Ischemic stroke is a very complex disorder with many intracellular and extracellular factors such as excitatory amino acids, free radicals, calcium overload, apoptotic genes and inflammation involved in its pathophysiological mechanisms. It has been reported that neuronal death mainly derives from necrosis and/or apoptosis after cerebral ischemia. Those neurons in the ischemic core usually suffer from necrosis, however, apoptosis (also referred to as delayed neuronal death) occurs in the ischemic penumbra, which has been the major therapeutic target in the ischemic stroke.

Objective To explore the effects of human umbilical cord blood cells(HUCBCs) transplantation to treat experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE) rats and the status of transplanted HUCBCs in the brain and spinal cord tissue of EAE rats.Methods The mononuclear cells abstracted from cord blood of infants were cultured in vitro and marked with 5-bromodeoxyuridine(Brdu) for 48 h.EAE rat models were made and the HUCBCs(3?106) were transplanted into the tail vein(transplanted group) 14 d later.The score of neurological function dificit and the number of the demyelinated foci in brain and spinal cord were undertaken at different time point after transplantation.The statue of survival,differentiation and migration of HUCBCs in vivo were determined by immunohistochemical technique,and compared with control group.Results The scores of neurological function dificit at 21 d,28 d post transplantation in transplanted group were much lower than those in the control group(all P

Granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a muhifunctional growth factor. It stimulates the proliferation, differemiation and maturity of hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC), and transfers from bone marrow to periphery, inducing multiple cell proliferation or differentiation. In recent years, some studies have indicated that GM-CSF plays an important role in anti-apoptosis, inducing neuronal differentiation and angiogenesis, which will he a new supplement to the treatment of ischemic cerebrovascular disease. This article reviews the effects of GM-CSF in the treatment of ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

Protein Kinase C (PKC) is an important messenger in intracellular signal transduction. So far, at least 11 members of PKC isoforms have been isolated and purified. The mutation of the non-synonymous SNP (1425G/A) of the η isoform of protein kinase C (PKC η), a protein kinase Cη gene (PRKCH) may result in the increased PKCη activity, which is considered as a new risk factor for lacunar infarction. In recent years, the studies about the role of PRKCH in cell differentiation and apoptosis and its relation with some signal transduction pathways have made some new advances, especially, PKCη participates in the regulation of some key enzyme activity that mitogen-activated protein kinase, inducible nitric oxide-synthase and matrix metalloproteinase are closely correlated with the process of atherosclerosis. It will provide a new way of thinking for the clinical intervention of cerebral infarction in the future.

Objective To study the influence of applied times of Batroxobin on neuroprotective effects in cerebral ischemic-reperfusion(IR) injury gerbils.Methods 45 gerbils were randomly divided into five groups:normal group;cerebral IR injury model group(IR group);three times group;five times group;seven times group.The later three groups were administered Batroxobin 8 U/kg by abdominal injection q.o.d with certain times respectively.The normal group and IR group were not given drug but isometric physiological saline.Flow cytometer was used to measure apoptotic neurons of the hippocampal CA1,meanwhile electronic microscope was used to detect the ultrastrctural change of the hippocampal CA1 region.Result The quantity of apoptotic neurons in the every Batroxobin groups were significantly less than those in the IR groups(all P0.05).The ultrastrctural changes in five times group were lighter than those in three times group,but no significant difference was found between five times group and seven times group.Conclusion Three times,five times and seven times of Batroxobin can reduce the number of apoptotic neurons after IR injury.However,applied five times and seven times of Batroxobin has stronger neuroprotective effect than three times.

Objective To set up the Parkinson's disease(PD)rat model with pathologic characteristic of Lewy body in nigral cells.Methods SD rats were injected respectively with 8 mg Lactacystin(Lactacystin group),sodium saline(NS group)and 12 mg 6-OHDA(6-OHDA group)by stereotaxic unilateral injection into the pars compacta of substantia nigral.The spontaneous and apomorphine-induced contralateral behaviors of rats were observed.The changes of midbrain histology were viewed by microscope;expression of ?-synuclein and tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)positive cells were investigated by immunohistochemistry.The contents of dopamine and homovanillic acid in striatum were determined.Results Rats of NS group did not display abnormal behavior.The animals treated with Lactacystin developed progressively bradykinesia,hypokinesia,tremor,contralateral head tilting,and displayed apomorphine-induced contralateral rotation behavior;3 weeks later the number of TH positive cells were decreased by 83.29% compared with NS group(P

Objective To explore the effects of Nimodipine on oncogene c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions in dorsal root ganglia of rats following acute sciatic nerve injury.Methods Nimodipine at a dose of 10 mg/kg at 5,15,30,60 and 120 min and at a different dose of 2.5,5 and 10 mg/kg at 60 min was given to each rat through intraperitoneal injection before transection of sciatic nerve.Using reverse transcription PCR(RT-PCR) technique,the c-fos and c-jun mRNA expressions were detected at 5,15,30,60 and 120 min after injection of Nimodipine and following acute sciatic nerve injury.Results Compared with control group,the expressions of c-fos mRNA in injury group were obviously increased at 30,60 and 120 min after injury(all P

Objective To investigate the feature of distribution of vesicular monoamine transporter(VMAT2) in human embryonic brains and their relationships with Parkinson disease.Methods The distribution of VMAT2 and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in substantia nigra pars compacta(SNC), ventral tegmental ares(VTA) and locus coeruleus(LC) were examined by immunohistochemical staining and Western blot in human spontaneous abortion embryonic brains of different gestational age.Results The distribution of VMAT2 in SNc was less than that in both VTA and LC(all P

Objective To study the best dose of batroxobin that protects forebrain ischemia reperfusion injury in gerbils.Methods 80 gerbils were randomly assigned to receive different dose of batroxobin (1 BU/kg, 2 BU/kg, 4 BU/kg, 8 BU/ kg, 16 U/kg or 32 BU/kg) in treatment group, NS in control group or nothing in sham-operation group. There were 10 gerbils in each group. NS (control group) or batroxobin (treatment group) was given intraperitoneally three hours before establishment of forebrain ischemia reperfusion model. Apoptotic cells were detected by TUNEL technique and the number of apoptotic cells in the hippocampal CA 1 territory was counted using Olympus microscope.Results The apoptotic cells in the treatment groups (8 BU/kg, 16 BU/kg, 32 BU/kg) markedly decreased than those in the control group and the other treatment groups (1 BU/kg, 2 BU/kg, 4 BU/kg) (all P0.05). Conclusions Batroxobin has a role of reducing neuron apoptosis after cerebral ischemia. The best dose of batroxobin that protects forebrain ischemia reperfusion injury in gerbils is 8 BU/kg.

Objective To explore the effect of human neural stem cells(hNSCs) transplantation to treat cerebral ischemic rats and the status of transplanted hNSCs in the ischemic brain tissue of these rats.Methods Human neural stem cells were separated from 10~13 weeks brains of human embryo and were cultured and induced to differentiate. The middle cerebral artery occlusion rat models were made and the human neural stem cells were transplanted through tail vein 1 day later. Neurological Severity Scores (NSS) tests were undertaken in two groups after transplantation. Immunohistochemistry was used to check the differentiation and migration of human neural stem cells in vitro and vivo.Results Neural stem cells from human embryonic brains had been successfully cultured. These cells formed typical neurospheres in suspension, and the majorities expressed nestin. Three weeks later, the neurological function of rats that received transplantation recovered much better than the rats without transplantation, as evidenced by NSS ( P