Basic and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume:3 Issue: 5, Autumn 2012

Preliminary studies confirmed reduction in cell death following treatment with antioxidants. According to this finding we study the relationship between consumption of CoQ10 and expression of bax and bcl2 in hippocampus following ischemia/reperfusion as proteins involved in cell programmed death or apoptosis. We studied the protective role of CoQ10 against Ischemia-Reperfusion. Experimental design includes four groups: intact، ischemic control، sham control and treatment groups with CoQ10. The mice treated with CoQ10 as Pre - Treatment for a week. Then، ischemia induced by common carotid artery ligation and following the reduction in inflammation (a week) the mice post-treated with CoQ10. Nissl staining applied to counting necrotic cells of hippocampus and the western blotting performed to measurement the bax and bcl2 expression. . Cell death was significantly lower when mice treated with CoQ10. Bax expression was significantly high in ischemic group but in treatment group was less and reversely the bcl2 expression in ischemic group was lower than treatment and vehicle groups. Ischemia for 15 minutes induced cell death in hippocampus with more potent effect on CA1. CoQ10 intake significantly reduced cell death and prevented the expression of bax while inducing an increase in expression of bcl2.

It has been shown that administration of WIN55,212-2, a cannabinoid receptor agonist, into the basolateral amygdala (BLA), dose-dependently increases the thermal latency to withdrawal in the tail-flick test and decreases pain related behaviors in both phases of the formalin test. Recent human and animal imaging data suggest that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is an important neural substrate of pain modulation. Because the NAc also receives abundant glutamatergic fibers from the BLA which converge with hippocampal fibers on the same NAc neurons, it is reasonable to ask whether AMPA/kainate and NMDA receptor antagonists may also include in the amygdala-accumbens pathway in pain modulation. In the present study, we examined the role of NMDA and AMPA/kainate receptors within the NAc in antinociception induced by intra-BLA injection of the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 in rats. Seventy two adult male albino Wistar rats weighing 230-280 g were implanted with two separate cannulae into the BLA and the NAc. Also, animals received intra-accumbal infusions of either NMDA receptor antagonist, AP5 (0.5, 2.5 and 5 μg/0.5 μl saline) or AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist, CNQX (0.1, 0.5 and 2.5 μg/0.5 μl DMSO) 2 min before microinjection of WIN55,212-2 into the BLA (15 μg/rat). Antinociceptive effects of WIN55,212-2 were measured in the formalin test (50 μl injection of formalin 2.5% subcutaneously into the hindpaw) and pain-related behaviors were monitored for 60 min. Results showed that intra-accumbal AP5 and CNQX dose-dependently prevented antinociception induced by intra-BLA administration of WIN55,212-2 in time set intervals. Additionally, intra-accumbal AP5 administration of both AP5 (5 μg/0.5 μl saline) and CNQX (2.5 μg/0.5 μl DMSO), alone, could not significantly change the pain scores in the rats. It seems that glutamate receptors located in the NAc, partially mediate the antinociceptive responses of cannabinoid within the BLA in persistent inflammatory model of pain

The mechanisms of hepatic encephalopathy are not fully understood. Moreover, there is no comprehensive data concerning the effects of nitric oxide (NO) system on anxiolytic-like behaviors induced by bile duct ligation (BDL). Male mice weighing 25-30 g were used and anxiety-like behaviors were tested using hole-board task. The data indicated that cholestasis increased the number of head-dipping but did not alter other aspects of behavior, 7 days after BDL, suggesting an anxiolytic-like response. Furthermore, the results showed that intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of L-arginine (200 and 250 mg/kg) 15 min before testing induced anxiolytic-like behaviors in the normal animals, 4 and 7 days after BDL (considering that the dose of 200 mg in the normal mice is ineffective but is effective in the BDL mice). On the other hand, injection of L-NAME (35 and 45 mg/kg, i.p.) 15 min before testing induced anxiogenic-like behaviors in the normal animals, 4 and 7 days after BDL (the dose of 35 mg/kg in the normal mice is ineffective but is effective in the BDL mice). Moreover, injection of ineffective doses of L-NAME (25 and 35 mg/kg, i.p.) 15 min before administration of L-arginine (250 mg/kg, i.p.) and 7 days after BDL, decreased anxiolytic-like behaviors, significantly. Cholestatic mice show anxiolytic-like behaviors suggesting the involvement of the nitric oxide system.

Bipolar Spectrum Disorders include a variety of mood disorders from bipolar II disorder to conditions characterized by hyperthymic mood states. It has been suggested that psychosocial factors also play an important role in bipolar disorders، in this study we have used social network analysis in order to better understand the social positions of those affected by bipolar spectrum disorders. Methods and Materials: In this cross sectional study 90 individuals within a bounded network were included and studied by using a standard questionnaire for bipolar spectrum disorder scale (BSDS) and a sociometric questionnaire for analyzing the social network of those individuals. This study showed that BSDS score is significantly correlated with the Bonacich power of the participants (P= 0. 009) as well as with their Outdegree Strength (P= 0. 013). The results of this study show that there is interplay between social attributes and Bipolar Spectrum Disorders. This emphasizes the need for understanding the role of social networks and performing further research into quantifying social aspects of psychiatric disorders.

