Involvement of interleukin-1 in lipopolysaccaride-induced microglial activation and learning and memory deficits.

We have developed an animal model of learning and memory impairment associated with activation of microglia in the mouse brain. Injection of lipopolysaccharide into the CA1 region of the mouse hippocampus resulted in an increased production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1ß. Immunostaining for interleukin-1ß revealed an increase in the signal at 6 hr after lipopolysaccharide injection. Immunopositive cells for interleukin-1ß were colocalized with those immunopositive for CD11b. When subacute lipopolysaccharide treatment (20 µg/2 µl/injection, bilaterally for 5 consecutive days) was performed, long-term activation of microglia and learning and memory deficits as evaluated using a step-through passive avoidance test were observed in the wild-type mice. Gene expression of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor NR1 and NR2A subunits was also decreased by the lipopolysaccharide treatment. In contrast, activation of microglia and the associated behavioral deficits were not observed in mice lacking interleukin-1α and -1ß following the subacute lipopolysaccharide treatment, together with little change in the gene expression of NR1 and NR2A subunits. However, the subacute lipopolysaccharide treatment produced almost similar changes in those parameters in the tumor necrosis factor-α knockout mice as in the wild-type animals. The injection of interleukin-1ß neutralizing antibody with lipopolysaccharide for 5 consecutive days resulted in the improvement of lipopolysaccharide-induced learning and memory deficits. These findings suggest that the expression of interleukin-1 plays an important role in lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of microglia and the associated functional deficits in learning and memory.

New convenient dissolution of iron-rhodium alloys using hydrochloric acid containing a small amount of nitric acid without heating for an ICP-AES analysis.

A new convenient dissolution method for Fe-Rh alloys has been developed. Aqua regia has been used for the dissolution of rhodium alloy samples. However, it is difficult to dissolve high-concentration rhodium (more than 50 mass%) in aqua regia, because a rhodium-passivity on the alloys surface occurs with nitric acid. By using hydrochloric acid containing a small volume of nitric acid, Fe-Rh (24-64 mass%) alloys could be completely decomposed and dissolved under mild experimental conditions. The principal advantages of this method are simplicity and time-saving compared with other dissolution methods.

Measurement of rate constants for quenching singlet oxygen with a Cypridina luciferin analog (2-methyl-6-[p-methoxyphenyl]-3,7-dihydroimidazo [1,2-a]pyrazin-3-one) and sodium azide.

The rate constants for [1O2] [MCLA] and [1O2] [NaN3] were measured by quenching the near-infrared emission (1 delta g----3 sigma g) in steady state with MCLA and NaN3, respectively. 1O2 was constantly generated by energy transfer to O2 from Ar laser-excited Rose Bengal. The Stern-Volmer plots yielded the second-order rate constants of 2.94 x 10(9) M-1 S-1 and 3.83 x 10(8) M-1 S-1 for quenching 1O2 with MCLA and NaN3 in water at pH 5.4, respectively. The 1O2 + MCLA reaction emitted light with maximum at 465 nm at pD 4.5 identical to the O(2-) + MCLA reaction.