scholarly journals Long-Term Administration of Anthraquinone Rhein on Induction of Constipation in Sprague-Dawley Rats via SCF/c-Kit Signaling Pathways

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Mingdong Huo ◽  
Zhicheng Chen ◽  
Feng Gao ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
...  

Background and Study Aims. It has been shown that abuse of laxatives is becoming a serious problem; therefore, a comprehensive understanding of its effect and possible mechanism on colon motility is essential to select effective treatments and avoid their abuse. Herein, we aimed to investigate the long-term stimulation of rhein on induction of constipation in rats and its underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods. After establishing rat models of constipation, the rats were randomly divided into two equal subgroups and administered daily with normal saline (model control group) or 10 ml/kg PEG4,000 (PEG-treated group). Simultaneously, normal Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were administered with normal saline (normal group). Physiological and fecal parameters were calculated, and intestinal transmission function was evaluated. After scarification, colonic tissues were freshly prepared for histological localization detected by immunohistochemical analysis and for the expression of stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit proteins determined by western blot assay. Results. Following the initiation of rhein-induced rat constipation, body weight was lost slightly, the first time of black stool discharge was obviously longer, and the fecal moisture and number of fecal pellets decreased distinctly as compared with normal group. A decreased expression of SCF and c-kit was detected in model control group in comparison with normal group. Notably, compared with model control group, neither the alterations of fecal parameters and intestinal transmission function were effectively restored, nor the expression of SCF and c-kit was markedly elevated after administration of PEG4,000 for 30 d. Conclusion. Long-term stimulation of rhein can develop the constipation via SCF/c-kit signaling pathway, yet the symptoms of constipation and colon power cannot be alleviated or restored by PEG4,000. Collectively, these findings strongly suggest that long-term use of anthraquinone laxatives should be avoided for clinical treatment of constipation.

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (17) ◽  
pp. 4010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nomadlozi Blessings Hlophe ◽  
Andrew Rowland Opoku ◽  
Foluso Oluwagbemiga Osunsanmi ◽  
Trayana Georgieva Djarova-Daniels ◽  
Oladipupo Adejumobi Lawal ◽  
...  

Considering the global health threat posed by kidney disease burden, a search for new nephroprotective drugs from our local flora could prove a powerful strategy to respond to this health threat. In this study we investigated the antihyperuricemic and nephroprotective potential of RA-3, a plant-derived lanosteryl triterpene. The antihyperuricemic and nephroprotective effect of RA-3 was investigated using the adenine and gentamicin induced hyperuricemic and nephrotoxicity rat model. Following the induction of hyperuricemia and nephrotoxicity, the experimental model rats (Sprague Dawley) were orally administered with RA-3 at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight, respectively, daily for 14 days. Treatment of the experimental rats with RA-3, especially at 100 mg/kg, effectively lowered the serum renal dysfunction (blood urea nitrogen and creatinine) and hyperuricemic (uric acid and xanthine oxidase) biomarkers. These were accompanied by increased antioxidant status with decrease in malondialdehyde content. A much improved histomorphological structure of the kidney tissues was also observed in the triterpene treated groups when compared to the model control group. It is evident that RA-3 possesses the antihyperuricemic and nephroprotective properties, which could be vital for prevention and amelioration of kidney disease.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nianjiao Han ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Youjing Dong

Background. Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) causes a variety of systemic disorders that negatively affect the maternal placenta and fetal growth. Epidural sympathetic block elicits symptoms of decreased blood pressure. This study was designed to determine the therapeutic effect of long-term epidural block in rats with PIH. Methods. Forty healthy pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into four groups with each group consisting of 10 rats. On gestation day (GD) 14, rats in control group underwent a sham procedure; rats in RUPP group were operated on to obtain reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP); rats in RUPP plus normal saline (NS) group were also subjected to the RUPP procedure and underwent epidural block with 25 μl normal saline twice daily until delivery; rats in RUPP plus epidural block (EB) group were treated as those in RUPP plus NS group except that an epidural block with 25 μl of 0.125% bupivacaine was administered two times per day until delivery. On GD 20, blood pressure was measured in all groups before delivery, and blood samples were collected in order to quantify the serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1). Results. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) of rats in RUPP group (147.6±6.0 mmHg) was markedly increased when compared with control group (80.8±4.6 mmHg) (p<0.05). The MAP of rats in RUPP plus EB group (114.4±7.2 mmHg) was clearly decreased in contrast with RUPP group but was still higher than in control group (p<0.05). The variation of fetal weight in all groups followed a similar trend to that of MAP. However, there were no significant differences between control group and RUPP plus EB group with respect to placental weight (p=0.186). Variation in MAP was positively correlated with the expression of sFlt-1 in each group but was negatively correlated with VEGF. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that long-term epidural block decreases blood pressure in PIH rats and improves the serum concentrations of VEGF and sFlt-1. Taken together, long-term epidural block may have a potential role in PIH treatment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 205873921985855
Author(s):  
Kaijian Hou ◽  
Wansheng Ke ◽  
Jianping Xiong