The role of ovarian hormones and nitric oxide (NO) on oxidative damage in brain tissues as well as learning and memory has been widely investigated. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the precursor of NO, L-Arginine on learning and brain damage due to oxidative stress in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Thirty -two rats were divided into four groups: 1) Sham, 2) OVX, 3) Sham-LArginine (Sham-LA) and 4) OVX-L-Arginine(OVX-LA). The animals of sham- LA and OVX-LA were treated with 500 mg/kg of L-Arginine. The animals in Sham and OVX groups received 1 ml/kg saline. The animals were tested in Morris water maze and finally, the brains were removed and MDA and total thiol concentrations were measured. The escape latency and swimming path in OVX group were significantly higher than in Sham group (p<0.01). The animals in OVX-LA group had significantly lower swimming path length and escape latency compared to OVX group (p<0.01) while, there was no significant difference between Sham- LA and Sham groups. In OVX-LA group, the brain tissues total thiol concentration was significantly higher, and MDA concentration was lower than of OVX group (p<0.001).There was no significant difference between Sham-LA and Sham groups. It seems that the beneficial properties of L-Arginine on spatial learning of ovariectomized rats are in part due to its protective capacity against oxidative damage

Calendula Officinalis (Asteraceae) is widely used in traditional medicines as an anti-inflammatory agent and has also been reported to have anti- bacterial، anti-fungal and anti-viral activities. Sesquiterpene glycosides، saponins، triol، triterpenes and flavonoids are observed in its composition. The present study was designed to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of Calendula Officinalis in male rats. T he animals were treated intraperitoneally with different doses of the Calendula Officinalis flower extract (100، 150 and 250 mg/kg body weight). On the basis of previous report the dose of 150 mg/kg is most effective. The analgesic activity was tested by tail flick and acetic acid-induced writhing tests. Comparison of data between experimental groups were analyzed by one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by tukey’s as post hoc test. All doses of the extract and also naloxone+extract (150mg/kg) significantly increased the tail flick latency compared to the control group. The extract of Calendula officinalis significantly reduced the number of abdominal constrictions and stretching of hind limbs induced by the injection of acetic acid. Naloxone + extract (150mg/kg) significantly increased the number of writhing. From the results it could be concluded that the Calendula Officinalis extract exhibit anti-nociceptive activity. Analgesic effect of cal have same pathway with opioids just in peripheral test (acetic acid-induced writhing test).

Increased oxidative stress is widely accepted to be a factor in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Triazine derivatives possess a wide range of pharmacological activities including anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory actions. In this study، we aimed to investigate the possible protective effect of 3-thioethyl-5،6-dimethoxyphenyl-1،2،4-triazine (TEDMT) on H2O2-induced neurite outgrowth impairment and apoptosis in neuron-like PC12 cells. We pretreated PC12 cells with 5، 7، and 10 µM of TEDMT followed by adding H2O2 as an oxidative stress agent. We found that TEDMT contributed to up-regulation of Bcl-2، down regulation of Bax protein and reduction of cleaved Caspase-3 and PARP proteins. Moreover، TEDMT could inhibit the phosphorylation of different mitogen activated protein kinases (extracellular signal-regulated kinase، c-Jun N-terminal kinase and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase). TEDMT induced heat shock protein 70 while decreased heat shock protein 90 level. Besides we measured six different parameters of neurite outgrowth and complexity. We showed that H2O2 increased cell body area، average neurite width and the proportion of bipolar cells، while decreased average neurite length، the numbers of primary neurites and the ratio of the total neurite branching nodes to the total number of primary neurites. Interestingly، we found that TEDMT not only protects PC12 cell against H2O2-induced apoptosis، but also defends against the destructive effect of oxidative stress on the criteria of neural differentiation. Protective effect of this compound could represent a promising approach for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Infections of the cerebrospinal shunts and other neurosurgical structures are not uncommon in the clinical practice. These infections are mostly clinical emergencies carrying negative prognostic impacts on the patients as well as consuming healthcare resources. The low pathogenicity nature of some implicated pathogens results in minimal physical signs that may complicate the diagnosis and mislead the practitioner. Furthermore، little good prospective data exists in the field of neurosurgical infections and most available evidence is derived from retrospective nonrandomized studies. This protocol is meant to utilize the available evidence-based best practice to provide a guide for diagnosing and managing common neurosurgical infections including those associated with cerebrospinal shunts. The effective management of these neurosurgical infections requires a good collaboration between the clinical team، clinical pharmacist and clinical microbiologist

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become the most popular method for imaging of brain functions. Currently، there is a large variety of software packages for the analysis of fMRI data، each providing many features for users. Since there is no single package that can provide all the necessary analyses for the fMRI data، it is helpful to know the features of each software package. In this paper، several software tools have been introduced and they have been evaluated for comparison of their functionality and their features. The description of each program has been discussed and summarized