Suppression of beta-naphthoflavone induced CYP1A expression and lipid-peroxidation by berberine

Impacts of berberine, a major isoquinoline alkaloid in herbal plants, on beta-naphthoflavone (BNF)-induced CYP1A expression were determined both in primary mouse hepatocytes and in vivo. Berberine concentration-dependently suppressed BNF-induced CYP1A expression in mouse hepatocyte and it significantly down-regulated BNF-induced CYP1A in mouse liver via suppression of mRNA and protein expression, and decreases of EROD and MROD activities. Moreover, berberine showed significant potential on suppression of BNF-induced lipid peroxidation in mouse hepatic microsome. Therefore, using berberine as a health supplement or an alternative medication might provide extra-benefit due to its inhibitory regulation on CYP1A expression and anti-lipid peroxidation activity.     

Post-Natal Dynamic Changes in Circulating Follicle-Stimulating Hormone, Luteinizing Hormone,Immunoreactive Inhibin,Progesterone, Testosterone and Estradiol-17β in Thoroughbred Colts until 6 Months of Age

The aim of present study was to clarify the post-natal profile of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), immunoreactive (ir)-inhibin, progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-17β, and their relationships in Thoroughbred colts. Six hundred and thirty-six colts were used for the study. Single plasma samples from each animal were harvested from the blood drawn through jugular venipuncture. The subjects were born with high amounts of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-17β, all of which dropped significantly and remained at lower levels till the end of 6 months. FSH decreased transiently after birth until day 12 and then gradually increased to peak at day 100 which then maintained in lesser levels towards the end of the studied period. LH was highest during birth which decreased until day 26 and then increased slowly to sub-birth levels up to day 90. Animals were born with high amounts of ir-inhibin. It dropped slowly and halved by day 20 and then decreased towards rest of the studied period. The increase in FSH is negatively correlated with the declining ir-inhibin levels. The early increase in FSH can be the indication of early post-natal maturation of the hypothalamic pituitary testicular axis that ultimately might be responsible for priming the testes for future development.     

Analysis of genetic variations in the exon 27 region of the canine BRCA2 locus

Mammary tumors are the most common tumor type in women as well as in female dogs. The BRCA2 gene encodes a large nuclear protein that is involved in DNA repair, and mutations in the human BRCA2 confer an increased risk of female mammary tumors. The BRCA2 protein acts as a tumor suppressor, and inactivation of BRCA2 by loss of heterozygosity is implicated in mammary carcinogenesis. In this study, to establish an appropriate polymorphic marker for loss of heterozygosity analysis of the canine BRCA2, we analyzed the genomic sequences of the exon 27 regions of 30 mammary-tumor-bearing and 21 tumor-free dogs. In addition to 10204ins/delAAA, which is the only polymorphism previously identified for the canine BRCA2 locus, we discovered four novel single nucleotide polymorphisms. The analysis of these five polymorphisms revealed the presence of four allele types. Since 10204ins/delAAA was the most common of the five polymorphisms identified, we developed a PCR-based assay method to assay for this polymorphism. We believe that this method is valuable for loss of heterozygosity analysis of the canine BRCA2 gene in tumor pathogenesis.     

Leptospirosis with multiple organ dysfunction in a mongoose-scat-detection dog infected with Leptospira interrogans serogroup Hebdomadis,Okinawa, Japan

A 2-year-old male mongoose-scat-detection dog was diagnosed with leptospirosis by urine PCR. The patient developed acute renal failure, hepatic dysfunction, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Treatment with antibiotics was administered, including ampicillin and doxycycline, and supportive care management was provided. Seroconversion against serogroup Hebdomadis was observed on day 8. The leptospiral gene flaB was detected only in urine collected on day 1, from which Leptospira interrogans ST329 was identified by multilocus sequence typing using seven housekeeping genes. L. interrogans serogroup Hebdomadis ST329 has been isolated from mongooses and humans in Okinawa, Japan. This patient received early treatment with antibiotics, which may have contributed to the early recovery of renal function and removal of L. interrogans from kidney tissue.     

Acute Phase Pulmonary Responses to a Single Intratracheal Spray Instillation of Magnetite (Fe3O4) Nanoparticles in Fischer 344 Rats

Iron nanomaterials are of considerable interest for application to nanotechnology-related fields including environmental catalysis, biomedical imaging, drug delivery and hyperthermia, because of their superparamagnetic characteristics and high catalytic abilities. However, information about potential risks of iron nanomaterials is limited. The present study assessed pulmonary responses to a single intratracheal spray instillation of triiron tetraoxide nanoparticles (magnetite) in rats. Ten-week-old male and female Fischer 344 rats (n=5/group) were exposed to a single intratracheal spray instillation of 0 (vehicle), 5.0, 15.0 or 45.0 mg/kg body weight (BW) of magnetite. After 14 days, the rats were sacrificed, and biological consequences were investigated. The lung weights of the 15.0 and 45.0 mg/kg BW male and female groups were significantly higher than those of the control groups. The lungs of treated rats showed enlargement and black patches originating from the color of magnetite. The typical histopathological changes in the lungs of the treated rats included infiltration of macrophages phagocytosing magnetite, inflammatory cell infiltration, granuloma formation and an increase of goblet cells in the bronchial epithelium. The results clearly show that instilled magnetite causes foreign body inflammatory and granulating lesions in the lung. These pulmonary responses occur in a dose-dependent manner in association with the increase in lung weight.     

