Chronic Neuroinflammation and Cognitive Decline in Patients with Cardiac Disease: Evidence, Relevance, and Therapeutic Implications

Ischemia-Reperfusion Programming of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Genes-A New Perspective on Brain Neurodegeneration after Cardiac Arrest

The article presents the latest data on pathological changes after cerebral ischemia caused by cardiac arrest. The data include amyloid accumulation, tau protein modification, neurodegenerative and cognitive changes, and gene and protein changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. We present the latest data on the dysregulation of genes related to the metabolism of the amyloid protein precursor, tau protein, autophagy, mitophagy, apoptosis, and amyloid and tau protein transport genes. We report that neuronal death after cerebral ischemia due to cardiac arrest may be dependent and independent of caspase. Moreover, neuronal death dependent on amyloid and modified tau protein has been demonstrated. Finally, the results clearly indicate that changes in the expression of the presented genes play an important role in acute and secondary brain damage and the development of post-ischemic brain neurodegeneration with the Alzheimer's disease phenotype. The data indicate that the above genes may be a potential therapeutic target for brain therapy after ischemia due to cardiac arrest. Overall, the studies show that the genes studied represent attractive targets for the development of new therapies to minimize ischemic brain injury and neurological dysfunction. Additionally, amyloid-related genes expression and tau protein gene modification after cerebral ischemia due to cardiac arrest are useful in identifying ischemic mechanisms associated with Alzheimer's disease. Cardiac arrest illustrates the progressive, time- and area-specific development of neuropathology in the brain with the expression of genes responsible for the processing of amyloid protein precursor and the occurrence of tau protein and symptoms of dementia such as those occurring in patients with Alzheimer's disease. By carefully examining the common genetic processes involved in these two diseases, these data may help unravel phenomena associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease and neurodegeneration after cerebral ischemia and may lead future research on Alzheimer's disease or cerebral ischemia in new directions.

Neuroprotective Effects of Ecklonia cava in a Chronic Neuroinflammatory Disease Model

Inflammation is a natural defense mechanism against noxious stimuli, but chronic inflammation can lead to various chronic diseases. Neuroinflammation in the central nervous system plays an important role in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Polyphenol-rich natural products, such as Ecklonia cava (E. cava), are known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and can provide treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases by controlling neuroinflammation. We investigated the effects of an E. cava extract on neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration under chronic inflammatory conditions. Mice were pretreated with E. cava extract for 19 days and then exposed to E. cava with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 1 week. We monitored pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in the serum, inflammation-related markers, and neurodegenerative markers using Western blotting and qRT-PCR in the mouse cerebrum and hippocampus. E. cava reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the blood and brain of mice with LPS-induced chronic inflammation. We also measured the activity of genes related to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Surprisingly, E. cava decreased the activity of markers associated with inflammation (NF-kB and STAT3) and a neurodegenerative disease marker (glial fibrillary acidic protein, beta-amyloid) in the cerebrum and hippocampus of mice. We suggest that E. cava extract has the potential as a protective agent against neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.