Post-training intracerebroventricular administration of procaine (20 micrograms/microliter) and dimethocaine (10 or 20 micrograms/microliter), local anesthetics of the ester class, prolonged the latency (s) in the retention test of male and female 3-month-old Swiss albino mice (25-35 g body weight; N = 140) in the elevated plus-maze (mean +/- SEM for 10 male mice: control = 41.2 +/- 8.1; procai...

Testis-brain RNA-binding protein (TB-RBP), the mouse orthologue of the human protein Translin, is a widely expressed and highly conserved protein with proposed functions in chromosomal translocations, mitotic cell division, and mRNA transport and storage. To better define the biological roles of TB-RBP, we generated mice lacking TB-RBP. Matings between heterozygotes gave rise to viable, apparen...

According to WHO global estimates from 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight and among them, over 200 million men and 300 million women were obese. Although the main treatment modalities for overweight and obese individuals remain dieting and physical exercise, the synthetic anti-obesity medications have been increasingly used due to their perceived convenience. Generally, anti-obe...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex multi-system and age-related neurodegenerative disorder. The intervention targeting neuroinflammation in PD patients is one effective strategy to slow down or inhibit disease progression. Microglia-mediated inflammatory response plays an important role in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other cerebral diseases. Isobavachalcone is a main component of Chinese he...

BACKGROUND The aetiology of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is unknown. Recent evidence suggests that there may be autoantibodies directed against peripheral nerves, but it is unclear whether such autoantibodies are merely biomarkers or whether they cause or contribute to the underlying pathology. The transfer of disease after injection of a patient's serum or IgG fraction into mice ('pas...

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced sensory motor function and brain pathology was examined using intracerebral administration of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) antiserum in a rat model. TBI was produced by a making a longitudinal incision into the right parietal cerebral cortex limited to the dorsal surface of the hippocampus. Focal TBI induces profound...

Previous studies have implicated the role of Purkinje cells in motor learning and the underlying mechanisms have also been identified in great detail during the last decades. Here we report that cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5)/p35 in Purkinje cell also contributes to synaptic plasticity. We previously showed that p35(-/-) (p35 KO) mice exhibited a subtle abnormality in brain structure and impa...

Ocimum gratissimum L. (Lamiaceae) and other species of the same genus are used as medicines to treat central nervous system (CNS) diseases, commonly encountered in warm regions of the world. The chemical composition of Ocimum gratissimum essential oil varies according to their chemotypes: timol, eugenol or geraniol. In this study, the essential oil type eugenol was extracted by hydrodistillatio...

The literature shows that the monoterpenes are great candidates for the development of new drugs for the treatment of various pathological processes, including painful conditions. The gamma terpinene (γ-TPN) is a monoterpene present in plant species that have multiple pharmacological properties and has structural similarity to antinociceptive monoterpenes, such as limonene and alpha-phellandren...

The purposes of this study were to examine whether aquatic exercise has influence on the neuroplasticity and vestibulo-motor function in diffuse brain injury rats. 80 Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to four groups; Group I: control group (n=20), Group II: aquatic exercise (n=20), Group III: treadmill exercise with change of velocity and inclination (n=20), Group IV: simple treadmill exercise ...