卵巢切除大鼠降钙素基因相关肽、乙酰胆碱和去甲肾上腺素血管效应的变化(英文)

目的　研究雌性大鼠卵巢切除和雌激素替代治疗 4个月后 ,血管活性物质对离体动脉作用的改变。方法　采用双侧卵巢切除的雌性大鼠 ,分为假手术组、去卵巢组 (8周龄切除双侧卵巢 )和雌激素替代组 (苯甲雌二醇 40 μg,sc ,每日 1次 ,卵巢切除后 1 4d开始给药至切除后 4个月 )。于给药结束时取升主动脉、胸主动脉及尾动脉 ,进行离体血管功能实验 ,观察对降钙素基因相关肽 (CGRP)、乙酰胆碱(ACh)及去甲肾上腺素 (NE)的反应。结果　卵巢切除 4个月使CGRP引起的大鼠升主动脉舒张最大效应明显降低 ,而对胸主动脉无影响 ;同时ACh对胸主动脉的舒张效应曲线明显右移 ,而对升主动脉无影响。雌激素替代治疗使上述变化反转。去卵巢组的各类动脉对NE的反应性无变化 ,而雌激素替代组的升主动脉和胸主动脉对NE引起的最大收缩效应明显降低。在尾动脉 ,去卵巢组和雌激素替代组的CGRP和NE反应性均无改变。结论　内源性雌激素可以通过多种途径调节血管反应性 ,发挥其心血管保护作用。本研究进一步提示对绝经期妇女进行激素替代治疗的重要性     

高效液相色谱法固相酶检测系统测试生物样本中胆碱与乙酰胆碱的研究

以大孔径玻璃微粒为载体,将生物酶化学键合于玻璃体,制备成Φ5×50mm短柱串联于色谱分离柱后,配合电化学检测器,构建了高效液相色谱固相酶检测平台。采用了AtlantisC18反相色谱柱(一种适用于强极性化合物分析的反相色谱柱)成功分离了胆碱与乙酰胆碱,并特异、灵敏地获取检测信号。研究目标组份在AtlantisC18柱的保留特性,比较了流动相不同组成对酶促反应的影响,优化了色谱条件。色谱条件:AtlantisC18柱,电化检测,流动相:Na2HPO450mmol/L,检测限(S/N=2)在1.1￣3.4pmol以下,绝对回收率均>95.50%,样品日内相对标准差<1.49%。方法精密、准确。     

三七总皂苷对Alzheimer''''s病大鼠模型大脑胆碱能神经病理损害的保护作用

目的:观察三七总皂苷(PNS)对老年性痴呆(AD)大鼠模型大脑胆碱能神经病理损害的保护作用.方法:以d-半乳糖腹腔注射致亚急性损伤合并鹅膏蕈氨酸(IBA)损毁双侧大脑Meynert基底核建立AD大鼠动物模型,利用免疫组织化学方法检测大脑切片胆碱乙酰基转移酶(ChAT)免疫反应活性及阳性神经元数量及形态学改变.结果:PNS能明显减轻由d-半乳糖损害和鹅膏蕈氨酸损毁导致的大脑胆碱能神经元数量减少和ChAT水平降低.结论:PNS对AD大鼠模型大脑胆碱能神经的病理损害具有保护作用.     

Egg n-3 Fatty Acid Composition Modulates Biomarkers of Choline Metabolism in Free-Living Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian Women of Reproductive Age

