Lipopolysaccharide is an endotoxin to induce sickness behavior in several animal models to explore the link between immune activation and cognition. Neuroinflammation playing a pivotal role in disease progress is evidently influenced by sphingosine-1-phosphate. As one of the sphingosine analogs in clinical use for multiple sclerosis, fingolimod (FTY720) was shown to substantially affect gene expression profile in the context of AD in our previous experiments. The present study was designed to evaluate the drug efficacy in the context of the mere inflammatory context leading to memory impairment. FTY720 was repeatedly administered for a few days before or after intracerebral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection in rats. Animal's brains were then assigned to histological as well as multiplex mRNA assay following memory performance test. Both FTY720 pre-treatment and post-treatment were similarly capable of ameliorating LPS-induced memory impairment as assessed by passive avoidance test. Such amending effects may be partly accountable by the concomitant alterations in transcriptional levels of mitogen-activated protein kinases as well as inflammatory genes determined by QuantiGene Plex analysis. These findings confirming FTY720 application benefits suggest its efficacy may not differ significantly while considered either as a preventive or as a therapeutic approach against neuroinflammation.
Painful neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes mellitus is characterized by allodynia and hyperalgesia. Recent studies emphasized on the role of non-neuronal cells, particularly microglia in the development of neuronal hypersensitivity. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of minocyline, a selective inhibitor of microglial activation to define the role of neuroimmune activation in experimental diabetic neuropathy. Cold allodynia and thermal and chemical hyperalgesia were assessed and the markers of inflammation and oxidative and nitrosative stress were estimated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Chronic administration of minocycline (40 and 80 mg/kg, i.p.) for 2 weeks started 2 weeks after diabetes induction attenuated the development of diabetic neuropathy as compared to diabetic control animals. In addition, minocyline treatment reduced the levels of interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α, lipid peroxidation, nitrite and also improved antioxidant defense in spinal cords of diabetic rats as compared to diabetic control animals. In contrast, minocycline (80 mg/kg, per se) had no effect on any of these behavioral and biochemical parameters assessed in age-matched control animals. The results of the present study strongly suggest that activated microglia are involved in the development of experimental diabetic neuropathy and minocycline exerted its effect probably by inhibition of neuroimmune activation of microglia. In addition, the beneficial effects of minocycline are partly mediated by its anti-inflammatory effect by reducing the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and in part by modulating oxidative and nitrosative stress in the spinal cord that might be involved in attenuating the development of behavioral hypersensitivity in diabetic rats.
In this study, we developed a mouse model and characterized the effects of intranasal inoculation of virulent Brucella melitensis strain 16M and its lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The effects of the exposure were compared with respective control groups. Both Brucella melitensis-infected and LPS-infected groups showed no significant clinical presentation with minor relevance in the mortality associated with the infection. In Brucella melitensis-infected group, significant histopathological changes in comparison to the LPS infected group with increase bacterial burden in the lungs, reproductive and reticuloendothelial organs were observed. However, both infected groups showed elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (IL-1β and IL6) and antibody production (IgM an IgG) as early as 3 days post-infection with predominance in LPS infected group. In contrast, low levels of sex related hormonal changes was recorded in both infected groups throughout the experimental period. This is the first detailed investigation comparing the infection progression and host responses in relation to the immunopathophysiological aspects in mouse model after intranasal inoculation with B. melitensis and its lipopolysaccharide. The study revealed a significant difference between infected and control groups with overlap in clinical, pathological, and immunological responses as well as sex related hormonal changes resulting from the infections.