Inappropriate sinus tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy with severe functional mitral regurgitation and successful treatment with ivabradine.

Ivabradine increases stroke volume, but does not have a negative impact on blood pressure (BP). Thus, a patient with low BP can benefit from treatment with ivabradine. A 72-year-old Japanese woman with asthma and chronic bronchitis presented with dyspnea.

Successful local use of heparin calcium for congested fingertip replants.

Background: Conventional methods of external bleeding for congested fingertip replants exhibit notable problems, including uncontrollable bleeding and unpredictable survival of the replant. We have added a local injection of heparin calcium to the routine use of systemic heparinization for inducing external bleeding. We retrospectively examined patients who underwent external bleeding using our method.

Successful treatment of a bowel fistula in the open abdomen by perforator flaps and an aponeurosis plug.

In this report, we present a case of successful treatment of a bowel fistula in the open abdomen by perforator flaps and an aponeurosis plug. A 70-year-old man underwent total gastrectomy and developed anastomotic leakage and dehiscence of the abdominal wound a week later. He was dependent upon extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, continuous hemodiafiltration, and a respirator.

New chest tube management maintained with negative pressure therapy.

Management of a chest tube, especially when lasting for a long period, becomes difficult. The orifice of thoracostomy where a tube is inserted is maintained sterile usually with water-tight sutures. The longer and tighter the sutures are placed, the more severely skin becomes sore by pressure.

Differences in hemodynamic responses between intravenous carperitide and nicorandil in patients with acute heart failure syndromes.

While recent guidelines for the treatment of acute heart failure syndromes (AHFS) recommend pharmacotherapy with vasodilators in patients without excessively low blood pressure (BP), few reports have compared the relative efficiency of vasodilators on hemodynamics in AHFS patients. The present study aimed to assess the differences in hemodynamic responses between intravenous carperitide and nicorandil in patients with AHFS. Thirty-eight consecutive patients were assigned to receive 48-h continuous infusion of carperitide (n = 19; 0.

Ethnic differences in aortic valve thickness and related clinical factors.

Background: Prior studies suggest that the causes of calcific aortic valve (AV) disease involve chronic inflammation, lipoprotein levels, and calcium metabolism, all of which may differ among race-ethnic groups. We sought to determine whether AV thickness differs by race-ethnicity in a large multiethnic population-based cohort.

Methods: The Northern Manhattan Study includes stroke-free community-based Hispanic (57%), non-Hispanic black (22%), and non-Hispanic white (21%) participants.

Successful management of tracheoinnominate artery fistula using a split pectoralis muscle flap with anatomical reconstruction by a synthetic graft.

We report the successful repair for tracheoinnominate fistula, in which the innominate artery was interposed with a synthetic graft and the pectoralis muscle was used as a seal against infection. We know of 10 other reported cases.

Systolic blood pressure at admission as a predictor of the response to initial carperitide therapy in patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

Purpose: In patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), the role of initial vasodilator therapy remains uncertain. The present study aimed to evaluate the acute efficacy of initial carperitide therapy and to predict its response in ADHF patients with LVSD.

Methods: Twenty-four consecutive patients with ADHF and LVSD were enrolled.

Nobiletin improves brain ischemia-induced learning and memory deficits through stimulation of CaMKII and CREB phosphorylation.

Decreased cerebral blood flow causes cognitive impairments and neuronal injury in the progressive age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia. In the present study, we for the first time found that nobiletin, a novel leading compound for AD therapy, improved cerebral ischemia-induced memory deficits in vivo. Treatment with 50 mg/kg of nobiletin (i.

Identification of nobiletin, a polymethoxyflavonoid, as an enhancer of adiponectin secretion.

Adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived protein with insulin-sensitizing, anti-diabetic and anti-atherogenic activities, is known to be induced during adipocyte differentiation. Nobiletin, a citrus polymethoxy flavonoid, was found to induce the differentiation of ST-13 preadipocytes into mature adipocytes and enhance the production of adiponectin protein at a concentration of 10 microM.

Nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid, improves memory impairment and Abeta pathology in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Increasing evidence suggests that the elevation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides in the brain is central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our recent studies have demonstrated that nobiletin, a polymethoxylated flavone from citrus peels, enhances cAMP/protein kinase A/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cAMP response element-binding protein signaling in cultured hippocampal neurons and ameliorates Abeta-induced memory impairment in AD model rats. For the first time, we report that this natural compound improves memory deficits in amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice that overexpress human APP695 harboring the double Swedish and London mutations [APP-SL 7-5 transgenic (Tg) mice].

Signet-ring cell carcinoma of the esophagus associated with Barrett's epithelium: report of a case.

We herein report a case of infiltrative esophageal signet-ring cell carcinoma resembling gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma. Grossly, the tumor was a diffusely infiltrative carcinoma involving the lower esophagus measuring 11 cm in diameter. The tumor extensively metastasized to the cervical, mediastinal, and abdominal lymph nodes, and the patient died of peritonitis and pleuritis carcinomatosa soon after undergoing a radical esophagectomy.

Nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid with neurotrophic action, augments protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of the AMPA receptor subunit, GluR1, and the postsynaptic receptor response to glutamate in murine hippocampus.

