The response of the autonomic nervous system to the cholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil.

Objective: Donepezil, a cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) that is widely used to treat Alzheimer's disease, is thought to act by increasing extracellular acethylcholine (ACh) in the central nervous system. The effects of the administration of ChEIs on the autonomic nervous system, however, are complex and controversial.

Methods: In this study we observed the effects of donepezil at a dose of 3 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.

The cholinergic stimulation of the hippocampus induced the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Objectives: We previously demonstrated that the direct microinjection of cholinesterase inhibitor (neostigmine) into the hippocampus in rats activated the hypothalamo-pituitary -adrenal axis and increased the level of norepinephrine in the plasma. In the current study we tried to measure the effects of neostigmine injection into the hippocampus using the non-invasive measure of heart rate variability (HRV).

Materials And Methods: After the hippocampal injection of neostigmine (50 nM and 125 nM) or saline as a control in rats, HRV measurement was performed for 30 min.

Association between improvements in insulin resistance and changes in cognitive function in elderly diabetic patients with normal cognitive function.

Aim: The number of elderly with cognitive dysfunction has been increasing in developed countries. Several studies have shown that diabetes is a risk factor for declines in cognitive function and, recently, numerous studies have demonstrated that exercise improves insulin resistance (IR). However, no studies have been undertaken to examine the relationship between IR and cognitive dysfunction.

Goshajinkigan (Chinese herbal medicine niu-che-sen-qi-wan) improves insulin resistance in diabetic rats via the nitric oxide pathway.

Goshajinkigan (GJG), an aqueous extract of a combination of 10 herbal medicines, is widely used for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy in Japan. In this study, the effect of GJG on insulin-induced glucose disposal in normal and streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats was analyzed using the euglycemic clamp technique. Male Wistar rats, aged 9 weeks, were randomly assigned to six groups: group NS, normal rats receiving saline; group NG, normal rats receiving GJG (800 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1), p.

Effect of Mongolian plants on in vivo insulin action in diabetic rats.

In the present study, we firstly performed a preliminary investigation on the acute effect of Mongolian medicinal plant extracts (Dryopteris species, Aspidiaceae) on the glucose tolerance in rats, evaluated by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Then, we investigated the effect of the same extracts on in vivo insulin action in streptozotocin (50 mg kg(-1) BW, i.v.