A Literature Review of Unintentional Intoxications of Nonhuman Primates.

Reports of unintentional intoxications in nonhuman primates (NHP) are few and an up-to-date review of such intoxications in NHP is lacking. We reviewed the published veterinary literature on unintentional intoxications in wild and captive NHP in order to provide a useful resource on known toxic agents of NHP for veterinarians, caregivers, and researchers who work with NHP. To these ends, we first conducted a literature search for books, book chapters, peer-reviewed publications, conference proceedings, and newsletters in academic literature databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, BioOne Complete, and Web of Science using the words and word combinations such as heavy metals, pesticides, poisonings, and nonhuman primates.

Scientific writing in the laboratory animal sciences.

Good communication is important for the dissemination of research results. Here, we summarize the advice that was given to authors at the LA seminar on scientific writing at the FELASA Congress 2016 in Brussels, Belgium on 13-16 June 2016, with the aim of improving the quality of submitted papers and of avoiding common mistakes in scientific reports. See www.

The Effect of an Aqueous Extract of Teucrium polium on Glutathione Homeostasis In Vitro: A Possible Mechanism of Its Hepatoprotectant Action.

Background. Teucrium polium is used in Arab traditional medicine to treat liver diseases. Glutathione is an important intracellular antioxidant, and intrahepatic glutathione levels are depleted in liver diseases.

Aqueous extracts of Teucrium polium possess remarkable antioxidant activity in vitro.

Teucrium polium L. (Lamiaceae) (RDC 1117) is a medicinal plant whose species have been used for over 2000 years in traditional medicine due to its diuretic, diaphoretic, tonic, antipyretic, antispasmodic and cholagogic properties. The therapeutic benefit of medicinal plants is often attributed to their antioxidant properties.

Are repeated doses of buprenorphine detrimental to postoperative recovery after laparotomy in rats?

Buprenorphine is a widely used analgesic for relief of postoperative pain in rats. The effect of repeated doses of buprenorphine throughout the postoperative pain and stress response is unknown. This investigation tested the hypotheses that (a) daily analgesic doses of buprenorphine for 7 d ameliorate the stress response after laparotomy in rats and (b) preoperative buprenorphine better ameliorates the response than do peri- and postoperative administration.

Fertilization-induced changes in growth parameters and antioxidant activity of medicinal plants used in traditional Arab medicine.

In response to increased popularity and greater demand for medicinal plants, a number of conservation groups are recommending that wild medicinal plants be brought into cultivation systems. We collected four medicinal herbs Cichorium pumilum, Eryngium creticum, Pistacia palaestina and Teucrium polium used in traditional Arab medicine for greenhouse cultivation to assess the effects of different fertilization regimes on their growth and antioxidant activity. Wild seedlings were collected and fertilized with either 100% Hoagland solution, 50% Hoagland solution, 20% Hoagland solution or irrigated with tap water.

Ursodeoxycholic acid and superoxide anion.

Aim: To investigate the ability of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to scavenge superoxide anion (O(2)(-)).

Methods: We assessed the ability of UDCA to scavenge (O(2)(-)) generated by xanthine-xanthine oxidase (X-XO) in a cell-free system and its effect on the rate of O(2)(-)-induced ascorbic acid (AA) oxidation in hepatic post-mitochondrial supernatants.

Results: UDCA at a concentration as high as 1 mmol/L did not impair the ability of the X-XO system to generate O(2)(-), but could scavenge O(2)(-) at concentrations of 0.

The effects of aqueous extracts prepared from the leaves of Pistacia lentiscus in experimental liver disease.

In a previous study, we identified Pistacia lentiscus was worthy for further laboratory evaluation because an aqueous extract of the plant suppressed iron-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenates without affecting mitochondrial respiration in cultured HepG2 and PC12 cells. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of an aqueous extract prepared from the dried leaves of Pistacia lentiscus in a rat model of hepatic injury caused by the hepatotoxin, thioacetamide. We assessed the impact of daily dosing on biochemical and morphological indices and the extent of oxidative stress in the livers of healthy and thioacetamide-treated rats.

Effect of interferon, ribavirin and ursodeoxycholic acid in patients with hepatitis C infection.

Background/aims: Combination therapy of interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) and the oral nucleoside analog, ribavirin is the standard treatment for individuals suffering from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Several studies have shown combination therapy of IFN and antioxidants is therapeutically beneficial in these patients. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a hydrophilic bile acid possessing antioxidant properties.

Antioxidant activity of Crataegus aronia aqueous extract used in traditional Arab medicine in Israel.

Background: The medicinal use of extracts prepared from plant parts of the genus Crataegus dates back to ancient times. Furthermore, it has been proposed that its antioxidant constituents account for its beneficial therapeutic effects. A decoction of leaves and unripe fruits from Crataegus aronia syn.

Antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of eight plants used in traditional Arab medicine in Israel.

Ethnopharmacological surveys conducted among herbal practitioners of traditional Arab medicine in Israel and the Palestinian area have revealed a large number of indigenous plant species are used as sources of their herbal therapies. Some of these herbal therapies are used to treat liver disease, jaundice or diabetes, conditions in which oxidative stress is prominent. No laboratory data on the bioactivity of herbal medicines in these settings exist in traditional Arab medicine.

