Herba Cistanche, a Chinese herb derived from the whole plant of Cistanche deserticola Y.C. Ma (Orobanchaceae), has been shown to enhance mitochondrial ATP generation and to protect against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury ex vivo in rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate whether Vigconic 28 (VI-28), a Yang-invigorating Chinese herbal formula, could affect survival of aging animals, male and female C57BL/6J mice were given a VI-28-supplemented diet (0.05 and 0.5%, wt/wt) starting at 36 weeks of age, until death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious work in our laboratory has shown that long-term treatment with Vigconic 28 (VI-28), a Yang-invigorating Chinese herbal formula used for the promotion of overall wellness in Chinese medicine, can enhance the mitochondrial functional ability and antioxidant capacity in various tissues of both male and female rats. To investigate whether the VI-28 treatment regimen could afford tissue protection against oxidative injury, the effects of long-term VI-28 treatment (80 or 240 mg/kg/d x 30) on oxidative stress-induced tissue damage in various organs (brain, heart, liver, and kidney) were examined in female rats. The results indicated that long-term VI-28 treatment invariably protected against oxidative tissue damage in the rat models of cerebral/myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, CCl4 hepatotoxicity, and gentamicin nephrotoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchisandrin B (Sch B), a dibenzocyclooctadiene derivative isolated from the fruit of Schisandra chinensis, has been shown to protect against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) hepatotoxicity in mice. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the hepatoprotection afforded by Sch B, the effect of Sch B treatment on the sensitivity of mitochondria to Ca2+-stimulated permeability transition (PT) was investigated in mouse livers under normal and CCl4-intoxicated conditions. CCl4 hepatotoxicity caused an increase in the sensitivity of mitochondria to Ca2+-stimulated PT in vitro.
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