Effect of renal sympathetic nerve on adrenergically and angiotensin II-induced renal vasoconstriction in normal Wistar-Kyoto rats

Background

This study examined the effect of renal sympathetic innervation on adrenergically and angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced renal vasoconstriction in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats.

Methods

Forty-eight WKY rats were treated with either losartan (10 mg/kg/day p.o.) or carvedilol (5 mg/kg/day p.o.) or a combination of them (10 mg/kg/day + 5 mg/kg/day p.o.) for 7 days. On day 8, the rats were anaesthetized, and renal vasoconstrictor experiments were carried out. A group of rats was subjected to acute unilateral renal denervation during the acute study. Changes in the renal vasoconstrictor responses were determined in terms of reductions in renal blood flow caused by Ang II, noradrenaline (NA), and methoxamine (ME).

Results

In normal animals, losartan decreased (P < 0.05) the renal vasoconstrictor response to Ang II but not to NA or ME. Carvedilol treatment, however, blunted (P < 0.05) the renal vasoconstrictor responses to Ang II and adrenergic agonists. Combination of losartan and carvedilol blunted (P < 0.05) the renal vasoconstrictor response to Ang II but augmented the responses to NA and ME (all P < 0.05). Interestingly, when denervated rats were treated with the same combination, there was a reduction (P < 0.05) in the renal vasoconstrictor responses to Ang II and adrenergic agonists.

Conclusions

Data suggest that the renal sympathetic nerve contributes to adrenergic agonist-mediated renal vasoconstrictions in normal rats. The data further indicate an interactive relationship between renin-angiotensin and sympathetic nervous systems in modulating adrenergically and Ang II-induced renal vasoconstriction in WKY rats.     

Hepatoprotective activity of Hepax-A polyherbal formulation

Objective

To evaluate the hepatoprotective potential of Hepax, a polyherbal formulation, against three experimentally induced hepatotoxicity models in rats.

Methods

Hepatoprotective activity of Hepax was studied against three experimentally induced hepatotoxicity models, namely, carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), paracetamol and thiocetamide induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

Results

Administration of hepatotoxins (CCl₄, paracetamol and thiocetamide) showed significant morphological, biochemical and histological deteriorations in the liver of experimental animals. Pretreatment with Hepax had significant protection against hepatic damage by maintaining the morphological parameters (liver weight and liver weight to organ weight ratio) within normal range and normalizing the elevated levels of biochemical parameters (SGPT, SGOT, ALP and total bilirubin), which were evidently showed in histopathological study.

Conclusions

The Hepax has highly significant hepatoprotective effect at 100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o. on the liver of all the three experimental animal models.     

Effects of topical treatment of sodium butyrate and 5-aminosalicylic acid on expression of trefoil factor 3, interleukin 1beta, and nuclear factor kappaB in trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid induced colitis in rats

Background and Aims

Butyrate enemas have been shown to be effective in treatment of ulcerative colitis, but the mechanism of the effects of butyrate is not totally known. This study evaluates effects of topical treatment of sodium butyrate (NaB) and 5‐aminosalicylic acid (5‐ASA) on the expression of trefoil factor 3 (TFF3), interleukin 1β (IL1β), and nuclear factor κB (NFκB) in trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis in rats.

Methods

Distal colitis was induced in male Wistar rats by colonic administration of TNBS and colonically treated with NaB, 5‐ASA, combination of NaB and 5‐ASA, and normal saline for 14 consecutive days. Colonic damage score, tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, TFF3 mRNA expression, serum IL1β production, and tissue NFκB expression were determined, respectively.

Results

Treatment of NaB, 5‐ASA, and the combination improved diarrhoea, colonic damage score, and MPO activities, increased TFF3 mRNA expression, and decreased serum IL1β production and tissue NFκB expression. The combination therapy of NaB and 5‐ASA had better effects than any other single treatment.

