• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.104-110
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• 2007

Aralia contientalis show several beneficial effects including anti-oxidant effects. Aralia contientalis is used as a therapeutic agent to stop haemorrhages and a tonic to promoted health in Korean and Chinese medicine. The pharmacokinetic profiles of the main Aralia contientalis is still not accurately investigated. In present study, I examined the effects of water extracts of Aralia contientalis on high cholesterol diet atherosclerosis-induced rats in serum and abdominal aorta. A total of 3-week old 9 male rats of Sprague-Dawley were divided into 3 groups and fed with the basal diet (normal group), high cholesterol diet (atherosclerosis induced group) for 8 weeks, high cholesterol diet supplemented with water extracts of Aralia contientalis (Aralia contientalis group) for 2 weeks. And rats were sacrificed, serum lipid level, abodominal aortic anti-oxidant activities and lipid peroxide were measured. These results indicated that serum total cholesterl, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides concentration significently lowered in Aralia contientalis group than high cholesterol diet group. But HDL-cholesterol concentraion significently higher in Aralia contientalis group than high cholesterol diet group.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.401-408
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• 1989

This study was conducted to investigate whether an electrical stimulation of medial amygdaloid nucleus in rats increases pancreatic secretion. And an involvement of vagus nerve or plasma secretin in this process was also studied. In fasting rats anesthetized with urethane, a monopolar stainless steel electrode was stereotaxically inserted into the right medial amygdaloid nucleus. Pancreatic juice was collected for 20 minutes, during which physiological saline or 0.01 N HCI (0.18 ml/min) was perfused into the duodenum with or without bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy. In the medial amygdaloid group, an electrical stimulation was continuously applied to the medial amygdaloid nucleus during the perfusion period. After collection of pancreatic juice, blood was drawn from the abdominal aorta for determination of the plasma secretin level. The results were as follows: 1) The electrical stimulaion of the medial amygdaloid nucleus did not influence the pancreatic secretion in response to intraduodenal saline perfusion. 2) The stimulation of the medial amygdaloid nucleus significantly increased the pancreatic secretory response (volume, bicarbonate output) to the intraduodenal 0.01 N HCI perfusion, and the increases were abolished by vagotomy. 3) The plasma secretin concentration after the intraduodenal 0.01 N HCI perfusion was higher than that after the saline perfusion. However, neither the electrical stimulation of the medial amygdaloid nucleus nor vagotomy affected the plasma secretin concentration during the intraduodenal perfusion with saline or 0.01 N HCI. It is, therefore, suggested that the medial amygdaloid nucleus facilitates the pancreatic secretion (volume, bicarbonate) elicited by intraduodenal HCI perfusion through the vagus nerve.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.374-379
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• 2018

In this study, we investigated the effects of pelargonidin, an anthocyanidin found in many fruits and vegetables, on endothelium-independent vascular contractility to determine the underlying mechanism of relaxation. Isometric contractions of denuded aortic muscles from male rats were recorded, and the data were combined with those obtained in western blot analysis. Pelargonidin significantly inhibited fluoride-, thromboxane A2-, and phorbol ester-induced vascular contractions, regardless of the presence or absence of endothelium, suggesting a direct effect of the compound on vascular smooth muscles via a different pathway. Pelargonidin significantly inhibited the fluoride-dependent increase in the level of myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 (MYPT1) phosphorylation at Thr-855 and the phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate-dependent increase in the level of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 phosphorylation at Thr202/Tyr204, suggesting the inhibition of Rho-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) activities and subsequent phosphorylation of MYPT1 and ERK1/2. These results suggest that the relaxation effect of pelargonidin on agonist-dependent vascular contractions includes inhibition of Rho-kinase and MEK activities, independent of the endothelial function.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.315-322
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• 2005

