The effect of Jujuboside A on the evoked field potentials of granule cells in dentate gyrus

Jujuboside A (JuA) is a main component of Jujubogenin extracted from the seeds of Ziziphus. The authors have not seen any report on JuA's direct effect on the neurons of the central nervous system. This study aimed to assess the effect of JuA on paired-pulse responses of dentate gyrus granule cells in urethane-anaestherized rats, used intracerebroventricular (i. c. v.) JuA to mimic in vitro bath conditions in vivo. Paired-pulse stimuli with 80ms interpulse interval were used to stimulate the perforant pathway. Evoked responses were recorded in the dentate gyrus cell layer after i. c. v. administration of 0.9% normal saline or JuA. In the first responses, the slopes of excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP1) and the amplitudes of population spike (PS1) decreased significantly after administration of JuA while the PS1 latencies increased significantly. In the second responses, the EPSP2 slopes and PS2 latencies were changed similarly to those of the first ones, but PS2 amplitudes increased. The results showed that JuA may have some inhibitory effect on the granule cell excitability mediated by presynaptic mechanism but may have little effect on the excitability mediated by postsynaptic mechanism since the second evoked N-methyl-D-aspartic mediating paired-pulse facilitation is a postsynaptic mechanism. Project supported by the National Key Scientific and Technological Planning Fund of China (Grant 99-929-04-03), and by the Visiting Scholar Fund of Key Laboratory from the Education Ministry of China     

Influence of injection of Chinese botulinum toxin type A on the histomorphology and myosin heavy chain composition of rat gastrocnemius muscles

Background and objective

Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) is a metalloprotease that blocks synaptic transmission via the cleavage of a synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25). It has gained widespread use as a treatment for cerebral palsy and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. In China, Chinese botulinum toxin type A (CBTX-A), a type of BoNT/A, is in widespread clinical use. However, the changes in the morphological and biochemical properties of treated muscles and in remote muscles from the CBTX-A injection site are relatively unknown. Therefore, we investigated the changes in histomorphology and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoform composition and distribution in rat gastrocnemius muscles after intramuscular injection of CBTX-A.

Methods

The weakness of the injected muscles was assessed periodically to identify their functional deficiency. Muscle slices were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). MyHC isoform composition was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to uncover changes in morphological and biochemical properties.

Results

Our findings demonstrate that following injection of CBTX-A 5 U into rat gastrocnemius muscles, shifts in MyHC isoform composition emerged on the third day after injection and peaked in the fourth week. The composition remained distinctly different from that of the control group after the twelfth week. More specifically, there was a decrease in the proportion of the type IIb isoform and an increase in the proportions of type IIx, type IIa, and type I isoforms.

Conclusions

Data revealed that CBTX-A led to a shift in MyHC composition towards slower isoforms and that the MyHC composition remained far from normal six months after a single injection. However, no noticeable remote muscle weakness was induced.