Neuroactive Steroids in Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Injury: Overview and Future Directions

Hypoxic–ischemic brain injury is a number one cause of long-term neurologic disability and death worldwide. This public health burden is mainly characterized by a decrease in oxygen concentration and blood flow to the tissues, which lead to an inefficient supply of nutrients to the brain. This condition induces cell death by energy depletion and increases free radical generation and inflammation. Hypoxic–ischemic brain injury may occur in ischemic-stroke and over perinatal asphyxia, being both leading causes of morbidity in adults and children, respectively. Currently, there are no effective pharmaceutical strategies to prevent the triggering of secondary injury cascades, including oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction. Neuroactive steroids like selective estrogen receptor modulators, SERMs, and selective tissue estrogenic activity regulators, STEARs, exert several neuroprotective effects. These encompass mitochondrial survival, a decrease in reactive oxygen species, and maintenance of cell viability, among others. In this context, these neurosteroids constitute promising molecules, which could modify brain response to injury. Here we show an updated overview of the underlying mechanisms of hypoxic–ischemic brain injury. We also highlight the neuroprotective effects of neurosteroids and their future directions.

Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroprotection: Associated Receptors

Research with humans and animals has been developed over the past few years to identify receptors involved in Alzheimer’s disease, aiming at a better understanding of the mechanisms and pathophysiological aspects associated with the disease. Such receptors, whether or not directly associated with current AD therapy, are relevant since their blockage or activation might result in improving or worsening the clinical scenario of the disease. In other words, such receptors might be involved in the AD prognosis. This chapter discusses some relevant points about the receptors involved with AD.

Neuroprotection: The Way of Anti-Inflammatory Agents

Neurons are basic structural and functional units of the nervous system with major function being that of integration and interpretation of neuronal input or information. The lifespan of a nerve cell generally last throughout the individual lifetime. However, some physiologic or pathologic processes may affect the neuron causing premature death of this cell or tissue. This premature neurological death caused by pathologic circumstances is what we call neurotoxicity. The biochemical mechanisms put forward to explain neurotoxicity are not fully known. Nonetheless, whatever the mechanism involved, the outcome usually results in apoptosis, pyropoptosis, or necrosis. Examples of these mechanisms include excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, glial cell destruction, vascular interruptions, and inflammation. The idea about possibly protecting neurons against insults using pharmacologic means leads to the birth of the neuroprotection concept. This new concept has emerged based on ongoing research, suggesting it is possible through physical and pharmacological means to prevent or avoid neurotoxicity by the abovementioned mechanisms but with the exception of vascular interruption mechanisms. We will present in this chapter a synoptic view of the inflammatory mechanisms implicated in neurotoxicity and bring out the possible implications in neuroprotection.

Neuroprotective Properties of Cannabinoids in Cellular and Animal Models: Hypotheses and Facts

Progressive neuronal loss is a typical characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson’s disease, the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia results in impaired mobility and flawed muscle control. The loss of cholinergic neurons largely in the basal forebrain contributes to memory and attention deficits and the overall cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. This being said, neuroprotective drugs should be expected to preserve and/or restore the functions affected by neuronal loss, and substantially prevent cell death. The endocannabinoid system, comprising lipid mediators able to bind to and activate cannabinoid receptors, has emerged as a therapeutic target of potential interest in a variety of central nervous system diseases. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is one of the most important endocannabinoids, which has a key role in modulating oxidative stress and inflammatory response with neuroprotective potential in neurological disorders. Neurodegenerative diseases undergo varied, progressive stages. The current therapeutical approaches are beginning to fall short when it comes to meet the expected results, urging to either develop or identify or develop new effective treatments. This chapter discusses the neuroprotective potential of new drugs, aiming to shed some light on their proposed mechanism of action and their effect in cellular and animal models of neurodegeneration.

Neuroprotective and Neurorestorative Properties of Copolymer-1: Its Immunomodulating Effects on Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is a pathology of great relevance worldwide as it currently occupies the second motif of death and the third reason of disability. Although exits some therapies that are used successfully in the clinic, a very high percentage of patients do not have the opportunity to benefit from them; therefore, it is imperative to propose other alternatives that may favor more patients. In this chapter, we briefly review the inflammatory response induced by stroke and also its deleterious and protective effects. We will describe the characteristics of copolymer-1 and the effects that this compound has shown in models of cerebral ischemia.

