Experimental neurology
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Experimental neurology · Sep 1998
Interleukin-10 improves outcome and alters proinflammatory cytokine expression after experimental traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic injury to the central nervous system initiates inflammatory processes that are implicated in secondary tissue damage. These processes include the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines, leukocyte extravasation, vasogenic edema, and blood-brain barrier breakdown. Interleukin-10 (IL-10), a cytokine with antiinflammatory properties, negatively modulates proinflammatory cascades at multiple levels. ⋯ Subcutaneous IL-10 administration (100 micrograms) at 10 min, 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 h after TBI also enhanced neurological recovery. In contrast, intracerebroventricular administration of IL-10 (1 or 6 micrograms) at 15 min, 2, 4, 6, and 8 h after TBI was not beneficial. These results indicate that IL-10 treatment improves outcome after TBI and suggest that this improvement may relate, in part, to reductions in proinflammatory cytokine synthesis.
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Experimental neurology · Sep 1998
Nerve growth factor (NGF) and diabetic neuropathy in the rat: morphological investigations of the sural nerve, dorsal root ganglion, and spinal cord.
A number of functions for nerve growth factor (NGF) have been described over the past years, including its role for neuronal function and regeneration during toxic or metabolic neuropathies. In order to further assess the effects of NGF on the somatosensory system in diabetic neuropathy, the sural nerve, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and dorsal horn of the spinal cord were investigated by morphological and quantitative methods in rats after 12 weeks of uncontrolled streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. The results from our study suggest a twofold effect of NGF: (1) In sural nerve treatment with NGF (0.1 or 0.5 mg/kg) for 12 weeks was able to reverse distinct diabetes-related alterations in myelinated nerve fiber morphology, such as myelin thickness. ⋯ No change of trkA receptor immunostaining was seen in DRGs of diabetic rats; however, a reduction of trkA immunoreactivity of DRG neurons was noted after long-term NGF treatment of healthy controls. The data demonstrate that NGF regulates a number of neuronal parameters along peripheral and central parts of the somatosensory pathway in the adult. This neurotrophic support may be essential for inducing functionally significant regenerative mechanisms in diabetic neuropathy.