Several quaternary pyridinium cephalosporin analogues were prepared analogues were Prepared and evaluated in vitro for antibacterial activity against selected Gram-positive and Cram-negative organisms. Most of the synthesized analogues were either as effective or less effective against the tested bacterial organ isms than the reference com pounds, Cefpirome and Ceftazidime.

Novel fluoro-substituted apio dideoxyuncleoside(($\pm$)-3a and ($\pm$)-3b) were efficiently synthesized stalling from 1,3-dihydroxyacetone via Horner-Emmons olefination as a key step. Cyclization of fluoro ester ($\pm$)-6 under acidic conditions to the fluorolactone was smoothly proceeded in favor of trans-fluorolactone due to the favorable transition state with equatorial hydroxymethyl substituent. Unfortunately the final nucleosides($\pm$) -3a and ($\pm$)-3b were found to be inactive against several viruses such as HIV-1, HSV- I , HSV-2 and HCMV.

Differential pulse polarographic(DPP) analytical procedure for the rifampicin antibiotic, which can be applied to monitor its synthetic process from the starting antibiotic of rifamycin B or rifamycin SV has been developed based on the electrochemical reduction of an azomethine group. Rifampicin exhibited a cathodic peak due to the azomethine group in the side chain of 3-[(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)imino]methyl moiety and another cathodic peak due to the carbonyl group in rifamycin SV by DPP. The experimental peak potential shift of an azomethine reduction was -73 mV/pH in the pH range between 3.0 and 7.5, agreeing with involvement of 4 e-and 5 $H^5$ in its reduction. By the cyclic voltammetric(CV) studies, the azomethine and the carbonyl reductions in rifampicin were processed irreversibly on the mercury electrode. The plot of peak currents vs. concentrations of rifampicin ranging $1.0{\times}10^{-7} M~$1.0{\times}10^{-5} M yielded a straight line with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996. The detection limit was $1.0{\times}10^{-8} M with a modulation amplitude of 50 mV DPP has been successfully applied for the determination of rifampicin in the pharmaceutical preparations.

$\alpha$-Benzoyloxypaeoniflorin (1), a new antioxidant monoterpene $\alpha$-glycoside anomer was isolated from Paeonia suffruticosa along with known compounds, $\beta$-benzoyloxypaeoniflorin (2), paeonolide, paeoniflorin and mudanpioside H. The structure of 1 has been determined by comparing spectral data with those of $\beta$-Benzoyloxypaeoniflorin(2). Compound 1 exhibited moderately potent radical scavenging activity on DPPH radical.

Curdlan is a natural $\beta$-1,3-glucan produced by Agrobacterium biovar 1. In this study, the anticoagulant activity of sulfoalkyl derivatives of curdlan was investigated by carrying out activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) assay and compared with that of o-sulfonated curdlan. Approximately 100-fold higher concentration of o-sulfonated curdlan than heparin was required to obtain the same level of the clotting time. Anticoagulant activity of curdlan derivatives was dependent on the degree of sulfation in prolonging the clotting time. However, the chain length of the substituent did not play a role in prolonging the clotting time. The curdlan derivatives enhanced thrombin inhibition by mediating through antithrombin III. The inhibition of thrombin by o-sulfonated curdlan was found to be approximately 10-fold weaker than that by heparin.

The present study was undertaken to investigate whether or not the hepatoprotective activity of acetylbergenin was superior to bergenin in carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$)-intoxicated rat. Acetylbergenin was synthesized by acetylating bergenin, which was isolated from Mallotus japonicus. The hepatoprotective effects of acetylbergenin were examined against $CCl_4$-induced liver damage in rats by means of serum and liver biochemical Indices. Acetylbergenin was administered orally once daily for 7 successive days, then a 0.5 ${m/kg}$ mixture of $CCl_4$in olive oil (1:1) was intraperitoneally injected at 12 h and 36 h after the final administration of acetylbergenin. Pretreatment with acetylbergenin reduced the elevated serum enzymatic activities of alanine/aspartate aminotransferase, sorbitol dehydrogenase and $\gamma$-glutamyltransferase in a dose dependent fashion. Acetylbergenin also prevented the elevation of hepatic malondialdehyde formation and depletion of glutathione content dose dependently in $CCl_4$-intoxicates rats. In addition, the decreased activities of glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase were restored to almost normal levels. The results of this study strongly suggest that acetylbergenin n has potent hepatoprotective activity against $CCl_4$-induced hepatic damage in rats by glutathione-mediated detoxification as well as having free radical scavenging activity. In addition, acetylbergenin doses of 50 ${mg/kg}$showed almost the same levels of hepatoprotection activity as 100 ${mg/kg}$ of bergenin, indicating that lipophilic acetylbergenin is more active against the antihepatotoxic effects of $CCl_4$ than those of the much less lipophilic bergenin.

