Urolithin A (UA) is a natural metabolite produced from polyphenolics in foods such as pomegranates, berries, and nuts. UA is neuroprotective against Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cerebral hemorrhage. However, its effect against traumatic brain injury remains unknown. In this study, we established adult C57BL/6J mouse models of traumatic brain injury by controlled cortical impact and then intraperitoneally administered UA. We found that UA greatly reduced brain edema; increased the expression of tight junction proteins in injured cortex; increased the immunopositivity of two neuronal autophagy markers, microtubule-associated protein 1A/B light chain 3A/B (LC3) and p62; downregulated protein kinase B (Akt) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), two regulators of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway; decreased the phosphorylation levels of inhibitor of NFκB (IκB) kinase alpha (IKKα) and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB), two regulators of the neuroinflammation-related Akt/IKK/NFκB signaling pathway; reduced blood-brain barrier permeability and neuronal apoptosis in injured cortex; and improved mouse neurological function. These findings suggest that UA may be a candidate drug for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, and its neuroprotective effects may be mediated by inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and Akt/IKK/NFκB signaling pathways, thus reducing neuroinflammation and enhancing autophagy.

To improve the efficacy and safety of dural repair in neurosurgical procedures, a new dural material derived from bacterial cellulose (BC) was evaluated in a rabbit model with dural defects. We prepared artificial dura mater using bacterial cellulose which was incubated and fermented from Acetobacter xylinum. The dural defects of the rabbit model were repaired with BC membranes. All surgeries were performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and all efforts were made to minimize suffering. All animals were humanely euthanized by intravenous injection of phenobarbitone, at each time point, after the operation. Then, the histocompatibility and inflammatory effects of BC were examined by histological examination, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western Blot. BC membranes evenly covered the surface of brain without adhesion. There were seldom inflammatory cells surrounding the membrane during the early postoperative period. The expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α as well as iNOS and COX-2 were lower in the BC group compared to the control group at 7, 14 and 21 days after implantation. BC can repair dural defects in rabbit and has a decreased inflammatory response compared to traditional materials. However, the long-term effects need to be validated in larger animals.

• Ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂ was an effective treatment to increase the solubility of yeast β-glucan (YG). • Degradation of YG by ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂ fitted the first-order degradation kinetic model. • Ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂ solubilization modified YG did not change its primary structure. • Mechanism of YG by ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂ was discussed. • Ultrasound-assisted H₂O₂ treatment effectively improved the antioxidant activity of YG.

There is controversy among neurosurgeons regarding whether irrigation or drainage is necessary for achieving a lower revision rate for the treatment of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) using burr-hole craniostomy (BHC). Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of all available published reports. Multiple electronic health databases were searched to identify all studies published between 1989 and June 2012 that compared irrigation and drainage. Data were processed by using Review Manager 5.1.6. Effect sizes are expressed as pooled odds ratio (OR) estimates. Due to heterogeneity between studies, we used the random effect of the inverse variance weighted method to perform the meta-analysis. Thirteen published reports were selected for this meta-analysis. The comprehensive results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in mortality or complication rates between drainage and no drainage (P > 0.05). Additionally, there were no differences in recurrence between irrigation and no irrigation (P > 0.05). However, the difference between drainage and no drainage in recurrence rate reached statistical significance (P < 0.01). The results from this meta-analysis suggest that burr-hole surgery with closed-system drainage can reduce the recurrence of CSDH; however, irrigation is not necessary for every patient.