Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of pervasive developmental disorders with core symptoms such as sociability deficit, language impairment, and repetitive/restricted behaviors. Although worldwide prevalence of ASD has been increased continuously, therapeutic agents to ameliorate the core symptoms especially social deficits, are very limited. In this study, we investigated therapeutic potential of donepezil for ASD using valproic acid-induced autistic animal model (VPA animal model). We found that prenatal exposure of valproic acid (VPA) induced dysregulation of cholinergic neuronal development, most notably the up-regulation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the prefrontal cortex of affected rat and mouse offspring. Similarly, differentiating cortical neural progenitor cell in culture treated with VPA showed increased expression of AChE in vitro. Chromatin precipitation experiments revealed that acetylation of histone H3 bound to AChE promoter region was increased by VPA. In addition, other histone deacetyalse inhibitors (HDACIs) such as trichostatin A and sodium butyrate also increased the expression of AChE in differentiating neural progenitor cells suggesting the essential role of HDACIs in the regulation of AChE expression. For behavioral analysis, we injected PBS or donepezil (0.3 mg/kg) intraperitoneally to control and VPA mice once daily from postnatal day 14 all throughout the experiment. Subchronic treatment of donepezil improved sociability and prevented repetitive behavior and hyperactivity of VPA-treated mice offspring. Taken together, these results provide evidence that dysregulation of ACh system represented by the up-regulation of AChE may serve as an effective pharmacological therapeutic target against autistic behaviors in VPA animal model of ASD, which should be subjected for further investigation to verify the clinical relevance.

Background and Purpose-Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion can lead to ischemic white matter injury resulting in vascular dementia. To characterize white matter injury in vascular dementia, we investigated disintegration of diverse white matter components using a rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Methods-Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion was modeled in Wistar rats by permanent occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries. We performed cognitive behavioral tests, including the water maze task, odor discrimination task, and novel object test; histological investigation of neuroinflammation, oligodendrocytes, myelin basic protein, and nodal or paranodal proteins at the nodes of Ranvier; and serial diffusion tensor imaging. Cilostazol was administered to protect against white matter injury. Results-Diverse cognitive impairments were induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Disintegration of white matter was characterized by neuroinflammation, loss of oligodendrocytes, attenuation of myelin density, structural derangement at the nodes of Ranvier, and disintegration of white matter tracts. Cilostazol protected against cognitive impairments and white matter disintegration. Conclusions-White matter injury induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion can be characterized by disintegration of diverse white matter components. Cilostazol might be a therapeutic strategy against white matter disintegration in patients with vascular dementia.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, featuring social communication deficit and repetitive/restricted behaviors as common symptoms. Its prevalence has continuously increased, but, till now, there are no therapeutic approaches to relieve the core symptoms, particularly social deficit. In previous studies, abnormal function of the glutamatergic neural system has been proposed as a critical mediator and therapeutic target of ASD-associated symptoms. Here, we investigated the possible roles of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) in autism symptoms using two well-known autistic animal models, Cntnap2 knockout (KO) mice and in utero valproic acid-exposed ICR (VPA) mice. We found that Cntnap2 KO mice displayed decreased glutamate receptor expression and transmission. Contrarily, VPA mice exhibited increased glutamate receptor expression and transmission. Next, we investigated whether AMPAR modulators (positive-allosteric-modulator for Cntnap2 KO mice and antagonist for VPA mice) can improve autistic symptoms by normalizing the aberrant excitatory transmission in the respective animal models. Interestingly, the AMPAR modulation specifically ameliorated social deficits in both animal models. These results indicated that AMPAR-derived excitatory neural transmission changes can affect normal social behavior. To validate this, we injected an AMPAR agonist or antagonist in control ICR mice and, interestingly, these treatments impaired only the social behavior, without affecting the repetitive and hyperactive behaviors. Collectively, these results provide insight into the role of AMPARs in the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of ASD, and demonstrate that modulation of AMPAR can be a potential target for the treatment of social behavior deficits associated with ASD.

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Prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ), a product of the cyclooxygenation of arachidonic acid released from membrane phospholipids, plays a critical role in inflammatory neurodegenerative conditions. Despite its classic role as a proinflammatory molecule, exogenous PGE 2 was suggested to have protective roles against neuronal death, although the exact protective mechanisms of PGE 2 are not yet defined. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of exogenous PGE 2 on inflammatory neurotoxicity. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced neuronal toxicity, which was associated with terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive neuronal death with increased caspase-3 activity. In neuron-glial coculture, LPS markedly induced inducible nitric oxide synthase/nitric oxide (iNOS/NO) release from microglial cells, but not from neurons; however, LPS-induced oxidative stress such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), measured with 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate oxidation, was increased in neurons, but not in microglial cells. Exogenous PGE 2 (1 g/ml) rescued the neurons, reducing iNOS/NO release from microglial cells and ROS formation from neurons. PGE 2 has been known to increase intracelluar cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels. In this study, we found that intracellular cAMP elevating agents, forskolin, and cAMP analogue, dbcAMP and 8-Br-cAMP, also prevented LPS-induced neuronal death. Thus, these results indicate that exogenous PGE 2 protects against LPS-induced neuronal apoptotic cell death through the intracellular cAMP system, and is associated with the modulation of NO from microglial cells and ROS production from neurons.