This study was designed to investigate the effect of metformin on the improvement of prostate cancer in diabetic rats. A total of 20 Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were equally divided into control and intervention groups. The intervention group received intragastric metformin 200 mg/kg, while the control group was given intragastric drinking water for 4 weeks. Tumor volumes were compared, all tumor specimens underwent routine pathological examination, immunohistochemical detection of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, and western blot assay. The tumor volume of control and intervention group was 462.15 ± 45.67 and 23.46 ± 5.32 mm3, respectively. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining showed partial visible glandular structure with deepened nuclear staining in the intervention group. Immunohistochemistry showed high expression (6.5 ± 0.28 vs 3.8 ± 0.26, P < 0.05) of E-cadherin and low expression (3.4 ± 0.12 vs 7.8 ± 0.34, P < 0.05) of N-cadherin in the intervention group. Western blot assay showed higher expression of E-cadherin, while low N-cadherin in the intervention group. Metformin can effectively alleviate lesion extent of prostate cancer and mechanism may be related to upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of N-cadherin expression.


1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 1255-1259 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Nowicky ◽  
L. J. Bindman

1. Nitric oxide has been implicated in the production of long-term depression (LTD) in the cerebellum and in the production of long-term potentiation (LTP) and LTD in the hippocampus. We now provide evidence of its involvement in the induction of long-term synaptic potentiation in in vitro slices in the cerebral cortex of the rat. 2. Intracellular recordings were made from layer V neurons in the medial frontal cortex, and excitatory synaptic potentials (EPSPs) were evoked by electrical stimulation of layers II/III. Tetanic stimulation of this pathway may induce LTD or LTP or no change at these synapses. First we established experimental conditions under which a long lasting potentiation could be induced with a high incidence (> 60%), namely perfusion of slices with 1 microM bicuculline methiodide, second the use of increased shock duration in the tetanic conditioning stimuli, third and most important the addition of QX-314 to the microelectrode to reduce potassium conductances. Because the potentiation of the mean EPSP slope was significantly greater than the control at 40-min postconditioning, but was declining throughout this period, we refer to it for brevity as LTP, but strictly class it as an LTP-like phenomenon. 3. The nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor interfered with the production of LTP. In the control group of neurons (n = 13) the mean depolarizing slope of the EPSP at 30-min post-conditioning was 142.7 +/- 2% (mean +/- SE) of the prestimulation control.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9
Author(s):  
S P Mironov ◽  
Nikolay Petrovich Omel'yanenko ◽  
O V Kozhevnikov ◽  
V K Il'ina ◽  
A V Ivanov ◽  
...  

First results of application of cultivated autologous stromal bone marrow cells for the stimulation of distraction bone regenerates' reparative regeneration in 8 patients aged from 3.7 to 16 years with congenital lower extremity length discrepancy (main group) are presented. In 24 children with similar pathology aged from 2.5 to 14 years (control group) no cellular technology was used. In the main group duration of treatment reduces to 4.5-6.5 months versus 7.5- 11 months in the control one. That enabled to avoid potential complications related to the long-term fixation of the extremity in the distraction apparatus.


Author(s):  
Y. B. Zhong ◽  
X. L. Zhang ◽  
M. Y. Lv ◽  
X. F. Hu ◽  
Y. Li

This study investigated splenic status changes in weaned Sprague-Dawley rats induced by lipopolysaccharide. There were forty 26-day-old rats selected randomly and equally divided into two groups. The treatment group received daily single doses of lipopolysaccharide, and the control group was treated with normal saline. We conducted haematoxylin-eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining and semi-quantitative optical density analysis for both groups on the 29th, 32nd, 35th and 38th days after treatment. The results indicated that splenic marginal zone in the lipopolysaccharide group was thinner or disappeared compared to that of the saline group. However, the periarterial lymphoid sheath and the diameters of splenic lymphoid follicles appeared thicker and wider than those in the saline group (P less than 0.05). The expression of interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha was mainly localized within the periarterial lymphoid sheath and splenic lymphoid follicles in the lipopolysaccharide treated rats. The integrated optical density and the average optical density in the lipopolysaccharide group were greater than those in the normal saline treated group (P less than 0.05). In conclusion, splenic immune function is probably strengthened by altering microstructures and releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines following lipopolysaccharide treatment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jizhong Zhao ◽  
Ke Cheng ◽  
Haiping Deng ◽  
Ling Zhao ◽  
Lanlan Liu ◽  
...  