Conclusions

The combination of topical treatment of NaB and 5‐ASA was effective for relieving and repairing colonic inflammation and the effects were related to stimulation of TFF3 mRNA expression and down‐regulation of IL1β production and NFκB expression.     

Impaired CD4-cell immune reconstitution upon HIV therapy in patients with toxoplasmic encephalitis compared to patients with pneumocystis pneumonia as AIDS indicating disease

Objectives

There is only little data on immune reconstitution in antiretroviral naïve AIDS-patients with toxoplasmosis. The observation of several cases with reduced increase of CD4-cells upon start of antiretroviral treatment (ART) prompted us to investigate the topic using the ClinSurv cohort.

Methods

17 German HIV treatment centers contribute to ClinSurv, a multicentre observational cohort under the auspices of the Robert Koch Institute. We retrospectively selected all antiretroviral-naïve patients with toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) and -as comparator group -with pneumocystosis (PCP) between January 1999 and December 2005.

Results

A total of 257 patients were included in the analysis, 61 with TE and 196 with PCP. Demographic baseline data showed differences with regard to gender, transmission group, and baseline CD4⁺ counts (60.9 vs. 44.7/μl, p = 0.022). After ART-initiation the increase in CD4⁺ lymphocytes was lower in the TE-versus the PCP-group in the first, second and fourth three-month-period (74.4 vs. 120.3/μl, p = 0.006; 96.6 vs. 136.2/μl, p = 0.021; 156.5 vs. 211.5/μl, p = 0.013). Viral load (VL) was higher in the PCP-group at baseline (4.46 log₁₀cop/ml vs. 5.00 log₁₀cop/ml, p = 0.008), while virological success of ART was equal.

Conclusions

Our data show for the first time that the average CD4⁺ T-cell increase of patients with toxoplasmosis is impaired compared to PCP-patients. Most clinicians would not be prepared to discontinue follow-up TE-therapy unless CD4⁺ counts of 200/μl are reached. Explanation for our finding might be the myelosuppressive side effect of pyrimethamine, possible interactions of toxoplasmosis therapy with ART, or an unknown direct biological influence of toxoplasmosis on immune restoration.     

右美托咪定对大鼠吗啡镇痛和耐受的影响

目的探讨右美托咪定对大鼠吗啡镇痛和耐受的影响。方法雄性成年SD大鼠54只,采用随机数字表法,将其分为9组（n=6）,对照组（C组）、吗啡组（M组）、右美托咪定组（D组）、MK-467组（右美托咪定抑制剂组）、右美托咪定加吗啡组（M＋D组）、MK-467加吗啡组（MK＋M组）、右美托咪定加吗啡耐受组（D＋MD组）、MK-467加吗啡耐受组（MK＋MD组）和吗啡耐受组（MD组）。皮下注射吗啡50mg／kg,1次／d,连续4d,建立吗啡耐受模型。于给药前1d测定热甩尾潜伏期（TFL）和热缩足反应潜伏期（TWL）。皮下注射吗啡5mg／kg后,腹腔分别注射右美托咪定和MK-467。每隔30min测定热甩尾潜伏期（TFL）和热缩足反应潜伏期（TWL）（0、30、60、90、120min）。结果与C组比较,M组、D组、M＋D组、D＋MD组和MD组TFL和TWL升高（P〈0．05）。与M组比较,M＋D组TFL和TWL升高（P〈0．05）,与MD组比较,D＋MD组TFL和TWL升高（P〈0．05）。与M组比较,MK＋M组TFL和TWL降低（P〈O．05）,与MD组比较,MK＋MD组TFL和TWL降低（P〈O．05）。结论右美托咪定可增强大鼠吗啡的抗伤害反应,并减轻吗啡耐受反应。     

Assessment of antidiabetic activity and acute toxicity of leaf extracts from Physalis peruviana L. in guinea-pig

Objective

To verify the antidiabetic activity of leaf extracts from Physalis peruviana L. popularly used in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to point out the possible toxicity.

