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Background and Purpose-In cerebral stroke, the overall mortality rate of older individuals is higher than that of younger individuals. We therefore investigated aging-related changes in brain tissue damage and immune response in response to intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in mice. Methods-ICH was induced by microinjecting autologous whole blood (5 L) into the striatum of 4-or 14-month-old senescence-accelerated prone (SAMP8) mice or senescence-accelerated resistant (SAMR1) mice. Results-In all groups, neurological deficits occurred within 6 hours and gradually improved after the first day, but improvement was most delayed in 14-month-old SAMP8 mice. Isolectin B4-positive and amoeboid microglia/macrophages were abundantly distributed around and inside the hemorrhagic lesions in 14-month-old SAMP8 mice. In contrast, myeloperoxidase-immunoreactive neutrophils and reactive astrocytes with intensified glial fibrillary acidic protein-stained processes and swollen cytoplasm did not differ in number or distribution between SAMP8 and SAMR1 mice. Regardless of their age, the immunoreactivity of Mn-SOD, a major antioxidant enzyme in mitochondria, was much weaker in SAMP8 than in SAMR1 mice. The expression of inducible nitric oxide, however, was higher in old SAMP8 mice than in the other experimental groups. Conclusions-These

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Neurofilaments (NFs) including neurofilament-200 kDa (NF-H), neurofilament-165 kDa (NF-M) and neurofilament-68 kDa (NF-L) are major protein constituents of the brain, and serve important roles in the regulation of axonal transport. NF alteration is a key feature in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders involving cognitive dysfunction. In the present study, cognitive impairments were investigated, via assessments using the Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests, in mice following chronic systemic treatment with 1 mg/kg scopolamine (SCO) for 4 weeks. SCO-induced cognitive impairments were significantly observed 1 week following the SCO treatment, and these cognitive deficits were maintained for 4 weeks. However, the NF immunoreactivities and levels were altered differently according to the hippocampal subregion following SCO treatment. NF-H immunoreactivity and levels were markedly altered in all hippocampal subregions, and were significantly increased 1 week following the SCO treatment; thereafter, the immunoreactivity and levels significantly decreased with time. NF-M immunoreactivity and levels gradually decreased in the hippocampus and were significantly decreased 4 weeks following SCO treatment. NF-L immunoreactivity and levels gradually decreased in the hippocampus, and were significantly decreased 2 and 4 weeks following SCO treatment. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that chronic systemic treatment with SCO induced cognitive impairment from 1 week following SCO treatment, and NF expression was diversely altered according to the hippocampal subregion from 1 week following SCO treatment. These results suggest that SCO-induced changes in NF expression may be associated with cognitive impairment.

Microglia are recognized as residential macrophageal cells in the brain. Activated microglia play a critical role in removal of dead or damaged cells through phagocytosis activity. During phagocytosis, however, microglia should survive under the harmful condition of self-producing ROS and pro-inflammatory mediators. TGF-β has been known as a classic anti-inflammatory cytokine and controls both initiation and resolution of inflammation by counter-acting inflammatory cytokines. In the present study, to understand the self-protective mechanism, we studied time-dependent change of TNF-α and TGF-β production in microglia phagocytizing opsonized-beads (i.e., polystyrene microspheres). We found that microglia phagocytized opsonized-bead in a time-dependent manner and simultaneously produced both TNF-α and TGF-β. However, while TNF-α production gradually decreased after 6 h, TGF-β production remained at increased level. Microglial cells pre-treated with lipopolysaccharides (a strong immunostimulant, LPS) synergistically increased the production of TNF-α and TGF-β both. However, LPS-pretreated microglia produced TNF-α in a more sustained manner and became more vulnerable, probably due to the marked and sustained production of TNF-α and reduced TGF-β. Intracellular oxidative stress appears to change in parallel with the microglial production of TNF-α. These results indicate TGF-β contributes for the survival of phagocytizing microglia through autocrine suppression of TNF-α production and oxidative stress.