The lacto-ovo-vegetarian (LOV) dietary regimen allows eggs, which are a rich source of choline. Consumption of eggs by LOV women may be especially important during pregnancy and lactation when demand for choline is high. The aim of this single blind, randomized, crossover-feeding study was to determine how near-daily egg consumption influenced biomarkers of choline metabolism in healthy LOV women of reproductive age (n=15). Because long-chain n-3 fatty acids could influence choline metabolism, the effect of n-3–enriched vs nonenriched eggs on choline metabolites was also investigated. Three 8-week dietary treatments consisting of six n-3–enriched eggs per week, six nonenriched eggs per week, and an egg-free control phase were separated by 4-week washout periods. Choline metabolites were quantified in fasted plasma collected before and after each treatment and differences in posttreatment choline metabolite concentrations were determined with linear mixed models. The n-3–enriched and nonenriched egg treatments produced different choline metabolite profiles compared with the egg-free control; however, response to the eggs did not differ (P>0.1). Consumption of the n-3–enriched egg treatment yielded higher plasma free choline (P=0.02) and betaine (P<0.01) (vs egg-free control) concentrations, whereas consumption of the nonenriched egg treatment yielded borderline higher (P=0.06) plasma phosphatidylcholine (vs egg-free control) levels. Neither egg treatment increased levels of plasma trimethylamine oxide, a gut-flora–dependent oxidative choline metabolite implicated as a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Overall these data suggest that egg fatty-acid composition modulates the metabolic use of choline.     

[11C]Choline PET/CT Impacts Treatment Decision Making in Patients With Prostate Cancer Referred for Radiotherapy

BackgroundThe purpose of our study was to analyze the role of [¹¹C]choline–positron emission tomography/computed tomography (cho-PET/CT) in the management of patients with prostate cancer referred for radiotherapy.Patients and MethodsInclusion criteria for this retrospective study were (1) presence of prostate cancer, (2) referral for first radiotherapy course (for primary or recurrent tumor) between February 2007 and July 2010, and (3) performance of cho-PET/CT. All cho-PET/CT scans were classified according to whether they were positive in the prostate/prostate bed (T), pelvic lymph nodes (N), and distant metastases (M) or negative. Therapeutic strategy based on the cho-PET/CT evaluation was compared with the strategy that would have been proposed had cho-PET/CT imaging not been available, following international and national prostate cancer guidelines.ResultsEighty-two cho-PET/CT scans performed in 74 patients were analyzed. Cho-PET/CT was positive in 49 studies (60%): T only in 22 (45% of all positive studies); N only in 4 (8%); T in combination with N in 3 (6%); and M in combination with T or N, or both, in 16 (33%). Treatment after positive cho-PET/CT examination included radiotherapy ± androgen deprivation (29 patients), surgery ± radiotherapy (6 patients), androgen deprivation only (8 patients), and other treatment (6 patients). In 22 cases, cho-PET/CT (27%) altered the treatment approach compared with the treatment that would have been adopted in the absence of cho-PET/CT analysis.ConclusionCho-PET/CT is valuable in defining the extent of disease and supporting therapeutic decisions in the management of prostate cancer. The therapeutic strategy turned out to be influenced by cho-PET/CT imaging in about one third of the patients included in this study.     

Expression and localization of pChAT as a novel method to study cholinergic innervation of rat adrenal gland

Cholinergic innervation of the rat adrenal gland has been analyzed previously using cholinergic markers including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). In the present study, we demonstrate putative cholinergic neurons in the rat adrenal gland using an antibody to pChAT, which is the product of a splice variant of ChAT mRNA that is preferentially localized in peripheral cholinergic nerves. Most of the ganglionic neurons as well as small single sporadic neurons in the adrenal gland were stained intensely for pChAT. The density of pChAT-immunoreactive (IR) fibers was distinct in the adrenal cortex and medulla. AChE-, cChAT- and VAChT-immunoreactivities were also observed in some cells and fibers of the adrenal medulla, while the cortex had few positive nerve fibers. These results indicate that ganglionic neurons of the adrenal medulla and nerve fibers heterogeneously express cholinergic markers, especially pChAT. Furthermore, the innervation of the adrenal gland, cortex and medulla, by some cholinergic fibers provides additional morphological evidence for a significant role of cholinergic mechanisms in adrenal gland functions.     

