BACKGROUND: This study was performed on female Wistar rats allocated to eight groups of six animals each. Groups 1 and 2 were fed the basal diet, groups 3 and 4 were fed the basal diet supplemented with ground oregano at 20 g kg −1 level, groups 5 and 6 were fed the basal diet supplemented with ground rosemary at 20 g kg −1 level, while groups 7 and 8 were fed the basal diet supplemented with both oregano and rosemary, each at 20 g kg −1 level. Following 6 weeks feeding, groups 2, 4, 6 and 8 were injected with CCl 4 at 1 mL kg −1 body weight, and 6 h thereafter all animals were sacrificed.
A combination of neuroanatomic techniques was used to examine the origin and neuropeptide content of nerve fibers in the airway epithelium of adult cats. By the use of immunocytochemical methods, the peptides substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were colocalized in airway epithelial nerve fibers. Two days after wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) was injected into the nodose ganglion, fibers containing WGA immunoreactivity (IR) were detected in the airway epithelium. SP-like immunoreactivity (LI) and CGRP-LI were demonstrated separately in the WGA-IR fibers, establishing their origin from nerve cell bodies of nodose ganglion. Vagal transection inferior to the nodose ganglion reduced the number of SP- and CGRP-IR fibers by greater than 90% in ipsilateral airways. In contralateral airways, SP-IR fibers were substantially reduced, whereas the effect on CGRP-IR fibers was not statistically significant. Vagotomy superior to the nodose ganglion did not alter the density of peptide-IR fibers. The results prove that SP- and CGRP-IR nerve fibers of cat airway epithelium originate from nerve cell bodies in the nodose ganglion and that SP- and CGRP-like peptides may be stored together in some nerve fibers of the airway epithelium.
Nicotinamide riboside is a recently discovered form of vitamin B that can increase NAD(P) levels. NAD(P) plays key roles in energy metabolism, and its main function is the transfer of electrons in various cellular reactions. Research in aged or diseased mice reported that nicotinamide riboside increases NAD(H) levels, reduces morbidity and improves health and muscle function. We have recently shown that in healthy young rats, chronic administration of nicotinamide riboside marginally non-significantly decreased exercise performance by 35% (P = 0.071). As a follow-up to this finding, we analysed samples from these animals, in an attempt to reveal the potential mechanisms driving this adverse effect, focusing on redox homeostasis and bioenergetics. Thirty-eight Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control (n = 10), exercise (n = 9), nicotinamide riboside (n = 10) and exercise plus nicotinamide riboside (n = 9). Nicotinamide riboside was administered for 21 days [300 mg (kg body weight) daily]. At the end of administration, the exercise and the exercise plus nicotinamide riboside groups performed an incremental swimming performance test until exhaustion. Nicotinamide riboside supplementation increased the levels of NADPH in the liver (P = 0.050), increased the levels of F -isoprostanes in plasma (P = 0.047), decreased the activity of glutathione peroxidase (P = 0.017), glutathione reductase (P < 0.001) and catalase (P = 0.024) in erythrocytes, increased the level of glycogen in the liver (P < 0.001) and decreased the concentration of glucose (P = 0.016) and maximal lactate accumulation in plasma (P = 0.084). These findings support the prevailing idea that exogenously administered redox agents in heathy populations might lead to adverse effects and not necessarily to beneficial or neutral effects.
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