Objective. To assess the effect of different lasers on cyclophosphamide- (CTX-) induced leucopenia in rats.Methods. 11 rats were normal control and 55 rats were injected with a dose of 80 mg/kg CTX for the first time and 40 mg/kg on the 6th and the 11th days to establish a leucopenia model. Rats of the irradiation groups received a 5-minute laser irradiation with either single 10.6 μm or 650 nm laser or alternatively 10.6 μm–650 nm laser irradiation, besides a sham treatment on acupoint Dazhui (DU 14) and acupoint Zusanli (ST 36) of both sides, 8 times for 16 days. Normal and model control group received no treatment.Results. On day 16 after the first CTX injection, the WBC counts from all the laser irradiation groups were significantly higher than those from the model control and the sham group (P<0.05), while there were no significant differences compared with the normal control (P>0.05). The TI of 10.6 μm–650 nm laser irradiation group was significantly higher than that of the model control group (P<0.05).Conclusions. The single and combined 10.6 μm and 650 nm laser irradiation on ST36 and DU14 accelerated the recovery of the WBC count in the rats with leucopenia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 184954351667344
Author(s):  
Ya Di ◽  
Qingjie Meng ◽  
Hongwei Yang ◽  
Kun Li ◽  
Liyan Cao ◽  
...  

In this study, tanshinone was extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza. To improve the utilization and the dissolution of the drug, the tanshinone extractions were prepared at a pharmaceutical nanoscale and in the nanometer range of 100–200 nm. Then, the rate of tumor inhibition and the activity of antioxidant system and the thymus/spleen indices were investigated to find the antitumor effect of nanoparticles of tanshinone in cervical carcinoma-bearing mice. Our data suggest that tanshinone inhibits cervical tumor growth and the rates of tumor inhibition of all drug groups were more than 45%. The highest rate was 70.88% in the high dose of nanoscale tanshinone group. The activities of superoxide dismutase were higher in drug groups than in the model control group, and the concentrations of malondialdehyde were significantly lower. These findings suggested that tanshinone enhance the superoxide dismutase activity of the mice and decrease the malondialdehyde content. It may be one of the mechanisms of antitumor effect of tanshinone. The thymus index and spleen index were higher than normal control or model control. These data suggested that tanshinone also enhanced the immune system of mice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1219-1225
Author(s):  
Farah Dayana Rosli ◽  
Noor Hashida Hashim ◽  
Yusmin Mohd Yusuf ◽  
Khairul Osman ◽  
Siti Fatimah Ibrahim ◽  
...  

Purpose: To assess the effects of thymoquinone (TQ) on the integrity of sperm DNA in nicotineinduced sperm impairment in rats. Methods: Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into four equal groups: control group received normal saline orally for 60 days; nicotine group was subcutaneously injected with 5 mg/kg/day nicotine for 30 days and then given normal saline for the next 30 days; TQ group was given normal saline for 30 days followed by TQ at 5 mg/kg/day for 30 days; and nicotine-TQ group received 5 mg/kg of nicotine for 30 days and 5mg/kg of TQ for another 30 days. Sperm DNA breakages were evaluated using Comet assay. The expression levels of protamine 1 (PT1) and transition nuclear protein 2 (Tnp2) genes which are essential for the proper compaction of the sperm DNA were analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: Thymoquinone significantly decreased DNA fragmentation in the sperm of nicotine-treated rats. However, there was no change in PT1 gene expression. Tnp2 was downregulated in the nicotine group and slightly upregulated in nicotine-TQ group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results demonstrate the potential benefits of TQ in improving sperm DNA quality of nicotine-induced male infertility.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Ping Fu ◽  
Bin Feng ◽  
Zhong-Kai Zhu ◽  
Xin Feng ◽  
Shu-Fan Chen ◽  
...  

Based on previous studies about microflora regulation and immunity enhancement activities of polysaccharides from Codonopsis pilosula Nannf. var. modesta (Nannf.) L. T. Shen (CPP), there is little study on intestinal mucosal immunity, which is a possible medium for contacting microflora and immunity. In the present study, the BALB/c mice were divided into five groups (eight mice in each group), including a normal group (Con), a model control group (Model), and model groups that were administered CPP (50, 100, 200 mg/kg/d) orally each day for seven days after intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg BW/d cyclophosphamide (CP) for three days. CPP recovered the spleen index and restored the levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-10, as well as serum IgG. In addition, it elevated ileum secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), the number of Lactobacillus and acetic acid content in cecum. These results indicated that CPP plays an important role in the protection against immunosuppression, especially mucosa immune damage, and the inhibition of pathogenic bacteria colonization, which could be considered a potential natural source of immunoregulator.


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