Impact of daily administration of blackberry extract on gerbil model of transient cerebral ischemia.

Purpose: Blackberries are rich in polyphenols and are a human health food continuously consumed to improve health and reduce diseases caused by aging. Herein, we evaluated the effects of daily blackberry administration before and after transient cerebral ischemia in gerbils.

Methods: Blackberry extract (BBE) was orally administered twice a day for two weeks to protect against ischemic events during continuous administration.

Establishment and application of a new 4/6 infarct nephrectomy rat model for moderate chronic kidney disease.

Purpose: To develop a new 4/6 infarct nephrectomy (INx) model rat mimicking moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to evaluate its application.

Methods: We modified the conventional 5/6 INx rat model to create the 4/6 INx model by ligating the renal artery branch to induce infarction of one-third of the left kidney after right kidney removal and compared biochemically and histologically both models. To demonstrate the application of the 4/6 INx model, the effects of a supplementary compound containing calcium carbonate, chitosan, palm shell activated charcoal etc.

Pharmacokinetics of hydrogen administered intraperitoneally as hydrogen-rich saline and its effect on ischemic neuronal cell death in the brain in gerbils.

Intraperitoneal administration of hydrogen (H2)-containing saline inhibited neuronal cell death in ischemic stroke in a number of animal models, but it is unknown whether H2 is absorbed from the abdominal cavity into the blood and reaches the brain. In this study, we investigated whether intraperitoneal administration of saline containing H2 inhibits neuronal cell death caused by cerebral ischemia and measured the concentration of H2 in the carotid artery and inferior vena cava (IVC). Gerbils were subjected to transient unilateral cerebral ischemia twice, and saline or H2-rich saline was administered intraperitoneally three or seven times every 12 hours.

The feasibility of a novel injectable hydrogel for protecting artificial gastrointestinal ulcers after endoscopic resection: an animal pilot study.

Recently, covering materials for protecting post-endoscopic ulcers are being developed using hydrogels. Existing hydrogels are not ideal coating materials because it is difficult to control their physical properties. Therefore, we conducted an animal pilot study to investigate the protective effect of a novel ulcer coating material, whose physical properties can be easily controlled and designed.

A microsurgical technique for catheter insertion in the rat femoral artery.

Purpose: To modify a surgical catheterization method using the bent needle introducer in small animals.

Methods: Eight-week-old male Lewis rats were used in the study. A needle introducer was created by bending a 21G injection needle at 45°.

A new in vivo analysis model to detect sexually dimorphic rat liver cytochrome P450 gene expression dependent on growth hormone secretory patterns.

Several drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes exhibit sexual dimorphism depending on the pituitary growth hormone (GH) secretory patterns. However, the mechanism underlying CYP sexual dimorphism remains unclear. We previously established a transgenic (Alb-DsRed2 Tg) rat that expressed red fluorescent DsRed2 protein, particularly in hepatocytes, to visualize cell differentiation and multiplication and found that hepatic DsRed2 expression exhibited sexual dimorphism that was limited to adult males.

Neuronal stimulation with 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 receptor induces anti-inflammatory actions via α7nACh receptors on muscularis macrophages associated with postoperative ileus.

Background: The main symptom of postoperative ileus (POI) is an intestinal motility disorder in which monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils play crucial roles. Prokinetic 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 receptor (5-HT₄R) agonists and dopamine receptor antagonists are potential therapeutic agents for directly ameliorating the motility disorder associated with POI.

Aim: To determine the effects of the 5-HT₄R agonists mosapride citrate (MOS) and CJ-033466 on intestinal smooth muscle contractility relative to immune reactions after POI.

The 5-HT4 receptor agonist mosapride attenuates NSAID-induced gastric mucosal damage.

Background: The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway is a novel physiological mechanism found at various locations in the body where the nicotinic regulation of inflammatory cells through the autonomic nervous system is involved. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that cholinergic nerve stimulation by a 5-HT(4) agonist may modulate the progression of gastric mucosal ulcers induced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Methods: Acute gastric ulcers were induced in rats by the oral administration of indomethacin.

Downregulation of CPI-17 contributes to dysfunctional motility in chronic intestinal inflammation model mice and ulcerative colitis patients.