In this study, the authors investigated whether death of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) had a pathological pertinence. Conditioned media obtained from rat aorta smooth muscle cell (SMC) that were induced death by expressing FADD in the absence of tetracycline (FADD-SMC) triggered death of normal SMC. DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activation were observed in dying SMC by conditioned media. FADD-SMC showed transcriptional activation of tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. Conditioned medium contained $TNF-{\alpha}$, indicating secretion of the cytokine from dying FADD-SMC. It was investigated if secreted $TNF-{\alpha}$ was functional. Conditioned medium activated ERK and p38 MAPK pathways and induced MMP-9 expression, whereas depletion of the cytokine with its soluble receptor (sTNFR) remarkably inhibited induction of MMP-9 by conditioned medium. These findings suggest that $TNF-{\alpha}$ in conditioned medium seems to be active. Then, contribution of $TNF-{\alpha}$ on death-inducing activity of conditioned medium was examined. Depletion of $TNF-{\alpha}$ with soluble $TNF-{\alpha}$ receptor decreased the death activity of conditioned medium by 35%, suggesting that $TNF-{\alpha}$ play a partial role in the death activity. Boiling of medium almost completely abolished the death-inducing activity, suggesting that other heat labile death inducing proteins existed in conditioned medium. Taken together, these results indicate that SMC undergoing death could contribute to inflammation by expressing inflammatory cytokines and pathological complications by inducing death of neighboring cells.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.161-165
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• 2006

NO and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are contributes to vascular inflammation induced by various stimulation. The mechanism, which explains a linkage between NO and COX-2, could be of importance in promoting pathophysiological conditions of vessel. We investigated the effects of NO donors on the COX-l and COX-2 mRNA/protein expression, as well as the nitrite production in culture medium of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC). VSMC was primarily cultured from thoracic aorta of rat. In this experiments, COX-l and COX-2 mRNA/protein expressions were analysed and nitrite productions were investigated using Griess reagent. VSMC did not express COX-2 protein in basal condition (Nonlipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated). In LPS-stimulated experiments, after 3 hours of NO donor pretreatment, LPS $10{\mu}g/ml$ was treated for 24 hours. COX-l protein expressions were unchanged by SNP and NOR-3. NOR-3 significantly increased COX-2 mRNA/protein expression under LPS stimulation. In contrast, SNP did not increase COX-2 mRNA/protein expression under LPS stimulation. Nitrite production was higher in NOR-3 treatment than SNP treatment under LPS stimulation. These results suggest that the expression of COX-2 in VSMC is regulated by NOR-3, COX-2 expressions were depending on the types of NO donor and LPS stimulation in VSMC.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.307-314
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• 2013

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a potent pro-fibrotic factor, which is implicated in fibrosis through extracellular matrix (ECM) induction in diabetic cardiovascular complications. It is an important downstream mediator in the fibrotic action of transforming growth factor ${\beta}$ ($TGF{\beta}$) and is potentially induced by hyperglycemia in human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Therefore, the goal of this study is to identify the signaling pathways of CTGF effects on ECM accumulation and cell proliferation in VSMCs under hyperglycemia. We found that high glucose stimulated the levels of CTGF mRNA and protein and followed by VSMC proliferation and ECM components accumulation such as collagen type 1, collagen type 3 and fibronectin. By depleting endogenous CTGF we showed that CTGF is indispensable for the cell proliferation and ECM components accumulation in high glucose-stimulated VSMCs. In addition, pretreatment with the MEK1/2 specific inhibitors, PD98059 or U0126 potently inhibited the CTGF production and ECM components accumulation in high glucose-stimulated VSMCs. Furthermore, knockdown with ERK1/2 MAPK siRNA resulted in significantly down regulated of CTGF production, ECM components accumulation and cell proliferation in high glucose-stimulated VSMCs. Finally, ERK1/2 signaling regulated Egr-1 protein expression and treatment with recombinant CTGF reversed the Egr-1 expression in high glucose-induced VSMCs. It is conceivable that ERK1/2 MAPK signaling pathway plays an important role in regulating CTGF expression and suggests that blockade of CTGF through ERK1/2 MAPK signaling may be beneficial for therapeutic target of diabetic cardiovascular complication such as atherosclerosis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.119-127
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• 1989

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of medial amygdala on the gastric acid secretion and plasma gastrin concentration in the rats with chronic gastric fistula. After the medial nucleus of amygdala was damaged bilaterally by radiofrequency a. c. through stereotaxically inserted electrodes, the gastric juice was collected in the basal and histamine-stimulated states for 1 hour. The gastric juice was also collected while the medial nucleus of amygdala was stimulated with biphasic square wave in the both states. After the collection of the gastric juice, blood samples were drawn from the abdominal aorta for the radioimmunoassay of plasma gastrin. The results were as follows: 1) The damage of the medial amygdala significantly decreased the gastric juice volume and the acid output in the histamine-stimulated state. 2) The electrical stimulation of the medial amygdala significantly increased the gastric juice volume and the acid output in the histamine-stimulated state, and the acid output in the basal state. 3) The damage of the medial amygdala significantly decreased the plasma gastrin concentration but the electrical stimulation of the medial amygdala did not affect the plasma gastrin concentration. It is therefore suggested that the medial amygdala has a facilitatory influence on the histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion in rats, and the influence may not be attributed to gastrin release.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.209-220
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• 2014

