4 h after the exposure. Results： Simple blast waveforms were recorded with parameters of 702.8 kPa-0.442 ms, 148.4 kPa- 2.503 ms, 73.9 kPa-3.233 ms, and 41.9 kPa-5.898 ms at 2, 4, 6 and 8 m respectively. Encephalic blast overpressure was on the first time recorded in the literature by us at 104.2 kPa-0.60 ms at 2 m, where mortality and burn rate were 44% and 44%. Gross examination showed that bTBI was mainly manifested as congestive expansion of blood vessels and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which had a total incidence of 25% and 19% in 36 goats. Microscopical observation found that the main pathohistological changes were enlarged perivascular space （21/36, 58%）, small hemorrhages （9/36, 25%）, vascular dilatation and congestion （8/36, 22%）, and less subarachnoid hemorrhage （2[36, 6%）. After explosion, serum levels of S- 10013 and NSE were elevated, and EEG changed into slow frequency with declined amplitude. The results indicated that severity and incidence of bTBI is related to the intensity of blast overpressure. Conclusion： Blast wave can pass through the skull to directly injure brain tissue.