Neuroscience letters
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Neuroscience letters · Aug 2013
Comparative StudyA comparison of neuroplastic responses to non-invasive brain stimulation protocols and motor learning in healthy adults.
Non-invasive brain stimulation (NBS) techniques can induce neuroplastic changes similar to those associated with motor learning and there is evidence for the involvement of common mechanisms. Whether there are correlations between the changes induced by NBS and those associated with motor learning remains unclear. We investigated whether there was any relationship between an individual's neuroplastic responses to several different NBS protocols (continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS); intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS); facilitatory paired associative stimulation (PAS: inter-stimulus interval 25ms)) and whether these responses correlated with the neuroplastic response associated with a motor training (MT) task involving repeated fast-as-possible thumb abductions. ⋯ There were no significant correlations between individuals' neuroplastic responses to any of the NBS protocols tested or between individuals' neuroplastic responses to the NBS protocols and motor learning. These results provide no support for an association between individuals' neuroplastic responses to several plasticity-inducing protocols. Although there is evidence for involvement of common mechanisms in the neuroplastic changes induced by NBS and motor learning, the results of this study suggest (1) the mechanisms mediating TBS-, PAS-, and MT-induced plasticity may only partially overlap, and (2) additional factors, including large intra and inter-subject response variability, may make the demonstration of associations between neuroplastic responses to the various protocols difficult.
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Neuroscience letters · Aug 2013
Association of MTHFR C677T polymorphism with susceptibility to migraine in the Chinese population.
A number of genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of migraine, a common neurological disorder also in China. However, data on association of genetic variations with migraine susceptibility among Chinese, which might be different from people of other ethnic background, are still scarce. We have therefore investigated the association of polymorphisms in four genes, MTHFR C677T, ACE I/D, MAOA T941G and TNF-β G252A, which are considered to be with risk of migraine. ⋯ No difference was found between migraine with aura (MA) patients and controls, but T allele frequency was significantly higher in migraine without aura (MO) than in controls (OR=1.744, 95% CI: 1.202-2.532, P=0.003). No difference in genotypic and allelic distributions was observed between migraine patients and controls for the other polymorphisms, including ACE I/D, MAOA T941G, and TNF-β G252A. Our data suggested that MTHFR C677T polymorphism plays a role in Chinese migraine susceptibility, especially in MO.
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Neuroscience letters · Aug 2013
Opposing effects of dexamethasone, agrin and sugammadex on functional innervation and constitutive secretion of IL-6 in in vitro innervated primary human muscle cells.
Neuromuscular junction development is the key process required for successful neuromuscular transmission and functional innervation of skeletal muscle fibres. Various substances can influence these processes, some of which are in common use in clinical practice. In the present study, the effects of the potentially new therapeutic agent agrin were followed, along with the widely used glucocorticoid dexamethasone. ⋯ Dexamethasone impaired functional innervation while agrin had opposing effects. Furthermore, based on interference with IL-6 secretion, we show potential (chemical) interactions between dexamethasone and sugammadex. The physiological effects of this interaction should be taken into consideration under clinical conditions where these two drugs might be applied simultaneously.
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Neuroscience letters · Aug 2013
Transplantation of NSCs with OECs alleviates neuropathic pain associated with NGF downregulation in rats following spinal cord injury.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common and serious disease which often induces catastrophic consequence in patients. Part of them exhibit neuropathic pain which presents unique challenges to clinicians, and there is no effective approach for the treatment up to now. Neural stem cells (NSCs) transplantation, as a promising and an effective method, could be considered for the treatment of SCI, whereas a main problem is the low survival of NSCs in traumatic milieu in host spinal cords, and the effect of NSCs on sensory function remains elusive. ⋯ Moreover, NGF expression was substantial downregulated in the spinal cord of co-transplantation rats. The present findings suggested that co-transplantation of NSCs with OECs could improve sensory function and the possible mechanism is involved in NGF downregulation in rats with SCI. This may give some new indications for the treatment of SCI in future clinic cell therapy trial.
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Neuroscience letters · Jun 2013
Pinocembrin protects brain against ischemia/reperfusion injury by attenuating endoplasmic reticulum stress induced apoptosis.
Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) is known to play a vital role in mediating ischemic reperfusion damage in brain. Our previous studies showed that pinocembrin alleviated cerebral ischemic injury in ischemia/reperfusion and vascular dementia animal models, but whether attenuation of ER stress-induced apoptosis contributes to the mechanisms remains to be elucidated. In this study, an attempt was therefore made to investigate the modulation effect of pinocembrin on ischemia/reperfusion-induced ER stress in brain. ⋯ It can also significantly modulate the protein levels by increasing GRP78 (10mg/kg) and attenuating CHOP/GADD153 expression along with caspase-12 activation (3mg/kg and 10mg/kg). At the same time, eIF2α phosphorylation was restrained and the expression of ATF4 was reduced (3mg/kg and 10mg/kg). These results suggest that the attenuation of ER stress induced apoptosis may be involved in the mechanisms of pinocembrin.