SUMMARYICAM-1 (CD54), the ligand for LFA-1 and Mac-1, is up-regulated during inflammatory reaction on the activated vascular endothelium. To determine its role in intestinal inflammation, we induced acute experimental colitis in mice with a deleted ICAM-1 gene, by feeding them with 3% dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) in drinking water for 7 days. Chronic colitis was elicited by DSS similarly, followed by 2 weeks with water. In the acute phase of inflammation, ICAM-1-deficient mice exhibited a significantly lower mortality rate (5%) than control C57Bl/6J mice (35%). Control animals, but not the ICAM-1-deficient mice, exhibited diarrhoea and rectal bleeding. Histological examination of large-bowel samples evaluated the intensity of inflammatory changes, and type and extent of mucosal lesions. In the acute phase, 33·3% of samples from ICAM-1-deficient mice exhibited mucosal defects (flat and fissural ulcers), predominantly mild to moderate inflammatory infiltrate within the lamina propria mucosae and lower grades of mucosal lesions. Much stronger inflammatory changes were present in control animals, flat ulcers (sometimes multiple) and fissural ulcers being observed in 62·5% of samples. Mucosal inflammatory infiltrate was moderate to severe, typically with higher grades of mucosal lesions. In chronic colitis, smaller inflammatory changes were found in the large bowel. The two mouse strains differed, the chronic colitis being accompanied by an increased serum level of anti-epithelial IgA autoantibodies in C57Bl/6 control mice but not in ICAM-1-deficient mice. These findings provide direct evidence of the participation of ICAM-1 molecule in the development of experimentally induced intestinal inflammation.

To investigate the mRNA expression of the dendritic spine protein drebrin in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we performed post-mortem in situ hybridization studies in brain sections from 20 AD patients and 21 controls. AD diagnosis was confirmed by decreased drebrin protein and increased Abeta(40) (+464%; P < 0.05), Abeta(42) (+369%; P < 0.0001), Abeta(42/40) ratio (+226%; P < 0.01), total tau (+2,725%; P < 0.0001), and paired helical filament tau (PHFtau; +867%; P < 0.001) compared with controls. We found significant decreases in drebrin mRNA in the parietal cortex (-27%; P < 0.01), the temporal cortex (-22%; P < 0.05), and the hippocampus (-25%; P < 0.05) of AD patients compared with controls. Cortical levels of drebrin mRNA correlated positively with soluble total tau (r(2) = +0.244) but negatively with duration of symptoms (r(2) = -0.357) and PHFtau (r(2) = -0.248). Drebrin mRNA levels were correlated to a lesser degree with the drebrin protein content (r(2) = +0.136) and with sim2 (r(2) = +0.176), a potential modulator of drebrin transcription. Our results suggest that the down-regulation of drebrin mRNA expression plays an important role in AD and is closely related to the progression of the disease.

Spinal cord injury results in progressive waves of secondary injuries, cascades of noxious pathological mechanisms that substantially exacerbate the primary injury and the resultant permanent functional deficits. Secondary injuries are associated with inflammation, excessive cytokine release, and cell apoptosis. The purine nucleoside guanosine has significant trophic effects and is neuroprotective, antiapoptotic in vitro, and stimulates nerve regeneration. Therefore, we determined whether systemic administration of guanosine could protect rats from some of the secondary effects of spinal cord injury, thereby reducing neurological deficits. Systemic administration of guanosine (8 mg/kg per day, i.p.) for 14 consecutive days, starting 4 h after moderate spinal cord injury in rats, significantly improved not only motor and sensory functions, but also recovery of bladder function. These improvements were associated with reduction in the inflammatory response to injury, reduction of apoptotic cell death, increased sparing of axons, and preservation of myelin. Our data indicate that the therapeutic action of guanosine probably results from reducing inflammation resulting in the protection of axons, oligodendrocytes, and neurons and from inhibiting apoptotic cell death. These data raise the intriguing possibility that guanosine may also be able to reduce secondary pathological events and thus improve functional outcome after traumatic spinal cord injury in humans.

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