Semax

We studied immunocorrecting effects of Semax (Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro) on the model of "social" stress caused by sensory contact and intermale confrontation. Functional activity of the immune system of laboratory animals was evaluated in standard immunopharmacological tests: delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, direct agglutination test, latex test for studying phagocytic activity of peripheral blood neutrophils, changes in differential leukocyte count, and weight of immunocompetent organs...

The effects of nootropic drug Semax on the neuronal network of the brain were studied by the resting state functional magnetic-resonance imaging (resting state fMRI). The study was carried out on two groups of healthy volunteers (11 men and 13 women aged 43.9±9.5 years). Resting state fMRI was carried out 3 times: directly before and 5 and 20 min after intranasal 1% Semax (14 subjects) or placebo (10 subjects). The topography of the resting state default mode network was studied. A greater volume of the default mode network rostral (medial frontal cortex) subcomponent was detected in the Semax group in comparison with controls...

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of semax and timing of rehabilitation on the dynamics of plasma BDNF levels, motor performance, and Barthel index score in patients after ischemic stroke (IS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and ten patients after IS (43 men, 67 women, mean age 58.0±9.7, Ме 63 years) were examined. All patients were divided into early (89±9 days) and late (214±22 days) rehabilitation groups. Each group was subdivided into semax+ and semax- subgroups...

The concentration-clamp experiments with neurons isolated from the rat brain showed that nootropic and neuroprotective drug Semax added to perfusion solution at concentration of 1 μM augmented the amplitude of GABA-activated ionic currents in cerebellum Purkinje cells by 147±13%. In addition, Semax in perfusion solution (0.1 and 1 μM) diminished the amplitude of glycine-activated chloride currents in hippocampal pyramidal neurons down to 68 and 43% control level, respectively. Both potentiating and inhibitory effects developed slowly, and they were poorly reversible, which indicated a probable implication of second messengers in the observed phenomena...

Although the formation of β-amyloid (Aβ) fibrils in neuronal tissues is a hallmark of Alzheimer disease (AD), small-sized Aβ oligomers rather than mature fibrils have been identified as the most neurotoxic species. Therefore, the design of new inhibitors, able to prevent the aggregation of Aβ, is believed to be a promising therapeutic approach to AD. Unfortunately, the short-lived intermediate structures that occur in a solution along the Aβ aggregation pathway escape conventional experimental investigations and there is urgent need of new tools aimed at the discovery of agents targeting monomeric Aβ and blocking the early steps of amyloid aggregation...

We studied the effects of peptide drugs (HLDF-6, PGP, RPGP, and PGLP) and peptide pharmaceutical products (Semax, Selank, and thyroliberin) on proliferation and survival of mouse embryonic stem cells and their derivatives. Differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into neuronal precursors was evaluated. PGP and PGLP in concentrations of 10 and 0.1 μM, respectively, had little, but significant inhibitory effect on proliferative activity of cells. These peptides in concentrations of 10 and 0.1 μM, respectively, and Semax (10 and 0...

The effect of peptide Semax on remodeling of cardiac sympathetic innervation was examined in rats with experimental myocardial infarction. In 28 days after ischemia/reperfusion injury, Semax diminished the growth of sympathetic innervation of ventricular septum, although it produced no effect on the density of β1 and β2 adrenoceptors.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common severe neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (DA neurons) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) region of the brain. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the synthetic regulatory peptides Semax (analog of an ACTH 4-10 fragment (ACTH4-10)) and Selank (analog of immunomodulatory taftsin) on behavior of rats with 6-hydroxidopamine (6-OHDA) induced PD-like parkinsonism. It was showed that both peptides did not affect motor activity of rats in elevated cross shaped maze and passive defensive behavior of the animals...

We studied the effect of intraperitoneal administration of peptide ACTG4-7 -PGP to male Wistar rats in doses of 5, 50, 150, and 450 μg/kg on the morphofunctional state of hepatocytes in chronic emotional and painful stress. A dose-dependent stress-limiting effect of the peptide was observed: it normalized the protein synthesis function of the liver and serum activity of ALT. The anticytolytic effect of the peptide increased with increasing its dose against the background of the increase in the relative number of multinucleated and multinucleolated cells and deceleration of the recovery of serum protein concentration...

AIM: To compare mexidol with control molecules (choline alfoscerate, piracetam, glycine, semax) using chemoreactome analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The chemical structure of mexidol was compared to molecule metabolites extracted from the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) and a drug database. More than 40 000 of metabolites from HMDB were used as a model of human metabolome. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The chemoreactome analysis showed that mexidol may be (1) an agonist of acetylcholine and GABA-A receptors; (2) an anti-inflammatory agent, the effects of which are carried out by inhibiting the synthesis of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins; (3) a neurotrophic agent with neuroprotective properties; (4) a coagulation inhibitor; (5) a diabetes medication and (6) a hypolipidemic agent...

