mansoureh sabzalizadeh

Opioids can lead to mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment. Valproic acid (VPA) has neuroprotective effects that can prevent neural degeneration. This study aims to examine the impact of VPA on learning, social interaction, and depression in mice dependent on morphine.

Subjects were divided into four groups and received injections of saline, VPA, morphine, or a combination of VPA and morphine for eight days. Behavioral tests were conducted on day 8, and then administration of VPA and morphine was stopped, leading to spontaneous withdrawal syndrome. Behavioral tests were repeated on day 11, and histological analysis was performed on the hippocampus.

The preference index (PI%) decreased in the novel object recognition test in the VPA and morphine sulfate (MOR) groups compared to the control (CTL) group in the chronic phase. The concomitant administration of VPA and morphine caused an increase in social interaction criteria in both the chronic and withdrawal phases. The decrease in immobility time in the VPA and MOR + VPA groups compared to the CTL group in the withdrawal phase was not statistically significant in the tail suspension test (TST). In Nissl staining, the combination of MOR + VPA led to a significant decrease in the DC/All cell ratio compared to the individual MOR and VPA groups (P < 0.05).

VPA may improve social relationships and depression indices during morphine withdrawal. VPA may potentially mitigate the cellular changes in the CA1 of the hippocampus induced by morphine.

Stroke is a highly prevalent and devastating conditionaffecting millions worldwide. The Devil's Claw (DCW) plant is anative African plant whose anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, andneuroprotective properties have been investigated. We postulatedthat DCW could protect the brain injury caused by cerebralischemia. The rats were randomly divided into fourgroups. The sham and control (Ctrl) groups received pretreatmentwith a distilled water vehicle. Doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg wereselected for pretreatment with DCW. The filament or intravascularocclusion method was used for middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO). The Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) stainingmethod was used to investigate the infarct zone and penumbravolume. The neuroprotective effect of DCW was measured byhematoxylin staining. Movement performance was evaluated fromneurological deficit score, rotarod performance, and open field tests. TTC staining showed that the DCW/400 group couldmaintain the penumbra's structure and reduce the infarct volumecompared to the Ctrl group (p<0.001). Histological studiesconfirmed the neuroprotective properties of DCW at doses of 200and 400 mg/kg compared to the Ctrl group (p<0.01 and p<0.0001,respectively). The results of behavioral tests showed animprovement in behavioral performance in pretreatment 400 mg/kgdoses compare to Ctrl group (p<0.0001). The study showed that pretreatment with DCW withits neuron protection potential reduces the infarct area and restoresmotor function after MCAO.

Stem cells (SCs) can improve the functional defects of brain injury. Rodents use their whiskers to get tactileinformation from their surroundings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the transplantation of SCs into thelesioned barrel cortex can help neuronal function in the contralateral cortex. Sixteen male Wistar rats (200-230 g) were used in this experimental study. We induceda mechanical lesion in the right barrel cortex area of rats by removing this area by a 3 mm skin punch. Four groupscontaining one intact group of rats: group 1: control, and three lesion groups, group 2: lesion+un-differentiated dentalpulp SCs (U-DPSCs), group 3: lesion+differentiated dental pulp SCs (D-DPSCs), and group 4: cell medium (vehicle)that were injected in the lesion area. Three weeks after transplantation of SCs or cell medium, the rats’ responses ofleft barrel cortical neurons to controlled deflections of right whiskers were recorded by using the extracellular single-unitrecordings technique. The results showed that the neural spontaneous activity and response magnitude of intact barrel cortexneurons in the lesion group decreased significantly (P<0.05) compared to the control group while ON and OFF responseswere improved in the D-DPSCs (P<0.001) group compared to the vehicle group three weeks after transplantation. Transplantation of dental pulp mesenchymal SCs significantly improved the neural responses of the leftbarrel cortex that was depressed in the vehicle group.

Success in anesthesia administration relieves the perception of pain during surgery. Lidocaine is the most commonly used local anesthetic agent in clinical medicine. Moreover, anesthetic agents’ temperature changes can influence cell membrane permeability. Here, the effectiveness of different temperatures of Lidocaine (Lid.) on anesthesia success rate has been investigated in rats.

Wistar male rats were pretreated by fast injection of lidocaine or saline into the hind paw or intradermal cheek at Room Temperature (RT) and Body Temperature (BT) (22°C and 37°C, respectively). Then, rat behaviors were evaluated by formalin-induced hind paw pain and orofacial pain tests, respectively. Moreover, using a single-unit recording technique, the spontaneous activity of the marginal nerve was recorded at room temperature in the RT-Lid. and BT-Lid. groups.

Data analysis revealed that lidocaine had significant antinociceptive effects in both the BT-Lid. and RT-Lid. groups compared to the control groups (P<0.05). Also, the number of spikes in the BT-Lid. and RT-Lid. groups were significantly lower than their baselines (P<0.05). However, lidocaine at body temperature decreased the total time spent licking the hind paw, the number of lip rubbings, and the number of spikes firing by about 10%-15% compared to room temperature.

In both behavioral and neural levels of the study, our results showed that an increase in the temperature of lidocaine toward body temperature could increase anesthesia success rate compared to administration of lidocaine at room temperature. These findings can be considered in the treatment of patients.