Cannabidiol Prevents Motor and Cognitive Impairments Induced by Reserpine in Rats.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotomimetic compound from Cannabis sativa that presents antipsychotic, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. In Parkinson's disease patients, CBD is able to attenuate the psychotic symptoms induced by L-DOPA and to improve quality of life. Repeated administration of reserpine in rodents induces motor impairments that are accompanied by cognitive deficits, and has been applied to model both tardive dyskinesia and Parkinson's disease. The present study investigated whether CBD administration would attenuate reserpine-induced motor and cognitive impairments in rats. Male Wistar rats received four injections of CBD (0.5 or 5 mg/kg) or vehicle (days 2-5). On days 3 and 5, animals received also one injection of 1 mg/kg reserpine or vehicle. Locomotor activity, vacuous chewing movements, and catalepsy were assessed from day 1 to day 7. On days 8 and 9, we evaluated animals' performance on the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task, for learning/memory assessment. CBD (0.5 and 5 mg/kg) attenuated the increase in catalepsy behavior and in oral movements - but not the decrease in locomotion - induced by reserpine. CBD (0.5 mg/kg) also ameliorated the reserpine-induced memory deficit in the discriminative avoidance task. Our data show that CBD is able to attenuate motor and cognitive impairments induced by reserpine, suggesting the use of this compound in the pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease and tardive dyskinesia.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mice Bone Marrow and Spleen B Lymphopoiesis.

B lymphocytes are immune cells crucial for the maintenance and viability of the humoral response. Sleep is an essential event for the maintenance and integrity of all systems, including the immune system (IS). Thus, sleep deprivation (SD) causes problems in metabolism and homeostasis in many cell systems, including the IS. In this study, our goal was to determine changes in B lymphocytes from the bone marrow (BM) and spleen after SD. Three-month-old male Swiss mice were used. These mice were sleep deprived through the modified multiple platform method for different periods (24, 48, and 72 h), whereas another group was allowed to sleep for 24 h after 72 h of SD (rebound group) and a third group was allowed to sleep normally during the entire experiment. After this, the spleen and BM were collected, and cell analyses were performed. The numbers of B lymphocytes in the BM and spleen were reduced by SD. Additionally, reductions in the percentage of lymphocyte progenitors and their ability to form colonies were observed. Moreover, an increase in the death of B lymphocytes from the BM and spleen was associated with an increase in oxidative stress indicators, such as DCFH-DA, CAT, and mitochondrial SOD. Rebound was not able to reverse most of the alterations elicited by SD. The reduction in B lymphocytes and their progenitors by cell death, with a concomitant increase in oxidative stress, showed that SD promoted a failure in B lymphopoiesis.

Paradoxical sleep deprivation impairs mouse survival after infection with malaria parasites.

BACKGROUND: Parasitic diseases like malaria are a major public health problem in many countries and disrupted sleep patterns are an increasingly common part of modern life. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and sleep rebound (RB) on malarial parasite infection in mice. METHODS: After PSD, one group was immediately infected with parasites (PSD). The two other PSD rebound groups were allowed to sleep normally for either 24 h (24 h RB) or 48 h (48 h RB). After the recovery periods, mice were inoculated with parasites. RESULTS: The PSD group was the most affected by parasites presenting the higher death rate (0.02), higher number of infected cells (p < 0.01), and decrease in body weight (p < 0.04) compared to control and 48 h RB groups. The 24 h RB group was also different from control group in survival (p < 0.03), number of infected cells (p < 0.05) and body weight (p < 0.04). After 48 hours of sleep rebound animals were allowed to restore their response to parasitic infection similar to normal sleep animals. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that PSD is damaging to the immune system and leads to an increased infection severity of malaria parasites; only 48 hours of recovery sleep was sufficient to return the mice infection response to baseline values.

Nitric oxide-induced murine hematopoietic stem cell fate involves multiple signaling proteins, gene expression, and redox modulation.

There are a growing number of reports showing the influence of redox modulation in cellular signaling. Although the regulation of hematopoiesis by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) has been described, their direct participation in the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remains unclear. In this work, the direct role of nitric oxide (NO(•)), a RNS, in the modulation of hematopoiesis was investigated using two sources of NO(•) , one produced by endothelial cells stimulated with carbachol in vitro and another using the NO(•)-donor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine (SNAP) in vivo. Two main NO(•) effects were observed: proliferation of HSCs-especially of the short-term HSCs-and its commitment and terminal differentiation to the myeloid lineage. NO(•)-induced proliferation was characterized by the increase in the number of cycling HSCs and hematopoietic progenitor cells positive to BrdU and Ki-67, upregulation of Notch-1, Cx43, PECAM-1, CaR, ERK1/2, Akt, p38, PKC, and c-Myc. NO(•)-induced HSCs differentiation was characterized by the increase in granulocytic-macrophage progenitors, granulocyte-macrophage colony forming units, mature myeloid cells, upregulation of PU.1, and C/EBPα genes concomitantly to the downregulation of GATA-3 and Ikz-3 genes, activation of Stat5 and downregulation of the other analyzed proteins mentioned above. Also, redox status modulation differed between proliferation and differentiation responses, which is likely associated with the transition of the proliferative to differentiation status. Our findings provide evidence of the role of NO(•) in inducing HSCs proliferation and myeloid differentiation involving multiple signaling.

