Probucol protects against brain damage caused by intra-neural pyroptosis in rats with vascular dementia through inhibition of the Syk/Ros pathway.

BACKGROUND: Neuronal injury in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is the main pathogenic factor of vascular dementia (VD). Clinically, there isn't a drug specifically for VD; instead, the majority of medications used to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) are also used to treat VD. Based on the proven anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of Probucol, we hypothesized that it may have therapeutic effects on VD, but more research is required to determine its exact mechanism of action. METHODS: In vivo experiment: We used SD rats and most commonly used bilateral carotid artery occlusion (2-VO) in VD for modeling. After successful modeling, SD rats were given Probucol 3.5 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks to evaluate the therapeutic effect. In vitro experiment: BV-2 microglia of rats were cultured and divided into Control group and Probucol group. Each group was treated with hypoxia-hypoglycemia, hypoxia-hypoglycemia hydrogen peroxide and hypoxia-hypoglycemia hydrogen peroxide Syk inhibitor respectively. RESULTS: The results of immunofluorescence and Western blot showed that Probucol could significantly improve the cognitive impairment induced by CCH, and the neuronal damage was also attenuated. On the one hand, the underlying mechanism of Probucol was to reduce oxidative stress and cell apoptosis of hippocampal neurons by inhibiting the expression of phosphorylated spleen tyrosine kinase (P-Syk); On the other hand, it exerted a protective effect by reducing NLRP3-dependent cell pyroptosis and inhibiting neuroinflammation induced by microglia activation. CONCLUSION: Probucol could reduce oxidative stress and cell apoptosis by inhibiting the Syk/ROS signaling pathway, thereby improving CCH-induced cognitive impairment in vitro and in vivo.

[Diagnostic Efficacy of Platelet-Related Parameters on Anxiety and Depression in Patients Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis].

Objective To analyze the correlations between platelet-related parameters and the incidence of anxiety and depression in the patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis(PD),and evaluate the efficacy of the parameters in the diagnosis of anxiety and depression in PD patients. Methods A total of 245 patients undergoing PD in the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from September 2022 to February 2023 were enrolled.The generalized anxiety scale(GAD-7) and the patient health questionnaire(PHQ-9) were used to evaluate the anxiety and depression of the patients,respectively.The personal information and biochemical indicators of the patients were collected,and the platelet count(PLT),mean platelet volume(MPV),and platelet distribution width(PDW) were measured.Logistic regression was adopted to analyze the relationships of platelet-related parameters with anxiety and depression in PD patients. Results Among the 245 patients undergoing PD,the incidences of anxiety and depression were 15.9% and 38.0%,respectively.There were differences in the dialysis period(Z=-2.358,P=0.018;Z=-3.079,P=0.002),MPV(Z=-4.953,P<0.001;Z=-7.878,P<0.001),and PDW(Z=-4.587,P<0.001;Z=-7.367,P<0.001) between the anxiety group and the non-anxiety group as well as between the depression group and the non-depression group.The correlation analysis showed that MPV(r=0.358,P<0.001;r=0.489,P<0.001) and PDW(r=0.340,P<0.001;r=0.447,P<0.001) were positively correlated with anxiety and depression in the patients undergoing PD.The Logistic regression model showed that MPV(P=0.022,P=0.011),PDW(P=0.041,P=0.018),and dialysis period(P=0.011,P=0.030) were independent risk factors for the anxiety and depressive state in PD patients.The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of MPV in the diagnosis of anxiety and depression in PD patients were 0.750 and 0.800,respectively,and those of PDW were 0.732 and 0.780,respectively. Conclusion MPV and PDW have high efficacy in the diagnosis of anxiety and depression associated with PD and can be used as objective indicators to evaluate the anxiety and depression in the patients undergoing PD.

Speciation analysis of arsenic and selenium compounds by CE-dynamic reaction cell-ICP-MS.

A dynamic reaction cell ICP-MS was used as a CE detector for the speciation analysis of arsenic and selenium. Samples containing arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, arsenobetaine, selenite, selenate, selenocysteine, selenomethione, and Se-methylselenocysteine were subjected to electrophoretic separation before being introduced into the microconcentric nebulizer (CEI-100) for their determination by ICP-MS. The separation has been achieved in a 60 cm length x 75 microm id fused-silica capillary. The electrophoretic buffer used was 25 mmol/L CAPS, and 0.5 mmol/L SDS at pH 9.5, whereas the applied voltage was set at 25 kV. The potentially interfering (38)Ar(40)Ar(+) and (40)Ar(40)Ar(+) at the selenium masses m/z 78 and 80 were reduced in intensity by approximately three orders of magnitude by using 1.4 mL/min CH(4) as reactive cell gas in the dynamic reaction cell. Arsenic was determined as the adduct ion (75)As(12)CH(2) (+) at m/z 89. The LOD for arsenic and selenium was in the range of 0.6-1.8 ng/mL, and 0.5-1.4 ng/mL, respectively, based on peak height. This method has been applied to determine various arsenic and selenium compounds in NIST SRM 1633a Coal Fly Ash and NRCC DOLT-3 Dogfish Liver reference materials and a selenium dietary supplement. The arsenic and selenium compounds were extracted from fish liver and dietary supplement by using Protease XIV and Lipase, and from coal fly ash with HF solution. The spike recoveries were in the range 91-103% for all the species studied.