Effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide on CD4^+/CD8^+T cell levels after traumatic brain injury in a rat model

BACKGROUND： The effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide （PACAP） during traumatic brain injury （TBI） and whether it can modulate secondary injury has not been reported previously. The present study evaluated the potential protective effects of ventricular infusion of PACAP in a rat model of TBI.METHODS： Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups （n=6, each）： sham-operated, vehicle （normal saline）＋TBI, and PACAP＋TBI. Normal saline or PACAP （1 μg/5 μL） was administered intracerebroventricularly 20 minutes before TBI. Right parietal cortical contusion was produced via a weight-dropping method. Brains were extracted 24 hours after trauma. Histological changes in brains were examined by HE staining. The numbers of CD4＋ and CD8＋ T cells in blood and the spleen were detected via flow cytometry.RESULTS： In injured brain regions, edema, hemorrhage, inflammatory cell infiltration, and swollen and degenerated neurons were observed under a light microscope, and the neurons were disorderly arrayed in the hippocampi. Compared to the sham group, average CD4＋ CD8＋ lymphocyte counts in blood and the spleen were significantly decreased in rats that received TBl＋vehicle, and CD4- CD8＋ were increased. In rats administered PACAP prior to TBI, damage was attenuated as evidenced by significantly increased CD4＋, and decreased CD8＋, T lymphocytes in blood and the spleen.CONCLUSION： Pretreatment with PACAP may protect against TBI by influencing periphery T cellular immune function.

Cloning,tissue distribution and effects of fasting on pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide in largemouth bass

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide （PACAP） has a wide range of biological functions. We cloned the full-length cDNAs encoding PACAP and PACAP-related peptide （PRP） from the brain of largemouth bass （Micropterus salmoides） and used real-time quantitative PCR to detect PRP- PACAP mRNA expression. The PRP-PACAP cDNA has two variants expressed via alternative splicing： a long form, which encodes both PRP and PACAP, and a short form, which encodes only PACAR Sequence analysis results are consistent with a higher conservation of PACAP than PRP peptide sequences. The expression of PACAP-Iong and PACAP-short transcripts was highest in the forebrain, followed by the medulla, midbrain, pituitary, stomach, cerebellum, intestine, and kidney; however, these transcripts were either absent or were weakly expressed in the muscle, spleen, gill, heart, fatty tissue, and liver. The level of PACAP-short transcript expression was significantly higher than expression of the long transcript in the forebrain, cerebella, pituitary and intestine, but lower than that of the long transcript in the stomach. PA CAP- long and PACAP-short transcripts were first detected at the blastula stage of embryogenesis, and the level of expression increased markedly between the muscular contraction stage and 3 d post hatch （dph）. The expression of PACAP-long and PACAP-short transcripts decreased significantly in the brain following 4 d fasting compared with the control diet group. The down-regulation effect was enhanced as fasting continued. Conversely, expression levels increased significantly after 3 d of re-feeding. Our results suggest that PRP- PA CAP acts as an important factor in appetite regulation in largemouth bass.

Neuroprotective Effects of Brain-Gut Peptides: A Potential Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson's disease(PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and is typically associated with progressive motor and non-motor dysfunctions.Currently, dopamine replacement therapy is mainly used to relieve the motor symptoms, while its long-term application can lead to various complications and does not cure the disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated that many brain-gut peptides have neuroprotective effects in vivo and in vitro, and may be a promising treatment for PD. In recent years, some progress has been made in studies on the neuroprotective effects of some newly-discovered braingut peptides, such as glucagon-like peptide 1, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide, nesfatin-1, and ghrelin. However, there is still no systematic review on the neuroprotective effects common to these peptides. Thus,here we review the neuroprotective effects and the associated mechanisms of these four peptides, as well as other brain-gut peptides related to PD, in the hope of providing new ideas for the treatment of PD and related clinical research.