Systemic PEGylated TRAIL treatment ameliorates liver cirrhosis in rats by eliminating activated hepatic stellate cells.

Unlabelled: Liver fibrosis is a common outcome of chronic liver disease that leads to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. No US Food and Drug Administration-approved targeted antifibrotic therapy exists. Activated hepatic stellate cells (aHSCs) are the major cell types responsible for liver fibrosis; therefore, eradication of aHSCs, while preserving quiescent HSCs and other normal cells, is a logical strategy to stop and/or reverse liver fibrogenesis/fibrosis.

Endocannabinoids acting at CB1 receptors mediate the cardiac contractile dysfunction in vivo in cirrhotic rats.

Advanced liver cirrhosis is associated with hyperdynamic circulation consisting of systemic hypotension, decreased peripheral resistance, and cardiac dysfunction, termed cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. Previous studies have revealed the role of endocannabinoids and vascular CB(1) receptors in the development of generalized hypotension and mesenteric vasodilation in animal models of liver cirrhosis, and CB(1) receptors have also been implicated in the decreased beta-adrenergic responsiveness of isolated heart tissue from cirrhotic rats. Here we document the cardiac contractile dysfunction in vivo in liver cirrhosis and explore the role of the endocannabinoid system in its development.

Arterial vasodilating profile and biological effects of pinacidil in healthy volunteers.

1. The effects of pinacidil (25 mg, sustained release formulation) a) on systemic (arterial pressure, cardiac output) and regional (brachial and carotid arteries' diameters and flows) haemodynamics (pulsed Doppler techniques), b) on sympathetic (plasma noradrenaline) and renin-angiotensin (plasma renin activity) systems, and c) on atrial natriuretic factor have been investigated and compared with those of a placebo during the 12 h period following oral administration in a randomized, double-blind and cross-over study performed in six healthy volunteers. Simultaneously, the plasma levels of pinacidil and of its active metabolite, pinacidil N-oxide, were determined.

Non invasive study of systemic and regional haemodynamic and cardiac effects of a new calcium antagonist, SR 33557, in healthy volunteers.

The systemic and regional haemodynamic and cardiac effects of two oral doses (100 and 300 mg) of a new sulphone-indolizine calcium antagonist SR 33,557 (SR) and a placebo were non invasively investigated in a double-blind, cross-over study in 6 healthy male volunteers. Arterial pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, brachial and carotid artery diameters and flows and PR and QT intervals were studied. Stroke volume, total peripheral and forearm vascular resistance, regional cardiac output distribution indices and corrected QT intervals were calculated.

Galactose metabolism in male and female rats. I. Blood and urinary differences.

When rats consumed a well-balanced diet containing 30% lactose or 30% glucose-galactose mixture, some differences of metabolic utilization arose between males and females. With lactose, the urinary excretion of lactose, galactose and galactitol was higher in females. With the glucose-galactose mixture, galactosury and galactitolury in males and females increased and were similar; but galactosaemia and galactitolaemia were more important in females.

Galactose metabolism in male and female rats. II. Eye-ball differences.

When rats consumed a well-balanced diet containing 30% lactose or 30% glucose-galactose mixture, the biological composition of the lens was more disturbed in female: the leak of inositol and the accumulation of galactitol were higher than in the male.