Aims: Ginsenoside Re (G-Re), a major ginsenoside in ginseng, has many beneficial pharmacological effects on negative cardiac contractility, electromechanical alternans, antiarrhythmia, angiogenic regeneration and cardiac electrophysiological function. However, effects of G-Re on gap-junction remodeling are unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of G-Re on angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced downregulation of connexin-40 (CX40) and -43 (CX43) in beating rat left atria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart failure and cardiac arrhythmias are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. However, the mechanism of pathogenesis and myocardial malfunction in the diseased heart remains to be fully clarified. Recent compelling evidence demonstrates that changes in the myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity affect intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis and ion channel activities in cardiac myocytes, the essential mechanisms responsible for the cardiac action potential and contraction in healthy and diseased hearts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential role of UFT and its metabolite gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) for inhibition of angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in advanced cervical carcinoma by the determination of serum GBL and VEGF, and by immunohistochemical staining to assess VEGF protein expression, before and after UFT therapy.
Methods: The subjects were 35 patients with an advanced cervical carcinoma and five healthy volunteers between 2002 and 2003 at Hiroshima University Hospital, under informed consent. The patients received two courses of oral fluoropyrimidine (UFT) therapy at a dose of 600 mg/day for 5 and 2 days off treatment.