Search results for " neuroprotection"

Erythropoietin: not just about erythropoiesis.

2010

Oxidative stress neuroinflammation and cellular stress response in sensorineural hearing loss: novel nutritional therapeutical approaches

2016

This study is intended to validate the hypothesis that changes in the redox state of glutathione, the major endogenous antioxidant, associated with the abnormal expression and activity of cytoprotective vitagenes, which in normal conditions are expressed only at low level may represent a critical factor, involved in the physiopathological changes associated to degenerative damage occurring in cochlear diseases. Moreover modulation of stress responsive vitagenes by nutritional antioxidants can be an effective therapeutic strategy to minimize consequences of oxidative stress associated to the pathogenesis and course of sensorineural hearing loss. One therapeutic approach can be antioxidant su…

Methylprednisolone neutralizes the beneficial effects of erythropoietin in experimental spinal cord injury

2005

Inflammation plays a major pathological role in spinal cord injury (SCI). Although antiinflammatory treatment using the glucocorticoid methyprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) improved outcomes in several multicenter clinical trials, additional clinical experience suggests that MPSS is only modestly beneficial in SCI and poses a risk for serious complications. Recent work has shown that erythropoietin (EPO) moderates CNS tissue injury, in part by reducing inflammation, limiting neuronal apoptosis, and restoring vascular autoregulation. We determined whether EPO and MPSS act synergistically in SCI. Using a rat model of contusive SCI, we compared the effects of EPO [500-5,000 units/kg of bod…

Faim2 contributes to neuroprotection by erythropoietin in transient brain ischemia.

2018

Delayed cell death in the penumbra region of acute ischemic stroke occurs through apoptotic mechanisms, making it amenable to therapeutic interventions. Fas/CD95 mediates apoptotic cell death in response to external stimuli. In mature neurons, Fas/CD95 signaling is modulated by Fas-apoptotic inhibitory molecule 2 (Faim2), which reduces cell death in animal models of stroke, meningitis, and Parkinson disease. Erythropoietin (EPO) has been studied as a therapeutic strategy in ischemic stroke. Erythropoietin stimulates the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) pathway, which regulates Faim2 expression. Therefore, up-regulation of Faim2 may contribute to neuroprotection by EPO. Male Faim…

Erythropoietin and erythropoietin receptor expression after experimental spinal cord injury encourages therapy by exogenous erythropoietin

2005

OBJECTIVE: Erythropoietin (EPO) is a pleiotropic cytokine originally identified for its role in erythropoiesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that EPO and its receptor (EPO-R) are expressed in the central nervous system, where EPO exerts neuroprotective functions. Because the expression of the EPO and EPO-R network is poorly investigated in the central nervous system, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the resident EPO and EPO-R network is activated in the injured nervous system. METHODS: A well-standardized model of compressive spinal cord injury in rats was used. EPO and EPO-R expression was determined by immunohistochemical analysis at 8 hours and at 2, 8, and 14 …

Neuroprotection by erythropoietin administration after experimental traumatic brain injury.

2007

A large body of evidence indicates that the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) exerts beneficial effects in the central nervous system (CNS). To date, EPO's effect has been assessed in several experimental models of brain and spinal cord injury. This study was conducted to validate whether treatment with recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) would limit the extent of injury following experimental TBI. Experimental TBI was induced in rats by a cryogenic injury model. rHuEPO or placebo was injected intraperitoneally immediately after the injury and then every 8 h until 2 or 14 days. Forty-eight hours after injury brain water content, an indicator of brain edema, was measured with the wet-dry method and bl…

Neuroprotective effect of a new Insulin-Nanogel system

2015

Nanogels (NGs) have a great potential in the development of “smart” nanocarriers for (bio)molecular drugs and contrast agent for bioimaging. They are formed by physically or chemically crosslinked polymer networks, characterized by a large and flexible surface available for multivalent bioconjugations. NGs can be produced with high yields and through-puts by pulsed electron-beam irradiation of dilute aqueous solutions of water-soluble biocompatible polymers. In this work, a carboxyl functionalized nanogel system (NG), generated by pulsed e-beam irradiation of a semi-dilute poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) aqueous solution in the presence of acrylic acid, with an average diameter in the 60-70…

The Role of Erythropoietin in Neuroprotection: Therapeutic Perspectives

2007

Nervous system diseases are very complex conditions comprising a large variety of local and systemic responses. Several therapeutic agents interfering with all or in part the biochemical steps that ultimately cause neuronal death have been demonstrated to be neuroprotective in preclinical models. However, all the agents so far investigated have inexorably failed in the phase III trials carried out. A large body of evidence suggests that the hormone erythropoietin (EPO), besides its well-known hematopoietic action, exerts beneficial effects in the central nervous system. EPO's effect has been assessed in several experimental models of brain and spinal cord injury thus becoming a serious cand…

Neuroprotection in Parkinson's Disease: a Realistic Goal?

2010

The current issue of CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics contains an interesting review by Kinecses and Vecsei [1] on the progress in our knowledge related to the pathophysiological mechanisms of Parkinson's disease (PD) and on the development of putative neuroprotective molecules. Since the seminal discovery by Oleh Hornykiewicz that degeneration of DA neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the consequential dopamine depletion in the striatum was the cause of neurological symptoms in PD [2], thousands of reviews have been written on the subject, some of them possibly superfluous. Nevertheless, we found this last work enjoyable in terms of readability and in the way the aut…

Effects of Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors on Apoptotic Neuroretinal Cells

2008

Glaucoma is characterized by a loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) which is associated with a decrease of visual function. Neuroprotective agents as a new therapeutic strategy could prevent the remaining neurons from apoptotic cell death. Previous studies have shown the involvement of the Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 signalling in the apoptotic death of neurons. Herein we investigated the neuroprotective effect of COX-1/COX-2- and selective COX-2- inhibitors on apoptotic. R28, a neuroretinal cell line and determined the PGE2 levels by ELISA. Furthermore we investigated differences in protein expression in the cells after exposure to elevated pressure compared to untreated cells by ProteinChip a…