Effect of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis on renal filtration and secretion of adefovir.

Background And Aims: Adefovir, an acyclic nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to treat hepatitis B viral infection, is primarily eliminated renally through cooperation of glomerular filtration with active tubular transport. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is a variable in drug disposition, yet the impact on renal transport processes has yet to be fully understood. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis on the pharmacokinetics of adefovir in rats given a control or methionine and choline deficient diet to induce nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Boldine enhances bile production in rats via osmotic and farnesoid X receptor dependent mechanisms.

Boldine, the major alkaloid from the Chilean Boldo tree, is used in traditional medicine to support bile production, but evidence to support this function is controversial. We analyzed the choleretic potential of boldine, including its molecular background. The acute- and long-term effects of boldine were evaluated in rats either during intravenous infusion or after 28-day oral treatment.

IL-1 receptor blockade alleviates endotoxin-mediated impairment of renal drug excretory functions in rats.

The aim of our study was to investigate whether two potent anti-inflammatory agents, dexamethasone and anakinra, an IL-1 receptor antagonist, may influence acute kidney injury (AKI) and associated drug excretory functions during endotoxemia (LPS) in rats. Ten hours after LPS administration, untreated endotoxemic rats developed typical symptoms of AKI, with reduced GFR, impaired tubular excretion of urea and sodium, and decreased urinary excretion of azithromycin, an anionic substrate for multidrug resistance-transporting proteins. Administration of both immunosuppressants attenuated the inflammatory response, liver damage, AKI, and increased renal clearance of azithromycin mainly by restoration of GFR, without significant influence on its tubular secretion.

The ciliate, Troglodytella abrassarti, contributes to polysaccharide hydrolytic activities in the chimpanzee colon.

Entodiniomorphid ciliates are intestinal protists inhabiting the colons of African great apes. The participation of intestinal entodiniomorphid ciliates in ape hindgut digestion has been proposed, but little data have been available to support the hypothesis. We measured the specific activities of carboxymethyl cellulase, xylanase, inulinase, and α-amylase against different polysaccharides in the feces of captive chimpanzees and evaluated the participation of the entodiniomorphid ciliate, Troglodytella abrassarti, in these activities.