Search results for "Molecular Medicine"
showing 10 items of 3013 documents
Effects of nicotine receptor agonists on acetylcholine release from the isolated motor nerve, small intestine and trachea of rats and guinea-pigs
1992
The effects of nicotine receptor agonists on the release of [3H]acetylcholine from the phrenic nerve, the small intestine and the trachea were investigated to characterize neuronal nicotine receptors within the peripheral nervous system. Contraction of the indirectly-stimulated hemidiaphragm was recorded to investigate desensitization of the postsynaptic muscular nicotine receptors. Nicotine, cytisine, 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium and 2-(4-aminophenyl)-ethyl-trimethyl-ammoniumiodide caused a concentration-dependent (0.1-30 microM) increase in evoked [3H]acetylcholine release from the phrenic nerve, whereby bell-shaped concentration-response curves were obtained. The rank order of decre…
Expressional down-regulation of neuronal-type nitric oxide synthase I by glucocorticoids in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells.
1998
Neuronal-type nitric oxide synthase (NOS I) is involved in ischemia-induced brain damage, and glucocorticoids have been reported to protect from brain damage. This prompted us to investigate if the activity or expression of NOS I was influenced by glucocorticoids. We used the murine neuroblastoma cell line N1E-115 as our experimental model. Short-term incubation (30 min) of the N1E-115 cells with dexamethasone (10 nM to 1 microM) or hydrocortisone (100 nM to 10 microM) did not change the enzymatic activity of NOS I. However, the glucocorticoids inhibited NOS I mRNA expression in a concentration-dependent fashion (down to 53.3 +/- 2. 5% of control). In time-course experiments with 100 nM dex…
Unpredictable Performance of pH-Dependent Coatings Accentuates the Need for Improved Predictive in Vitro Test Systems.
2017
First introduced in the second half of the 19th century, enteric coatings are commonly used to protect acid-labile drugs, reduce the risk of gastric side effects due to irritating drugs, or for local drug delivery to the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The currently available enteric-coatings are based on pH-sensitive weakly acidic polymers. Despite the long history of their use, the causes behind their performance often being unpredictable have not been properly investigated with most of the attention being focused only on the gastric emptying. However, little attention has been given to the postgastric emptying disintegration and dissolution of these dosage forms. This lack of attentio…
Cocaine and MDMA Induce Cellular and Molecular Changes in Adult Neurogenic Systems: Functional Implications
2011
The capacity of the brain to generate new adult neurons is a recent discovery that challenges the old theory of an immutable adult brain. A new and fascinating field of research now focuses on this regenerative process. The two brain systems that constantly produce new adult neurons, known as the adult neurogenic systems, are the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus and the lateral ventricules/olfactory bulb system. Both systems are involved in memory and learning processes. Different drugs of abuse, such as cocaine and MDMA, have been shown to produce cellular and molecular changes that affect adult neurogenesis. This review summarizes the effects that these drugs have on the adult neurog…
Effects of ovariectomy and steroid replacement on GABAA receptor binding in female rat brain.
1991
Abstract The specific binding of tritiated muscimol to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor sites was studied in distinct brain areas of female rats during different endocrine states. In diestrous rats with intact ovaries the highest receptor densities were found in the cortex (10.24 pmol/mg protein) and the lowest concentrations in the mediobasal hypothalamus (3.29 pmol/mg protein). Four weeks after removal of the ovaries, the number of binding sites was enhanced up to 2.4-fold in all brain areas investigated: the preoptic brain area, mediobasal hypothalamus, corticomedial amygdala, and cerebral cortex. The affinity of the binding sites remained unchanged. Substitution of estradiol and prog…
Splenic respiratory gas exchange and glucose uptake in patients with splenomegaly in hypersplenism and Hodgkin's disease.
1977
Blood samples are taken from the splenic artery, vein and pulp of patients suffering from Hodgkin's disease (n=10) or hypersplenism (n=7) and undergoing splenectomy. In these samples, the relevant parameters of the respiratory gas exchange as well as glucose and lactate concentrations are determined. In hypersplenism (mean splenic wet weight: 543 g) the mean oxygen consumption of the splenic tissue amounts to 0.9 ml O2/100 g/min taking into account a mean splenic blood flow of 80 ml/100 g/min. The glucose uptake and the lactate release are 9 mg/100 g/min and 5.5 mg/100 g/min, respectively. These values are in close agreement with the results obtained in the normal and undisturbed spleen in …
Utilizing nutritional genomics to tailor diets for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: a guide for upcoming studies and implementations.
2017
Introduction: Personalized diets based on an individual’s genome to optimize the success of dietary intervention and reduce genetic cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, is one of the challenges most frequently discussed in the scientific community. Areas covered: The authors gathered literature-based evidence on nutritional genomics and CVD phenotypes, our own results and research experience to provide a critical overview of the current situation of using nutritional genomics to tailor diets for CVD prevention and to propose guidelines for future studies and implementations. Expert commentary: Hundreds of studies on gene-diet interactions determining CVD intermediate (plasma lipids, hypertens…
The impact of alpha1-adrenoceptors up-regulation accompanied by the impairment of beta-adrenergic vasodilatation in hypertension
2008
9 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables.-- PMID: 19060223 [PubMed]
Statin-Induced Liver Injury Involves Cross-Talk between Cholesterol and Selenoprotein Biosynthetic Pathways
2009
Statins have become the mainstay of hypercholesterolemia treatment. Despite a seemingly clear rationale behind their use, the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase, these compounds have been shown to elicit a variety of unanticipated and elusive effects and side effects in vivo. Among the most frequently noted side effects of statin treatment are elevations in liver enzymes. Here, we report our finding that atorvastatin, cerivastatin, and lovastatin at clinically common concentrations induce a selective, differential loss of selenoprotein expression in cultured human HepG2 hepatocytes. The primarily affected selenoprotein was glutathione peroxidase (GPx), whose biosynthesis, steady-state expressi…