This study was aimed to investigate whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can modulate local cerebral inflammation in ischemic stroke. Rats were subjected to ischemia by occluding the right middle cerebral artery (MCAO) for 2 hours. Rats were randomized as control, BDNF, and antibody groups. The local inflammation was evaluated on cellular, cytokine, and transcription factor levels with immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, real-time qPCR, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, respectively. Exogenous BDNF significantly improved motor-sensory, sensorimotor function, and vestibulomotor function, while BDNF did not decrease the infarct volume. Exogenous BDNF increased the number of both activated and phagocytotic microglia in brain. BDNF upregulated interleukin10 and its mRNA expression, while downregulated tumor necrosis factor α and its mRNA expression. BDNF also increased DNA-binding activity of nuclear factor-kappa B. BDNF antibody, which blocked the activity of endogenous BDNF, showed the opposite effect of exogenous BDNF. Our data indicated that BDNF may modulate local inflammation in ischemic brain tissues on the cellular, cytokine, and transcription factor levels.

Iron-based Prussian blue (FeHCF) has great application potential in the large-scale production of sodium-ion (Na + ) batteries because of its high theoretical capacity and abundant Fe ore resources. However, the Fe(CN) 6 vacancies and crystal water seriously affect the electrochemical performance. Herein, a Cu-doped FeHCF (Cu−FeHCF) cathode material is successfully prepared directly by a coprecipitation method. After Cu doping, the monoclinic structure and the quasi-cubic morphology are retained, but the electrochemical performance is significantly improved. In addition to few Fe(CN) 6 vacancies and low crystal water, the improved performance is also related to the enhanced electrochemical activity of low-spin Fe and the stabilizing effect of Cu on the crystal structure. Moreover, Cu doping also controls the side reaction to a certain extent. As a result, after Cu doping, the initial discharge capacity is enhanced from 107.9 to 127.4 mA h g −1 at 100 mA g −1 , especially the capacities contributed by low-spin Fe increase from 30.0, 21.7, and 16.7 mA h g −1 to 48.8, 45.4, and 43.7 mA h g −1 for the first three cycles, respectively. Even at 2 A g −1 , Cu−FeHCF still has a promising initial capacity of 82.3 mA h g −1 and only a 0.047% capacity decay rate for each cycle over 500 cycles. Therefore, Cu−FeHCF shows excellent application potential in the field of Na + energy storage batteries.

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Panax ginseng is a highly valued medicinal herb in Eastern society. It has also been well accepted in the West over the past decades. Ginsenosides, a major group of phytoestrogens, are the main active components of ginseng. Ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1) is one of the most abundant ginsenosides in ginseng extract, accounting for 27-42% of the total ginsenosides. 1) It has been proven to alleviate many central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including ischemic stroke. The mechanisms of GRb1 in ameliorating cerebral ischemia/reperfusion involve anti-oxidation, 2) up-regulating neurotrophic factors, 3) anti-apoptosis 3,4) and neurogenesis induction. 5)However, recent data on the pharmacokinetics of Rb1 show that its absolute oral bioavailability is as low as 4.35% in rats. Low membrane permeability dominates the extent of absorption.6,7) Also, some studies have demonstrated that the effects of 0.1-100 nmol/kg intracerebroventricular GRb1 on ischemic injury are comparable to that of several mg/kg GRb1 systemically administrated. 3,4,8) These results suggest that GRb1 might have difficulty entering the CNS. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) or other specialized CNS barriers are the main obstacles to the delivery of many potentially therapeutic and diagnostic compounds to specific areas of the brain. Large (Ͼ500 Da) hydrophilic molecules such as peptides and proteins are generally excluded, unless they can be transferred by specific receptor-mediated transcytosis or by the less specific adsorptive-mediated transcytosis.9,10) With a relatively large molecular weight of 1109.46 and an amphiphilic molecular structure, Rb1 is predicted too hard to penetrate the BBB.In recent years, intranasal delivery has gained a significant amount of attention as a convenient and reliable noninvasive method for the systemic administration of drugs. Moreover, it has been proven to rapidly target therapeutics to the CNS, bypassing the BBB, which is particularly suitable for CNS drugs with a large molecular weight and systemic side effects.11) Intranasal Ginsenoside Rg3 has been shown to have anti-fatigue effects.12) The distribution of Panax notoginseng saponins (containing GRb1) in the form of its suspension in plasma after intranasal administration has been tested. 13)However, the distribution of ginsenosides in the brain after intranasal or any other delivery method is still unknown.Macroautophagy (autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for the degradation of cellular proteins and organisms. The process of autophagy is the assembly and transformation of double-membrane vesicles.14) In the last decade, it has been recognized to play a critical role in removing protein aggregates, as well as damaged or excess organelles, to maintain intracellular homeostasis and keep the cell healthy. However, excessive or inappropriate autophagy can also lead to cell death (autophagy related cell death). 15)In the brain, autophagy occurs at a low level under physiological conditions. However, this pathway is rapidly up-regulated under environmental str...

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Prussian blue analogue Na2Ni[Fe(CN)6] (Ni–PB) has been widely studied as a cathode material for sodium‐ion battery due to its excellent cycling performance. However, Ni–PB has a low theoretical capacity of 85 mAh g−1 because of the electrochemical inertness of Ni. Herein, ternary Ni–PB is successfully synthesized by double doping with Co and Fe at Ni‐site, and the effect of doping with Co and Fe on the electrochemical performance of Ni–PB is systematically investigated through theoretical calculations and electrochemical tests. The first principles calculations confirm that double doping with Co and Fe can significantly reduce the energy barrier and bandgap of Ni–PB. X‐ray diffraction and composition analysis results indicate that ternary NiCoFe–PB composite not only has good crystallinity and high Na content but also has low defects and crystal water. Electrochemical tests reveal that, besides the capacity contribution of high‐spin Co/Fe and low‐spin Fe, Co‐doping enhances the electrochemical activity of low‐spin Fe and Fe‐doping improves the activity of high‐spin Co; moreover, double doping can decrease the diffusion resistance of Na+ ions through solid electrolyte interface film, accelerate the kinetics for both ion diffusion process and Faradic reaction, and increase active sites. Under the synergistic effect of Co and Fe, this ternary NiCoFe–PB exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance with a high initial discharge capacity of 120.4 mAh g−1 at 20 mA g−1 and an extremely low capacity fading rate of 0.0044% per cycle at a high current density of 2 A g−1 even after 10,000 cycles, showing great application potential of ternary NiCoFe–PB in the field of large‐scale energy storage.

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