Policosanols, long-chain alcohols, have many beneficial physiological activities. Contents and compositions in perilla seeds (Perilla frutescens) produced in Korea and China were determined. Waxy materials were extracted from perilla seeds using hot hexane. Yield of the waxy materials from perilla seeds was 72.1 mg/100 g of dry weight. Contents and compositions of the waxy materials and policosanols were identified and quantified by TLC, HPLC, and GC. Major components of the waxy materials from Korean and Chinese perilla seeds were policosanols (25.5 and 34.8%, respectively), hydrocarbons (18.8 and 10.5%), wax esters, steryl esters and aldehydes (53.0 and 49.8%), acids (1.7 and 2.1%), and triacylglycerols (1.0 and 2.9%), determined by HPLC. For comparison, waxy materials of sesame seeds were also analyzed. Yield of the waxy materials from sesame seeds were 8.6 mg/100 g. Less than 5% policosanols were detected in the waxy materials extracted from sesame seeds produced in Korea and China. Wax esters or steryl esters accounted for 93-95% of the sesame waxy materials. Policosanols in the perilla seeds were composed of 67-68% octacosanol, 16-17% hexacosanol, 6-9% triacontanol, and others.
Background and Objectives: We sought to investigate an anti-atherosclerotic and antiinflammatory effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors in normoglycemic atherosclerotic rabbit model. Methods: Male New Zealand white rabbits (n=26) were fed with a 1% high-cholesterol diet for 7 weeks followed by normal diet for 2 weeks. After balloon catheter injury, the rabbits were administered with the Dapagliflozin (1mg/kg/day) or control-medium for 8 weeks (n=13 for each group). All lesions were assessed with angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and histological assessment. Results: Atheroma burden (38.51±3.16% vs. 21.91±1.22%, p<0.01) and lipid accumulation (18.90±3.63% vs. 10.20±2.03%, p=0.047) was significantly decreased by SGLT-2 inhibitor treatment. The SGLT-2 inhibitor group showed lower macrophage infiltration (20.23±1.89% vs. 12.72±1.95%, p=0.01) as well as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression (31.17±4.40% vs. 19.47±2.10%, p=0.025). Relative area of inducible nitric oxide synthase + macrophages was tended to be lower in the SGLT-2 inhibitor-treated group (1.00±0.16% vs. 0.71±0.10%, p=0.13), while relative proportion of Arg1 + macrophage was markedly increased (1.00±0.27% vs. 2.43±0.64%, p=0.04). As a result, progression of atherosclerosis was markedly attenuated in SGLT-2 inhibitor treated group (OCT area stenosis, 32.13±1.20% vs. 22.77±0.88%, p<0.01). Mechanistically, SGLT-2 treatment mitigated the inflammatory responses in macrophage.
We studied depth-dependent cerebral hemodynamic responses of rat brain following direct cortical electrical stimulation (DCES) in vivo with optical recording of intrinsic signal (ORIS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). ORIS is used to visualize the immediate hemodynamic changes in cortical areas following the stimulation, whereas NIRS measures the hemodynamic changes originating from subcortical areas. We found strong hemodynamic changes in relation to DCES both in ORIS and NIRS data. In particular, the signals originating from cortical areas exhibited a tri-phasic response, whereas those originating from subcortical regions exhibited multi-phasic responses. In addition, NIRS signals from two different sets of source-detector separation were compared and analyzed to investigate the causality of perfusion, which demonstrated downstream propagation, indicating that the upper brain region reacted faster than the deep region.
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