We have reported that kalopanaxsaponin A (KPS-A) Isolated from Kalopanax pictus have anti-rheumatoidal activity in the rat treated with Freunds complete adjuvant (FCA) reagent. In addition, it has been also reported that KPS-A is a potent antioxidant in the rheumatoidal rat. This research was undertaken to examine whether the saponins of KPS-A and -1 could adjust the abnormal lipid metabolisms and hematological changes in immunological diseases. KPS-A significantly inhibited the increases in both triglycerides and total proteins in addition to the decrease in total cholesterol induced by FCA reagent treatment. KPS-A treatment decreased the number of leucocytes elevated by FCA reagent treatment. Excess dose of the methanol extract produced no severe toxicity on the body weight, wet organ weights and hepatic functions. Since $LD_50$ value of K. pictus methanol extract was shown to be 4,033 ${mg/kg}$, it could be estimated to be a safe agent for anti-rheumatoidal herbal medicines.

Quinacrine (QU), a phospholipase-A2 (PLA-2) inhibitor has been used clinically as a chemotherapeutic adjuvant. To understand the mechanisms leading to its chemotherapeutic effect, we have investigated QU-induced apoptotic signaling pathways in human cervical squamous carcinoma HeLa cells. In this study, we found that QU induced cytochrome c-dependent apoptotic signaling. The release of pro-apoptotic cytochrome c was QU concentration- and time-dependent, and preceded activation of caspase-9 and -3. Flow cytometric FACScan analysis using fluorescence intensities of $DiOC_6$/ demonstrated that QU-induced cytochrome c release was independent of mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), since the concentrations of QU that induced cytochrome c release did not alter mitochondrial membrane potential (${\blacktriangle}{\Psi}_m$). Moreover, kinetic analysis of caspase activities showed that cytochrome c release led to the activation of caspase-9 and downstream death effector caspase-3, Caspase-3 inhibitor (Ac-DEVD-CHO) partially blocked QU-induced apoptosis, suggesting the importance of caspase-3 in this apoptotic signaling mechanism. Supplementation with arachidonic acid (AA) sustained caspase-3 activation induced by QU. Using inhibitors against cellular arachidonate metabolism of lipooxygenase (Nordihydroxyguaiaretic Acid, NDGA) and cyclooxygenase (5,8,11,14-Eicosatetraynoic Acid, ETYA) demonstrated that QU-induced apoptotic signaling may be dependent on its role as a PLA-2 inhibitor. Interestingly, NDCA attenuated QU-induced cytochrome c release, caspase activity as well as apoptotic cell death. The blockade of cytochrome c release by NDCA was much more effective than that attained with cyclosporin A (CsA), a MPT inhibitor. ETYA was not effective in blocking cytochrome c release, except under very high concentrations. Caspase inhibitor z-VAD blocked the release of cytochrome c suggesting that this signaling event is caspase dependent, and caspase-8 activation may be upstream of the mitochondrial events. In summary, we report that QU induced cytochrome c-dependent apoptotic signaling cascade, which may be dependent on its role as a PLA-2 inhibitor. This apoptotic mechanism induced by QU may contribute to its known chemotherapeutic effects.

Fumonisins are specific inhibitors of ceramide synthase in sphingolipid metabolism. An alteration in sphingolipid metabolism as a result of fumonisin exposure is related to cell death (Yoo et al., 1992). The objective of this study was to investigate whether elevated free sphinganine levels are related to the sensitivity of cultured cells to fumonisin exposure. Fumonisin $B_1$ elevated the intracellular free sphinganine concentraions in both LLC-$PK_1$ and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. However, CHO cells are resistant to fumonisin cytotoxicity at 50${u}m$, while LLC-$PK_1$ cells are sensitive at concentrations greater than 357M. The intracellular concentration of free sphinganine in LLC-$PK_1$ cells treated at 50${u}m$ fumonisin $B_1$ for 72 h was approximately 1450 pmol/mg protein relative to the 37 pmol observed in the control culture. Under the same conditions, the population of apoptotic cells in the 50${u}m$ fumonisin $B_1$-treated culture was approximately 37% of the total compared to 12% in the control. The caspase III-like activity after 72 h in the 50${\mu}$M fumonisin $B_1$-exposed culture Increased to approximately 50 $pmol/mg$ protein/hr compared to 6 $pmol/mg$ protein/hr in the control. L-cycloserine, a serine palmitoyltransferase inhibitory reduced the fumonisin $B_1$-stimulated caspase III-like activity down to the control level. Under the same culture conditions, the intracellular concentration of free sphinganine after-cycloserine plus fumonisin $B_1$ treatment was 140 pmol/mg protein compared to 1450 $pmol/mg$ protein in fumonisin $B_1$ alone. The intracellular concentration of free sphinganine in CHO cells treated with 50${u}m$ fumonisin $B_1$ for 72 h was al)proximately 460 pmol/mg protein, indicating that the mass amount of elevated free sphinganine in the CHO cells was about 32% of that in LLC-$PK_1$ cells. Adding exogenous sphinganine to the CHO cells along with 50${u}m$ fumonisin $B_1$ treatment for 72 h caused both necrosis and apoptosis. In conclusion, the elevated endogenous sphinganine acts as a contributing factor to the fumonisin-induced cell death.