Grape juice concentrate protects reproductive parameters of male rats against cadmium-induced damage: a chronic assay.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of long-term grape juice concentrate (GJC) consumption, in two dosages, on the reproductive parameters of cadmium-exposed male rats. The effects of the concentrate on body mass gain, plasma testosterone levels, reproductive organ weights, daily sperm production, sperm morphology, testis histopathological and histomorphometrical parameters, and testicular antioxidant markers were investigated. Wistar rats (n 54) were distributed into six groups: CdCl2; cadmium and grape juice I (1·18 g/kg per d); cadmium and grape juice II (2·36 g/kg per d); grape juice I (1·18 g/kg per d); grape juice II (2·36 g/kg per d); control. A single dose of CdCl2 (1·2 mg/kg body weight (BW)) was injected intraperitoneally and the grape juice was administered orally for 56 d. The results indicated that cadmium changed all reproductive and antioxidant parameters. At dosage I (1·18 g/kg BW), GJC consumption did not show the effects against cadmium-induced damages. In contrast, at dosage II (2·36 g/kg BW), the GJC improved the gonadosomatic index (P= 0·003), serum testosterone levels (P= 0·001), the relative weight of epididymis (P= 0·013) and ventral prostate (P= 0·052), the percentage of normal sperm (P= 0·001), and histopathological and histomorphometrical parameters. In addition, at this dosage, normalisation of the enzymatic activity of superoxide dismutase (P= 0·001) and of testicular levels of glutathione (P= 0·03) were observed. The parameters of the non-exposed rats did not depict significant alterations. In conclusion, the product was able to act as a protector of reproductive function against cadmium-induced damage. Such a property was expressed in a dose-dependent manner as the more effective dose was dosage II. The GJC acted possibly by antioxidant mechanisms.

Sleep deprivation impairs calcium signaling in mouse splenocytes and leads to a decreased immune response.

BACKGROUND: Sleep is a physiological event that directly influences health by affecting the immune system, in which calcium (Ca(2+)) plays a critical signaling role. We performed live cell measurements of cytosolic Ca(2+) mobilization to understand the changes in Ca(2+) signaling that occur in splenic immune cells after various periods of sleep deprivation (SD). METHODS: Adult male mice were subjected to sleep deprivation by platform technique for different periods (from 12 to 72h) and Ca(2+) intracellular fluctuations were evaluated in splenocytes by confocal microscopy. We also performed spleen cell evaluation by flow cytometry and analyzed intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization in endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Additionally, Ca(2+) channel gene expression was evaluated RESULTS: Splenocytes showed a progressive loss of intracellular Ca(2+) maintenance from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores. Transient Ca(2+) buffering by the mitochondria was further compromised. These findings were confirmed by changes in mitochondrial integrity and in the performance of the store operated calcium entry (SOCE) and stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) Ca(2+) channels. CONCLUSIONS AND GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: These novel data suggest that SD impairs Ca(2+) signaling, most likely as a result of ER stress, leading to an insufficient Ca(2+) supply for signaling events. Our results support the previously described immunosuppressive effects of sleep loss and provide additional information on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in sleep function.

α-Tocopherol induces hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell expansion and ERK1/2-mediated differentiation.

Tocopherols promote or inhibit growth in different cell types. In the hematopoietic system, the radioprotective property of tocopherols is thought to act through the expansion of primitive hematopoietic cells. However, the mechanisms activated by tocopherols and which HPs are affected remain poorly understood. To better address these questions, mice were treated with α-tocopherol, and its effects were investigated in the BM microenvironment. α-Tocopherol induced increased proliferation in HSC/HP cells, leading to BM hyperplasia. In addition, differentiation to the granulocytic/monocytic lineage was enhanced by α-tocopherol treatment. α-Tocopherol treatment resulted in decreased basal phosphorylation of ERK1/2, PKC, and STAT-5 in HSC/HP cells. In contrast, α-tocopherol enhanced ERK1/2 activation in response to IL-3 stimulation in HSC/HP cells without altering the expression of IL-3Rs. Moreover, α-tocopherol-induced differentiation and ERK1/2 activation were abolished in mice pretreated with a MEK inhibitor (PD98059); however, pretreatment with PD98059 did not reduce the α-tocopherol-mediated increase in HSC/HP cells but instead, further enhanced their proliferation. Therefore, α-tocopherol induces expansion of HSC/HP cells by a nonidentified intracellular pathway and granulocytic/monocytic differentiation through ERK1/2 activation.