BACKGROUND Evidence has accumulated indicating that microglia within the spinal cord play a critical role in morphine tolerance. The present study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator resveratrol and AICAR to inhibit microglial activation and to limit the decrease in antinociceptive effects of morphine. METHOD...

The unregulated activation of microglia following stroke results in the production of toxic factors that propagate secondary neuronal injury. Salidroside has been shown to exhibit protective effects against neuronal death induced by different insults. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity of salidroside have not been elucidated clearly in microglia. In...

In this study we describe the most relevant morphological features of the microglial reaction that takes place in the arcuate nucleus (AN) after neurotoxic injury induced by a single subcutaneous injection of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in neonatal rats. The time course of the reaction was evaluated by lectinhistochemistry. Microglial/macrophagic cells were labelled with the lectin obtained from...

BACKGROUND In the neurodevelopmental disorder autism, several neuroimmune abnormalities have been reported. However, it is unknown whether microglial somal volume or density are altered in the cortex and whether any alteration is associated with age or other potential covariates. METHODS Microglia in sections from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of nonmacrencephalic male cases with autism ...

Little is known about microglial activation and macrophage localization after diffuse brain injury (DBI). DBI-mediated perisomatic traumatic axonal injury (TAI) was recently identified within the neocortex, hippocampus, and thalamus, providing an opportunity to characterize immune cell responses within diffusely injured brain loci uncomplicated by contusion. By using moderate midline/central fl...

The distribution, morphology and morphometry of microglial cells in the chick cerebral hemispheres from embryonic day 4 (E4) to the first neonatal day (P1) were studied by histochemical labeling with a tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) lectin. The histochemical analysis revealed lectin-reactive cells in the nervous parenchyma on day E4. Between E4 (5.7 +/- 1.35 mm length) and E17 (8.25 +/- 1.2 m...

Stroke causes CNS injury associated with strong fast microglial activation as part of the inflammatory response. In rat models of stroke, sulphonylurea receptor blockade with glibenclamide reduced cerebral edema and infarct volume. We postulated that glibenclamide administered during the early stages of stroke might foster neuroprotective microglial activity through ATP-sensitive potassium (K(A...

background: microglial cells act as the sentinel of the central nervous system .they are involved in neuroprotection but are highly implicated in neurodegeneration of the aging brain. when over-activated, microglia release pro-inflammatory factors, such as nitric oxide (no) and cytokines, which are critical in eliciting neuroinflammatory responses associated with neurodegenerative diseases. thi...

Microglia, central nervous system (CNS) resident phagocytic cells, persistently police the integrity of CNS tissue and respond to any kind of damage and pathophysiological changes. These cells sense and rapidly respond to danger and inflammatory signals by changing their cell morphology, by release of cytokines, chemokines or nitric oxide, and by changing their MHC expression profile. We have s...

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is mainly secreted by glial cells and is involved in many brain functions, including neuronal plasticity, β-amyloid clearance, and neuroprotection. Microglia--the main immune cells of the brain--are one source of ApoE, but little is known about the physiologic regulation of microglial ApoE secretion by neurons and whether this release changes under inflammatory or neurod...