Long-term Pulmonary Responses to Quadweekly Intermittent Intratracheal Spray Instillations of Magnetite (Fe3O4) Nanoparticles for 52 Weeks in Fischer 344 Rats

Information about potential risks of iron nanomaterials is still limited, while a wide variety of applications are expected. We recently reported acute phase responses of male and female Fischer 344 rats after a single intratracheal spray instillation of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (magnetite), clearly showing dose-dependent pulmonary inflammatory changes (Tada et al., J Toxicol Pathol 25, 233–239, 2012). The present study assessed long-term responses of male and female Fischer 344 rats to multiple administrations of magnetite. Ten-week-old male and female Fischer 344 rats (n=20/group) were exposed to a total of 13 quadweekly intermittent intratracheal spray instillations of magnetite during the experimental period of 52 weeks, at doses of 0, 0.2 (low), 1.0 (medium) and 5.0 (high-dose) mg/kg body weight per administration. Absolute and relative lung weights of the high-dose group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Macroscopically, slight enlargement and scattered black patches were recognized in the lungs and the lung-associated lymph nodes of the high-dose group. Histopathologically, infiltration of macrophages phagocytosing magnetite (all dose groups) and of chronic inflammatory cells (medium- and high-dose males and high-dose females), alveolar bronchiolization and granuloma (high-dose group) were observed. In addition, alveolar hyperplasias were observed in some rats of the high-dose group, and cytoplasmic overexpression of β-catenin protein was immunohistochemically found in such lesions. The present results clearly show that instilled magnetite causes chronic inflammatory responses in the lung. These responses occur in a dose-dependent manner without apparent differences among sexes     

New piezoelectric moduli of wood: <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>31</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>32</Subscript>

This article reports the piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆. The piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ have not been previously reported, although there has been much research on the d ₁₄ and d ₂₅ moduli of wood. The moduli d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆ were measured carefully because their absolute values were considerably smaller than those of d ₁₄ and d ₂₅. For Softwoods, d ₃₆ values were mostly negative, whereas the values for hardwoods had either positive or negative values. The other moduli, d ₃₁ and d ₃₂, were a mixture of positive and negative values in softwoods and hardwoods. The existence of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ suggests the presence of an electrical polarity of the cellulose crystal in the fiber direction of the wood. The polarities of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ became clear from wood in the outer part of the trunk, where the crystallinity of cellulose is large and the alignment of the crystals becomes parallel to the fiber direction.     

Wood properties of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pericopsis mooniana</Emphasis> grown in a plantation in Indonesia

The relationships between growth characteristics and wood properties were investigated for a threatened species, Pericopsis mooniana, to promote the establishment of plantations of this species in the tropics. Growth characteristics (diameter and height) and stress-wave velocity (SWV) of trees were measured for 22-year-old P. mooniana trees planted in Indonesia. The trees were categorized into three groups, fast-growing, middle-growing, and slow-growing trees, to investigate the effect of growth rate on the wood properties. In addition, radial variation of anatomical characteristics and wood properties were determined. No significant correlation was found between growth characteristics and SWV. The values for the vessel diameter, cell wall thickness of wood fibers, wood fiber length, basic density, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture from wood at the bark side were higher than those at the pith side. On the other hand, vessel frequency gradually decreased from pith to bark. These results suggested that low-quality wood, such as juvenile wood, existed near the pith area.     

Changes of crystallinity in wood cellulose by heat treatment under dried and moist conditions

The different effects of heat treatment on wood, especially on the cellulose crystallites of wood under ovendried and highly moist conditions, were investigated by X-ray diffractometer. Heat was found to increase significantly the crystallinity of wood cellulose; moreover, almost twice as much crystallization was observed after heat treatment of spruce and buna under a highly moist condition than under the oven-dried condition. In pure cellulose almost the same crystallization was observed under both the conditions, whereas more crystallization occurred in wood cellulose than in pure cellulose. Absolute crystallization was observed for the wood species and pure cellulose under both conditions, considering the thermal decomposition of the amorphous region in addition to crystallization. Our results suggested that other components accomparying wood cellulose were involved in the increase of crystallinity by heat treatment, and that wood cellulose contained more quasicrystalline regions than pure cellulose. Moreover, calculated apparent activation energies revealed that crystallization and decrystallization in pure and wood cellulose under heat treatment of highly moist condition were some-what easier than those under the oven-dried condition. The behavior of the piezoelectric modulusd ₂₅ almost paralleled that of crystallinity.     

Monoclonal antibody to acetylcholine receptor: cell line established from thymus of patient with Myasthenia gravis

A human B cell line producing a monoclonal antibody to an antigenic determinant of acetylcholine receptors was established by cloning B cells that had been transformed in vitro by Epstein-Barr virus. The B cells were obtained from the thymus of a patient with myasthenia gravis. The antibody produced by the cell line precipitated acetylcholine receptors from denervated and innervated rat muscle and from human muscle, but did not show detectable response to the acetylcholine receptors from the electric organs of Narke japonica. The monoclonal antibody showed identical binding patterns in innervated and denervated rat muscles. Passive transfer of the monoclonal antibody into rats induced moderate muscle weakness and electromyographic changes characteristic of myasthenia gravis.