In clinical doses, propofol strongly attenuates lipid peroxidation during CABG surgery.

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Objective: To evaluate the histopathological and antioxidant effects of vitamin E (VE) treatment on brain tissue in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods: Thirty two male Wistar albino rats were used. The study comprised four groups of 8 rats: Group A - untreated group, group B - diabetic group, group C - VE and group D - diabetic plus VE. In the diabetic groups, diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of 65 mg/kg STZ. Vitamin E was given 50 mg/kg/day i.p. for three weeks. Concentrations of glucose, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were detected in the haemolysate. Results: Glucose concentrations were increased in the blood of the STZ-treated rats compared with those in the diabetic groups (group B and D). The MDA concentrations in the brain from diabetic rats increased, whereas the GPx, SOD, CAT concentrations decreased. Treatment with VE returned concentrations of MDA, GPx, SOD and CAT toward control values. The MDA concentration in the diabetic group (20.65±2.24 nmol/mg Hb) was decreased compared with the VE treated group (15.54±1.32 nmol/mg Hb). There were no pathological differences between untreated and VE treated rats’ brains. Neuronal ischemic damages were determined in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Ischemic neuronal alterations in group B (diabetic) had more damage than group D (diabetic + VE). Conclusion: The study revealed neuroprotective effects of VE on ischemic damage in diabetic central neuronal cells, caused by diabetic oxidative stress.

Epilepsy is a neurological disease arising from strong and uncontrollable electrical firings of a group of neurons in the central nervous system. Experimental epileptic models have been developed to assess the physiopathology of epileptic seizures. This study was undertaken to estimate the number of neurons in the rat hippocampus with penicillin induced epilepsy, using a stereological method, "the optical fractionator". In the experimental group, 500 IU penicillin-G was injected intra-cortically, and in the control group, the same volume of saline was administered. A week later, the animals were decapitated and their brains were removed by craniatomy. Frozen brains were cut with a thickness of 150 µm in a cryostat. Sections were collected by systematic random sampling and stained with hematoxylen-eosin. Microscopic images of pyramidal cell layers from hippocampus CA1, CA2 and CA3 subfields were then transferred to a monitor, using a 100x objective (N.A. = 1.25). Using the optical disector method, the neurons were counted in the frames and determined with a fractionator sampling scheme. The total pyramidal neuron number was then estimated using the optical fractionator method. The total pyramidal neuron number was found to be statistically lower in the experimental group (mean = 142,888 ± 11,745) than in the control group (mean = 177,953 ± 10,907) (p < 0.05). The results suggest that a decrease in the hippocampal neuronal number in a penicillin model of epilepsy can be determined objectively and efficiently using the optical fractionator method.

In whole-mount explant cultures of the trigeminal ganglion (TG) with intact peripheral and brainstem targets, exogenous application of nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) leads to elongation and precocious arborization of embryonic trigeminal axons, respectively. In addition, neurotrophins play a major role in survival and differentiation of distinct classes of TG neurons. In the present study, we conducted morphometric analyses of trigeminal neurons exposed to exogenous NGF or NT-3 in whole-mount explant cultures. Explants dissected from embryonic day (E) 13 and E15 rats were cultured in the presence of serum-free medium (SFM) or in SFM supplemented with NGF or NT-3 for 3 days. TG neurons were then retrogradely labeled with lipophilic tracer DiI and their soma size distributions were compared following different treatments. The mean diameters of E13 and E15 trigeminal neurons grown in the presence of NT-3 were similar to those grown in SFM. On the other hand, in cultures supplemented with NGF, the mean diameters of neurons were larger at E13, but smaller at E15. Double immunolabeling with TrkA and TrkC antibodies confirmed the presence of large-diameter TrkA-positive neurons in E13 TG, but not in E15 TG. At both ages, other large-diameter neurons expressed only TrkC. These results show that exposure to NGF leads to phenotypic changes in TrkA-expressing trigeminal neurons at early embryonic development, but selective survival of small diameter neurons at later ages. Anat

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SUMMARYExperimental epileptic models have been developed to assess the pathophysiology of epileptic seizures. We have previously shown that epileptic seizures cause significant neuronal loss in hippocampus (pO.O5). This study suggests that the loss of hippocampal neurons in penicillin-induced epilepsy seizure is not directly correlated with a volume change in the hippocampus. Furthermore, our results indicate that it is important to assess both the neuron number and the volume of the affected area using stereological methods in an epilepsy model to objectively analyze the effects of the seizure.