•Ischemic preconditioning protected the brain against focal ischemia.•Ischemic preconditioning enhanced the activities of antioxidant systems.•Ischemic preconditioning before cerebral ischemia ...reduced infarction size.•Increased adropin inside the tissue after ischemia could provide neuroprotection.•Increased adropin could be a novel biomarker to rule out ischemic stroke insult.
Ischemic preconditioning (IPreC) can render the brain more tolerant to a subsequent potential lethal ischemic injury. Hyperglycemia has been shown to increase the size of ischemic stroke and worsen the clinical outcome following a stroke, thus exacerbating oxidative stress. Adropin has a significant association with cardiovascular disease, especially with diabetes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of the IPreC due to modulating the expression of adropin and oxidative damage markers against stroke by induced transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.
72 male Spraque Dawley rats were allocated to 8 groups. In order to evaluate alterations of anti/oxidative status and adropin level, we induced transient MCAo seven days after STZ-induced diabetes. Also we performed IPreC 72h before transient MCAo to assess whether IPreC could have a neuroprotective effect against ischemia-reperfusion injury.
The general characteristics of STZ-treated rats (STZ) included reduced body weight and elevated blood glucose levels compared to non-diabetic ones. Ischemic preconditioning before cerebral ischemia significantly reduced infarction size compared with the other groups IPreC+MCAo (27±11mm3) vs. MCAo (109±17mm3) p<0.001; STZ+IPreC+MCAo (38±10mm3) vs. STZ+MCAo (165±45mm3) p<0.001, respectively. The mean total antioxidant status level in IPreC groups was higher than other groups (p≤0.05). Moreover, IPreC considerably decreased mean adropin levels compared with other groups (p≤0.05).
The study results supported the neuroprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning in MCA infarcts correlated with the level of oxidative damage markers and adropin.
Metamaterials are specifically engineered to produce electromagnetic properties that are not available in natural materials. Multiband metamaterial (MM) absorbers achieve great research interest due ...to their applications in sensing, filtering, and stealth. These absorbers are mostly made of multilayered and complex geometrical structures. In this work, a single-layered cartwheel-shaped (CWS), polarization-insensitive MM absorber operating in the microwave band is proposed. The absorber is discovered at four main resonance peaks at 13.64, 17.15, 18.4, and 19.23 GHz with an absorptivity above 0.9. It shows good angular stability, and multiple absorption peaks are attained due to multiple electric and magnetic resonances. Its characteristic has not been changed under different polarizations of incidence wave studied as 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75°. When the absorber is examined with respect to the obliquity of the incidence wave in both TE and TM modes, the prominent absorption peaks exhibit an absorption performance above a ratio of 80%. Moreover, absorption characteristics can be tuned by modifying the substrate thickness. The comparison of simulated results and measured results shows good agreement with each other. This absorber would be useful for sensing and filtering applications in microwave devices.
Apart from its well-established therapeutic activity on bipolar disorder and depression, lithium exerts neuroprotective activity upon neurodegenerative disorders, such as traumatic brain injury ...(TBI). However, the cellular signaling mechanisms mediating lithium’s neuroprotective activity and long-term dose- and time-dependent effects on close and remote proximity are largely unknown. Herein, we tested prophylactic and acute effects of lithium (2 mmol/kg) after cold- induced TBI. In both conditions, treatments with lithium resulted in reduced infarct volume and apoptosis. Its acute treatment resulted in the increase of Akt, ERK-1/2 and GSK-3 α/β phosphoylations. Interestingly, its prophylactic treatment instead resulted in decreased phosphorylations of Akt, ERK-1/2, p38, JNK-1 moderately and GSK-3 α/β significantly. Then, we tested subacute (35-day follow-up) role of low (0.2 mmol/kg) and high dose (2 mmol/kg) lithium and revealed that high dose lithium group was the most mobile so the least depressed in the tail suspension test. Anxiety level was assessed by light-dark test, all groups’ anxiety levels were decreased with time, but lithium had no effect on anxiety like behavior. When subacute effects of injury and drug treatment were evaluated on the defined brain regions, infarct volume was decreased in the high dose lithium group significantly. In contrast to other brain regions, hippocampal atrophies were observed in both lithium treatment groups, which were significant in the low dose lithium group in both hemispheres, which was associated with the reduced cell proliferation and neurogenesis. Our data demonstrate that lithium treatment protects neurons from TBI. However, long term particularly low-dose lithium causes hippocampal atrophy and decreased neurogenesis.
