Protective effects of batroxobin on a nigrostriatal pathway injury in mice

Navigating neurological disorders: harnessing the power of natural compounds for innovative therapeutic breakthroughs

Novel treatments are needed as neurological issues become more frequent worldwide. According to the report, plants, oceans, microorganisms, and animals contain interesting drug discovery compounds. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and stroke reviews emphasize neurological disorders' complexity and natural substances' safety. Learn about marine-derived and herbal substances' neuroprotective characteristics and applications. Molecular pathways show these substances' neurological healing effects. This article discusses clinical usage of Bryostatin-1, Fucoidan, Icariin, Salvianolic acid, Curcumin, Resveratrol, etc. Their potential benefits for asthma and Alzheimer's disease are complex. Although limited, the study promotes rigorous scientific research and collaboration between traditional and alternative medical practitioners. Unexplored natural compounds, quality control, well-structured clinical trials, and interdisciplinary collaboration should guide future study. Developing and employing natural chemicals to treat neurological illnesses requires ethical sourcing, sustainability, and public awareness. This detailed analysis covers natural chemicals' current state, challenges, and opportunities in neurological disorder treatment. See also the graphical abstract(Fig. 1).

Sirt1 attenuates astrocyte activation via modulating Dnajb1 and chaperone-mediated autophagy after closed head injury

Our previous study indicates that Silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) is involved in macroautophagy by upregulating light chain 3 (LC3) expression in astrocyte to exert a neuroprotective effect. Chaperon-mediated autophagy (CMA), another form of autophagy, is also upregulated after brain injury. However, little is known about the role of Sirt1 in regulation of the CMA. In the present study, an in vivo model of closed head injury (CHI) and an in vitro model of primary cortical astrocyte stimulated with interleukin-1β were employed to mimic the astrocyte activation induced by traumatic brain injury. Lentivirus carrying target complementary DNA (cDNA) or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) sequence was used to overexpress Sirt1 or knockdown DnaJ heat shock protein family member B1 (Dnajb1) (a molecular chaperone). We found that Sirt1 overexpression ameliorated neurological deficits, reduced tissue loss, and attenuated astrocyte activation after CHI, which was reversed by Dnajb1-shRNA administration. The upregulation of CMA activity induced by CHI in vivo and in vitro was inhibited after Dnajb1 knockdown. Sirt1 potently promoted CMA activity via upregulating Dnajb1 expression. Mechanically, Sirt1 could interact with Dnajb1 and modulate the deacetylation and ubiquitination of Dnajb1. These findings collectively suggest that Sirt1 plays a protective role against astrocyte activation, which may be associated with the regulation of the CMA activity via modulating the deacetylation and ubiquitination of Dnajb1 after CHI.

Use of Batroxobin in Central and Peripheral Ischemic Vascular Diseases: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: The mechanism of action of Batroxobin included the decomposition of the fibrinogen to fibrin degradation products (FDPs) and D-dimer and mobilization of endothelial cells to release endogenous nt-PA and to promote thrombolysis. This review aims to summarize current study findings about batroxobin on correcting cerebral arterial, venous, and peripheral vascular diseases, to explore the mechanism of batroxobin on anti-thrombosis process.

Methods: A thorough literature search was conducted utilizing the PubMed Central (PMC) and EMBASE databases to identify studies up to June 2021. Data from clinical studies and animal experiments about batroxobin were extracted, integrated and analyzed based on Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions approach and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P), including the condition of subjects, the usage and dosage, research observation index and main findings.

Results: A total of 62 studies were enrolled in this systematic review, including 26 clinical studies and 36 animal experiments. The 26 clinical studies involved 873 patients with arterial ischemic events, 92 cases with cerebral venous thrombosis, 13 cases with cerebral cortical vein thrombosis, and 1,049 cases with peripheral vascular diseases. These patients included 452 males and 392 females aged 65.6 ± 5.53 years. The results revealed that batroxobin had broad effects, including improving clinical prognosis (n = 12), preventing thrombosis (n = 7), promoting thrombolysis (n = 6), and improving vascular cognitive dysfunction (n = 1). The effects of batroxobin on reducing neuronal apoptosis (n = 8),relieving cellular edema (n = 4), improving spatial memory (n = 3), and promoting thrombolysis (n = 13) were concluded in animal experiments. The predominant mechanisms explored in animal experiments involved promoting depolymerization of fibrinogen polymers (n = 6), regulating the expression of related molecules (n = 9); such as intercellular adhesion molecule, heat shock proteins, tumor necrosis factor), reducing oxidative stress (n = 5), and reducing inflammation response (n = 4).