Method

Aqueous decoctions prepared from dried leaves powder were administrated to guinea pigs at the dose range of 100 mg/kg to 3.2 g/kg of body weight. The hypoglycemic activity was evaluated by glucose tolerance test, loading animals with glucose 4 g/kg and measuring blood glucose concentrations at various times. The effect was compared to the control and glibenclamide as antidiabetic reference drug. Acute toxicity was evaluated by recording mortality rate, changes on blood biomarkers and damage caused to vital organs.

Results

At a dose of 100 mg/kg, the aqueous extract induced a significant reduction of peak concentration at 30 min after glucose loading as compared with control or reference (P<0.05). At doses greater than 400 mg, some alterations on blood, kidney and liver markers were observed. Upper 800 mg/kg, mortality was observed with LD₅₀ estimated at about 1 280 mg/kg. At the autopsy, vital organs were in haemorrhage and swelling state.

Conclusion

The crude aqueous extracts from the leaves of Physalis peruviana L. present hypoglycemic activity in animal model, but at high doses the plant may cause severe intoxication.     

Raised cardiac troponin T levels in patients without acute coronary syndrome

Objective

To investigate the frequency, diagnosis and outcome of patients admitted to hospital with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or other conditions associated with raised levels of cardiac troponin T.

Design

Observational study.

Setting

A large university hospital.

Patients

Consecutive patients admitted over an 8‐week period who had a serum troponin T test as part of their clinical assessment were included. Patients were separated into those with raised (⩾0.01 μg/l) or normal (<0.01 μg/l) troponin T levels, and further categorised into those with or without a diagnosis of ACS.

Main outcome measures

In‐hospital mortality in all patients; and 6‐month hospital re‐admissions and all‐cause mortality in patients without or with ACS and raised levels of troponin T.

Results

Of 1021 patients, 118 patients had no ACS but raised troponin T levels, 195 had ACS with raised troponin T, 80 had ACS with normal troponin T and 628 had no ACS with normal troponin T. Their in‐hospital all‐cause mortalities were 36%, 18%, 0% and 3%, respectively (p<0.001, highest mortality v other groups). 6‐month all‐cause mortality remained higher in patients without ACS and with raised levels of troponin T than in those with ACS and raised troponin T (42% v 29%; p = 0.020).

Conclusions

Patients without ACS but with raised levels of troponin T comprised 38% of all hospitalised patients found to have raised troponin T. These patients had worse in‐hospital and 6‐month outcome than those having ACS with raised levels of troponin T.     

Dexmedetomidine reduces the incidence of fentanyl-induced cough: A double-blind,randomized, and placebo-controlled study

Objectives.

The incidence of fentanyl-induced cough (FIC) during induction of general anesthesia varies around 40% and is undesirable. It increases intracranial, intraocular, and intra-abdominal pressures. This prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) pretreatment on the incidence and severity of FIC.

Methods.

Altogether 300 patients undergoing elective surgical procedures were randomly allocated into three groups (I, II, III; n = 100) and administered intravenously, over 10 min, 10 mL isotonic saline, DEX 0.5 μg/kg in 10 mL isotonic saline, or DEX 1 μg/kg in 10 mL isotonic saline, respectively. All groups subsequently received a fentanyl (4.0 μg/kg) intravenous push. The incidence and severity of cough were recorded for 1 min after fentanyl administration.

Results.

The incidence of FIC was 61%, 40%, and 18% in groups I, II, and III, respectively (P < 0.05 for treatment groups II and III versus control group I). There was no significant difference in the severity or onset time of cough, or hemodynamic variables, among the three groups.

Conclusions.

Intravenous DEX (0.5 μg/kg or 1 μg/kg) immediately before the administration of intravenous fentanyl (4.0 μg/kg) significantly reduced the incidence of FIC.     