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key factor involved in the induction of angiogenesis and has become an attractive target for anti-angiogenesis therapies. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the anti-angiogenic activity of Rubus coreanus Miquel water extract (RCME). Rubus coreanus Miquel has long been employed as a traditional medicine, and recent studies have demonstrated that it has measureable biological activities. Thus, we investigated for the first time the effect of RCME on angiogenesis and its underlying signaling pathways. The effects of RCME were tested on in vitro models of angiogenesis, namely, proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells as well as an ex vivo model of vessel sprouting from the rat aorta in response to VEGF. We observed that VEGF-induced angiogenesis was strongly suppressed by RCME treatment compared to that of the control group. Moreover, we found that RCME inhibited VEGF-induced activation of matrix metalloproteinases and phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38, and also effectively inhibited phosphorylation of VEGF receptor 2. These results indicated that RCME inhibits angiogenesis by suppressing phosphorylation of the VEGF receptor and may be useful for the treatment of angiogenesis-dependent diseases such as cancer and diabetic retinopathy.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.242-248
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• 1991

Antihypertensive effect of YH 334 was examined in various experimental hypertension rat models and the systemic and regional hymohynamic profiles of the compound were investigated in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The antiypertensive potensive potency of YH 334 is found to be more than 10 times stronger than that of nitrendipine in the all hypertensive models. The effective doses to lower the initial blood pressure by 20% $(ED_{20})$ of YH334 were 1.4 mg/kg in normotensive rats (NR), 0.7 mglkg in SHR. 0.1 mg/kg in DOCA salt hypertensive rats (DHR) and 0.4 mg/kg in renal hypertensive rats (RHR), and the $ED_{20}$ values of nitrendipine were 15.8 mg/kg in NR, 7.1 mg/kg in SHR, 1.7 mg/kg in DHR and 4.8 mg/kg in RHR. The primary hemodynamic effect hemodynamic profile is similar to that of nitrendipine. Both compounds seem to produce potent antihypertensive effects by lowering peripheral resistance in the skeletal muscles. In the organ bath study using isolated rabbit aorta, YH 334 was found to be a potent voltage dependent calcium channel blocker without significant inhibitory effect on the receptor operated calcium channels like the most of other dihydropyridine type calcium antagonists. Furthermore, YH334 showed acute diuretic and natriuretic effects in conscious SHR, which may render the unnecessary restriction of sodium in the diet of those patients on long term hypertension therapy. This effect would provide an additional benefit to its potent antihypertensive activity.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.327-335
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• 2017

Objective: The goal of this preclinical study was to compare the dyslipidemic effect of pravastatin with that of herbal medicine in rats. Methods: In total, 40 rats were divided into 4 groups: Normal (10 rats), Control (10 rats), Statin alone (10 rats), and the MO-PM-S group (10 rats), which was given the powder of the cortex of Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils., the root of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, and pravastatin. The Control group, the Statin alone group, and the MO-PM-S group were all given a high-fat (45%) diet that made them obese. After 2 weeks of drug administration, the dyslipidemic effect of pravastatin was compared with that of herbal medicine in rats by analyzing the lipid profiles, measuring the body weights, and taking biopsies (liver, aorta). Results: The herbal medicine and the statin complex group got a much lower TG level and a slightly higher HDL-cholesterol level than the other groups. However, it got a higher total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol level than the other groups. In biopsies, 30% of the Statin alone group and 10% of the MO-PM-S group showed mild histopathologic findings in the liver. Conclusion: The cortex of the Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils. and the root of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb have dyslipidemic effects from the perspective of a TG level and HDL-cholesterol. However, the herbal mixture has a raising effect on both the LDL-cholesterol and the total cholesterol levels. Therefore, we cannot conclude that the herbal mixture helps to prevent dyslipidemia. In liver biopsies, the group administered with both the herbal mixture and the statin showed less histopathologic findings than the group administered with statin alone. This means that the herbal mixture helps to prevent fatty degeneration of the liver.