Aim:To evaluate the surgical outcomes of augmented medial rectus recession with non-absorbable 5.0 white braided polyester suture (Alcon Laboratories, Forth Worth, Texas, USA) loops in patients ...diagnosed with convergence excess esotropia. Methods: Clinical records of 21 patients with convergence excess esotropia who have been operated with symmetric medial rectus recessions augmented with non-absorbable suture loops were reviewed. Initial scleral bite was planned according to the distance deviation. Non-absorbable sutures tied leaving a loose loop which was 1 mm for a near-distance disparity of 10 PD, 1.5 mm for 15PD, and 2 mm for 20 PD. Postoperative changes in near-distance disparity were evaluated. Results: The mean preoperative near-distance disparity of 17,21 ± 1,68 standard mean of error (SE) prism diopters (PD) decreased to 3,15 ± 0,88 PD SE at 12 month postoperatively. Near-distance disparity of 10 PD or less was achieved in all patients after surgery at the sixth month, 1 patient showed 12 PD of disparity at the first-year control. No overcorrection has been noted. Conclusion: Bilateral medial rectus muscle recession procedure augmented with polyester suture loops effectively decreases the disparity between near and distance deviations in patients with convergence excess esotropia. Because of our good results and an easy, noninvasive approach without any additional complications, we recommend this technique to treat convergence excess esotropia
Objectives: There is no definitive data regarding the usefulness of Brain microbleeds (BMBs) as an imaging marker with homeostatic markers to predict intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and ischemic ...stroke risk to personalize decisions on anticoagulation in AF. In this study, we prospectively evaluated clinical, radiological homeostatic biomarkers and their association with stroke outcomes in 73 AF-related ischemic stroke patients.
Methods: All BMBs were measured manually on Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging (SWI). The levels of NT-pro-BNP, hs-CRP, FVII, FVIII and vWF were studied as homeostatic markers. For all patients, we calculated CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, HAS-BLED scores and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores. Functional independence and good clinical outcome were defined as a mRS score of 0-2.
Results: The mean age of the study population was 69.74 ± 9.79 years, and 36 patients were female. The leading vascular risk factor was hypertension (61%). BMBs were determined in 20 patients (27.4%) on SWI, 12 patients had less than five lesions. Presence of BMBs lesions on SWI was significantly associated with age and hypertension (p = .020) and congestive heart failure (p = .011). The median CHA2DS2-VASc score in patients was 4.96 ± 1.54. CHA2DS2-VASc score (p = .042), CHADS2 score (p = .037) and HAS- BLED score (p = .033) were significantly related with the presence of BMBs in the study patients. Among homeostatic markers, the levels of NT-pro-BNP, hs-CRP, and vWF were significantly associated with the presence of microbleeds (p = .013, p = .029, p = .020, respectively).
Conclusion: Pathogenesis of AF is involved abnormal changes of hemostasis, endothelial dysfunction, antithrombotic state and inflammation. The homeostatic markers, which play role in these pathways, and the presence of BMBs could use to form a prognostic clinic assessment tool to predict bleeding risk.
We aim to evaluate the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPreC) on testicular tissue after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic (STZ) and ...non-diabetic rats.
Testis injury and alterations of testosterone levels were evaluated histologically.. Testicular damage was detected by using hematoxylin- eosin and periodic acid- schiff staining and apoptosis was identified by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL).
Total mean serum testosterone levels decreased in all diabetic groups (p < 0.05) although remote ischemia and IPreC did not have any effect. Serious testicular tubular damage was observed in both, diabetic and ischemic groups (p 0.05). Otherwise, remote IPreC induced MNAC instead of any changes in histopathological architecture. Moreover, remote IPreC reduced the tubular degeneration against synergistic damage of both ischemia and diabetes (p < 0.05).
It can be suggested that remote ischemic preconditioning prevents testicular damage by improving histopathological alterations and inducing apoptosis, probably temporarily, after focal transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in both, diabetic and non-diabetic rats. This is the first report demonstrating protective effects of ischemic preconditioning on remote testis injury after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in diabetic rats (Fig. 6, Ref. 23).
The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a useful measure of executive dysfunction in elderly subjects. This study aims to investigate the discriminative validity of the oral version of the TMT (OTMT), which ...can be administered to subjects with visual or motor disabilities, in elderly patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n = 30), Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 30), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 25). The WAIS-R Digit Span Backwards Subscale, written form of the Trail Making Task, the Clock Drawing Test, the AD Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, and the OTMT were also administered to all participants in order to examine the concurrent validity of the OTMT. The OTMT part B discriminated between patients with MCI, AD, and HC correctly. The OTMT completion time was not correlated with age, but was negatively correlated with education. In conclusion, the OTMT (mostly part B) is a valid and practical measurement tool for different levels of cognitive impairment, especially for patients with visual or motor disabilities for whom the classical written form is not feasible.
