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Exposure to hypobaric hypoxia causes neuron cell damage, resulting in impaired cognitive function. Effective interventions to antagonize hypobaric hypoxia-induced memory impairment are in urgent need. Ketogenic diet (KD) has been successfully used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy and improves cognitive behaviors in epilepsy patients and other pathophysiological animal models. In the present study, we aimed to explore the potential beneficial effects of a KD on memory impairment caused by hypobaric hypoxia and the underlying possible mechanisms. We showed that the KD recipe used was ketogenic and increased plasma levels of ketone bodies, especially β-hydroxybutyrate. The results of the behavior tests showed that the KD did not affect general locomotor activity but obviously promoted spatial learning. Moreover, the KD significantly improved the spatial memory impairment caused by hypobaric hypoxia (simulated altitude of 6000 m, 24 h). In addition, the improving-effect of KD was mimicked by intraperitoneal injection of BHB. The western blot and immunohistochemistry results showed that KD treatment not only increased the acetylated levels of histone H3 and histone H4 compared to that of the control group but also antagonized the decrease in the acetylated histone H3 and H4 when exposed to hypobaric hypoxia. Furthermore, KD-hypoxia treatment also promoted PKA/CREB activation and BDNF protein expression compared to the effects of hypoxia alone. These results demonstrated that KD is a promising strategy to improve spatial memory impairment caused by hypobaric hypoxia, in which increased modification of histone acetylation plays an important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celastrol, a tripterine derived from the traditional Chinese medicine plant Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F. (“Thunder of God Vine”), has been reported to have multiple effects, such as anti-inflammation, suppression of tumor angiogenesis, inhibition of tumor growth, induction of apoptosis and protection of cells against human neurodegenerative diseases. However, the mechanisms that underlie these functions are not well defined. In this study, we reported for the first time that Celastrol could induce HIF-1α protein accumulation in multiple cancer cell lines in an oxygen-independent manner and that the enhanced HIF-1α protein entered the nucleus and promoted the transcription of the HIF-1 target genes VEGF and Glut-1. Celastrol did not influence HIF-1α transcription. Instead, Celastrol induced the accumulation of the HIF-1α protein by inducing ROS and activating Akt/p70S6K signaling to promote HIF-1α translation. In addition, we found that the activation of Akt by Celastrol was transient. With increased exposure time, inhibition of Hsp90 chaperone function by Celastrol led to the subsequent depletion of the Akt protein and thus to the suppression of Akt activity. Moreover, in HepG2 cells, the accumulation of HIF-1α increased the expression of BNIP3, which induced autophagy. However, HIF-1α and BNIP3 did not influence the cytotoxicity of Celastrol because the main mechanism by which Celastrol kills cancer cells is through stimulating ROS-mediated JNK activation and inducing apoptosis. Furthermore, our data showed that the dose required for Celastrol to induce HIF-1α protein accumulation and enhance HIF-1α transcriptional activation was below its cytotoxic threshold. A cytotoxic dose of Celastrol for cancer cells did not display cytotoxicity in LO2 normal human liver cells, which indicated that the novel functions of Celastrol in regulating HIF-1 signaling and inducing autophagy might be used in new applications, such as in anti-inflammation and protection of cells against human neurodegenerative diseases. Future studies regarding these applications are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vitamin D has been recognized to contribute to various physiological processes. However, no study has investigated serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in children with nocturnal enuresis (NE) in the English literature. Objective: In the present study, serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured in five- to seven-year-old children with NE and compared with those in non-enuretic children to investigate whether there was any relationship between 25(OH)D and NE as the first time in the literature. Design: Two hundred forty-seven five- to seven-year-old children were recruited from Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured, and the structured questionnaire was administered to the parents of all children. Low 25(OH)D was defined as serum 25(OH)D concentrations below 20 ng/ml. Results: The prevalence of NE was 7.3% in the group of children with 25(OH)D concentrations that exceeded 20 ng/ml; this prevalence was much lower than the 17.5% observed in the group of children with 25(OH)D concentrations below 20 ng/ml (p<0.05). After adjusting for potential confounders, serum 25(OH)D (≥20 ng/ml) was significantly associated with NE and represented a protective factor against NE (OR = 0.31, 95%CI = 0.092, 1.0, P<0.05). A nonlinear relationship between 25(OH)D and NE was observed. The prevalence of NE decreased with increasing 25(OH)D concentrations above 19 ng/ml. Additionally, children exhibiting higher frequencies of bedwetting had lower 25(OH)D concentrations [5–7 times/week: 18.3±4.8; 2–4 times/week: 20.9±4.1; 0–1 times/week: 23.6±6.4 (ng/ml), P<0.05)]. Conclusions: Low 25(OH)D was associated with an increased risk of NE in children aged five to seven years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese (Mn) exposure can affect brain development. Whether Selenium (Se) can protect neonates against neurotoxicity from Mn exposure remains unclear. We investigated this issue in 933 mother-newborn pairs in Shanghai, China, from 2008 through 2009. Umbilical cord serum concentrations of Mn and Se were measured and Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA) tests were conducted. The scores <37 were defined as the low NBNA. The median concentrations of cord serum Mn and Se were 4.0 µg/L and 63.1 µg/L, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, the interaction between Se and Mn was observed. Cord blood Mn levels had different effects on NBNA scores stratified by different cord blood Se levels. With Se