The Effect of Dry Cleared Extract from Licorice Roots on the Learning of Ovariectomized Rats

The influence of chronic administration of a dry cleared extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (DCEG) containing flavonoids on the behavioral status and learning of intact and ovariectomized adult female rats has been studied. The DCEG preparation was administered in low (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) and high (5.0 mg/kg, i.p.) daily doses over a period of 14 days and the results were evaluated on the passive avoidance situation model and in the open field test. It was established that the chronic administration of DCEG in both low and high doses produced correction of the passive avoidance performance in ovariectomized female rats. The administration of DCEG in a low dose also positively influenced the structure of purposeful behavior of females with deficiency of estrogens. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 27 – 29, August, 2005.     

Alkaline Hydrolysis Kinetics and No-Donor Activity of Tenonitrozole

The kinetics of alkaline hydrolysis of N-(5-nitro-2-thiazolyl)-2-thiophenylcarboxamide (tenonitrozole or atrican) has been studied by photometric and polarographic techniques, and the thermodynamic parameters in the intermediate state of this process were determined. A mechanism explaining the nitric oxide (NO) production during the hydrolytic decomposition of tenonitrozole is proposed. It is suggested that the antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activity of this drug under anaerobic conditions is related to the formation of nitro radical anions and NO. Under aerobic and microaerophilic conditions, the hydrolysis of tenonitrozole may lead to the formation of a peroxynitrite anion, which is a strong cytotoxic agent. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 15 – 18, June, 2005.     

Toll-like receptor signaling inhibits structural development of the distal fetal mouse lung.

We tested the hypothesis that innate immune signaling in utero could disrupt the structural development of the fetal lung, contributing to the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Injection of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the amniotic fluid of E15 BALB/cJ mice increased the luminal volume density of fetal mouse lungs at embryonic day (E) 17 and E18. LPS also increased luminal volume and decreased distal lung branching in fetal mouse lung explants. This effect required NF-kappaB activation and functional Toll-Like Receptor 4. Airway branching may require fibronectin-dependent epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, representing a potential target for innate immune signaling. Anti-fibronectin antibodies and LPS both blocked distal lung branching. By immunofluorescence, fibronectin localized to the clefts between newly formed airways but was restricted to peripheral mesenchymal cells in LPS-exposed explants. These data suggest that LPS may alter the expression pattern of mesenchymal fibronectin, potentially disrupting epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and inhibiting distal airway branching and alveolarization. This mechanism may link innate immune signaling with defects in structural development of the fetal lung.     

Misdiagnosis of hysteria

The diagnosis of hysteria is often incorrect and must be made with great caution. A retrospective study demonstrates that an erroneous diagnosis of hysteria is most likely to be given to females, the psychiatrically ill, patients who embellish and patients who present plausible psychogenic explanations for their illness. Movement disorders and paralysis are the neurologic disorders most frequently mislabeled as hysteria.     

Quantitative relationship between global left ventricular thallium uptake and blood flow: effects of propranolol, ouabain, dipyridamole, and coronary artery occlusion

The quantitative relationship between fractional myocardial thallium uptake and radioactive microsphere-determined flow was studied in 33 open chest dogs under baseline conditions during increased coronary flow (dipyridamole), decreased coronary flow (propranolol and coronary artery stenosis), inhibition of Na-K ATPase (ouabain), and regional infarction. Myocardial contents of thallium and microspheres were compared in left ventricular (LV) biopsies taken 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 min after thallium injection, expressed as fractions of injected dose. Maximal LV thallium uptake occurred 10 min after injection and the 10-min values were therefore used for subsequent comparisons. Combining all dogs, fractional LV thallium content (% injected dose) correlated well with fractional LV blood flow (% cardiac output) (r = 0.95). However, for fractional LV flows in the low, normal, or moderately elevated range (LV flow/cardiac output less than 9%), thallium content consistently exceeded flow by about 15%. This relationship was not altered by ouabain or regional ischemia or infarction. For greatly elevated fractional LV flows (greater than 9%), thallium content was not significantly different from flow. To explain these differences, myocardial and systemic extraction fractions for thallium were determined in eight dogs with a dual tracer method. At baseline, myocardial extraction fraction was significantly greater than systemic (88 +/- 0.4% compared with 75 +/- 1%, p less than 0.001). During dipyridamole, myocardial extraction fraction decreased and myocardial and systemic values were no longer significantly different (82 +/- 1% compared with 79 +/- 1%). These results show that the fraction of injected thallium dose taken up by the LV myocardium exceeds the delivered fraction of cardiac output over a wide range of LV flows, and is not altered by ouabain-induced inhibition of sodium-potassium ATPase or regional myocardial infarction. This difference is explained by a greater myocardial than systemic extraction fraction for thallium. During high LV flows produced by dipyridamole, fractional LV thallium uptake and flow become similar as myocardial and systemic extraction fractions equalize.     

Dose response relationships for radiation induced chromosome aberrations in human lymphocytes in vivo and in vitro

Chromosome aberrations have been analysed in cultured lymphocytes from a patient undergoing whole-body treatment with split doses of gamma-rays up to a cumulative dose of 1.4 Gy. The dependence on dose of the yield of dicentrics was best fitted to the linear-quadratic relationship with a linear component predominating in the low dose range (below 0.56 Gy). These observations were compared with the data obtained when blood samples were exposed in vitro to low acute doses of gamma-rays (from 0.05 up to 2.0 Gy). The frequencies of induced chromosome aberrations were similar in both cases and little deviation was found between the dose response curves (a/b ratio equal to 0.56 and 0.69 Gy, respectively in vivo and in vitro). These results confirm that in vitro calibration curves can be utilized confidently for the biological estimate of an in vivo absorbed dose.