Antihypertensive effect of French maritime pine bark extract (Flavangenol): possible involvement of endothelial nitric oxide-dependent vasorelaxation.

Objective: French maritime pine bark extract (Flavangenol) has been known to produce an endothelium-dependent vasodilatory effect. In the present study, we evaluated whether a dietary supplementation of Flavangenol exhibits antihypertensive action using deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats. Moreover, we investigated the mechanisms of an in-vitro vasorelaxant response to Flavangenol.

Role of gp91phox-containing NADPH oxidase in left ventricular remodeling induced by intermittent hypoxic stress.

Intermittent hypoxia due to sleep apnea syndrome is associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the precise mechanisms by which intermittent hypoxic stress accelerates cardiovascular diseases are largely unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of gp91(phox)-containing NADPH oxidase in the development of left ventricular (LV) remodeling induced by intermittent hypoxic stress in mice.

[Availability of drug information on bioequivalence of generic products--findings of graduate interns at a university pharmacy].

Access to drug information (DI) needed to evaluate generic product bioequivalence was studied to identify problems with the current status of DI availability and encourage proper use of DI. Ten items were chosen from among the stock of branded products at the University Pharmacy, and five corresponding generics were selected for each item. Conditions of access to information on pharmacokinetic tests and dissolution tests were rated and the assigned ratings compared.

Effects of dietary arachidonic acid supplementation on age-related changes in endothelium-dependent vascular responses.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of dietary supplementation of arachidonic acid (ARA) on age-related changes in endothelium-dependent vascular responses. Young male Fisher-344 rats (2-mo-old) and aged rats of the same strain (22-mo-old) were randomly separated into a control diet group (young control, YC; old control, OC) and an ARA-containing diet group (young ARA, YA; old ARA, OA). After a 2-mo feeding period, vascular responses were evaluated using both endothelium-intact and -denuded aortic rings.

Sesamin metabolites induce an endothelial nitric oxide-dependent vasorelaxation through their antioxidative property-independent mechanisms: possible involvement of the metabolites in the antihypertensive effect of sesamin.

Sesamin, a major lignan in sesame seeds and oil, has been known to lower blood pressure in several types of experimental hypertensive animals. A recent study demonstrated that sesamin metabolites had in vitro radical-scavenging activities. Thus, we determined whether the antioxidative effect of sesamin metabolites modulate the vascular tone and contribute to the in vivo antihypertensive effect of sesamin.