The melatonin metabolite N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine facilitates long‐term object memory in young and aging mice

Melatonin (MEL) has been reported to enhance cognitive processes, making it a potential treatment for cognitive decline. However, the role of MEL’s metabolites, N1‐acetyl‐N2‐formyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AFMK) and N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AMK), in these effects are unknown. The current study directly investigated the acute effects of systemic MEL, AFMK, and AMK on novel object recognition. We also analyzed MEL, AFMK, and AMK levels in hippocampus and temporal lobe containing the perirhinal cortex following systemic MEL and AMK treatment. AMK administered post‐training had a more potent effect on object memory than MEL and AFMK. AMK was also able to rescue age‐associated declines in memory impairments when object memory was tested up to 4 days following training. Results from administering AMK at varying times around the training trial and the metabolism time course in brain tissue suggest that AMK’s memory‐enhancing effects reflect memory consolidation. Furthermore, inhibiting the MEL‐to‐AMK metabolic pathway disrupted object memory at 24 hours post‐training, suggesting that endogenous AMK might play an important role in long‐term memory formation. This is the first study to report that AMK facilitates long‐term object memory performance in mice, and that MEL crosses the blood‐brain barrier and is immediately converted to AMK in brain tissue. Overall, these results support AMK as a potential therapeutic agent to improve or prevent memory decline.     

Space radiation-induced inhibition of neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and memory impairment in mice: ameliorative potential of the melatonin metabolite, AFMK

Evaluation of potential health effects from high energy charged particle radiation exposure during long duration space travel is important for the future of manned missions. Cognitive health of an organism is considered to be maintained by the capacity of hippocampal precursors to proliferate and differentiate. Environmental stressors including irradiation have been shown to inhibit neurogenesis and are associated with the onset of cognitive impairments. The present study reports on the protective effects of N(1)-acetyl-N(2)-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine (AFMK), a melatonin metabolite, against high energy charged particle radiation-induced oxidative damage to the brain. We observed that radiation exposure (2.0 Gy of 500 MeV/nucleon (56)Fe beams, a ground-based model of space radiation) impaired the spatial memory of mice at later intervals without affecting the motor activities. AFMK pretreatment significantly ameliorated these neurobehavioral ailments. Radiation-induced changes in the population of immature and proliferating neurons in the dentate gyrus were localized using anti-doublecortin (Dcx) and anti-Ki-67 expression. AFMK pretreatment significantly inhibited the loss of Dcx and Ki-67 positive cells. Moreover, AFMK pretreatment ameliorated the radiation-induced augmentation of protein carbonyls and 4-hydroxyalkenal + malondialdehyde (MDA + HAE) in the brain and maintained the total antioxidant capacity of plasma and nonprotein sulfhydryl contents in brain.     

Improvement of cognitive function and physical activity of aging mice by human neural stem cells over-expressing choline acetyltransferase

Aging is characterized by progressive loss of cognitive and memory functions as well as decrease in physical activities. In the present study, a human neural stem cell line (F3 NSC) over-expressing choline acetyltransferase (F3.ChAT), an enzyme responsible for acetylcholine synthesis, was generated and transplanted in the brain of 18-month-old male ICR mice. Four weeks post-transplantation, neurobehavioral functions, expression of ChAT enzyme, production of acetylcholine and neurotrophic factors, and expression of cholinergic nervous system markers in transplanted animals were investigated. F3.ChAT NSCs markedly improved both the cognitive function and physical activity of aging animals, in parallel with the elevation of brain acetylcholine level. Transplanted F3 and F3.ChAT cells were found to differentiate into neurons and astrocytes, and to produce ChAT proteins. Transplantation of the stem cells increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF), enhanced expression of Trk B, and restored host microtubule-associated protein 2 and cholinergic nervous system. The results demonstrate that human NSCs over-expressing ChAT improve cognitive function and physical activity of aging mice, not only by producing ACh directly but also by restoring cholinergic neuronal integrity, which might be mediated by neurotrophins BDNF and NGF.