Plasma levels of vitamin E and carotenoids are decreased in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

Objectives

Oxidative stress is suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The present study was aimed to compare plasma levels of antioxidants in patients suffering from NASH and healthy controls.

Methods

Plasma levels of the antioxidants α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, α-carotene β-carotene were determined in 57 patients with biopsy-proven NASH and 40 healthy controls.

Results

Levels of α-tocopherol (22.4 vs. 26.8 nmol/ ml; p < 0.01), lutein (0.19 vs. 0.33 nmol/ml; p < 0.0001), zeaxanthin (0.04 vs. 0.08 nmol/ml; p < 0.0001), lycopene (0.15 vs. 0.42 nmol/ml; p < 0.0001), α-carotene (0.03 vs. 0.06 nmol/ml; p < 0.005) and β-carotene (0.25 vs. 0.39 nmol/ml; p < 0.01) were significantly decreased in NASH patients compared to controls. Age, aminotransferase status (ALT, AST) and BMI were not correlated with the levels of tocopherols or carotenoids.

Conclusions

Given the decreased levels supplementation of lipophilic antioxidants might be a rational treatment option for patients with NASH.     

The non-invasive 13C-methionine breath test detects hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction as a marker of disease activity in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Introduction

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the general pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), increasing the risk of developing steatosis and subsequent hepatocellular inflammation. We aimed to assess hepatic mitochondrial function by a non-invasive ¹³C-methionine breath test (MeBT) in patients with histologically proven NAFLD.

Methods

118 NAFLD-patients and 18 healthy controls were examined by MeBT. Liver biopsy specimens were evaluated according to the NASH scoring system.

Results

Higher grades of NASH activity and fibrosis were independently associated with a significant decrease in cumulative ¹³C-exhalation (expressed as cPDR(%)). cPDR_1.5h was markedly declined in patients with NASH and NASH cirrhosis compared to patients with simple steatosis or borderline diagnosis (cPDR1.5h: 3.24 ± 1.12% and 1.32 ± 0.94% vs. 6.36 ± 0.56% and 4.80 ± 0.88% respectively; p < 0.001). ¹³C-exhalation further declined in the presence of advanced fibrosis which was correlated with NASH activity (r = 0.36). The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) for NASH diagnosis was estimated to be 0.87 in the total cohort and 0.83 in patients with no or mild fibrosis (F0-1).

Conclusion

The ¹³C-methionine breath test indicates mitochondrial dysfunction in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and predicts higher stages of disease activity. It may, therefore, be a valuable diagnostic addition for longitudinal monitoring of hepatic (mitochondrial) function in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.     

Hepatoprotective activity of Musa paradisiaca on experimental animal models

Objective

To investigate the hepatoprotective activity of stem of Musa paradisiaca (M. paradisiaca) in CCl₄ and paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity models in rats.

Methods

Hepatoprotective activity of alcoholic and aqueous extracts of stem of M. paradisiaca was demonstrated by using two experimentally induced hepatotoxicity models.

Results

Administration of hepatotoxins (CCl₄ and paracetamol) showed significant biochemical and histological deteriorations in the liver of experimental animals. Pretreatment with alcoholic extract (500 mg/kg), more significantly and to a lesser extent the alcoholic extract (250 mg/kg) and aqueous extract (500 mg/kg), reduced the elevated levels of the serum enzymes like serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin levels and alcoholic and aqueous extracts reversed the hepatic damage towards the normal, which further evidenced the hepatoprotective activity of stem of M. paradisiaca.

Conclusions

The alcoholic extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o. and aqueous extract at a dose of 500 mg/kg, p.o. of stem of M. paradisiaca have significant effect on the liver of CCl₄ and paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity animal models.     

