Shuganjieyu capsule has been approved for clinical treatment by the State Food and Drug Ad-ministration of China since 2008. In the clinic, Shuganjieyu capsule is often used to treat mild to moderate depression. In the rat model of depression established in this study, Shuganjieyu capsule was administered intragastrically daily before stress. Behavioral results conifrmed that depressive symptoms lessened after treatment with high-dose (150 mg/kg) Shuganjieyu capsule. Immunohistochemistry results showed that high-dose Shuganjieyu capsule signiifcantly increased phosphorylation levels of phosphorylation cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampal CA3 area. Overall, our results suggest that in rats, Shuganjieyu capsule effec-tively reverses depressive-like behaviors by increasing expression levels of neurotrophic factors in the brain.

Treatment for optic nerve injury by brain-derived neurotrophic factor or the transplantation of human umbilical cord blood stem cells has gained progress, but analysis by biomechanical indicators is rare. Rabbit models of optic nerve injury were established by a clamp. At 7 days after injury, the vitreous body received a one-time injection of 50 μg brain-derived neurotrophic factor or 1 × 106 human umbilical cord blood stem cells. After 30 days, the maximum load, max-imum stress, maximum strain, elastic limit load, elastic limit stress, and elastic limit strain had clearly improved in rabbit models of optical nerve injury after treatment with brain-derived neu-rotrophic factor or human umbilical cord blood stem cells. The damage to the ultrastructure of the optic nerve had also been reduced. These ifndings suggest that human umbilical cord blood stem cells and brain-derived neurotrophic factor effectively repair the injured optical nerve, im-prove biomechanical properties, and contribute to the recovery after injury.

Oenanthe javanica is an aquatic perennial herb that belongs to theOenanthe genus in Apiaceae family, and it displays well-known medicinal properties such as protective effects against glu-tamate-induced neurotoxicity. However, few studies regarding effects ofOenanthe javanica on neurogenesis in the brain have been reported. In this study, we examined the effects of a normal diet and a diet containing ethanol extract ofOenanthe javanica on cell proliferation and neu-roblast differentiation in the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus of adolescent rats using Ki-67 (an endogenous marker for cell proliferation) and doublecortin (a marker for neuroblast). Our results showed thatOenanthe javanica extract signiifcantly increased the number of Ki-67-immunoreactive cells and doublecortin-immunoreactive neuroblasts in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the adolescent rats. In addition, the immunoreactivity of brain-derived neurotrophic factor was signiifcantly increased in the dentate gyrus of theOe-nanthe javanica extract-treated group compared with the control group. However, we did not ifnd that vascular endothelial growth factor expression was increased in theOenanthe javanica extract-treated group compared with the control group. These results indicate thatOenanthe javanica extract improves cell proliferation and neuroblast differentiation by increasing brain-de-rived neurotrophic factor immunoreactivity in the rat dentate gyrus.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is associated with the insulin signaling pathway and glucose tabolism. We hypothesized that expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and its receptor may be involved in glucose intolerance fol owing ischemic stress. To verify this hypothesis, this study aimed to observe the changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tyrosine kinase B receptor expression in glucose metabolism-associated regions fol owing cerebral ischemic stress in mice. At day 1 after middle cerebral artery occlusion, the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor were significantly decreased in the ischemic cortex, hypothalamus, liver, skeletal muscle, and pancreas. The expression levels of tyrosine kinase B receptor were decreased in the hypothalamus and liver, and increased in the skeletal muscle and pancreas, but remained unchanged in the cortex. Intrahypothalamic administration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (40 ng) suppressed the de-crease in insulin receptor and tyrosine-phosphorylated insulin receptor expression in the liver and skeletal muscle, and inhibited the overexpression of gluconeogenesis-associated phosphoenolpy-ruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase in the liver of cerebral ischemic mice. However, serum insulin levels remained unchanged. Our experimental findings indicate that brain-derived neurotrophic factor can promote glucose metabolism, reduce gluconeogenesis, and decrease blood glucose levels after cerebral ischemic stress. The low expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor fol owing cerebral ischemia may be involved in the development of glucose intolerance.