Nobiletin isolated from citrus peels prevents bulbectomy- and amyloid-beta protein-induced memory impairment in rodents. In the present study, using combined methods of biochemistry and electrophysiology, we examined the effects of nobiletin on phosphorylation of GluR1 receptor, the subunit of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-D-aspartate (AMPA) receptors, and the receptor-mediated synaptic transmission in the hippocampus, a region implicated in memory formation, in culture and/or in slices. Western blot analysis showed that nobiletin-stimulated phosphorylation of multiple protein kinase A (PKA) substrates at 10 min following the treatment in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid that improves memory impairment, rescues bulbectomy-induced cholinergic neurodegeneration in mice.

We have recently reported that nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid, improves impaired memory in olfactory-bulbectomized (OBX) mice, which have been widely utilized as a useful paradigm that shares some major clinical features of Alzheimer's disease. Here, we examined the effects of nobiletin on OBX-induced cholinergic neurodegeneration in mice. OBX mice showed reduced acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) expression in the hippocampus.

Nobiletin, a citrus flavonoid, reverses learning impairment associated with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism by activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling.

Recent studies have indicated that learning-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling via N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is required for consolidation of the resultant learning. These findings raise an idea that control of ERK signaling may be a potential target for treatment of cognitive dysfunction. Our recent studies have demonstrated that nobiletin, a polymethoxylated flavone from Citrus depressa, enhances cAMP/protein kinase A/ERK signaling in cultured rat hippocampal neurons and PC12D cells.

Neocimicigenosides A and B, cycloartane glycosides from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa and their effects on CRF-stimulated ACTH secretion from AtT-20 cells.

Two new cycloartane glycosides, named neocimicigenosides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis and enzymatic hydrolysis followed by chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses to be (16S,23R,24S)-24-acetoxy-16,23:16,25-diepoxy-15alpha-hydroxycycloartan-3beta-yl alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (1) and (16S,23R,24S)-24-acetoxy-16,23:16,25-diepoxy-15alpha-hydroxycycloartan-3beta-yl beta-D-xylopyranoside (2), respectively. Neocimicigenosides A and B enhanced CRF-stimulated ACTH secretion from AtT-20 cells.

Nobiletin restoring beta-amyloid-impaired CREB phosphorylation rescues memory deterioration in Alzheimer's disease model rats.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive and memory deterioration. Production and accumulation of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) is central to the pathogenesis of AD. Recent studies have demonstrated that PKA/CREB-dependent signaling pathway and long-term potentiation are inhibited by sublethal concentrations of Abeta(1-42) in cultured hippocampus neurons.

Nobiletin and its related flavonoids with CRE-dependent transcription-stimulating and neuritegenic activities.

cAMP response element (CRE) transcription is dysregulated in neurodegenerative disorders in the central nervous system (CNS), including polyglutamine diseases. As the first step to find natural compounds with protective action against neurodegeneration in the CNS, we here examined whether six citrus flavonoids, namely nobiletin, 5-demethylnobiletin, tangeretin, sinensetin, 6-demethoxytangeretin, and 6-demethoxynobiletin, stimulated CRE-dependent transcription and induced neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells. Among the compounds, nobiletin most potently enhanced CRE-dependent transcription and neurite outgrowth by activating ERK/MAP kinase-dependent signalling to increase CREB phosphorylation.

Mechanism of neurotrophic action of nobiletin in PC12D cells.

Nobiletin is a nonpeptide compound with a low molecular weight from a citrus fruit and has the activity to rescue bulbectomy-induced memory impairment. Here we describe that nobiletin itself induces neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells, a rat pheochromocytoma cell line, like NGF, and the molecular mechanism of its neurotrophic action. As cultured in the presence of nobiletin or NGF for 48 h and then assayed using a scanning electron microscope, PC12D cells treated with nobiletin showed morphology with flatter and larger cell bodies than the cells cultured with NGF.

New glycosides of the campesterol derivative from the rhizomes of Tacca chantrieri.

Seven new glycosides of the campesterol derivative (24R,25S)-ergost-5-ene-3beta,26-diol (1-7) were isolated from the rhizomes of Tacca chantrieri (Taccaceae). Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 2D NMR data, and a few chemical transformations.

Curcuminoids and sesquiterpenoids in turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) suppress an increase in blood glucose level in type 2 diabetic KK-Ay mice.

Turmeric, the rhizome of Curcuma longa L., has a wide range of effects on human health. The chemistry includes curcuminoids and sesquiterpenoids as components, which are known to have antioxidative, anticarcinogenic, and antiinflammatory activities.

Effects of inhaling the vapor of Lavandula burnatii super-derived essential oil and linalool on plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), catecholamine and gonadotropin levels in experimental menopausal female rats.

The effects of inhaling the vapor of Lavandula burnatii super-derived essential oil and one of the main components of lavender oil, linalool on plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), catecholamine and gonadotropin levels in menopausal model rats under ether-inhalation were studied. The increased plasma ACTH levels induced by ether-inhalation tended to decrease by pre-inhalation of Lavandula burnetii super and linalool vapor was induced the decrease of ACTH level. The decrease in adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine levels induced by ether-inhalation tended to recover, especially, the dopamine level significantly recovered to the normal level by the inhalation of Lavandula burnetii super and linalool vapor.

27-norlanostane glycosides from the bulbs of Muscari paradoxum.

Eight 27-norlanostane glycosides (1-8), including five new compounds (3 and 5-8), were isolated from the MeOH extract of the bulbs of Muscari paradoxum. The structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 2D NMR data, and the results of hydrolytic cleavage. The cytotoxic activity of 1-8 against HSC-2 human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells is also reported.