Extracts and Essential Oils from Medicinal Plants and Their Neuroprotective Effect

Current therapies for neurodegenerative diseases offer only limited benefits to their clinical symptoms and do not prevent the degeneration of neuronal cells. Neurological diseases affect millions of people around the world, and the economic impact of treatment is high, given that health care resources are scarce. Thus, many therapeutic strategies to delay or prevent neurodegeneration have been the subject of research for treatment. One strategy for this is the use of herbal and essential oils of different species of medicinal plants because they have several bioactive compounds and phytochemicals with neuroprotective capacity. In addition, they respond positively to neurological disorders, such as dementia, oxidative stress, anxiety, cerebral ischemia, and oxidative toxicity, suggesting their use as complementary treatment agents in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Hydrogen Sulfide as a Factor of Neuroprotection during the Constitutive and Reparative Neurogenesis in Fish Brain

The H2S-producing systems were studied in trout telencephalon, tectum, and cerebellum at 1 week after eye injury. The results of ELISA analysis have shown a 1.7-fold increase in the CBS expression at 1 week post-injury, as compared to the intact trout. In the ventricular and subventricular regions of trout telencephalon, CBS+ cells, as well as neuroepithelial and glial types, were detected. As a result of injury, the number of CBS+ neuroepithelial cells in the pallial and subpallial periventricular regions of the telencephalon increases. In the tectum, a traumatic damage leads to an increase in the CBS expression in radial glia with a simultaneous decrease in the number of CBS immunopositive neuroepithelial cells detected in intact animals. In the cerebellum, we revealed neuroglial interrelations, in which H2S is probably released from the astrocyte-like cells with subsequent activation of the neuronal NMDA receptors. The organization of the H2S-producing cell complexes suggests that the amount of glutamate produced in the trout cerebellum and its reuptake is controlled with the involvement of astrocyte-like cells, reducing its excitotoxicity. We believe that the increase in the number of H2S-producing cells constitutes a response to oxidative stress, and the overproduction of H2S neutralizes the reactive oxygen species.

Lifestyle Factors, Mitochondrial Dynamics, and Neuroprotection

The brain requires vast amounts of energy to carry out neurotransmission; indeed, it is responsible for approximately one-fifth of the body’s energy consumption. Therefore, in order to understand functions of brain cells under both normal and pathological conditions, it is critical to elucidate dynamics of intracellular energy. The mitochondrion is the key intercellular organelle that controls neuronal energy and survival. Numerous studies have reported a correlation between altered mitochondrial function and brain-associated diseases; thus mitochondria may serve as a promising target for treating these conditions. In this chapter, we will discuss the mechanisms of mitochondrial production, movement, and degradation in order to understand accessibility of energy during physiological and pathological conditions of the brain. While research targeting molecular dynamics is promising, translation into clinical relevance based on bench research is challenging. For these reasons, we will also summarize lifestyle factors, including interventions and chronic comorbidities that disrupt mitochondrial dynamics. By determining lifestyle factors that are readily accessible, we can propose a new viewpoint for a synergistic and translational approach for neuroprotection.

In Vivo Studies of Protein Misfolding and Neurodegeneration Induced by Metabolic Syndrome Relative to Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion: A Critical Review

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) leads to microvascular dysfunction and chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) in an insidious way. Clinical evidence and several rodent models have contributed to determining the neurodegenerative effect of a sustained decrease in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Protein misfolding and aggregation derived from CCH might account for the establishment of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the complex and multifactorial etiology of cerebrovascular disease demands the combination of experimental models in scientific research. In this sense, the present work aims at summarizing the differential available rodent paradigms for studying the establishment of cognitive decline resulting from protein misfolding induced by MetS in association with CCH. Revising experimental findings in the field will help further basic research on the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular disease and the future testing of protein-remodeling factors as neuroprotective agents for the prevention of cognitive impairment.

Trends in Neuroprotective Strategies after Spinal Cord Injury: State of the Art

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an important pathology leading to possibly fatal consequences. The most common repercussions are those affecting motor and sensitivity skills. SCI-damage occurs in its first phase—as a result of the lesion mechanism (contusion, compression, transection, and primary lesion). After this primary damage, there is a second phase with further deleterious effects on neural degeneration and tissue restoration. At the moment, several investigation groups are working on developing therapeutic strategies to induce neuroprotection. This chapter pretends to introduce the reader to a wide range of these therapies, particularly those with promising results and tested in preclinical and clinical studies. In the first section, physiopathology of SCI will be addressed. Afterwards, the chapter will review neuroprotective strategies such as cyclooxygenase, calpain, and apoptosis inhibitors. Finally, the effect of immunophilin ligands, neural-derived peptides, antioxidants, hypoglycemic agent, gonadal hormones, Na channel blockers, and transplant of cultured cells will also be reviewed.