1,721,032 research outputs found
Perivascular adipose tissue modulates the effects of flavonoids on rat aorta rings: role of superoxide anion and β3 receptors
Full text link: Several studies demonstrate the beneficial effects of dietary flavonoids on the cardiovascular system. Since perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) plays an active role in the regulation of vascular tone in both health and diseases, the present study aimed to assess the functional interaction between PVAT and flavonoids in vitro on rat aorta rings. Several flavonoids proved to display both antispasmodic and spasmolytic activities towards noradrenaline-induced contraction of rings deprived of PVAT (-PVAT). However, on PVAT-intact (+PVAT) rings, both actions of some flavonoids were lost and/or much decreased. In rings-PVAT, the superoxide donor pyrogallol mimicked the effect of PVAT, while in rings+PVAT the antioxidant mito-tempol restored both activities of the two most representative flavonoids, namely apigenin and chrysin. The Rho-kinase inhibitor fasudil, or apigenin and chrysin concentration-dependently relaxed the vessel active tone induced by the Rho-kinase activator NaF; the presence of PVAT counteracted apigenin spasmolytic activity, though only in the absence of mito-tempol. Similar results were obtained in rings pre-contracted by phenylephrine. Finally, when β3 receptors were blocked by SR59230A, vasorelaxation caused by both flavonoids was unaffected by PVAT. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that both noradrenaline and apigenin activated adipocyte β3 receptors with the ensuing release of mitochondrial superoxide anion, which once diffused toward myocytes counteracted flavonoid vasorelaxant activity. This phenomenon might limit the beneficial health effects of dietary flavonoids in patients affected by either obesity and/or other pathological conditions characterized by sympathetic nerve overactivity
Metabolism of 7-ethoxycoumarin by rat precision-cut liver slices
No full textPrecision cut liver slices are used in the study of drug metabolism and toxicity, The aim of the study is to investigate the metabolism of 7-ethoxycoumarin in precision cut liver slices. Liver slices were prepared from liver cores by Krumdieck tissue slicer. After 30 min preincubation period, the liver slices were incubated in RPMI1640 medium, t = 37°C, for 2h, 4h, 6h, 24h. 7-ethoxycoumarin 50 μM was added to the incubation medium. The viability of the preparation was evaluated by LDH release in both preincubation and incubation medium. The amount of free 7-hydroxycoumarin and its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates was measured spectrofluorometrically. The results of the study showed that the precision cut liver slices are an appropriate in vitro model for complex evaluation of phase I and phase II metabolism of 7-ethoxycoumarin
Heteroaryl-substituted phenols as potential antioxidants
No full textA series of O-heteroaryl phenols have been synthesised and structurally characterised. Photo-Fries rearrangement of these compounds represents a useful way to access the corresponding C-heteroaryl derivatives. The activity of the new phenolic compounds as radical scavengers towards the 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS+•) has been evaluated. 2-tert-Butyl-4-(4-phenyl-isoxazol-3-ylmethoxy)-phenol (compound 3c) showed the highest scavenger activity (IC50 value (i.e. the concentration that scavenged 50% of the radicals) 3.17 × 10-6 M), which was one order of magnitude greater than that of the corresponding lead compound tert-butylhydroxy-anisole (BHA) (IC50 1.04 × 10-5 M). In further experiments, compound 3c showed dose-dependent inhibition of the oxidation of linoleic acid, as well as methaemoglobin formation, promoted by the presence of the radical generator 2,2′-azobis(amidino-propane) hydrochloride (AAPH) and it was markedly more potent than BHA in these assays. © 2007 The Authors
Effects of St John's wort and its active constituents, hypericin and hyperforin, on isolated rat urinary bladder
No full textObjectives To investigate the effect of St John's wort (SJW) and its active constituents hypericin and hyperforin on detrusor smooth muscle contractility and their possible neuroprotective role against ischaemic-like conditions, which could arise during overactive bladder disease. Methods In whole bladders, intrinsic nerves underwent electrical field stimulation (EFS). The effect of drugs on the contractile response and its recovery in reperfusion phase (R) was monitored at different concentrations during 1 or 2 h of anoxia-glucopenia (A-G) and the first 30 min of R. The effects of the drugs were also investigated on rat detrusor muscle strips contracted with carbachol, KCl and electrically. Key Findings SJW has spasmolytic activity, which increases with increasing concentration and it worsens the damage induced by A-G/R on rat urinary bladder. Hypericin and hyperforin had no effect during ischemic-like conditions but they both exert a dual modulation of rat detrusor strips contraction. At high micromolar concentrations they showed a relaxing effect, but at submicromolar range hypericin increased the plasma membrane depolarisation and hyperforin showed a stimulatory effect on the cholinergic system. Conclusions The results of our study showed that SJW and its constituents could modulate urinary bladder contractility and even worsen A-G/R injury
Effects of St John's wort and its active constituents, hypericin and hyperforin, on isolated rat urinary bladder.
No full textNeuroprotection afforded by diazepam against oxygen/glucose deprivation-induced injury in rat cortical brain slices
No full textThe aim of the present investigation was to assess neuroprotection exerted by diazepam (0.1-25 microM) in rat cortical brain slices subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation. Neuronal injury and neuroprotection were assessed by measuring the release of glutamate and lactate dehydrogenase and tissue water content. Results demonstrate that diazepam exerted neuroprotective effects according to a "U-shaped", hormetic-like, concentration-response curve, with an efficacy window of 0.5-5 microM concentration. Flumazenil (20 microM) fully antagonised neuroprotection afforded by 5 microM diazepam. In conclusion, the hormetic response of diazepam should be taken into consideration when designing experiments aimed at assessing diazepam neuroprotection against ischemia/reoxygenation injury
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
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
Inhibition of iron-dependent decomposition of H2O2 as a method for assessing the free-radical-scavenging activity of novel antioxidant in a hydrophilic enviroment
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