Immunostimulant Activity of Picroliv, the Iridoid Glycoside Fraction of Picrorhiza kurroa, and its Protective Action against Leishmania donovani Infection in Hamsters1

Picroliv, a standardised fraction from root and rhizome of Picrorhiza kurroa, consisting of iridoid glycosides and shown to be responsible for its hepatoprotective activity, was studied for immunostimulant activity. Oral administration of Picroliv (10 mg/kg x 7 days) in mice prior to immunization with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) resulted in a significant increase in haemagglutinating antibody (HA) titre, plaque forming cells (PFC), and delayed hypersensitivity (DTH) response to SRBC. Picroliv enhanced the non-specific immune response characterized by an increase in macrophage migration index (MMI), [14C]-glucosamine uptake, phagocytosis of [14C]-leucine labelled Escherichia coli, chemiluminescence of peritoneal macrophages, and higher uptake of [3H]-thymidine in the lymphocytes of treated mice. It also induced a high degree of protection in golden hamsters against challenge infection with Leishmania donovani promastigotes.     

Absolute quantitation in neurological PET: do we need it?

This article addresses the question posed in the title by examining the effects of parameters traditionally associated with improved absolute quantitation, on the analysis of 12 acquired immune deficiency syndrome dementia complex (ADC) patients compared to a normal control group. Results are discussed within the framework of the subprofile scaling model (SSM) for analyzing patterns of regional covariation. It is demonstrated that the ability to extract measures of group discrimination and disease progression are unaffected by (1) limited improvements in image resolution, (2) the use of transmission scan smoothing, (3) the application of a scatter deconvolution correction, and (4) converting region-of-interest measurements of counts per voxel to measurements of regional CMRglc. This "robustness" of the SSM approach is partly due to the extraction of disease-related subject weights, independent of any subject's global scaling effects. It is argued that other analysis techniques that initially reduce intersubject variation (e.g., using regional ratios or normalizing by global metabolic rates before applying traditional multivariate procedures) lack analytic features that may be important to identify multidimensional, disease-related image patterns. Based on the ADC patient data, it is concluded that measures of group discrimination and disease progression will not necessarily benefit from the organization of parameters traditionally associated with improved absolute quantitation.     

Evidence for central histaminergic mechanism in foot shock aggression

The role of central histaminergic system in foot shock induced aggression was studied in mice. Histamine administered by intracerebral (IC) injection (25–200 g) produced a significant increase in fighting episodes in a dose dependent manner. It was observed that mepyramine (H₁ blocker) given intraperitoneally (IP) significantly increased and metiamide (H₂ blocker) given IC decreased significantly the fighting response. To determine the nature of receptors involved in histamine induced facilitation of aggressive behaviour, histamine was administered IC in mice pretreated with mepyramine or metiamide. Mepyramine pretreatment further increased the facilitatory effect of histamine while metiamide blocked the enhancement of aggressiveness by histamine. Combined pretreatment with metiamide and mepyramine decreased significantly the fighting counts which remained unaffected after histamine. Haloperidol did not block the enhancement of aggression by histamine or mepyramine. However, atropine pretreatment partially inhibited the histamine induced increase in the fighting counts. Results of pretreatment with metiamide and atropine were similar to those obtained with pretreatment of metiamide and mepyramine. Metiamide alone or in combination with atropine failed to affect the facilitatory effect of amphetamine on the foot-shockaggression. It is concluded that central histamine H₂ receptors have a facilitatory role and H₁ receptors an inhibitory role on aggressive behaviour in mice induced by foot-shock. Since histamine per se had a facilitatory effect on foot-shock induced aggression, the central H₂ receptors seem to dominate over the H₁ receptors.     

Antileishmanial action of Tephrosia purpurea linn,extract and its fractions against experimental visceral leishmaniasis

Tephrosia purpurea (family: Fabaceae), which is used in traditional remedies for the treatment of febrile attacks, enlargement and obstruction of liver, spleen, and kidney, was found to have significant antileishmanial activity, and has been extensively fractionated to locate the abode of activity. A fraction (F062) obtained from N‐butanol extract of T. purpurea showed consistent antileishmanial activity at 50 mg/ kg × 5 days by oral route against Leishmania donovani infection in hamsters. Activity was further confirmed in a secondary model, i.e., Indian langur monkeys (Presbytis entellus). Thus, the fraction F062 from this plant possesses potential to produce significant antileishmanial activity by oral route without producing any toxic side effects. Drug. Dev. Res. 60:285–293, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Oral Fine Motor Control of Teeth Treated with Endodontic Microsurgery: A Single-Blinded Case-control Study

IntroductionPeriodontal mechanoreceptors (PMRs) are refined neural receptors present in abundance at the root apex and have a pivotal role in oral fine motor control. This case-control study aimed to evaluate the oral fine motor control of teeth treated with endodontic microsurgery (EMS) in comparison with the control teeth using a standardized behavioral biting task.MethodsFourteen eligible participants performed 5 trials of an oral fine motor control task that involved holding and splitting half of a peanut positioned on a force transducer with their EMS treated tooth and its contralateral control incisor tooth (28 teeth in total). The outcome variables were the mean food holding force, intra- and intertrial variability of the holding force, food splitting force, splitting duration, and the frequency of the stepwise splitting phase. The data were analyzed with parametric and nonparametric tests.ResultsThe results showed no statistically significant differences in the holding force, inter- and intratrial variability of the holding force, splitting force, or splitting duration between the teeth treated with EMS and the control (P > .05). However, there was a significantly higher frequency of stepwise ramp increase during the splitting phase with EMS treated teeth compared with the control (48% and 37%, respectively; P < .05).ConclusionsEMS treated teeth showed similar force regulation and oral fine motor control as the contralateral control. The findings of this study suggest that EMS treatment does not perturb the sensory information of PMRs and maintains the force regulation and oral fine motor control of the teeth.     

Some nutritional properties of the seeds of three Mucuna species

The seeds of Mucuna nivea, M. pruriens and M. utilis showed ash 4.3-5.1%, oil 4.9-5.5%, protein 25.9-27.5%, L-dopa 3.6-4.2%, trypsin 28.5-39.7 mg/g and chymotrypsin inhibitor activity 19.3-24.6 mg/g. The trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activity increased in pod hull and seeds while the amount of protein increased in seeds and decreased in pod hull with maturity. The essential amino acid profile was comparable to the FAO pattern (lysine 6.0-6.4%). The fatty acid composition had total unsaturated acids 51.9-55.9%, but were poor in oil contents.