Approximately 50-70% of patients experience incision-induced mechanical nociception after sur-gery. However, the mechanism underlying incision-induced mechanical nociception is stil unclear. Interleukin-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are important pain mediators, but whether in-terleukin-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are involved in incision-induced mechanical no-ciception remains uncertain. In this study, forty rats were divided randomly into the incision surgery (n=32) and sham surgery (n=8) groups. Plantar incision on the central part of left hind paw was performed under anesthesia in rats from the surgery group. Rats in the sham surgery group re-ceived anesthesia, but not an incision. Von Frey test results showed that, compared with the sham surgery group, incision surgery decreased the withdrawal threshold of rats at 0.5, 3, 6 and 24 hours after incision. Immunofluorescence staining in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord (L 3-5 ) showed that interleukin-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were expressed mainly on smal-and medium-sized neurons (diameter<20μm and 20-40μm) and satel ite cells in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord (L 3-5 ) in the sham surgery group. By contrast, in the surgery group, high expression of interleukin-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor appeared in large-sized neurons (diameter>40μm) at 6 and 24 hours after incision surgery, which corresponded to the decreased mechanical withdrawal threshold of rats in the surgery group. These experimental findings suggest that expression pattern shift of interleukin-10 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor induced by inci-sion surgery in dorsal root ganglia of rats was closely involved in lowering the threshold to me-chanical stimulus in the hind paw fol owing incision surgery. Pain-related mediators induced by in-cision surgery in dorsal root ganglia of rats possibly underlie mechanical nociception in ipsilateral hind paws.

脑源性神经营养因子抗体对大脑中动脉阻塞大鼠缺血损伤的影响

AIM:To observe the effect of the antibody of brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) by cortical microinjection on hippocampal ischemic injury rats.METHODS:Preparation of local cerebral ischemic reperfusion injury model: cortical stereostaxic approach, microinjection of BDNF antibody. Applied immunohistochemical method to observe distribution of BDNF in cortex after injection of the antibody,to observe the alteration of ischemic injury between control group and BDNF antibody group.RESULT: The volume of cerebral infarction in BDNF antibody group was larger than control group.CONCLUSION: BDNF has protection function for cerebral ischemia.

海绵体神经损伤修复中的三要素:脑源性神经营养因子、血管内皮生长因子与JAK/STAT信号通路回顾

Neuroprotective action of lithium in disorders of the central nervous system

Substantial in vitro and in vivo evidence of neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of lithium suggests that it may also have considerable potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions. Lithium's main mechanisms of action appear to stem from its ability to inhibit glycogen synthase kinase-3 activity and also to induce signaling mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This in turn alters a wide variety of downstream effectors, with the ultimate effect of enhancing pathways to cell survival. In addition, lithium contributes to calcium homeostasis. By inhibiting N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated calcium influx, for instance, it suppresses the calcium-dependent activation of pro-apoptotic signaling pathways. By inhibiting the activity of phosphoinositol phosphatases, it decreases levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, a process recently identified as a novel mechanism for inducing autophagy. These mechanisms allow therapeutic doses of lithium to protect neuronal cells from diverse insults that would otherwise lead to massive cell death. Lithium, moreover, has been shown to improve behavioral and cognitive deficits in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases, including stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, fragile X syndrome, and Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases. Since lithium is already FDA-approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder, our conclusions support the notion that its clinical relevance can be expanded to include the treatment of several neurological and neurodegenerative-related diseases.

Objective:To study the effect of ketamine combined with fluoxetine on behavior indexes and related gene expression in depression rat model.Methods:SD rats were used as experimental animals and randomly divided into control group (C group), model group (M group), ketamine group (K group), fluoxetine group (F group) and ketamine combined with fluoxetine group (KF group); chronic unpredictable stress depression models were built and different medications were given. Then behavior indicators were detected by tail suspension test and open field test; contents of monoamine neurotransmitters were determined by HPLC-electrochemical detection assay; mRNA contents of monoamine neurotransmitter-metabolizing enzymes, BDNF and its receptor were detected by PCR method.Results: (1)behavior indexes: compared with M group, behavior indexes of K group, F group and KF group were all improved; tail suspension immobility time and central grid staying time of KF group were shorter than those of K group and F group; squares crossed number, standing up number and decoration number were more than those of K group and F group; (2) molecular indexes: compared with M group, molecular markers of K group, F group and KF group were all improved; NE, 5-HT, TH, TPH, BDNF and TrkB contents in hippocampal and prefrontal cortex tissue of KF group were higher than those of K group and F group.Conclusion:Ketamine combined with fluoxetine therapy can more effectively reduce depression-related behavior; its mechanism may be related to the regulation of monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.