Sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 regulates blood-brain barrier permeability in epileptic mice.

Destruction of the blood-brain barrier is a critical component of epilepsy pathology. Several studies have demonstrated that sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 contributes to the modulation of vascular integrity. However, its effect on blood-brain barrier permeability in epileptic mice remains unclear. In this study, we prepared pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus models and pentylenetetrazol-induced epilepsy models in C57BL/6 mice. S1P1 expression was increased in the hippocampus after status epilepticus, whereas tight junction protein expression was decreased in epileptic mice compared with controls. Intraperitoneal injection of SEW2871, a specific agonist of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1, decreased the level of tight junction protein in the hippocampus of epileptic mice, increased blood-brain barrier leakage, and aggravated the severity of seizures compared with the control. W146, a specific antagonist of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1, increased the level of tight junction protein, attenuated blood-brain barrier disruption, and reduced seizure severity compared with the control. Furthermore, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 promoted the generation of interleukin-1ß and tumor necrosis factor-α and caused astrocytosis. Disruption of tight junction protein and blood-brain barrier integrity by sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 was reversed by minocycline, a neuroinflammation inhibitor. Behavioral tests revealed that sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 exacerbated epilepsy-associated depression-like behaviors. Additionally, specific knockdown of astrocytic S1P1 inhibited neuroinflammatory responses and attenuated blood-brain barrier leakage, seizure severity, and epilepsy-associated depression-like behaviors. Taken together, our results suggest that astrocytic sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 exacerbates blood-brain barrier disruption in the epileptic brain by promoting neuroinflammation.

Expression signatures of long non-coding RNA and mRNA in human traumatic brain injury.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a key role in craniocerebral disease, although their expression profiles in human traumatic brain injury are still unclear. In this regard, in this study, we examined brain injury tissue from three patients of the 101st Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, China (specifically, a 36-year-old male, a 52-year-old female, and a 49-year-old female), who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and underwent brain contusion removal surgery. Tissue surrounding the brain contusion in the three patients was used as control tissue to observe expression characteristics of lncRNAs and mRNAs in human traumatic brain injury tissue. Volcano plot filtering identified 99 lncRNAs and 63 mRNAs differentially expressed in frontotemporal tissue of the two groups (P < 0.05, fold change > 1.2). Microarray analysis showed that 43 lncRNAs were up-regulated and 56 lncRNAs were down-regulated. Meanwhile, 59 mRNAs were up-regulated and 4 mRNAs were down-regulated. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed 27 signaling pathways associated with target genes and, in particular, legionellosis and influenza A signaling pathways. Subsequently, a lncRNA-gene network was generated, which showed an absolute correlation coefficient value > 0.99 for 12 lncRNA-mRNA pairs. Finally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction confirmed different expression of the five most up-regulated mRNAs within the two groups, which was consistent with the microarray results. In summary, our results show that expression profiles of mRNAs and lncRNAs are significantly different between human traumatic brain injury tissue and surrounding tissue, providing novel insight regarding lncRNAs' involvement in human traumatic brain injury. All participants provided informed consent. This research was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR-TCC-13004002) and the protocol version number is 1.0.

[Malaria epidemic trend and characteristics at monitoring sites in Yunnan province in 2008].

Malaria situation in 5 monitoring sites of Yunnan showed a decline trend from 2005 to 2008. The average malaria incidence in 2008 was 11.84/10,000 with a decrease of 66.1% in comparison to 2005. The seropositive rate with immuno-fluorescence assay (IFA) was 4.61% for pupils. 82% of the cases chose town or township hospitals as the first place of seeking diagnosis and treatment. 83.6% cases were diagnosed over 3 days of symptom appearing. The main clinical manifestation was fever every other day attack (occupied 72.7%). 98.4% of the cases were with light symptoms. The proportion of primary attacks and relapses among malaria patients were 95.3% and 4.7%, respectively. Plasmodium vivax was the main malaria parasite, occupying 81.2%. 97.2% of the local infected cases were found in the bordering areas of the country. The mosquito net utilization rate was 51.4%. Results showed that malaria has been effectively controlled in the monitoring sites of Yunnan.

AtGLB1 enhances the tolerance of Arabidopsis to hydrogen peroxide stress.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a widespread molecule plays an important role in plant stress responses. Here, we showed that an Arabidopsis line overexpressing hemoglobin 1 (AtGLB1) can enhance its tolerance to severe hypoxic stress. In our research, Arabidopsis lines with different hemoglobin levels were employed to study the relationship between H2O2 level and the tolerance to hypoxic stress. The relatively low endogenous H2O2 level of AtGLB1-overexpressing plants could be one of the main factors for the increased tolerance of plants to hypoxic stress. Further investigation indicated that the activity of the antioxidant system involved in scavenging H2O2 increased in all three lines examined during hypoxic treatment, while only the line overexpressing AtGLB1 could retain these relatively high levels up to 48 h of the treatment, suggesting that the antioxidant system might play a role in the low H2O2 level of Arabidopsis overexpressing AtGLB1.

Determination of biogenic amines by 3-(2-furoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde and capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection.

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection was applied to the determination of biogenic amines including putrescine, histamine, cadaverine, tyramine, tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, spermine, and spermidine. A fluorogenic derivatization reagent, 3-(2-furoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde, was successfully used to fluorescently label these biogenic amines. Different variables that affect derivatization (derivatization reagent concentration, reaction time and temperature) and separation (buffer concentration, addition of organic modifiers and sodium deoxycholate concentration) were studied. The linearities within concentration ranges of up to two orders of magnitudes were achieved for those species with correlation coefficients from 0.9967 to 0.9992. The detection limits (signal to noise = 3) of biogenic amines can reach 5 x 10(-10) mol l(-1), which are equivalent to or better than the detection limits obtained by other analytical methods of biogenic amines. As a preliminary application, this method has been successfully employed to determine biogenic amines in the extract of tobacco leaf.