Lipase activities in post-heparin plasma and tissues, and susceptibilities of lipoproteins in experimental diabetic rats.

Heparin administration to diabetic rats caused no change in VLDL, an increase in IDL and a decrease in LDL on electrophoretic analysis of plasma lipoproteins, while the administration to control rats markedly decreased VLDL and increased IDL and LDL. Both hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities in the postheparin plasma were lower in the diabetic rats than in the controls, and the reduction of HTGL activity was greater than that of LPL activity in the diabetic rats. The LPL activity in the adipose tissue was lower in the diabetic rats than in the controls, but the activities in the cardiac and skeletal muscles were similar in the two rats.

Localized right ventricular structural abnormalities in patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation: magnetic resonance imaging study.

Lethal arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, may occur in the absence of apparent morphological abnormalities. However, a recent study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has suggested that localized, minor structural abnormalities of the right ventricle are responsible for right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia in a number of patients. We demonstrated regional wall thinning and systolic dyskinesia of the right ventricle by MRI in two patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation in whom other cardiac imaging modalities failed to show abnormalities.

[Studies on solid phase extraction of bile acids from biological matrix].

To quantify bile acids in biological samples, a solid phase extraction method was examined. This method is known as simpler procedures with less contamination compared with solvent extraction methods. Rat bile, feces and urine were used as biological samples.

Antihypertensive therapy prevents endothelial dysfunction in chronic nitric oxide deficiency. Effect of verapamil and trandolapril.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of long-term antihypertensive therapy on blood pressure and vascular responses of resistance arteries during prolonged inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis. Four groups of 6-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats were treated with either placebo as controls or N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) alone or in combination with verapamil or with trandolapril. Drugs were given orally for 6 weeks or short-term in vitro to vessels obtained from untreated rats.

L-NAME hypertension alters endothelial and smooth muscle function in rat aorta. Prevention by trandolapril and verapamil.

Nitric oxide is an important regulator of vascular function and blood pressure. Chronic administration of nitric oxide inhibitors provides a new model of hypertension with pronounced target organ damage. We investigated the effects of oral treatment with N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) for 6 weeks on vascular reactivity of the aorta in Wistar-Kyoto rats.

Structure and function of the rat basilar artery during chronic nitric oxide synthase inhibition.

Background And Purpose: Nitric oxide is an important regulator of vascular tone and may also be implicated in the modulation of vascular growth and structure. This study presents the effects of chronic nitric oxide inhibition, with or without antihypertensive treatment, on the structure and function of the basilar artery in rats.

Methods: Rats were treated for 6 weeks with N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (50 mg/kg per day) alone or in combination with verapamil (100 mg/kg per day) or with trandolapril (1 mg/kg per day).

[Effect of chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis on vascular structure: remodeling or growth?].

Nitric oxide is an important regulator of vascular tone, as evidenced by the marked increase in blood pressure produced by the inhibition of its synthesis. Furthermore, nitric oxide may be implicated in the modulation of vascular growth, although in vitro and in vivo studies have provided conflicting results. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of chronic nitric oxide synthase inhibition, with or without antihypertensive treatment, on the structure of the basilar artery in the rat.

Vascular protective effects of ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists: theoretical basis for a combination therapy in hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

Hypertension is an important cardiovascular risk factor. High blood pressure per se is not a disease but a hemodynamic alteration associated with vascular disease. Two classes of drugs are especially effective in lowering blood pressure and preventing cardiovascular complications, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium antagonists.

[Partial resection of the lung under thoracoscopic guidance using endo GIA to treat giant bulla: a case report].

A 47-year-old male was admitted because of an abnormal shadow on chest X-ray. Computed tomography showed a giant bulla in the right lung. The giant bulla was resected under thoracoscopic guidance using endoscopic GIA by three puncture technique.

[Effects of chronic losartan treatment on myocardial, vascular structure and reactivity with aging in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR): its effects compared with those of captopril].

To compare the effects of an angiotensin II (Ang II)-receptor antagonist and an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor on myocardial, vascular structure and reactivity, SHR (5-week-old) were treated with losartan of captoril for 16 weeks. Losartan (10 mg/kg/day, p.o.

[Specificity of plasma peroxidized low density lipoprotein in lung cancer].

Plasma was sampled from patients with lung cancer (LC: n = 38), patients with atherosclerotic disease (AS: n = 20), and healthy persons (H: n = 32). Lipid peroxide and lipid constituents of low density lipoprotein (LDL) were measured after sequential ultracentrifugation. Lipid peroxide levels in LDL were in the following order: LC > AS > H.

Endothelin receptor subtypes in small arteries. Studies with FR139317 and bosentan.

We studied the effects of the selective endothelin A receptor antagonist FR139317 and the combined endothelin A/endothelin B receptor antagonist bosentan in rat mesenteric arteries by using a video dimension analyzer. In endothelium-denuded arteries, increasing concentrations of endothelin-1 evoked a biphasic vasoconstriction. The first phase was observed at low concentrations (10(-16) to 10(-11) mol/L) of endothelin-1 and was relatively weak.

Pharmacological profile of gastric mucosal protection by marmin and nobiletin from a traditional herbal medicine, Aurantii fructus immaturus.

We studied the effects of marmin and nobiletin on the experimental acute gastric lesions, gastric transmucosal potential difference (PD) and gastric motor activity in rats and the contractions of isolated guinea pig ileum. Oral administration of marmin and nobiletin inhibited both the appearance of ethanol-induced gastric hemorrhagic lesions dose-dependently in a dose range of 10-50 mg/kg, with ED50 values for marmin and nobiletin being 17.2 and 8.

