Investigation of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory and antioxidant effects of various hydroxycoumarin derivatives

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the primary causes of deaths worldwide, and the development of atherosclerosis is closely related to hypercholesterolemia. As the reduction of the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level is critical for treating these diseases, the inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, which is essentially responsible for cholesterol biosynthesis, stands out as a key solution to lower plasma cholesterol levels. In this study, we synthesized several dihydroxycoumarins and investigated their antioxidant and in vitro HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory effects. Furthermore, we carried out in silico studies and examined the quantum-chemical properties of the coumarin derivatives. We also performed molecular docking experiments and analyzed the binding strength of each coumarin derivative. Our results revealed that compound IV displayed the highest HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory activity (IC₅₀ = 42.0 µM) in vitro. Cupric-reducing antioxidant capacity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assays demonstrated that coumarin derivatives exhibit potent antioxidant activities. Additionally, a close relationship was found between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels and the antioxidant activities.     

The effect of moderate and severe COVID-19 pneumonia on short-term right ventricular functions: a prospective observational single pandemic center analysis

The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - It has been reported that myocardial damage and heart failure are more common in COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms. The aim of our study...     

Angular dependence of L x-ray production cross sections for Pt and Au elements in an external magnetic field

The effect of the external magnetic field has been investigated on the Ll, Lα, Lβ and Lγ production cross sections of Pt and Au elements in the angular range 90°-150° by using an energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The samples were irradiated by using the gamma rays of 59.537 keV emitted from an ^{241}Am radioisotope source of 100 mCi. The external magnetic fields have been applied two opposite directions and the magnitude of the external magnetic field has been fixed at +0.75 T and -0.75 T. For B=0, Ll and Lα groups in the L x-ray lines are found to be spatially anisotropic, while those in the Lβ and Lγ peaks are isotropic. An enhancement in the differential Ll and Lα production cross sections is observed in the presence of external magnetic field. Integral cross sections for production of Ll, Lα, Lβ and Lγ x-rays were also deduced and were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical values for B=0.     

A Different Therapeutic Strategy for Severe Tetralogy of Fallot with Origin of the Left Pulmonary Artery from the Ascending Aorta: Stenting of the Right Ventricular Outflow Tract before Complete Repair

The origin of pulmonary artery branches (particularly the left pulmonary artery) from the ascending aorta is a rare condition. We detected prominent hypoplasia of the main and right pulmonary arteries in a 3.5‐month‐old 3.7 kg female infant who had tetralogy of Fallot with origin of the left pulmonary artery in the ascending aorta. In order to ensure the development of the right pulmonary artery, a stent was put in that extended from the right ventricular outflow tract to the right pulmonary artery. During follow‐up, after the patient's right pulmonary artery had developed sufficiently, a complete repair surgery was done. It is common practice for patients with abnormal origin of the left pulmonary artery to perform the complete repair using the direct reimplantation technique. However, we think that another possibility is to implant the stent in patients with hypoplastic pulmonary artery and branches in the early stages, wait for a short period of time and perform the complete repair surgery before permanent pulmonary hypertension develops.     

Corneal topographic changes in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Background  

To asses the effect of menopause on the corneal curvature changes using corneal computerized videokeratography (CVK) in premenopausal and postmenopausal healthy women.     

Anatomical identification of neurons in selected brain regions associated with maternal behavior deficits induced by knife cuts of the lateral hypothalamus in rats

The present experiment identified neurons associated with maternal behavior deficits induced by damage to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) in rats. Fully maternal lactating rats received bilateral coronal knife cuts through either the dorsal or ventral LH at the level of the ventromedial nucleus. The blade of the wire knife used to make the cuts was coated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The maternal behavior of all females was studied for 4 days postoperatively and then the brains were processed for the localization of neurons retrogradely filled with HRP. The analysis focused on those brain regions thought to be important for maternal behavior. The dorsal LH cuts severely disrupted maternal behavior while the ventral LH cuts did not. The ventral cuts labeled more medial preoptic area (MPOA) and septal-diagonal band neurons with HRP than did the dorsal cuts. The dorsal LH cuts labeled more neurons with HRP in the lateral preoptic area (LPOA), magnocellular preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, ventral tegmental area (VTA), substantia nigra, and central gray than did the ventral cuts. Previous research has suggested that the lateral efferents of the MPOA interact with the VTA in the control of maternal behavior. The results of the present experiment suggest that MPOA axons which descend directly to the brainstem via the ventral LH are not essential for maternal behavior. Our results are consistent with the view that an MPOA-to-LPOA-to-VTA circuit may be important for maternal behavior.     

Effects of medial septal lesions on an operant delayed go/no-go discrimination in rats

Male hooded rats received either a medial septal lesion or a control operation. The rats were then tested on an operant go/no-go discrimination task, first without a delay contingency (20 days), followed by 25 days under an 8-s delay. A discrete trial procedure with symmetrical reinforcement was used. Each trial began with the operant chamber darkened, except for back illumination of a centrally located press panel. Depression of this panel extinguished the back light and initiated a random presentation of either the go stimulus (2800 Hz tone) or the no-go stimulus (10 Hz pulsing light) for 3 s. Stimulus termination initiated the appropriate delay contingency (0 s or 8 s), which was followed by the cued availability of a lever for 2 s. If the rat pressed the lever on go trials, or refrained from pressing the lever on no-go trials, a food pellet was delivered. The data (% correct responses) were averaged over 5-day blocks. Overall, the septal-lesioned rats performed significantly better than the control rats under both O-s delay (p < 0.025) and 8-s delay (p < 0.001) contingencies. Although there was not a significant difference between the groups during the last block of the O-s delay (septals 93% correct, controls 89% correct, p > 0.05) or the first block of the 8-s delay (septals 54% correct, controls 53% correct, p > 0.05), the septal-lesioned animals performed significantly better than the controls during all the remaining phases of the experiment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Left hemitruncus associated with tetralogy of fallot: a case report.

This report presents a case of a left hemitruncus and tetralogy of Fallot. The diagnosis was first made by means of echocardiography and confirmed with cardiac catheterization thereafter. To the authors' knowledge, this patient is the fourth-longest-term survivor so far reported in the medical literature. A significant improvement has been observed after surgical correction of the anomaly, and the patient was free of symptoms at the 6-mo follow-up examination.