Are bile acids involved in the renal dysfunction of obstructive jaundice? An experimental study in bile duct ligated rats.

Background: Surgery on patients with obstructive jaundice is associated with a significant risk of postoperative renal failure. Bile acids are implicated as nephrotoxins because they accumulate in the plasma and the kidney becomes their only excretory route in cholestasis. The experimental evidence favoring this proposal is inadequate and unconvincing.

Cholemic transgenic mice: a novel animal model to investigate the effects of bile acids.

Introduction: Laboratory investigations into cholestatic liver disease and the effects of cholemia on organ function are long-standing subjects of scientific enquiry. A widely-used strategy to investigate these topics relies on animal-based research using experimental animal models. Targeted inactivation of the spgp gene, the gene responsible for expressing the bile salt export pump (BSEP) in the hepatocyte canalicular membrane impairs the canalicular secretion of bile salts resulting in systemic cholemia.

Hyperoxia may reduce energetic efficiency in the trained rat.

Background: Several studies have been conducted in recent years in the attempt to improve running performance by the use of hyperbaric oxygen, but there is disagreement as to whether this has any beneficial effect. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of 24 h breathing 100% O2 in normobaric conditions on energetic efficiency in the trained rat.

Methods: Experiments were carried out on trained rats whose oxygen consumption was evaluated during the training period and on its completion.

Ursodeoxycholic acid and in vitro vasoactivity of hydrophobic bile acids.

Lipophilic bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid (DCA), are nonspecific endothelium-independent vasorelaxants whose underlying basis is complex, involving membrane calcium channels blockade and receptor antagonism. The vasorelaxant action of these acids has also been linked to the generation of reactive oxygen species and an increased extent of lipid peroxidation. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a naturally occurring tertiary dihydroxy hydrophilic acid whose mechanism of action has been attributed to minimizing the effects of lipophilic bile acids.

Oxidative stress and vascular smooth muscle cell function in liver disease.

Reactive oxygen species and reactive nitroxy species are now being recognized as regulatory molecules in signaling pathways influencing contractile and noncontractile functions of healthy vascular smooth muscle cells. In liver disease, oxidative stress is a systemic phenomenon, whose extent correlates with the severity of disease. A role for oxidative stress in the development of the hyperdynamic circulation in portal hypertension has been proposed.

Vascular smooth muscle cell signaling in cirrhosis and portal hypertension.

Abnormal vascular responsiveness to ligands has been frequently observed in cirrhosis and portal hypertension, but its existence is not proven. The signaling pathways in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) have been studied only in animal models of cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Emerging evidence suggests that active relaxation, expressed as augmented content or activity of effectors within the cyclic AMP signaling pathway and suppressed content or activity of effectors in the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate/1,2-diacylglycerol signaling pathway, may be occurring in VSMCs of the splanchnic circulation in portal hypertension.

Ursodeoxycholic acid suppresses extent of lipid peroxidation in diseased liver in experimental cholestatic liver disease.

The therapeutic benefit of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in treating cholestatic liver disease is globally recognized. It is generally accepted that the mechanism of action of UDCA can be attributed to several diverse processes that appear to be uniformly targeted towards minimizing the deleterious actions of accumulated hydrophobic bile acids in the cholestatic liver. Since hydrophobic bile acids are prooxidants, emerging in vitro evidence suggests that UDCA may have an antioxidant mechanism of action.

Evidence of a systemic phenomenon for oxidative stress in cholestatic liver disease.

Background: There is considerable evidence indicating that the severity of hepatic damage in individuals with cholestatic liver disease is causally associated with the extent of intrahepatic oxidative stress. Increased levels or accelerated generation of reactive oxygen species and toxic degradative products of lipid peroxidation have been reported in the plasma of individuals with chronic liver disease and animal models of liver disease. Hence, by virtue of their increased presence in the circulation, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they may account for extrahepatic tissue damage in chronic liver disease.

On the in vitro vasoactivity of bile acids.

We compared the vasorelaxant action of nine different bile acids and correlated their vasorelaxant activity with their individual indices for hydrophobicity or lipophilicity. Vasorelaxant activity correlated with the relative lipid solubility of bile acids with lipophilic bile acids exhibiting the greatest vasorelaxant activity with modest to no vasorelaxant activity exhibited by hydrophilic bile acids. We also investigated whether bile acid-induced vasorelaxation is mediated by antagonism of a prototypal contractile receptor, the alpha(1)-adrenoceptor, by stimulation of a bile acid surface membrane receptor, by the release of endothelium-derived relaxant factors, by promoting the generation of reactive oxygen species and increasing the extent of lipid peroxidation, or by modifying membrane fluidity.

The effects of bile acids on beta-adrenoceptors, fluidity, and the extent of lipid peroxidation in rat cardiac membranes.

Bile acids have been proposed as a causative factor for the cardiomyopathy of cholestatic liver disease, since they cause negative inotropism and chronotropism and attenuate cardiac responsiveness to sympathetic stimulation. Bile acids can also modify membrane fluidity and generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). The effects of 10(-6)-10(-3) M deoxycholic acid (DCA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and their taurine conjugates, TDCA and TCDCA, on (1) the binding characteristics of beta-adrenoceptors, (2) membrane fluidity, and (3) the extent of lipid peroxidation in rat cardiac membranes were assessed.