Enhanced effect of soluble transforming growth factor-β receptor II and IFN-γ fusion protein in reversing hepatic fibrosis

Objective

To examine the in vivo anti-fibrotic effect of rat soluble transforming growth factor β receptor II (RsTβRII) and IFN-γ fusion protein (RsTβRII-IFN-γ) in rat hepatic fibrosis model.

Methods

Model rats were divided into five groups and treated i.m. for 8 weeks: 1) fibrotic model group (each rat, 100 μl of 0.9% NaCl day^-1); 2) RsTβRII-IFN-γ treatment group (each rat, 0.136 mg· day^-1); 3) IFN-γ treatment group (each rat, 7.5 MU· day^-1); 4) RsTβRII treatment group (each rat, 0.048 mg· day^-1); and 5) mixture of IFN-γ and RsTβRII treatment group (each rat, IFN-γ 7.5 MU· day^-1+ RsTβRII 0.048 mg· day^-1). After treatment, hepatic fibrogenesis was evaluated by histopathological analysis and measurement of collagen III, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), TGF-β1, TGF-βRII and their mRNA.

Results

Immunohistochemistry, Western blot and real-time RT-PCR showed that RsTβRII-IFN-γ treatment significantly inhibited liver expression of collagen III, α-SMA, TGF-β1 and TGF-βRII at both protein and mRNA levels. Histopathological analysis also showed that the enhanced anti-fibrotic effects were achieved in model rats treated with RsTβRII-IFN-γ.

Conclusion

Our results confirmed that RsTβRII-IFN-γ has the enhanced effects in reversing hepatic fibrosis.     

Semi-automated Construction of Decision Rules to Predict Morbidities from Clinical Texts

Objective

In this study the authors describe the system submitted by the team of University of Szeged to the second i2b2 Challenge in Natural Language Processing for Clinical Data. The challenge focused on the development of automatic systems that analyzed clinical discharge summary texts and addressed the following question: “Who''s obese and what co-morbidities do they (definitely/most likely) have?”. Target diseases included obesity and its 15 most frequent comorbidities exhibited by patients, while the target labels corresponded to expert judgments based on textual evidence and intuition (separately).

Design

The authors applied statistical methods to preselect the most common and confident terms and evaluated outlier documents by hand to discover infrequent spelling variants. The authors expected a system with dictionaries gathered semi-automatically to have a good performance with moderate development costs (the authors examined just a small proportion of the records manually).

Measurements

Following the standard evaluation method of the second Workshop on challenges in Natural Language Processing for Clinical Data, the authors used both macro- and microaveraged Fβ=1 measure for evaluation.

Results

The authors submission achieved a microaverage F_β=1 score of 97.29% for classification based on textual evidence (macroaverage F_β=1 = 76.22%) and 96.42% for intuitive judgments (macroaverage F_β=1 = 67.27%).

Conclusions

The results demonstrate the feasibility of the authors approach and show that even very simple systems with a shallow linguistic analysis can achieve remarkable accuracy scores for classifying clinical records on a limited set of concepts.     

A comparative study of the antioxidant,antimicrobial, cytotoxic and thrombolytic potential of the fruits and leaves of Spondias dulcis

Objective

To investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and thrombolytic property of the fruits and leaves of Spondias dulcis (S. dulcis).

Methods

Methanolic extracts of fruits and leaves of S. dulcis were partitioned with chloroform and dichloromethane. The antioxidant potential of the crude extract and partitioned fractions were evaluated in terms of total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, DPPH radical scavenging potential, reducing potential and total antioxidant capacity by specific standard procedures. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion method. The cytotoxicity was evaluated by using brine shrimp lethality bioassay and compared with vincristine sulfate. The thrombolytic activity was compared with streptokinase.

Results

The methanolic fruit extract exhibited the highest phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity, among the other extracts, with the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity at a concentration of 10 µg/mL (IC₅₀: 1.91 µg/mL) and maximum reducing power at a concentration of 100 µg/mL (EC₅₀: 3.58 µg/mL). Though all extract showed moderate antimicrobial activity against the bacterial strains, weak or no activity against fungus. The range of LC₅₀ value of all extracts was 1.335-14.057 µg/mL which was far lower than the cut off index for cytotoxicity. All extracts exhibited statistically significant (P<0.001) thrombolytic activity.