Conclusion: Batroxobin can correct both arterial and venous ischemic diseases by promoting depolymerization of fibrinogen polymers, regulating the expression of related molecules, reducing oxidative stress, and reducing the inflammation response.

Neuroprotective effects of Hemocoagulase Agkistrodon on experimental traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the major cause of disability and mortality among young people and is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. However, the available clinical options have limited effectiveness. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of Hemocoagulase Agkistrodon (HCA), a thrombin-like enzyme (TLE) isolated and purified from snake venom. Rats subjected to experimental TBI were administered a single dose of HCA or vehicle 10 min after injury. Neurological function was assessed with modified neurological severity score (mNSS). Brain edema were evaluated by measuring brain water content. Levels of hemoglobin and inflammatory cytokines were detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, assays including Evans blue extravasation, Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining were utilized to determined blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. Our results showed that HCA treatment ameliorated neurological deficits (p < 0.01), alleviated brain edema (p < 0.01) and hemorrhage (p < 0.01), decreased the production of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β (p < 0.01), TNF-α (p < 0.01) and IL-6 (p < 0.05), and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 at the contusion site (p < 0.01). Moreover, HCA administration reduced BBB disruption by regulating expression of tight junction proteins, including ZO-1, occludin and claudin-5 (ps < 0.01). Together, our results demonstrate that HCA might have therapeutic efficacy in acute TBI, suggesting a potential clinical application for mitigating the neuropathological damage associated with TBI.

Batroxobin inhibits astrocyte activation following nigrostriatal pathway injury

Batroxobin is a thrombin-like serine protease from the venom of the Bothrops atrox and Bothrops moojeni snake species. Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) has been shown to play an important role in neuroprotection after traumatic brain injury. However, its underlying mechanism of action remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the mechanism by which batroxobin participates in the activation of astrocytes is associated with Sirt1. Mouse models of nigrostriatal pathway injury were established. Immediately after modeling, mice were intraperitoneally administered 39 U/kg batroxobin. Batroxobin significantly reduced the expression of cleaved caspase-3 in both the substantia nigra and striatum, inhibited neuronal apoptosis, and promoted the recovery of rat locomotor function. These changes coincided with a remarkable reduction in astrocyte activation. Batroxobin also reduced Sirt1 expression and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation in brain tissue. Intraperitoneal administration of the Sirt1-specific inhibitor EX527 (5 mg/kg) 30 minutes prior to injury could inhibit the abovementioned effects. In mouse astrocyte cultures, 1 ng/mL batroxobin attenuated interleukin-1β-induced activation of astrocytes and extracellular signal-regulated kinase. EX527 could also inhibit the effects of batroxobin. These findings suggest that batroxobin inhibits astrocyte activation after nigrostriatal pathway injury through the Sirt1 pathway. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of China Medical University, China (approval No. CMU2020037) on July 19, 2015.

Sirt1 improves functional recovery by regulating autophagy of astrocyte and neuron after brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) triggers neuronal death mechanisms that significantly induce neuronal loss and neurological dysfunction. Our previous study revealed that Sirt1 could improve the neuroprotective effect by reducing the astrocyte activation after TBI. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms of Sirt1 attenuating astrocyte activation still remain unclear. The following study examined whether the protection of Sirt1 in nigrostriatal pathway injury is associated with autophagy regulation. We established a nigrostriatal pathway injury in the mouse brain in order to mimic the traumatic brain injury and up-regulated Sirt1 expression by resveratrol. Consequently, we analyzed the effect of Sirt1 up-regulation on LC3 and monitored the LC3 localization in the astrocytes, microglial cells and neurons. We found that the Sirt1 up-regulation by resveratrol increased the expression of LC3 around the lesion site after injury. Confocal results showed that Sirt1 up-regulation increased the expression of LC3 in astrocytes and decreased the expression in the neurons, while low effect was found on the microglial cells. Moreover, compared the resveratrol treatment groups, a typical nucleocytoplasmic localization with strong distribution in the nucleus (in astrocyte and neurons) was observed in the control group (treated with DMSO). To sum up, our data suggested that regulation of Sirt1 expression could enhance autophagy in the astrocytes and decrease the expression in the neurons. This mechanism, which may probably relate to the distribution of LC3 in cytoplasm and nucleus, provides a new theoretical basis for exploring the neuroprotective mechanism of Sirt1 after brain injury.