Introduction: A water extract of (L.) Urban [Apiaceae] (CAW) has demonstrated cognitive-enhancing effects in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and aging, the magnitude of which is influenced by whether CAW is delivered in the drinking water or the diet. These cognitive benefits are accompanied by improvements in oxidative stress and mitochondrial function in the brain, two pathways related to the neuroinflammatory response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis an herb used in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine for its beneficial effects on brain health and cognition. Our group has previously shown that a water extract of (CAW) elicits cognitive-enhancing effects in animal models of aging and Alzheimer's disease, including a dose-related effect of CAW on memory in the 5xFAD mouse model of -amyloid accumulation. Here, we endeavor to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the effects of CAW in the brain by conducting a metabolomic analysis of cortical tissue from 5xFAD mice treated with increasing concentrations of CAW.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in the brain.
Objective: To gain a better insight into alterations in major biochemical pathways underlying AD.
Methods: We compared metabolomic profiles of hippocampal tissue of 20-month-old female Tg2576 mice expressing the familial AD-associated hAPP695SW transgene with their 20-month-old wild type female littermates.
(CA) is an edible plant and a popular botanical dietary supplement. It is reputed, in Ayurveda, to mitigate age-related cognitive decline. There is a considerable body of preclinical literature supporting CA's ability to improve learning and memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntioxidants (Basel)
December 2019
(CA) herb is a traditional medicine, long reputed to provide cognitive benefits. We have reported that CA water extract (CAW) treatment improves cognitive function of aged Alzheimer's disease (AD) model Tg2576 and wild-type (WT) mice, and induces an NRF2-regulated antioxidant response in aged WT mice. Here, CAW was administered to AD model 5XFAD female and male mice and WT littermates (age: 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFhas been used for centuries to enhance memory. We have previously shown that a water extract of (CAW) protects against the deleterious effects of amyloid- (A) in neuroblastoma cells and attenuates A-induced cognitive deficits in mice. Yet, the neuroprotective mechanism of CAW has yet to be thoroughly explored in neurons from these animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe medicinal plant Centella asiatica has long been used to improve memory and cognitive function. We have previously shown that a water extract from the plant (CAW) is neuroprotective against the deleterious cognitive effects of amyloid-β (Aβ) exposure in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, and improves learning and memory in healthy aged mice as well. This study explores the physiological underpinnings of those effects by examining how CAW, as well as chemical compounds found within the extract, modulate synaptic health in Aβ-exposed neurons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA transdermal SARM has a potential to have therapeutic benefit through anabolic activity in muscle while sparing undesired effects of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and liver-mediated decrease in HDL-C. 2-Chloro-4-[(2-hydroxy-2-methyl-cyclopentyl)amino]-3-methyl-benzonitrile 6 showed the desired muscle and prostate effects in a preclinical ORX rat model. Compound 6 had minimal effect on HDL-C levels in cynomolgus monkeys and showed human cadaver skin permeability, thus making it an effective tool for proof-of-concept studies in a clinical setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
November 2016
Vitamin D status has been associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome and several cancers including colon and breast. Since adipocytes express VDR and obesity is a known risk factor for cancer, vitamin D actions in adipose tissue may contribute to its cancer protective effects. In the mammary gland, signaling from adipocytes to epithelial cells is necessary for breast cancer initiation, but the impact of vitamin D on this cross-talk is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCathepsin S (Cat S) plays an important role in many pathological conditions, including abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Inhibition of Cat S may provide a new treatment for AAA. To date, several classes of Cat S inhibitors have been reported, many of which form covalent interactions with the active site Cys25.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNuclear receptors exert profound effects on mammary gland physiology and have complex roles in the etiology of breast cancer. In addition to receptors for classic steroid hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR) interacts with its ligand 1α,25(OH)2D3 to modulate the normal mammary epithelial cell genome and subsequent phenotype. Observational studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency is common in breast cancer patients and that low vitamin D status enhances the risk for disease development or progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding autonomic nervous system functioning, which mediates behavioral and physiological responses to stress, offers great potential for assessing farm animal stress and welfare. Evaluation of heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV), using time and frequency domain analyses may provide a sensitive and reliable measure of affective states and stress-mediated changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic tones. The aim of this research was to define low (LF) and high frequency (HF) power spectral ranges using pharmacological autonomic blockade, and to examine HRV and BPV parameter changes in response to atropine and propranolol in swine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
July 2010
These studies focus on identification of vitamin D regulated pathways that impact development or progression of breast cancer. In mouse experiments, we assessed genomic profiles of glandular tissue and established tumors from MMTV-neu mice fed adequate (250 IU/kg) or high (5000 IU/kg) vitamin D (cholecalciferol). Genomic profiles were also obtained in murine mammary cells that differentially express VDR that were cultured in vitro with 100 nM 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreased adiposity is a feature of aging in both mice and humans, but the molecular mechanisms underlying age-related changes in adipose tissue stores remain unclear. In previous studies, we noted that 18-month-old normocalcemic vitamin D receptor (VDR) knockout (VDRKO) mice exhibited atrophy of the mammary adipose compartment relative to wild-type (WT) littermates, suggesting a role for VDR in adiposity. Here we monitored body fat depots, food intake, metabolic factors, and gene expression in WT and VDRKO mice on the C57BL6 and CD1 genetic backgrounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPPAR ligands with varied subtype selectivity have been synthesized using an achiral aminomethyl dihydrocinnamate template. Several compounds in this series have demonstrated potent plasma glucose and triglyceride lowering capability in rodent models of type 2 diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of benzimidazolone beta(3) adrenergic receptor agonists are described. A trend toward the reduction of rat atrial tachycardia upon increasing steric bulk at the 3-position of the benzimidazolone moiety was observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We examined the efficacy of flavopiridol, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that is undergoing clinical trials, on primary cancer cells isolated from the ascites or pleural fluids of patients with metastatic cancers.
Experimental Design: Metastasized cancer cells were isolated from the pleural fluids (n = 20) or ascites (n = 15) of patients, most of whom were refractory to chemotherapy. These primary cancer cells were used within 2 weeks of isolation without selecting for proliferative capacities.
(E)-3-(2-Carboxy-2-phenylvinyl)-4,6-dichloro-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid, 1, is a potent and selective antagonist of the glycine site of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Using 3D comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) to guide the synthetic effort, a series of aryl diacid analogues of 1 were synthesized to optimize in vivo potency, duration of action, and binding activity. It was found that the incorporation of a substituted aromatic with an electron withdrawing group or a heterocyclic group at the 2-position of the 3-propenyl moiety of 1 gave compounds with better affinity and potency in the murine stroke model.
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