Conclusions

Our study suggested that S. dulcis exhibits antimicrobial activities against a wide variety of strains while it possesses significant antioxidant, cytotoxic and thrombolytic activity.     

Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Hibiscus rosa sinensis Linn. leaves in experimental colitis in rats

Objective

To elucidate the ameliorative effect of hydroalcoholic extract of leaves of Hibiscus rosa sinensis (HRS) in acetic acid induced experimental colitis in male wistar rats.

Methods

The animals were administered with 2 mL acetic acid (4%) via intra rectal. The animals were divided into various treatment groups (n=6). Prednisolone was used as standard drug and HRS was administered at a dose of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg p.o. The control group of animals received 1 mL of vehicle (distilled water). Ulcer area, ulcer index, spleen weight, colon weight to length ratio, macroscopic score, haematological parameters, colonic superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), nitric oxide (NO) and histological changes were recorded after the treatment regimen of 11 days.

Results

Intrarectal instillation of acetic acid caused enhanced ulcer area, ulcer index, spleen weight, colon weight to length ratio, colonic MPO, MDA, NO and TNF-α It caused significant decreased level of SOD and GSH. Pretreatment with HRS for 7 days exhibited significant effect in lowering of oxidative stress, colonic NO, TNF-α and elevation of SOD and GSH at a dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg in acetic acid induced colitis.

Conclusions

The present investigation demonstrates HRS is of potent therapeutic value in the amelioration of experimental colitis in laboratory animals by inhibiting the proinflammatory mediator like NO and TNF-α.     

Antidiabetic and in vitro antioxidant potential of Hybanthus enneaspermus (Linn) F. Muell in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Objective

To evaluate antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of Hybanthus enneaspermus in different models.

Methods

The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and normoglycemic effect of alcoholic extract of Hybanthus enneaspermus (AHE) were evaluated at a dose of 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg p.o. while hypoglycemic activity and effect on body weight were tested at 250 and 500 mg/kg p.o. per day for 21 days in Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Further, glucose uptake by hemidiaphram was also evaluated. The total polyphenolic and flavonoid were determined and their correlation with various antioxidant assays was also determined.

Results

The results showed high level of phenolic content in AHE. AHE also exhibited higher total antioxidant capacity, good reducing power and a significant scavenger of reactive oxygen species like DPPH radical, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide and deoxyribose. Furthermore there was a significant increase in the body weight and decrease in the blood glucose level on treatment with the AHE. AHE increased glucose uptake on isolated rat hemi-diaphragm compared to control group.

Conclusions

AHE reduce blood glucose level in STZ-induced diabetic model. It does not show significant effect in normoglycemic study but showes significant effect in OGT. AHE has significant antioxidant activity, which may be attributed to high phenolic content.     

Distal adenomatous polyps are rare in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Objective

There is an increased risk of colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of left sided adenomas in patients with IBD aged 55–64 years with a local age matched control population.

Method

A review of clinical notes. The prevalence of adenomas in patients with IBD attending for either sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy was compared with local age matched controls that participated in the national screening trial for colorectal cancer with flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Results

Of 106 patients (61 male, 45 female, mean age of 59 years), 80 suffered from ulcerative colitis, 20 from Crohn''s disease, and six from indeterminate colitis. All patients had undergone at least one flexible sigmoidoscopy and 75 had a colonoscopy. Distal adenomas were found in three patients with ulcerative colitis compared with 67 of 749 controls (2.8% v 8.9%, χ² = 4.6, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

The results suggest that distal adenomatous polyps are rare in patients aged 55–64 years with IBD compared with a control population. This supports the hypothesis that lesions other than polyps are important for the development of colorectal cancer in patients with IBD.     