N-acetylsphingosine (C2-ceramide) is a synthetic water-soluble ceramide mimicking the activity of natural ceramides. By fixing chiral conformation on carbon numbers 2 and 3 in the ceramide structure, four chiral C2-ceramides naming d-erythro-, I-erythro-, d-threo-and 1-three C2-ceramide were synthesized. We have investigated the chiral effects of these C2-ceramides on the sphingolipid metabolism, particularly on both the sphingolipid bio- synthetic pathway and on the degradation pathway. In both HL-60 and U937 cells, the chiral C2-ceramide ($10{\mu}\textrm{m}$) showed sphingosine accumulation monitored fluoromatrically by a high performance liquid chromatographic separation of the sphingoid bases. Most importantly, in HL-60 cells, l-erythro C2-ceramide induced a 50 fold increase in sphingosine as compared to the control, while l-threo C2-ceramide exhibited a minimal 7-fold in-crease. In contrast, sphinganine, another sphingoid base, showed less accumulation by any chiral C2-ceramide tested under the same conditions. These results suggested that chiral C2-ceramide primarilyacts on the sphingolipid degradation pathway rather than on the sphingolipid biosynthetic route. The strong $C_0/G_1$ phase arrest in the cell cycle by treatment of I-erythro C2-ceramide indicates that the blockade of the sphingolipid degradation pathway might be concomitantly involved in the dysfunction of the cell cycle. On the other hand, the fact that all chiral C2-ceramides tested failed to inhibit the activity of sphingosine kinase acting on the removal of sphingosine by producing sphingosine-1 -phosphate demonstrates that chiral C2- ceramides may increase sphingosine by activating various ceramidases by which natural ceramides are divided into sphingosine and free fatty acids. However, the precise steps involved in this interaction are still unknown.

The activity of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in rheumatoid arthritis is not only due to the inhibition of the production of prostaglandins, which can even have beneficial immunosuppressive effects in chronic inflammatory processes. Since we speculated that these drugs could also act by protecting endogenous proteins against denaturation, we evaluated their effect on heat-induced denaturation human serum albumin (HSA) in comparison with several fatty acids which are known to be potent stabilizers of this protein. By the Mizushimas assay and a recently developed HPLC assays we observed that NSAIDs were slightly less active [$EC_{50}~10^{-5}-10^{-4}$ M] than FA and that the HPLC method was less sensitive but more selective than the turbidimetric assay, i.e. it was capable of distinguishing true antiaggregant agents like FA and NSAIDs from substances capable of inhibiting the precipitation of denatured protein aggregates. In conclusion, this survey could be useful for the development of more effective agents in protein condensation diseases like rheumatic disorders, cataract and Alzheimers disease.

The accelerated stability of dimethoxy biphenyl monocarboxylate.HCl (DDB-S) was investigated in 6 mg/mL water solution in the pH ranging 2-10 and the temperature of $45-85^{\circ}C$. The observed rate of degradation followed first-order kinetics. The energy of activation for DDB-S degradation was calculated to be 14.1 and 16.5 $Kcal/mole$ at pH 5 and in distilled watery respectively. The degradation rate constant ($K_{25^{\circ}C}$) obtained by trending line analysis of Arrhenius plots for DDB-S was $5.3{\times}10^{-6}h^{-1}$. The times to degrade 10% ($t_{10}$) and 50% $t_{500}$) at $K_{25^{\circ}C}$ were 829 and 5,416 days, respectively. DDB-S exhibited the fastest degradation at pH 10 and the slowest rate at pH 5. In addition, at $K_{65^{\circ}C}$, degradation rate constants of DDB-S were 0.066, 0.059, 5.460, 32.171, and $1.4{\times}10^{-6}h^{-1}$ at pH 2, 5, 8, 10 and in distilled water, respectively. These observations indicated that the rate-pH profile of DDB-S showed general acid-base catalysis reaction in the range of pH 2-10.

Glutamate receptors-mediated excitoxicity is believed to play a role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. The present study was performed to evaluate the inhibitory effect of fanschinoline, a bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, which has a characteristic as a $Ca^{2+}$channel blockers on excitatory amino acids (EAAS)-induced neurotoxicity in cultured rat cerebellar granule neuron. Fangchinoline (1 and 5$\mu\textrm{m}$) inhibited glutamate (1 ${m}M$), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 1 ${m}M$) and kainate (100$\mu\textrm{m}$)-induced neuronal cell death which was measured by trypan blue exclusion test. Fangchinoline (1 and 5$\mu\textrm{m}$) inhibited glutamate release into medium induced by NMDA (1 ${m}M$) and kainate (100$\mu\textrm{m}$), which was measured by HPLC. And fangchinoline (5$\mu\textrm{m}$) inhibited glutamate (1 ${m}M$)-induced elevation of intracellular calcium concentration. These results suggest that inhibition of $Ca^{2+}$influx by fangchinoline may contribute to the beneficial effects on neurodegenerative effect of glutamate in pathophysiological conditions.