草珊瑚中的一个新倍半萜内酯

草珊瑚为金粟兰科植物Sarcandra glabra(Thumb.)Nakai的全株,又名接骨金粟兰、肿节风、九节风、九节茶、接骨木等。有清热祛风,散瘀接骨之功效,民间用于治疗肺炎、凤湿性关节炎等。近年来做成制剂治疗溃疡病、癌症等。已报导的化学成分有延胡索酸、琥珀酸及异白蜡树定(isofraxidin)等。今从草珊瑚叶中分得一个新的倍半萜内酯,本文鉴定其结构为(—)-istanbulin A。     

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) activity in urine of patients with glomerulonephritis is related to their renal functional and structural changes

SUMMARY: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) has been considered the principal cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis. In the present study, we evaluated TGF-β activity in occasional samples from 22 normal individuals and 29 patients (11 with focal glomerulosclerosis, 11 with membranous nephropathy, five with Berger disease, one with type I membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and one with postinfectious glomerulonephritis) using a CCL-64 mink lung cell growth inhibition assay.
A significantly increased urinary TGF-β activity (reported in relation to urine creatinine, Ucreat, and median) was observed in patients with glomerulonephritis compared with normal individuals ( P <0.01). the patients with Berger disease [median (Md) = 9.96/10 μg Ucreat.], membranous glomerulonephritis (Md = 7.23/10 μg Ucreat.) and focal glomerulosclerosis (Md = 16.6/10 μg Ucreat.) showed higher urinary TGF-β than normal individuals (Md = 1.09/10 μg Ucreat.) ( P <0.01). We found a positive correlation between the TGF-β activity in the urine of these patients and the incidence of segmental glomerulosclerosis ( r = 0.45, P <0.05) and their plasma creatinine levels ( r = 0.87, P <0.01). A negative correlation was observed between the TGF-β activity in the urine of these patients and their creatinine clearance ( r =−0.75, P <0.01).
Our data suggest that measurement of urinary TGF-β activity could be a useful non-invasive procedure for the evaluation of renal TGF-β production, permitting the assessment of prognosis and the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in patients with renal disease.     

The protection against the cerebral and pulmonary effects of hyperbaric oxygen by pharmacological agents and lithium salts in mice

The effect of three phenothiazines, a barbiturate, a ureide, two oxazolidine diones, γ-aminobutyrate, γ-hydroxybutyrate and n-dipropylacetate, in diminishing the incidence of convulsions and pulmonary oedema induced by hyperbaric oxygen at pressures up to 6 bars was studied in mice. The order of effectiveness in protection was chlorpromazine (6 mg/kg) > LiCl (600 mg/kg) > γ-hydroxybutyrate (200 mg/kg) > prochlorpemazine (5 mg/kg) > phenobarbitone (5 mg/kg). If a drug protected the mouse against convulsions, the pulmonary hydration did not increase. The findings generally supported the hypothesis that the protection from hyperbaric oxygen was due to these drugs preventing the fall of γ-aminobutyrate in the brain caused by hyperbaric oxygen.