Flowers are frequently treated with pesticides and, as a result, florists handling daily a large number of flowers can be exposed to pesticide residues. A study was conducted among twenty volunteer florists located in Namur Province and in the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium in order to assess their potential dermal exposure to dislodgeable pesticide residues transferred from flowers to hands. Two pairs of cotton gloves were worn during two consecutive half days while handling flowers and preparing bouquets (from min 2 h to max 3 h/day)...

Brain stroke continues to claim the lives of million people every year. To build the effective strategies for stroke treatment it is necessary to understand the neuroprotective mechanisms that are able to prevent the ischemic injury. Consisting of the ACTH(4-7) fragment and the tripeptide Pro-Gly-Pro (PGP), the synthetic peptide Semax effectively protects brain against ischemic stroke. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its neuroprotection and participation of PGP in them are still needed to be clarified...

Short endogenous peptides represent one of the most important constituents of the mammalian body's general regulatory system. Some synthesized analogs and modified natural peptides (eg, corticotropins) also show high biological activity. Nevertheless, the mechanism of action of regulatory peptides remains unclear. To explain the effects of peptides of intermolecular processes, the hypothesis that a synactonal mechanism underlies the action of regulatory peptides, exemplified by the heptapeptide Semax, has been proposed...

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system aggravates the course of myocardial infarction. Semax peptide moderated the degree of this activation and prevented the increase in the density of sympathetic endings in rat caudal artery in 28 days after ischemia or ischemia/reperfusion. The peptide reduced the density of α-adrenoreceptors in the caudal artery of rats with myocardial infarction. Semax produced no effect on β-adrenoreceptors in both experimental models. The experiments on isolated segments of the caudal artery revealed reduced vascular responsiveness to electrical stimulation and norepinephrine infusion in rats treated with Semax after ischemia/reperfusion injury...

Semax is a heptapeptide (Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro) that encompasses the sequence 4-7 of N-terminal domain of the adrenocorticotropic hormone and a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide. N-terminal amino group acetylation (Ac-Semax) modulates the chemical and biological properties of parental peptide, modifying the ability of Semax to form complex species with Cu(II) ion. At physiological pH, the main complex species formed by Ac-Semax, [CuLH-2 ]2- , consists in a distorted CuN3 O chromophore with a weak apical interaction of the methionine sulphur...

Separate and joint effect of Semax, ascorbic acid, lead diacetate, and ammonium molybdate on avoidance conditioning in rats was studied. It was established that the heavy metal salts inhibited the avoidance response, and the peptide counteracted this inhibition as strongly as ascorbic acid or to a comparable degree. These findings confirm the antioxidant properties of Semax.

The effect of ACTH-(4-7)-PGP (semax) intraperitoneal injection at doses of 5, 50, 150 and 450 μg/kg b.w. on the free-radical oxidation and the activity of serum transaminases in Wistar male rats subjected to acute and chronic immobilization stress has been studied. It was found that the peptide administration in the entire dose range studied produced antioxidant effect in hepatocytes and significantly increased the activity of serum ALT and AST at a dose of 450 μg/kg under chronic stress conditions. On the contrary, prooxidant effects were observed at a drug dose of 150 mg/kg under acute stress conditions, and the direction of changes in the ALT and AST values activity depended on the semax dose...

The influence of long-term culturing (12 days in vitro) of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and dorsal horn (DH) neurons with peptide Semax on the level of synaptic activity at co-cultures, as well as short-term plasticity in sensory synapses were studied. It has been shown that neuronal culturing with peptide at concentrations of 10 and 100 µM led to increasing the frequency of spontaneous glutamatergic postsynaptic currents in DH neurons to 71.7 ± 1.8% and 93.9 ± 3.1% (n = 6; P < 0.001); Semax has a not significant effect on the amplitude and frequency of miniature glutamatergic currents, but causes an increase of the amplitudes of spontaneous postsynaptic currents, as well as elevates the quantum content...

The effect of ACTH4-7-PGP (Semax) intraperitoneal injection at the doses of 5, 50, 150 and 450 μg/kg b. w. on lipid peroxidation and functional hepatocytes state in Wistar male rats subjected to acute and chronic electrical foot-shock stress was investigated. It was observed that peptide at the doses of 50 and 450 μg/kg normalized malondialdehyde (MDA) level elevation in the liver homogenate caused by acute foot-shock stress. On the contrary, at the doses of 5 and 150 μg/kg Semax significantly increased MDA content without essential changes of antioxidant defense activity (catalase, superoxide dismutase, common antioxidative activity)...

Biologically active regulatory peptide, tripeptide Pro-Gly-Pro (PGP) was used as C-terminal fragment for peptide drugs Semax and Selank. In recent years the independent effects of PGP were observed. The question was raised, whether PGP contributes to the effects ofpeptide drugs containing PGP as a fragment. The genome-wide analysis was performed to investigate the influence of PGP on the transcriptome of ischemic rat brain cortex tissues. The gene expression alterations caused by the action of the tripeptide PGP were compared with the gene expression of the control group "ischemia" at 3 and 24 h after permanent occlusion of left middle cerebral artery...