Effect of Zen Meditation on serum nitric oxide activity and lipid peroxidation.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of Zen Meditation on serum nitric oxide activity (NO) and oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation). The experimental group included 20 subjects who had practiced the Zen Meditation program in Meditation Center located in Seoul, South Korea. The control group included 20 subjects who did not practice any formal stress management technique and were age and sex matched with experimental group.

Protective effect of protocatechuic acid isopropyl ester against murine models of sepsis: inhibition of TNF-alpha and nitric oxide production and augmentation of IL-10.

Antioxidants have been shown to be effective in murine models of sepsis. Protocatechuic acid has antioxidant activity. In the present study, the protective effects of protocatechuic acid and its derivatives were investigated in a mouse model of septic shock induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/D-galactosamine (GalN).

Therapeutic effects of lysophosphatidylcholine in experimental sepsis.

Sepsis represents a major cause of death in intensive care units. Here we show that administration of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), an endogenous lysophospholipid, protected mice against lethality after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli. In vivo treatment with LPC markedly enhanced clearance of intraperitoneal bacteria and blocked CLP-induced deactivation of neutrophils.

Inhibition of intracerebroventricular injection stress-induced plasma corticosterone levels by intracerebroventricularly administered compound K, a ginseng saponin metabolite, in mice.

Effects of major intestinal metabolites of ginsenosides, including compound K (IH-901, 20-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), compound Y (IH-902, 20-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl (1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), and ginsenoside Mc (IH-903, 20-O-[alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl (1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), on acute stress-induced plasma corticosterone levels were studied in mice. Intracerebroventricularly (i.c.

Lysophosphatidic acid stimulates CREB through mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase-1.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a growth factor-like phospholipid that elicits a variety of cellular responses in numerous cell types, including neurons, immune cells, and fibroblasts. In this report, we investigated the possibility that LPA activates the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein, CREB, in Rat-2 fibroblast cells. CREB is activated in many cells downstream of signaling events, such as growth factor and neurotrophin stimulation.

Role of proto-oncogenes in the regulation of proenkephalin mRNA expression induced by repeated nicotine injections in rat adrenal medulla.

We have studied the effect of repeated systemic administrations of nicotine (3 mg/kg) at 30 min intervals on proenkephalin (proENK) mRNA level in rat adrenal gland. Northern blot analysis has shown that proENK mRNA expression was enhanced by repeated nicotine administrations. Additionally, repeated administrations of nicotine transiently induced the c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels after the first-third nicotine administration, and the c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels were returned to the basal level after the seventh administration of nicotine.