Background and Purpose-Vascular pathology and Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology have been shown to coexist in the brains of dementia patients. We investigated how cognitive impairment could be exacerbated in a rat model of combined injury through the interaction of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion and amyloid beta (A␤) toxicity. Methods-In Wistar rats, chronic cerebral hypoperfusion was modeled by permanent occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries (BCCAo). Further, AD pathology was modeled by bilateral intracerebroventricular A␤ (A␤ toxicity) using a nonphysiological A␤ peptide (A␤ 25 to 35). The experimental animals were divided into 4 groups, including sham, single injury (A␤ toxicity or BCCAo), and combined injury (BCCAo-A␤ toxicity) groups (nϭ7 per group) . Cerebral blood flow and metabolism were measured using small animal positron emission tomography. A Morris water maze task, novel object location and recognition tests, and histological investigation, including neuronal cell death, apoptosis, neuroinflammation, and AD-related pathology, were performed. Results-Spatial memory impairment was synergistically exacerbated in the BCCAo-A␤ toxicity group as compared to the BCCAo or A␤ toxicity groups (PϽ0.05). Compared to the sham group, neuroinflammation with microglial or astroglial activation was increased both in multiple white matter lesions and the hippocampus in other experimental groups. AD-related pathology was enhanced in the BCCAo-A␤ toxicity group compared to the A␤ toxicity group. Conclusion-Our experimental results support a clinical hypothesis of the deleterious interaction between chronic cerebralhypoperfusion and A␤ toxicity. Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion-induced perturbation in the equilibrium of AD-related pathology may exacerbate cognitive impairment in a rat model of combined injury. (Stroke. 2011;42:2595-2604.)Key Words: Alzheimer disease Ⅲ amyloid beta Ⅲ chronic cerebral hypoperfusion Ⅲ Morris water maze Ⅲ vascular dementia A lzheimer disease (AD) and vascular dementia are the most common causes of cognitive decline in the aging population. 1 Accumulation of insoluble amyloid beta (A␤) in the brain has been identified as the major culprit for the cognitive impairment observed in AD patients. 2 Because senile plaques composed of the A␤ peptide have been found in the brains of AD patients, 2 extensive research has focused on the amyloid hypothesis to explain AD pathology.A hypothesis emphasizing the interaction between AD and vascular pathologies has recently emerged. [3][4][5] The Nun study and other clinico-pathological studies 6 -8 have revealed that patients with AD exhibit concomitant vascular lesions in the brain. Further, epidemiological studies have shown that the major risk factors for AD mostly coincide with those for vascular dementia. 4 The Rotterdam study, 9 a large population-based prospective study, reported an increased prevalence of atherosclerosis in patients either with AD or Received March 11, 2011; accepted March 31, 2011 A converging hypothesis involving chronic ...

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Melatonin is an indoleamine secreted by the pineal gland as well as a plant-derived product, and resveratrol (RSV) is a naturally occurring polyphenol synthesized by a variety of plant species; both molecules act as a neuroprotector and antioxidant. Recent studies have demonstrated that RSV reduced the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and stroke, while melatonin supplementation was found to reduce the progression of the cognitive impairment in AD. The heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an inducible and redox-regulated enzyme that provides tissue-specific antioxidant effects. We assessed whether the co-administration of melatonin and RSV shows synergistic effects in terms of their neuroprotective properties through HO-1. RSV significantly increased the expression levels of HO-1 protein in a concentration-dependent manner both in primary cortical neurons and in astrocytes, while melatonin per se did not. Melatonin + RSV showed a synergistic increase in the expression levels of HO-1 protein but not in the HO-1 mRNA level compared to either melatonin or RSV alone, which is mediated by the activation of PI3K-Akt pathway. Treatment of melatonin + RSV significantly attenuated the neurotoxicity induced by H(2) O(2) in primary cortical neurons and also in organotypic hippocampal slice culture. The blockade of HO-1 induction by shRNA attenuated HO-1 induction by melatonin + RSV and hindered the neuroprotective effects against oxidative stress induced by H(2) O(2) . The treatment of MG132 + RSV mimicked the effects of melatonin + RSV, and melatonin + RSV inhibited ubiquitination of HO-1. These data suggest that melatonin potentiates the neuroprotective effect of RSV against oxidative injury, by enhancing HO-1 induction through inhibiting ubiquitination-dependent proteasome pathway, which may provide an effective means to treat neurodegenerative disorders.