Transcranial Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation Reverses Neurodegeneration in the Somatosensory Motor Cortex after Spinal Cord Transection in RatsChen, Lin, Xu
et alJ Integr Neurosci (2025) 24 (3), 26731
Abstract: Complete spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to a disconnection between the brain and the body below the injury level, resulting in the functional silencing, degeneration, and apoptosis of sensorimotor cortex (SMC) neurons, which is of crucial importance to the pathological process.In this study, a rat model of spinal cord transection was employed to explore the activation of neurons in the SMC and the reversal of neurodegeneration after the rats were treated with transcranial intermittent theta-burst stimulation (T-iTBS).The results demonstrated that the expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos and the synaptic plasticity-associated activity-regulated cytoskeleton (Arc) gene in the neurons of the SMC was increased in the T-iTBS group 4 weeks after SCI. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that neuronal activation-, neuronal metabolism-, synaptic activity-, and neural regeneration-related genes were significantly upregulated in the T-iTBS group compared with those of the sham-iTBS group, but the expression was similar to that in the normal group. Western blot analysis indicated that the expression of Cle-caspase-3 (CC3) in the SMC was significantly reduced in the T-iTBS group, and the number of CD68-positive cells in the SMC was close to that of normal rats but significantly less than that in the sham-iTBS and SCI groups. These results are in line with those of the transcriptome sequencing. Correlation analysis of the expression rate between c-Fos and Arc, CC3, and CD68 further suggested that T-iTBS improved the immune microenvironment and prevented neurodegeneration by regulating the activation and synaptic plasticity of SMC neurons in the early stages of injury.Collectively, our findings offer support for the utilization of T-iTBS, a non-invasive neural stimulation treatment, to prevent SMC degeneration following severe SCI.© 2025 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
Dietary coconut oil lowered circulating fetuin-A levels and hepatic expression of fetuin-A in KK/TaJcl miceIizuka, Kitagawa, Tamura
et alJ Clin Biochem Nutr (2025) 76 (2), 131-138
Abstract: Although coconut oil has attracted great attention as a functional food, enough supportive scientific evidence is lacking. In addition, the beneficial effects of coconut oil consumption on the prevention of metabolic disorders are controversial. Fetuin-A is a plasma glycoprotein secreted by hepatocytes and adipocytes. Circulating fetuin-A levels relate to insulin resistance due to macrophage-mediated adipose tissue inflammation. This study demonstrated that coconut oil feeding significantly downregulated the hepatic expression of fetuin-A and reduced its plasma level in KK mice-an obese diabetic model animal. The expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, a potent inducer for macrophage infiltration, decreased in epididymal white adipose tissue in coconut oil-fed KK mice. The expression of CD68 and CD11c, markers of proinflammatory M1 macrophages, was significantly reduced by coconut oil feeding in epididymal white adipose tissue of KK mice. However, the mice did not exhibit improved insulin resistance. Our results may further support the potential of coconut oil as a dietary trigger that can reduce both circulating fetuin-A levels and infiltration of proinflammatory macrophages in visceral adipose tissue.Copyright © 2025 JCBN.
Topohistology of dendritic cells and macrophages in the distal and proximal nodes along the lymph flow from the lungAoki, Kamimura, Harada-Takeda
et alJ Anat (2025)
Abstract: Nodal dendritic cells and CD169-positive macrophages cross-present cancer antigens earlier in the proximal nodes than in the distal nodes along the lymph flow from cancer. We examined topohistological differences between the proximal and distal nodes before the formation of metastasis. Immunohistochemical and morphometric analyses were performed to examine DC-SIGN-, CD68-, and CD169-positive cells in the subcarinal node (proximal) and paratracheal nodes (distal nodes) from 16 patients with lower-lobe lung cancer without metastasis (adenocarcinoma, 11; squamous, 5). Nodes at the same sites from 10 patients with upper-lobe cancer were used as controls. In all nodes, the medullary sinus was filled with CD68-positive and CD169-negative macrophages, most of which showed anthracosis. The proximal node carried a significantly smaller overlap between clusters of DC-SIGN-positive cells and CD169-positive cells relative to the distal node in lower-lobe cancer patients (p = 0.015). Irrespective of the cancer pathology, the tumor size was significantly correlated with the longer subcapsular clusters containing either DC-SIGN-positive cells or CD169-positive cells (p = 0.003, 0.043). A significantly small overlap between these clusters as well as the missing paracortical sinuses was evident in the negative control node outside the lymph flow (p = 0.006). Since DC-SIGN-positive cells and CD169-positive cells, especially composite cells in the overlapped cluster, are likely to be derived from monocytes, larger tumors appeared to accelerate the migration into the subcapsular sinus. In contrast to the suggested active status of the distal node, the proximal node appeared to have already been suppressed. This downregulation reached the level in the negative control node.© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society.
Efficacy of electro-acupuncture at "Weizhong" (BL40) on macrophage polarization in rats with injured lumbar multifidusYuan, He, Tieshan
et alJ Tradit Chin Med (2025) 45 (2), 335-347
Abstract: To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of electroacupuncture in rats with bupivacaine-induced lumbar multifidus injury and its underlying regulatory mechanism on macrophage polarization.A total of seventy-two Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into control, model, and electroacupuncture groups. Forty-eight rats categorized in model groups were injected 0.5% bupivacaine (BPVC) into the lumbar multifidus at the L4-L5 segment. Rats in the electroacupuncture groups received the intervention for 1, 2, 3 and 5 d, respectively. The degree of macrophage infiltration and change of M1/M2 polarization were observed based on hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of electroacupuncture. Meanwhile, exosomal miRNA-sequencing and bioinformatics analysis predicted the pathways and biological processes related to inflammatory response and macrophage polarization regulated by electroacupuncture intervention.BPVC injection induced the infiltration of local macrophages at the L4-L5 segment of lumbar multifidus. Comparison of mean IOD values with 2 d and 5 d post injury revealed the highest expression of CD68+ macrophages on day 3 post injury by immunohistochemistry. (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). Compared with the model group, the cell counts of iNOs+ CD68+ M1-macrophages were lower in the electroacupuncture group, while the positive percent of CD163+ CD206+ M2-macrophages was higher in the electroacupuncture group, on day 3 after BPVC injection (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, the results of sequencing and bioinformatic analysis suggested that exosomal miRNAs were involved in the EA regulating macrophage polarization.Electroacupuncture can promote macrophage polarization to reduce inflammation following lumbar multifidus muscular injury.
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