Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Neuroimaging During Rehabilitation Following Stroke: A Review.

Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease that impairs blood supply to localized brain tissue regions due to various causes. This leads to ischemic and hypoxic lesions, necrosis of the brain tissue, and a variety of functional disorders. Abnormal cortical activation and functional connectivity occur in the brain after a stroke, but the activation patterns and functional reorganization are not well understood. Rehabilitation interventions can enhance functional recovery in stroke patients. However, clinicians require objective measures to support their practice, as outcome measures for functional recovery are based on scale scores. Furthermore, the most effective rehabilitation measures for treating patients are yet to be investigated. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive neuroimaging method that detects changes in cerebral hemodynamics during task performance. It is widely used in neurological research and clinical practice due to its safety, portability, high motion tolerance, and low cost. This paper briefly introduces the imaging principle and the advantages and disadvantages of fNIRS to summarize the application of fNIRS in post-stroke rehabilitation.

Crosstalk between autophagy and ferroptosis mediate injury in ischemic stroke by generating reactive oxygen species.

Stroke represents a significant threat to global human health, characterized by high rates of morbidity, disability, and mortality. Predominantly, strokes are ischemic in nature. Ischemic stroke (IS) is influenced by various cell death pathways, notably autophagy and ferroptosis. Recent studies have increasingly highlighted the interplay between autophagy and ferroptosis, a process likely driven by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Post-IS, either the inhibition of autophagy or its excessive activation can escalate ROS levels. Concurrently, the interaction between ROS and lipids during ferroptosis further augments ROS accumulation. Elevated ROS levels can provoke endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced autophagy and, in conjunction with free iron (Fe2+), can trigger ferroptosis. Moreover, ROS contribute to protein and lipid oxidation, endothelial dysfunction, and an inflammatory response, all of which mediate secondary brain injury following IS. This review succinctly explores the mechanisms of ROS-mediated crosstalk between autophagy and ferroptosis and the detrimental impact of increased ROS on IS. It also offers novel perspectives for IS treatment strategies.

Mechanisms of intermittent theta-burst stimulation attenuating nerve injury after ischemic reperfusion in rats through endoplasmic reticulum stress and ferroptosis.

BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) exerts neuroprotective effects early in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Intermittent theta-brust stimulation (iTBS), a more time-efficient modality of rTMS, improves the efficiency without at least decreasing the efficacy of the therapy. iTBS elevates cortical excitability, and in recent years it has become increasingly common to apply iTBS to patients in the early post-IS period. However, little is known about the neuroprotective mechanisms of iTBS. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), and ferroptosis have been shown to be involved in the development of I/R injury. We aimed to investigate the potential regulatory mechanisms by which iTBS attenuates neurological injury after I/R in rats. METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated group, MCAO/R group, and MCAO/R + iTBS group, and were stimulated with iTBS 36 h after undergoing middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) or sham-operated. The expression of ERS, ferroptosis, and apoptosis-related markers was subsequently detected by western blot assays. We also investigated the mechanism by which iTBS attenuates nerve injury after ischemic reperfusion in rats by using the modified Neurological Severity Score (mNSS) and the balance beam test to measure nerve function. RESULTS: iTBS performed early in I/R injury attenuated the levels of ERS, ferroptosis, and apoptosis, and improved neurological function, including mNSS and balance beam experiments. It is suggested that this mode of stimulation reduces the cost per treatment by several times without compromising the efficacy of the treatment and could be a practical and less costly intervention.

[Pharmacokinetic comparison between Tanreqing Capsules Substitute and Tanreqing Capsules in rats by LC-MS/MS].

Due to the limited resource of bear bile powder, the major raw material of Tanreqing Capsules(TRQ), cultured bear bile powder is used as a replacement to develop the Tanreqing Capsules Substitute(TRQS). An LC-MS/MS method was established in this study for simultaneous quantitation of 8 compounds from TRQS in rat plasma: tauroursodeoxycholic acid(TUDCA), taurocheno-deoxycholic acid(TCDCA), ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA), chenodeoxycholic acid(CDCA), ferulic acid, wogonoside, baicalin, and forsythoside A. Thereby, the pharmacokinetic behaviors of TRQ and TRQS were evaluated. Concentration of endogenous compounds TUDCA, TCDCA, UDCA, and CDCA was determined with the stable isotope surrogate analytes: D4-TUDCA, D4-TCDCA, D4-UDCA, and D4-CDCA. Plasma samples were extracted by acetonitrile-induced protein precipitation. The LC conditions are as follows: Waters BEH C_(18) column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 µm), mobile phase of 10 mmol·L~(-1) ammonium formate aqueous solution(containing 0.01% formic acid) and acetonitrile-methanol mixture(1∶5). MS conditions are as below: multiple reaction monitoring(MRM), ESI~(+/-). Concentration of UDCA, CDCA, TUDCA, and TCDCA was corrected with a response factor, which is the ratio between the responses recorded for the surrogate and the authentic analyte at the equal concentration. Each of the plasma components showed good linearity(r > 0.995 1). Accuracy and precision met the criteria(inter-day RSD<7.0%, RE 89.98%-112.0%; intra-day RSD<12%, RE 90.41%-111.2%). The recovery was 64.83%-119.9% and matrix effect was 87.15%-113.8%. The validated method was applied for pharmacokinetic study of TRQS and TRQ(po, 0.94 g·kg~(-1)). There was no significant difference in C_(max) and AUC_(0-24 h) of baicalin, UDCA, TUDCA, and TCDCA between the two groups, indicating similar pharmacokinetic behaviors between TRQS and TRQ in rats.