Regio- and stereoselective synthesis of carbocyclic 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluoro nucleosides as potential antiviral agents.

The synthesis and antiviral activity of racemic carbocyclic 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluoro nucleosides are reported. Carbocyclic 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluoro nucleosides were obtained from the 3-fluoro cyclopentane derivative 4, which was prepared by two methods. The SN2-displacement of the hydroxyl group of (+/-)-(1 beta, 2 alpha, 3 beta, 4 beta)-4-acetamido-2-fluoro-3-hydroxycyclopentylmethyl acetate (1) with Ph3P-I2 followed by tin hydride reduction afforded the 3-fluoroamino alcohol derivative 3.

Changes in the endothelial cyclooxygenase pathway in resistance arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Vasodilator responses to adenosine and acetylcholine (ACh) were studied in ring preparations of mesenteric resistance arteries of Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Adenosine (10(-7)-3 x 10(-4) M) caused relaxations in rings with endothelium. The relaxation was more pronounced in WKY than in SHR.

Development of atherosclerosis in alloxan diabetic rats.

Rats with alloxan-induced diabetes developed severe atherosclerotic lesions when they were maintained on a 0.25% cholesterol diet for one year. The atheromatous changes developed at the aortic arch, appeared as early as 3 months after the start of the experiment, and increased thereafter.

Gastrointestinal invasion by herpes simplex virus type 1 inoculated cutaneously into the immunosuppressed mice.

The pathogenesis of infection in mice with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strain 7401H was studied. Mice immunosuppressed by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide were inoculated cutaneously into the flank with the virus and developed severe zosteriform skin lesions. All of them died within 2 weeks after the infection, while most of the normal mice survived the viral infection with healing of the lesions.

Epidural anaesthesia for insertion of a femoral neck prosthesis in a patient with phaeochromocytoma.

A hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fracture was successfully performed under combined epidural anaesthesia and light general anaesthesia before phaeochromocytoma removal. Pre-operative therapy was managed with doxazosin, enalapril and diltiazem. Peri-operative management facilitated maintenance of stable haemodynamic conditions.

[Pharmacological studies on antidiarrheal effects of berberine and geranii herba].

We studied the effects of berberine and Geranii Herba extract (GH) on different diarrheal models of mice, on the contractions of the isolated guinea pig intestinal smooth muscle and on the peristalsis in the rat intestine, comparing these effects with those of atropine (ATR) and papaverine (PAP). 1) Berberine significantly inhibited both the diarrhea induced by castor oil and that induced by BaCl2 at doses higher than 25 mg/kg, p.o.

[Pharmacological studies on antidiarrheal effects of a preparation containing berberine and geranii herba].

We studied the effects of a preparation containing Berberine and Geranii Herba (BGH) on different diarrheal models of mice and the contractions of isolated guinea pig intestinal smooth muscle, comparing these effects with those of a preparation containing creosote (CSG) and loperamide (LP). BGH, as well as CSG and LP, significantly inhibited the diarrhea induced by castor oil or BaCl2, but not the diarrhea induced by pilocarpine or serotonin. BGH inhibited ACh-, Ba(2+)- or electrical stimulation (ES)-induced contraction of the ileum or colon at concentrations from 10(-6) to 10(-4) g/ml.

Roles of sulfhydryl compounds in the gastric mucosal protection of the herb drugs composing oren-gedoku-to (a traditional herbal medicine).

We investigated the involvement of sulfhydryl compounds in the cytoprotective effect of each component herb drug composing Oren-gedoku-to (OGT) against ethanol-induced gastric lesions and potential difference (PD) reduction in comparison with that of OGT in rats. Pretreatment with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) significantly blocked the cytoprotective effects of OGT, Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex, but did not block the cytoprotective effects of Gardeniae fructus and Scutellariae radix. The inhibitory effects of OGT, Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex against the PD reduction disappeared in the presence of NEM or diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), whereas NEM or DDC had little or no effect with Gardeniae fructus and Scutellariae radix.

Differential effects of ursodeoxycholic acid and ursocholic acid on the formation of biliary cholesterol crystals in mice.

The preventive effect of 3 alpha, 7 beta, 12 alpha-trihydroxy-5 beta-cholanoic acid (ursocholic acid) and ursodeoxycholic acid on the formation of biliary cholesterol crystals was studied in mice. Cholesterol crystals developed with 80% incidence after feeding for five weeks a lithogenic diet containing 0.5% cholesterol and 0.

Sequence-specific single-strand DNA-binding proteins that interact with the regulatory regions of wheat histone H3 and H4 genes.

We identified two novel DNA-binding proteins, ssDBP-1 and ssDBP-2, in wheat germ nuclear extract that interact with the proximal sequences of the promoter regions of the wheat histone H3 and H4 genes. Mobility shift and methylation interference assays have demonstrated that these factors specifically bind to the single-strand DNA which partially overlaps the hexamer and octamer cis-elements of the H3 promoter. Both proteins are distinguishable from HBP-1a and HBP-1b which specifically bind to the H3 hexamer sequence.

[The mechanism of the inhibitory effects of oren-gedoku-to (OGT) on gastric acid secretion in rats].

The effect of oren-gedoku-to (OGT) on gastric acid secretion was examined in the perfused stomach of anesthetized rats. OGT (10-100 mg/kg) given intraperitoneally dose-dependently inhibited the gastric acid secretion stimulated by intracerebroventricular DN-1417, an analogue of TRH, but failed to inhibit the acid secretion stimulated by intracerebroventricular baclofen, an analogue of GABA. The inhibitory effect of OGT on DN-1417-induced acid secretion was antagonized by haloperidol (0.