Current Neurovascular Research - Volume 7, Issue 4, 2010

An enriched environment (EE) is beneficial in modifying behaviors, particularly in tasks involving complex cognitive functions. However, the impact of EE on cognitive impairment induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) has not been studied. We investigated the effects of EE on cognitive impairment caused by CCH and examined whether CCH altered the protein levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Read More

Hsp20 is a chaperone protein that is highly and constitutively expressed in the brain, cardiac tissue and many other organs. Recently, it is well established that Hsp20 can enhance cardiac function and render cardioprotection. However, the potential benefits of Hsp20 and its phosphorylation form action on ischemic stroke and the underlying mechanism(s) are largely unknown. To investigate whether Hsp20 exerts protective e Read More

This study was aimed to evaluate and compare the effect of chronic hypoxia and aging in the oxidative status of brain vessels and synaptosomes. For this purpose we isolated brain vessels and synaptosomes from 3- and 12-month-old rats subjected to chronic hypoxia (10% O2 for 7 days) or normoxia (21% O2). Several parameters were evaluated: mitochondrial aconitase activity, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdeh Read More

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts the blood-spinal cord barrier and reduces the blood supply caused by microvascular changes. Vessel regression and neovascularization have been observed in the course of secondary injury contributing to microvascular remodeling after trauma. Spatio-temporal distribution of blood vessels and modulation of gene expression of several angiogenic factors have been investigated in Read More

In the last decade, the neurovascular effects exerted by endocannabinoids (eCBs) have attracted growing interest, because they hold the promise to open new avenues of therapeutic intervention against major causes of death in Western society. Several actions of eCBs are mediated by type-1 (CB1) or type-2 (CB2) cannabinoid receptors, yet there is no clear evidence of the presence of these proteins in platelets. To demonstrat Read More

One of the therapeutics for acute cerebral ischemia is tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA). Using t-PA after 3 hour time window increases the chances of hemorrhage, involving multiple mechanisms. In order to show possible mechanisms of t-PA toxicity and the effect of the free radical scavenger edaravone, we administered vehicle, plasmin, and t-PA into intact rat cortex, and edaravone intravenously. Plasmin and t-PA Read More

Cerebrovascular inflammation is triggered by diverse central nervous system (CNS) insults and contributes to disease pathogenesis. The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 is central to this cerebrovascular inflammatory response and understanding the underlying signalling mechanisms of IL-1 actions in brain endothelium may provide therapeutic targets for disease intervention. For the first time, we compar Read More

Previously it has been demonstrated that protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) impairs habituation in the open field test following global ischemia. The present study examined the hypothesis that PEM exerts some of its deleterious effects on functional outcome by altering the post-ischemic expression of the plasticity-associated genes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), its receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B (trkB), Read More