Volatile anesthetics are one class of the most commonly used drugs. However, the mechanisms for these drugs to induce anesthesia are not fully understood and have been under intensive investigation. Two other effects of these anesthetics on the central nervous system, volatile anesthetics-induced neuroprotection and neurotoxicity, currently are hot research fields. Although data from animal stu...

BACKGROUND A period of hypothermia before ischemia (hypothermic preconditioning) induces a delayed phase of ischemic tolerance in rat brain. However, whether hypothermic preconditioning induces an acute phase (within a few hours after the hypothermia) of ischemic tolerance remains unknown. This study was designed to determine the time window of the hypothermic preconditioning-induced acute phas...

Neuroprotection is the preservation of structure and function neurons from insults cellular injuries caused by a variety agents or neurodegenerative diseases. Medicinal plants possess neuroprotective effects via mechanisms that include inhibiting protein-based deposit accumulation, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, correcting defects neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine dopamine [1-3]. Th...

Achieving a prolonged neuroprotective state following transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) is likely to effectively reduce the brain damage and neurological dysfunction associated with recurrent stroke. HPC is a phenomenon in which advanced exposure to mild hypoxia reduces the stroke volume produced by a subsequent TIA. However, this neuroprotection is not long-lasting, with the effects reaching a...

BACKGROUND Magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) is the only treatment approved for fetal neuroprotection. No information on its use is available in the absence of a national registry of neonatal practices. The objective of our study was to evaluate the use of MgSO4 for fetal neuroprotection in French tertiary maternity hospitals (FTMH). METHODS Online and phone survey of all FTMH between August 2014 an...

Glutamate receptors and calcium have been implicated as triggering factors in the induction of tolerance by ischemic preconditioning (IPC) in the brain. However, little is known about the signal transduction pathway that ensues after the IPC induction pathway. The main goals of the present study were to determine whether NMDA induces preconditioning via a calcium pathway and promotes translocat...

Perioperative cerebral damage may be associated with surgery and anaesthesia. Pharmacological perioperative neuroprotection is associated with conflicting results. In this qualitative review of randomized controlled clinical trials on perioperative pharmacological brain neuroprotection, we report the effects of tested therapies on new postoperative neurological deficit, postoperative cognitive ...

The clinical benzothiophene SERM (BT-SERM), raloxifene, was compared with estrogens in protection of primary rat neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). Structure-activity relationships for neuroprotection were determined for a family of BT-SERMs displaying a spectrum of ERα and ERβ binding affinity and agonist/antagonist activity, leading to discovery of a neuroprotective pharmacopho...

Background and Purpose—Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) induces endogenous neuroprotection from a subsequent ischemic injury. IPC involves down-regulation of metabolic pathways. As Adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a critical sensor of energy balance and plays a major role in cellular metabolism, its role in IPC was investigated. Methods—A brief 3 minute middle cerebra...

We previously reported that novel protein kinase C (nPKC) epsilon and N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors participated in morphine preconditioning (MP)-induced neuroprotection. In this study, we used Western blot analysis, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay to determine the involvement of conventional PKC isoforms (cPKC) in MP-...