Wedelolactone inhibits osteoclastogenesis but enhances osteoblastogenesis through altering different semaphorins production.

Our previous study showed that wedelolactone, isolated from Ecliptae herba, enhanced osteoblastogenesis but inhibited osteoclastogenesis through Sema3A signaling pathway. This study aims to investigate the role of other semaphorins in wedelolactone-enhanced osteoblastogenesis and -inhibited osteoclastogenesis. Wedelolactone inhibited RANKL-induced Sema4D and Sema7A production, but had no effect on RANKL-reduced Sema6D expression in osteoclastic RAW264.7 cells. In mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC), wedelolactone reversed osteogenic medium(OS)-reduced Sema7A expression and OS-enhanced Sema3E mRNA expression, but no effect on OS-reduced Sema3B mRNA expression. Addition of Sema4D antibody promoted wedelolactone-reduced TRAP activity and bone resorption pit formation. Wedelolactone combined with Sema4D antibody inhibited the formation of Sema4D-Plexin B1 complex. In co-culture of BMSC with RAW264.7 cells, Sema7A antibody, similar with Sema 3A antibody, reversed wedelolactone-enhanced ALP activity and mineralization level, but promoted wedelolactone-inhibited TRAP activity. However, Sema3E and Sema3B antibodies had no effect. Further, wedelolactone enhanced the binding of Sema7A with PlexinC1 and Beta1, but addition of Sema7A antibody partially blocked this binding. Our data demonstrated that wedelolactone inhibited Sema4D production and Sema4D-PlexinB1 complex formation in RAW264.7 cells, thereafter inhibiting osteoclastogenesis. At the same time, wedelolactone enhanced osteoblastogenesis through promoting Sema7A production and Sema7A-PlexinC1-Beta1 complex formation in BMSC.

Endoscopic treatment of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage: A technical review.

Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is still a highlighting global issue. Endoscopic evacuation as a minimally invasive treatment became an alternative other than conventional craniotomy and catheter drainage for ICH. However, there is no unified indication or standardized procedure on endoscopic treatment of ICH. Here we explored the literature and gathered information from different studies, to review the background, technical points, and existing problems of endoscopic treatment for ICH.

Structural basis for 18-ß-glycyrrhetinic acid as a novel non-GSH analog glyoxalase I inhibitor.

AIM: Glyoxalase I (GLOI), a glutathione (GSH)-dependent enzyme, is overexpressed in tumor cells and related to multi-drug resistance in chemotherapy, making GLOI inhibitors as potential anti-tumor agents. But the most studied GSH analogs exhibit poor pharmacokinetic properties. The aim of this study was to discover novel non-GSH analog GLOI inhibitors and analyze their binding mechanisms. METHODS: Mouse GLOI (mGLOI) was expressed in BL21 (DE3) pLysS after induction with isopropyl-ß-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside and purified using AKTA FPLC system. An in vitro mGLOI enzyme assay was used to screen a small pool of compounds containing carboxyl groups. Crystal structure of the mGLOI-inhibitor complex was determined at 2.3 Å resolution. Molecular docking study was performed using Discovery Studio 2.5 software package. RESULTS: A natural compound 18-ß-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) and its derivative carbenoxolone were identified as potent competitive non-GSH analog mGLOI inhibitors with Ki values of 0.29 µmol/L and 0.93 µmol/L, respectively. Four pentacyclic triterpenes (ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, betulic acid and tripterine) showed weak activities (mGLOI inhibition ratio <25% at 10 µmol/L) and other three (maslinic acid, corosolic acid and madecassic acid) were inactive. The crystal structure of the mGLOI-GA complex showed that the carboxyl group of GA mimicked the γ-glutamyl residue of GSH by hydrogen bonding to the glutamyl sites (residues Arg38B, Asn104B and Arg123A) in the GSH binding site of mGLOI. The extensive van der Waals interactions between GA and the surrounding residues also contributed greatly to the binding of GA and mGLOI. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates a carboxyl group to be an important functional feature of non-GSH analog GLOI inhibitors.