Brain research bulletin
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Brain research bulletin · Mar 2019
Inhibition of Connexin43 hemichannels with Gap19 protects cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in mice.
Functional disruption of the neurovascular unit may lead to aggravation of ischemic cerebral injury. Connexin43 (Cx43)-dependent gap junctional channels (GJCs) are critical in maintaining brain homeostasis. However, excessive opening of hemichannels (HCs) after cerebral ischemia may cause apoptosis and finally lead to amplification of ischemic injury. ⋯ Finally, AG490, a blocker of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway, could reverse the neuroprotective effects of Gap19 both in vivo and in vitro. Our experiment investigated the anti-apoptotic activity of Gap19, the specific inhibitor of Cx43 HCs, and the potential mechanisms. Our results demonstrated that Gap19 plays an anti-apoptotic role via activating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway after cerebral I/R injury, indicating that specific blocking of Cx43 HCs is a potential target for ischemic stroke.
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Brain research bulletin · Mar 2019
Downregulated spinal IRF8 and BDNF in NAC are involved in neuropathic pain-induced depression relief via pulsed radiofrequency on dorsal root ganglion in rat SNI model.
Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), which produces remarkable analgesia through high-frequency electromagnetic energy, has become a main therapy for chronic neuropathic pain. The chronic neuropathic pain in patients is frequently accompanied by depression. However, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of the treatment of PRF on DRG for the neuropathic pain-induced depression remain unclear. ⋯ Meanwhile, Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and RT-PCR revealed that PRF on DRG or intrathecal injection of IRF8 siRNA inhibited IRF8 overexpression in the spinal cord and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in NAc. These results suggest that neuropathic pain-induced depression could be attenuated by PRF applied to DRG in SNI rats. The suppressed overexpression of the spinal IRF8 and BDNF in NAc may play an important role and contribute considerably to effectiveness of the therapy by PRF on DRG.
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Brain research bulletin · Mar 2019
Somatosensory evoked potential changes and decompression timing for spinal cord function recovery and evoked potentials in rats with spinal cord injury.
The study aimed to evaluate changes of somatosensory evoked potentials and the effects of decompression timing on spinal cord recovery and evoked potentials by measuring the somatosensory evoked potentials of rats with spinal cord injury at different time points. ⋯ Somatosensory evoked potential can well reflect the severity of spinal cord injury. The longer the spinal cord was compressed, the more significant were changes in somatosensory evoked potential. Changes in the amplitude of somatosensory evoked potential following spinal cord injury are more sensitive than latency changes for early diagnosis and prompt assessment of spinal cord injury.