Owing to its potent longterm neuroprotective and neurorestorative properties, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is currently studied in neurodegenerative disease clinical trials. ...However, little is known about the longterm effect of GDNF on neurological recovery, brain remodeling and neuroplasticity in the post-acute phase of ischemic stroke. In a comprehensive set of experiments, we examined the effects of lentiviral GDNF administration after ischemic stroke. GDNF reduced neurological deficits, neuronal injury, blood-brain barrier permeability in the acute phase in mice. As compared with control, enhanced motor-coordination and spontaneous locomotor activity were noted in GDNF-treated mice, which were associated with increased microvascular remodeling, increased neurogenesis and reduced glial scar formation in the peri-infarct tissue. We observed reduced brain atrophy and increased plasticity of contralesional pyramidal tract axons that crossed the midline in order to innervate denervated neurons in the ipsilesional red and facial nuclei. Contralesional axonal plasticity by GDNF was associated with decreased abundance of the axonal growth inhibitors brevican and versican in contralesional and ipsilesional brain tissue, reduced abundance of the growth repulsive guidance molecule ephrin b1 in contralesional brain tissue, increased abundance of the midline growth repulsive protein Slit1 in contralesional brain tissue and reduced abundance of Slit1's receptor Robo2 in ipsilesional brain tissue. These data indicate that GDNF potently induces longterm neurological recovery, peri-infarct brain remodeling and contralesional neuroplasticity, which are associated with the fine-tuned regulation of axonal growth inhibitors and guidance molecules that facilitate the growth of contralesional corticofugal axons in the direction to the ipsilesional hemisphere.
•GDNF; improves Blood-Brain Barrier permeability in acute phase of brain injury.•improves functional recovery which is associated with microvascular and tissue remodeling in subacute phase of brain injury.•increases contralesional pyramidal tract plasticity.•regulates axonal outgrowth and repulsive guidance molecules.
The phosphodiesterase (PDE) superfamily comprises enzymes responsible for the cAMP and cGMP degradation to AMP and GMP. PDEs are abundant in the brain, where they are involved in several neuronal ...functions. High PDE10A abundance was previously observed in the striatum; however its consequences for stroke recovery were unknown. Herein, we evaluated the effects of PDE10A deactivation by TAK-063 (0.3 or 3 mg/kg, initiated 72 h post-stroke) in mice exposed to intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion. We found that PDE10A deactivation over up to eight weeks dose-dependently increased long-term neuronal survival, angiogenesis, and neurogenesis in the peri-infarct striatum, which represents the core of the middle cerebral artery territory, and reduced astroglial scar formation, whole brain atrophy and, more specifically, striatal atrophy. Functional motor-coordination recovery and the long-distance plasticity of pyramidal tract axons, which originate from the contralesional motor cortex and descend through the contralesional striatum to innervate the ipsilesional facial nucleus, were enhanced by PDE10A deactivation. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed a set of dopamine receptor-related and neuronal plasticity-related PDE10A targets, which were elevated (e.g., protein phosphatase-1 regulatory subunit 1B) or reduced (e.g., serine/threonine protein phosphatase 1α, β-synuclein, proteasome subunit α2) by PDE10A deactivation. Our results identify PDE10A as a therapeutic target that critically controls post-ischemic brain tissue remodeling and plasticity.
•Deactivation of PDE10A improves functional motor coordination after ischemic stroke.•TAK-063 increases long-term neuronal survival, angiogenesis, and neurogenesis.•TAK-063 reduces astroglial scar formation and Blood-Brain Barrier leakage after MCAO.•PDE10A critically regulates post-ischemic brain tissue remodeling and plasticity.
PurposeTo evaluate the choroidal thickness in patients with Graves orbitopathy (GO) using enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).MethodsThirty-one patients with GO were ...evaluated prospectively. All subjects underwent ophthalmologic examination including best-corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, biomicroscopic, and fundus examination. Choroidal thickness was measured at the central fovea. In addition, visual evoked potential measurement and visual field evaluation were performed.ResultsThe mean choroidal thickness was 377.8±7.4 μ in the GO group, and 334±13.7 μ in the control group. (P=0.004). There was a strong correlation between the choridal thickness and the clinical activity scores (CAS) of the patients (r=0.281, P=0.027). Additionally, there was a correlation between the choroidal thickness and the visual-evoked potential (VEP) P100 latency measurements of the patients (r=0.439, P=0.001).ConclusionsThe results of this study demonstrate that choroid is thicker in patients with GO. The choroidal thickness is also correlated with the CAS and VEP P100 latency measurements in these patients.
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