Parkinson’s disease (PD) results primarily from the death of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. Treatment of PD has been shifted recently towards herbal medicines. Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. (BM) and Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC (MP) are traditional herbal plants known to have neuroprotective effects due to the presence of bacosides in whole plant extract of Bacopa monnieri (BME) and L-DOPA...

It is well known that cytokinins are a class of phytohormones that promote cell division in plant roots and shoots. However, their targets, biological functions, and implications in mammalian systems have rarely been examined. In this study, we show that one cytokinin, zeatin riboside, can prevent pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells from serum deprivation-induced apoptosis by acting on the adenosine ...

The extent of damage following spinal cord injury (SCI) can be reduced by various neuroprotective regimens that include maintaining levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP), via administration of the phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor Rolipram. The current study sought to determine the optimal neuroprotective dose, route and therapeutic window for Rolipram following contusive SCI...

Postischemic temperature, which modulates brain injury, is commonly determined via a rectal temperature (Trec) probe. This procedure causes a stress-induced fever (SIF) in rodents that may aggravate injury or diminish the efficacy of a neuroprotectant. We continually measured core temperature (Tcore) via an implanted telemetry probe and made 16 Trec measurements over 4 days in sham and ischemic...

BACKGROUND Dodecafluoropentane emulsion (DDFPe), an oxygen transport agent, has been shown to reduce infarct volume in animal models of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Our study assesses the effect of DDFPe on MRI markers of infarct evolution in the early hours after vascular occlusion in a rat AIS model. We hypothesized that DDFPe will delay the development of MRI markers of AIS and/or reduce the...

BACKGROUND Total body hypothermia is an established neuroprotectant in global cerebral ischemia. The role of hypothermia in acute ischemic stroke remains uncertain. Selective application of hypothermia to a region of focal ischemia may provide similar protection with more rapid cooling and elimination of systemic side effects. We studied the effect of selective endovascular cooling in a focal s...

Erythropoietin (EPO) is the principal growth factor regulating the production of red blood cells. Recent studies demonstrated that exogenous EPO acts as a neuroprotectant and regulates neurogenesis. Using a genetic approach, we evaluate the roles of endogenous EPO and its classical receptor (EPOR) in mammalian neurogenesis. We demonstrate severe and identical embryonic neurogenesis defects in a...

The serine protease thrombin plays a role in signalling ischemic neuronal death in the brain. Paradoxically, endogenous neuroprotective mechanisms can be triggered by preconditioning with thrombin (thrombin preconditioning, TPC), leading to tolerance to cerebral ischemia. Here we studied the role of thrombin's endogenous potent inhibitor, protease nexin-1 (PN-1), in ischemia and in tolerance to...

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), characterized by impaired cerebellar functions during chronic liver failure (CLF), involves N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) overactivation in the brain cells. Bacopa monnieri (BM) extract is a known neuroprotectant. The present paper evaluates whether BM extract is able to modulate the two NMDAR subunits (NR2A and NR2B) and its downstream mediators in cerebell...