Effects of lethal dose of γ-radiation and partial body hyperthermia on Wistar rats.

Purpose: The radioprotectors currently available are generally poorly tolerated in human beings; thus, their use has been restricted due to their side effects and their limited clinical tolerance. In a search for fewerand/or without side effects agents, the radioprotective effects of partial body hyperthermia (PBH) were tested on Wistar rats of both sexes at different ages.

Materials And Methods: PBH (43 °C, 1 h) was carried out by immersion of each animal's lower parts and legs in a thermostatically controlled water bath 20 h prior to irradiation with a lethal single exposure dose of 9 Gy of gamma irradiation.

Effects of fenofibrate on Semaphorin 6B gene expression in rat skeletal muscle.

Semaphorin 6B is a member of the semaphorin family of signaling proteins, which is implicated in a variety of biological processes, such as axon guidance and muscle regeneration. PPARα is known to be a regulator of semaphorin 6B in human cancer cell lines. In this study, we examined the effect of fenofibrate as a PPARα activator on the expression of the Sema6B gene in rat skeletal muscle.

Source of calcium and cholinergic contraction of the rat portal vein and the sheep coronary artery.

To demonstrate the heterogeneity in behavior of the rat portal vein and the sheep coronary artery, we studied the effect of cholinergic stimulation and its dependence upon extracellular ions. Since acetylcholine produces a contraction antagonized by atropine (pA2 9.5), these effects must be mediated by muscarinic receptors.