0000000000628238
AUTHOR
Christine Bouvier
Effects of repeated treatments with an extract ofGinkgo biloba (EGb 761) and bilobalide on liver and muscle glycogen contents in the non-insulin-dependent diabetic rat
The effects of repeated (15-day) oral treatments with an extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb 761; 50 mg/kg/day) or with its terpenoid constituent, bilobalide (2 mg/kg/day), were assessed in normal rats and in rats that had been previously injected with streptozotocin (50 mg/kg, i.p. in saline solution), a dose which provided a model of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). In this model of diabetes, blood glucose is significantly increased while the circulating insulin level remains unchanged. Glucose penetrates cells because of decreased glycogen turnover, a metabolic abnormality that can be revealed by using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). In control rats, hyperglycemia was ac…
Effect of acidosis on lipid peroxidation in brain slices.
Acidification of the incubation medium markedly increased lipid peroxidation of cortical brain slices. Lactic acidosis caused a more extensive lipid peroxidation than did phosphoric acidosis (+35% at pH 6 and +81% at pH 5), probably due to the rapid diffusion of the protonated form of lactic acid across cell membranes. These results support the hypothesis that free radical mechanisms may be involved in the cytotoxicity of acidosis.
Effect of acidosis and anoxia on iron delocalization from brain homogenates.
Abstract Cortical homogenates were prepared from rat brain in Krebs-Ringer phosphate media adjusted to pH 7, 6 or 5 and incubated for 1 hr under aerotic or anaerobic conditions in the presence of dipyridyl, an iron chelator. Low molecular weight species (LMWS) iron was measured spectrophotometrically after passing of the homogenates through a 10,000- M , ultrafiltration membrane. Following aerobic incubation, LMWS iron reached 1.24 μg/g tissue at pH 7, and increased 1.7-fold at pH 6 and 3.1-fold at pH 5. Anoxia enhanced significantly the amount of ultrafiltrable iron at the three pH values, the LMWS iron level being increased by 190% at pH 7, by 113% at pH 6, and by 77% at pH 5. Addition of…