Acute and subacute oral toxicity study on the flavonoid rich fraction of Monodora tenuifolia seed in albino rats

Objective

To investigate the effects of the flavonoid rich fraction of Monodora tenuifolia seed on the haematology, histopathology and liver profile of Wistar albino rats.

Methods

Toxicity study was investigated on the flavonoid rich fraction of Monodora tenuifolia in rats administered different concentrations orally for 28 d using standard laboratory procedures.

Results

The LD₅₀ of the flavonoid rich fraction was found to be above 5 000 mg/kg body weight in mice observed for 48 h. After the Day 14, biochemical markers of liver injury such as serum alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase decreased significantly (P<0.05 at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight and P<0.01 at 400 mg/kg) while serum alkaline phosphatase increased non-significantly (P>0.05). There was non-significant (P>0.05) effect observed across the groups in the levels of serum total protein, albumin, globulin, urea and creatinine. The result of histological examination showed various degrees of peribiliary hepatitis after the Day 14 which fizzled out after the Day 28.

Conclusions

The result therefore suggests that the seed extract is potentially safe.     

Control of Tetranychus urticae Koch by extracts of three essential oils of chamomile,marjoram and Eucalyptus

Objective

To evaluate the acaricidal activity of extracts of three essential oils of chamomile, marjoram and Eucalyptus against Tetranychus urticae (T. urticae) Koch.

Methods

Extracts of three essential oils of chamomile, marjoram and Eucalyptus with different concentrations (0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0% and 4.0%) were used to control T. urticae Koch.

Results

The results showed that chamomile (Chamomilla recutita) represented the most potent efficient acaricidal agent against Tetranychus followed by marjoram (Marjorana hortensis) and Eucalyptus. The LC₅₀ values of chamomile, marjoram and Eucalyptus for adults were 0.65, 1.84 and 2.18, respectively and for eggs 1.17, 6.26 and 7.33, respectively. Activities of enzymes including glutathione-S-transferase, esterase (α-esterase and β-esterase) and alkaline phosphatase in susceptible mites were determined and activities of enzymes involved in the resistance of acaricides were proved. Protease enzyme was significantly decreased at LC₅₀ of both chamomile and marjoram compared with positive control. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) proved that the major compositions of Chamomilla recutita are α-bisabolol oxide A (35.251%), and trans-β-farersene (7.758%), while the main components of Marjorana hortensis are terpinene-4-ol (23.860%), p-cymene (23.404%) and sabinene (10.904%).

Conclusions

It can be concluded that extracts of three essential oils of chamomile, marjoram and Eucalyptus possess acaricidal activity against T. urticae.     

Prospective study comparing skin impedance with EEG parameters during the induction of anaesthesia with fentanyl and etomidate

Objective

Sympathetic stimulation leads to a change in electrical skin impedance. So far it is unclear whether this effect can be used to measure the effects of anaesthetics during general anaesthesia. The aim of this prospective study is to determine the electrical skin impedance during induction of anaesthesia for coronary artery bypass surgery with fentanyl and etomidate.

Methods

The electrical skin impedance was measured with the help of an electro-sympathicograph (ESG). In 47 patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery, anaesthesia was induced with intravenous fentanyl 10 μg/kg and etomidate 0.3 mg/kg. During induction, the ESG (Electrosympathicograph), BIS (Bispectral IndeX), BP (arterial blood pressure) and HR (heart rate) values of each patient were recorded every 20 seconds. The observation period from administration of fentanyl to intubation for surgery lasted 4 min.

Results

The ESG recorded significant changes in the electrical skin impedance after administration of fentanyl and etomidate(p < 0.05). During induction of anaesthesia, significant changes of BIS, HR and blood pressure were observed as well (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The electrical skin impedance measurement may be used to monitor the effects of anesthetics during general anaesthesia.