RESUMEN
One of the most challenging problems of the current treatments of neurodegenerative diseases is related to the permeation and access of most therapeutic agents to the central nervous system (CNS), prevented by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Recently, intranasal (IN) delivery has opened new prospects because it directly delivers drugs for neurological diseases into the brain via the olfactory route. Recently, PLGA-based nanocarriers have attracted a lot of interest for IN delivery of drugs. This review gathered clear and concise statements of the recent progress of the various developed PLGA-based nanocarriers for IN drug delivery in brain diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, brain tumors, ischemia, epilepsy, depression, and schizophrenia. Subsequently, future perspectives and challenges of PLGA-based IN administration are discussed briefly.
RESUMEN
Methamphetamine (METH) abuse causes neurodegeneration. Medicinal herb such as crocin has neuroprotective properties. The current study evaluates the role of CREB-BDNF signaling pathway in mediating the neuroprotective effects of crocin against METH-induced neurodegeneration in rats. Sixty adult male rats were divided randomly into group 1 and group 2 which received 0.7 mL/rat of normal saline and 10 mg/kg of METH intraperitoneally (i.p) respectively, and groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 which treated concurrently with METH (10 mg/kg) and crocin (10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg I.P respectively) for 21 days. Morris water maze (MWM) was used to evaluate cognitive activity. According to the critical role of hippocampus in cognitive behavior, the molecular and biochemical parts of our study were done in hippocampus and according to this, hippocampal neurodegenerative parameters and also CREB and BDNF levels were evaluated in isolated hippocampus. METH disturbed the learning, memory, and simultaneous treatment with various doses of crocin reduced the METH-induced cognition disturbances. In addition, METH treatment increased lipid peroxidation and the levels of oxidized form of glutathione (GSSG), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1ß), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and Bax, while reducing reduced form of glutathione (GSH), Bcl-2, P-CREB, and BDNF levels in the hippocampus. METH also reduced the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GR) in the hippocampus. In contrast, crocin (40 and 80 mg/kg) attenuated METH-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, while elevating P-CREB and BDNF levels. Thus, crocin confers neuroprotection against METH-induced neurodegeneration in hippocampus and this is probably through activation of P-CREB/BDNF signaling pathway.
RESUMEN
Iron oxide is an important biological agent that has a key role in medical processes; however, the mechanism whereby it provides iron for human and animal cells and its biological uses remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effects of oral iron oxide on serum iron status and compare the results with those of iron sulfate as a reference salt. Fifteen adult rabbits were divided into 3 groups of 5 each: control group, iron sulfate group, and iron oxide group. The groups received doses of 3.3, 10, and 33 mg/kg in 3 experiments. Venous blood samples were obtained just before the oral administration of iron sulfate and iron oxide (3.3 mg/kg). More blood samples were taken 3 times at the time points of 1, 6, and 12 hours after the administration of the solutions. Serum was separated for the measurement of iron (Fe) and total iron-binding globulin (TIBG) with routine methods. One week later, the same experiment was repeated with 10 mg/kg of iron sulfate and iron oxide; and 1 week later after the second experiment, again the same experiment was repeated with 33 mg/kg of iron sulfate and iron oxide. The results showed that 33 mg/kg of iron sulfate 1 hour after treatment caused a significant difference in the Fe and TIBG levels between all the groups (P=0.014 for Fe and P=0.027 for TIBG). Our data showed that the absorption of iron oxide was similar to that of ferrous sulfate and in high doses was as useful as iron supplement.
