Follistatin Human ELISA Kit

Depression is a serious global affective disorder and one of the most common neurological diseases. Tanshinone IIA (TSA) is the mainly active constituent of Salvia miltiorrhiza and has diverse biological effects, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and significant neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia and Alzheimer's disease. However, whether TSA has an antidepressant effect remains unknown. The present study attempted to explore the antidepressant effects and the mechanism of TSA by examining the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the hippocampus of depressive mice. The tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST) showed that TSA can significantly reduce the immobility time of depressed mice. Chronic administration of TSA increased p-ERK and p-CREB, BDNF proteins in mice hippocampus. We further explored the potential mechanism of TSA' antidepressant effect. TSA significantly increased the expression of p-ERK, p-CREB and BDNF proteins in dexamethasone-treated PC12 cells, and this enhancement was suppressed by pretreatment with the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor SL327. Moreover, we observed that SL327 treatment markedly suppressed the increased levels of p-ERK, p-CREB and BDNF in mice hippocampus induced by TSA, preventing the antidepressant effects of TSA. Taken together, our results suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of TSA were mediated by ERK-CREB-BDNF pathway in mice hippocampus. (C) 2020 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Camels are considered as integral and notable components of the heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Genetic variabilities within and among four camel populations in Saudi Arabia were evaluated using 21 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci of 122 unrelated individuals, including three indigenous breeds [Humur (HA), Zurg ( ZR), Shuguh (SG)] and one exotic breed [Sudanese (SN)]. Nineteen SSR markers generated multilocus fingerprints with a total of 225 alleles, a range of 4-23 alleles per locus, and an average of 9, 7, 7, and 6 alleles per locus in HA, ZR, SG, and SN populations, respectively. The mean multilocus FST value (0.034 +/- 0.005) showed nonsignificant population differentiation. Mean observed heterozygosity values were 0.908 for HA, 0.860 for ZR, 0.919 for SG, and 0.887 for SN, which were higher than the expected heterozygosity. An excess of heterozygotes was observed, suggesting the presence of overdominant selection or the occurrence of outbreeding. Pairwise genetic distances indicated that the three indigenous camel breeds were genetically close to each other and genetically distant to the SN population. This genetic variability assessment by microsatellite analysis is important and useful for the conservation of local camel genetic resources as well as the future development of breeding programs.