OBJECTIVES To evaluate localizations of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the effects of 2 therapeutic agents on COX inhibition. METHODS Forty rabbits were used in this study for developing a TBI model and divided into 4 groups (n=10) at Afyon Kocatepe University School of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey in June 2004. Differential cellular COX-1 and ...

The influence of the potent L-type Ca[2+] channel antagonist Nimodipine on spinal cord evoked potentials (SCEP) and axonal injury following trauma to the spinal cord was examined in a rat model. Spinal cord injury (SCI) was produced by an incision into the right dorsal horn of the T10-11 segments under urethane anaesthesia (1.5 g/kg, i.p.). SCEPs were recorded by epidural electrodes placed over...

Experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was induced in baboons by repeated injections of autologous blood into cisterna chiasmatis and cisterna magna, a total of 14-33 ml being injected over 3-4 days. Cerebral blood flow (CBF; 133xenon clearance) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) were measured before, and 7 days after, the first blood injection. The effect of the calcium channel ...

A rapid, simple and reproducible HPLC method was developed and validated for the analysis of nimodipine (NM) and/or its metabolite, oxidized nimodipine (OX-NM) in rat cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and artificial CSF. The NM and OX-NM were eluted in less than 10 min with no interferences from the endogenous CSF peaks. Analysis was carried out on a Eurospher Performance (RP-C18, 250 × 4.6 mm) column ...

Na+-Ca2+ exchange rates were studied in native and/or pronase pretreated rat brain microsomal membranes in the presence of calcium channel antagonists verapamil, nimodipine and nifedipine. In native membranes all the substances used inhibited Na+-Ca2+ exchange. A relatively stronger inhibition was observed in membranes pretreated with pronase. The values of Ki for nimodipine and nifedipine did ...

Eggs of many marine and mammalian species attract sperm by releasing chemoattractants that modify the bending properties of flagella to redirect sperm paths toward the egg. This process, called chemotaxis, is dependent on extracellular Ca(2+). We used stroboscopic fluorescence imaging to measure intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) in the flagella of swimming sea urchin sperm. Uncagin...

Age-associated memory impairments may result as a consequence of neuroinflammatory induction of intracellular calcium (Ca(+2)) dysregulation. Altered L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel (L-VDCC) and ryanodine receptor (RyR) activity may underlie age-associated learning and memory impairments. Various neuroinflammatory markers are associated with increased activity of both L-VDCCs and RyRs,...