scholarly journals Protective actions of des-acylated ghrelin on brain injury and blood–brain barrier disruption after stroke in mice

2016 ◽  
Vol 130 (17) ◽  
pp. 1545-1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Ku ◽  
Mohammadali Taher ◽  
Kai Yee Chin ◽  
Tom Barsby ◽  
Victoria Austin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Blood Vessels ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Acylated Ghrelin ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier Disruption ◽  
Protective Actions ◽  
Brain Barrier Disruption ◽  
The Brain

Stroke is a leading cause of death, but treatments are limited. This experimental study reveals that the hormone ghrelin powerfully protects the brain and its blood vessels against injury after stroke, raising the possibility that it could be exploited therapeutically.

scholarly journals Doxycycline Reduces Mortality and Injury to the Brain and Cochlea in Experimental Pneumococcal Meningitis

2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 3890-3896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian N. Meli ◽  
Roney S. Coimbra ◽  
Dominik G. Erhart ◽  
Gerard Loquet ◽  
Caroline L. Bellac ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Tumor Necrosis ◽  
Pneumococcal Meningitis ◽  
Necrosis Factor Alpha ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier Disruption ◽  
Factor Alpha ◽  
Brain Barrier Disruption ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Necrosis Factor

ABSTRACT Bacterial meningitis is characterized by an inflammatory reaction to the invading pathogens that can ultimately lead to sensorineural hearing loss, permanent brain injury, or death. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tumor necrosis factor alpha-converting enzyme (TACE) are key mediators that promote inflammation, blood-brain barrier disruption, and brain injury in bacterial meningitis. Doxycycline is a clinically used antibiotic with anti-inflammatory effects that lead to reduced cytokine release and the inhibition of MMPs. Here, doxycycline inhibited TACE with a 50% inhibitory dose of 74 μM in vitro and reduced the amount of tumor necrosis factor alpha released into the cerebrospinal fluid by 90% in vivo. In an infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis, a single dose of doxycycline (30 mg/kg) given as adjuvant therapy in addition to ceftriaxone 18 h after infection significantly reduced the mortality, the blood-brain barrier disruption, and the extent of cortical brain injury. Adjuvant doxycycline (30 mg/kg given subcutaneously once daily for 4 days) also attenuated hearing loss, as assessed by auditory brainstem response audiometry, and neuronal death in the cochlear spiral ganglion at 3 weeks after infection. Thus, doxycycline, probably as a result of its anti-inflammatory properties, had broad beneficial effects in the brain and the cochlea and improved survival in this model of pneumococcal meningitis in infant rats.

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