1,721,038 research outputs found
Effects of differential extraction of Verbena officinalis on rat models of inflammation, cicatrization and gastric damage
No full textPlanta Med. 2007 Mar;73(3):227-35. Epub 2007 Mar 12.
Effects of differential extraction of Verbena officinalis on rat models of inflammation, cicatrization and gastric damage.
Speroni E, Cervellati R, Costa S, Guerra MC, Utan A, Govoni P, Berger A, Müller A, Stuppner H.
Source
Dipartimento di Farmacologia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. [email protected]
Abstract
Verbena officinalis L. is used in folk medicine for the treatment of inflammatory disorders, skin burns, abrasions, and gastric diseases. Extracts obtained with different solvents (methanol, VoME; enriched flavonoids, VoEF; supercritical CO2, VoCO2) were evaluated for anti-inflammatory, gastroprotective and cicatrizing activities. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity was determined in vitro. In order to confirm the activities investigated, histological observations were performed. All extracts induce a remarkable anti-inflammatory activity. The gastric damage is significantly reduced by all extracts administered, whereby the most pronounced protection is observed for the VoCO2 and VoEF extracts. Finally, a wound healing effect is obtained particularly by the CO2 extract, suggesting the presence of some lipophilic active principles. Histological evidence confirms the results evaluated with the animal procedures. The results obtained after oral administration of V. officinalis extracts are also in agreement with the antioxidant capacity evaluated in vitro, confirming the relationship between pharmacological activities and antiradical efficacy
Effect of Non-Volatile Constituents of Elsholtzia ciliata (Thunb.) Hyl. from Southern Vietnam on Reactive Oxygen Species and Nitric Oxide Release in Macrophages
No full textThe extract of Elsholtzia ciliata aerial parts was subjected to bio-guided isolation using the intercellular ROS reduction in J774A.1 macrophages to monitor the anti-oxidative activity. Fifteen compounds were isolated from the active fractions including eleven flavonoids (vitexin, pedalin, luteolin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, apigenin-5-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, apigenin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, chrysoeriol-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, 7,3′-dimethoxyluteolin-6-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, luteolin, 5,6,4′-trihydroxy-7,3′-dimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavone (compound 13), 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone); three hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives (caffeic acid, 4-(E)-caffeoyl-l-threonic acid, 4-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl-l-threonic acid) and one fatty acid (α-linolenic acid). The biological evaluation of these compounds (10–2.5 μm) indicated that all of them exerted good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, in particular compound 13
Unusual secondary metabolites of the aerial parts of dionysia diapensifolia bioss. (primulaceae) and their anti-inflammatory activity
No full textThe genus Dionysia, belonging to the Primulaceae family, encompasses more than 50 species worldwide with a center of diversity located in the arid Irano-Turanian mountains. In this study, a phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of D. diapensifolia Bioss. led to the isolation of 24 phenolic compounds 1–7 and 9–25, and one sesquiterpenoid 8. Compound 1 was identified as new natural product, while isolation of 2 and 3, already known as synthetic products, from a natural source is reported for the first time in the present study. Isolation of compound 8 from a Dionysia species and indeed the whole Primulaceae family is reported for the first time too. Structure elucidation was performed by extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D-, 2D-NMR, and MS), and by comparison with reported literature data. Furthermore, DP4+ chemical shift probability calculations were performed to establish the relative configuration of compound 1. Additionally, subfractions obtained by liquid-liquid extraction of the methanolic extract of the plant, and subsequently the isolated new and selected known compounds 1–4, 6, 8–11 obtained from the diethyl ether subfraction were investigated for their inhibitory effect on NO release and iNOS and COX-2 expression in J774A.1 murine macrophages. The results showed a potential anti-inflammatory activity of the obtained subfractions, of which the diethyl ether subfraction was the most active one in inhibiting NO release and COX-2 expression (p < 0.001). Among the investigated isolated compounds, compound 4 significantly (p < 0.001) inhibited NO release and iNOS and COX-2 expression in a comparable manner like the used positive controls (L-NAME and indomethacin, respectively). Moreover, other isolated substances displayed moderate to high inhibitory activities, illustrating the potential anti-inflammatory activity of Dionysia diapensifolia
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
In vivo efficacy of different extracts of Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum Cass.) in animal models
No full textAbstract
Dichloromethane, methanolic and CO(2) extracts of the aerial parts and roots of Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum Cass.) were investigated for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects after oral administration. The highest activity in rat's paw edema assay was found for the lipophilic extracts of the aerial plant parts (dose 200 mg/kg), exhibiting a swelling reduction of 72% (CO(2)-extract) and 80% (DCM-extract), respectively. Histological evaluation of the treated paws showed a significant reduction of the inflammatory response in the pre-treated specimens. On the contrary in the acetic acid-induced writhing test the dichloromethane extract of the root extract exhibited more pronounced analgesic effects than the extracts of the aerial parts, suggesting a different pattern of active compounds. As far as gastrointestinal effects are concerned, oral administration of aerial parts (hDCM 200 mg/kg) to mice induces a highly significant inhibition in gastrointestinal propulsion probably related to the presence of so far unknown compounds. Moreover, the antioxidant capacity of some extracts was studied in order to establish a possible correlation with anti-inflammatory properties
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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