Background: Chronic intestinal inflammation is frequently accompanied by motility disorders. We previously reported that proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta downregulate CPI-17, an endogenous inhibitor of serine/threonine protein phosphatase in smooth-muscle cells, which results in the inhibition of myosin light chain phosphorylation and contractility. However, its clinical relevance has not been clarified.

Five azacytidine, a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, specifically inhibits testicular cord formation and Sertoli cell differentiation in vitro.

In mammals, Sry, Sox9, and M33 act as regulators at a chromatin level and promote the maturation of embryonic gonads into testes. Recently, it was shown that transcriptional regulation by DNA methylation plays crucial roles in gene expression during the differentiation and development of various cell types. To determine the involvement of DNA methylation in sex determination of the gonad, we developed and performed organ culture of gonad with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacytidine to induce global DNA methylation status changes.

Identification of Card15/Nod2 mRNA in intestinal tissue of experimentally induced colitis in rats.

Card15/Nod2 has been suggested to be an intracellular pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMPs) recognition molecule, which contains a leucine-rich repeat region similar to the Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Card15/Nod2 gene variants play an important role in the susceptibility to Crohn's disease. In this study, we examined the kinetics of Card15/Nod2 expression in intestinal tissue during inflammation in the 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-treated rat experimental colitis model.

Possible involvement of muscularis resident macrophages in impairment of interstitial cells of Cajal and myenteric nerve systems in rat models of TNBS-induced colitis.

Resident macrophages are distributed in the network of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and the myenteric nerve within the myenteric plexus. We evaluated changes in chemoattractant protein mRNA expression in macrophages and neutrophils, the ICC, nerve and macrophages in the myenteric plexus of model rats with TNBS-induced colitis. Chemoattractant proteins, MCP-1, GRO, MIP-2 and CINC-2alpha were upregulated in the colonic muscle layer after inflammation.

Influence on spatiotemporal patterns of a male-specific Sox9 activation by ectopic Sry expression during early phases of testis differentiation in mice.

Testis induction is associated with gonadal Sry and Sox9 expression in mammals. This study investigated whether Sry expression directly induces male-specific Sox9 activation during early phases of testis differentiation. We have established an XX sex-reversal mouse line carrying the Sry transgene driven by a weak basal promoter of the Hsp70.

Expression of Prnp mRNA (prion protein gene) in mouse spermatogenic cells.

The Prnp (prion protein) gene, which encodes a soluble protein anchored to the cell surface by glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), might be involved in cell-to-cell interaction. The expression of Prnp is strongly observed not only in the brain, but also in non-neuronal tissues. In order to examine the Prnp expression sites in mouse testes, we carried out Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses.

Effects of trichostatin a, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on mouse gonadal development in vitro.

Sry, Sox9 and M33 are thought to act as architectural transcription factors or as a chromatin regulator in gonadal development. However, the direct relationship between chromatin structure and sex determination has not yet been revealed. To clarify the effect of chromatin structural change on gonadal development, we examined the effects of trichostatin A, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on mouse gonadal development in vitro.

Stage- and sex-dependent expressions of Usp9x, an X-linked mouse ortholog of Drosophila Fat facets, during gonadal development and oogenesis in mice.

During the Drosophila oogenic processes, Fat facets (Faf), an ubiquitin-specific protease essential for normal development of oocyte and eye, becomes localized at the posterior pole and is incorporated into the pole cells. This is dependent on Oskar, a key factor for pole cell determination, and suggests a role for Faf in germ cell differentiation and development. Here we show that Usp9x, an X-linked ortholog of Faf, is predominantly expressed in both germ cell and supporting cell lineages during mouse gonadal development in stage- and sex-dependent manners.

Stage- and sex-dependent expressions of Usp9x, an X-linked mouse ortholog of Drosophila Fat facets, during gonadal development and oogenesis in mice.

During the Drosophila oogenic processes, Fat facets (Faf), an ubiquitin-specific protease essential for normal development of oocyte and eye, becomes localized at the posterior pole and is incorporated into the pole cells. This is dependent on Oskar, a key factor for pole cell determination, and suggests a role for Faf in germ cell differentiation and development. Here we show that Usp9x, an X-linked ortholog of Faf, is predominantly expressed in both germ cell and supporting cell lineages during mouse gonadal development in stage- and sex-dependent manners.