The free radical scavenging and antihepatotoxic activity from Terminalia catappa was studied. Treatment with T. catappa water extracts showed antihepatotoxic activity against CCl4-induced toxicity in the rat liver that was tested. The crude drug also exhibited anti-oxidant effects in FeCl2-Ascorbic acid induced lipid peroxidation in the rat liver homogenate. Moreover, the superoxide radical scavenger effect of T. catappa was demonstrated using electron spin resonance (ESR) and spintrapping technique. The results indicate that T. catappa possesses good antihepatotoxic activity and superoxide radical scavenger activity.
The purpose of this preliminary clinical trial was to assess the safety and therapeutic trend of Raffinee, a mixture of free radical scavengers derived from natural products, on subacute spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI patients (three females and seven males) were enrolled from three medical centers in Taiwan. Their ages ranged from 18 to 76 years, with an average of 47.6 +/- 19.0 years. There were four incomplete and six complete cases in this study. Standard regimens for SCI at acute stage were given at each hospital. Approximately 7 weeks (35.4 +/- 13.9 days) after SCI, 2 U of Raffinee was given orally before meals three times a day for 6 weeks. Patients received motor, sensory, and activities of daily living (ADL) assessments before and after the treatment with Raffinee every week for 6 weeks. The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used for statistical analysis. Significant motor and sensory recovery began in the second week of Raffinee treatment, and significant ADL recovery was also noted in the third week. Functional recovery was more prominent in incomplete cases. Raffinee appeared to be safe in the subacute stage of SCI and may be an effective adjuvant therapy for enhancing functional recovery. Further clinical studies including double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled trials with follow-up for more than 1 year are necessary to validate the effectiveness of Raffinee in SCI.
Aims: To evaluate the correlation of the flow patterns of the four pulmonary veins as assessed by transesophageal echocardiography and the influence of significant mitral regurgitation on this correlation. Methods and Results: Eighty-eight patients with normal sinus rhythm and variable underlying cardiovascular diseases underwent transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic studies. Doppler flow of the four pulmonary veins could not be adequately interpreted in 19 patients (22%). The left atrial dimension of these patients was significantly larger than that of the patients with complete study of the flow in the four pulmonary veins (49 ± 6 vs. 43 ± 7 mm; p < 0.05). Of the 69 patients with complete evaluation of the four pulmonary veins, 48 patients without significant mitral regurgitation were analyzed as group A, and the remaining 21 patients as group B. The peak systolic and diastolic forward flow velocities of the four pulmonary veins were measured and the ratio of peak systolic (S) to diastolic (D) flow velocity was calculated. Group A had a significantly larger S/D ratio in all four pulmonary veins than group B (p < 0.05 in each pulmonary vein measurement). There was good correlation of the flow pattern represented as S/D ratio between left upper and lower pulmonary veins (r = 0.90) and between right upper and lower pulmonary veins (r = 0.89) in group A. The correlation of the flow pattern among the four pulmonary veins deteriorated in group B. Conclusion: Pulmonary veins on the same side share rather similar flow patterns in comparison with pulmonary veins on the opposite sides. The correlation of flow patterns among the four pulmonary veins is good in subjects without significant mitral regurgitation, but it worsens in patients with significant mitral regurgitation. Therefore, cautious interpretation of flow patterns of the four pulmonary veins in patients with significant regurgitation is indicated for grading the severity of mitral regurgitation.
To assess the correlation of pulmonary venous flow pattern with the magnitude of the dynamic change in left atrial pressure (i.e. x and y descents) and to elucidate the way how pulmonary venous flow pattern reflects left atrial pressure, we studied 35 patients with normal sinus rhythm undergoing transesophageal echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. The ratio of peak systolic/diastolic flow correlated well with the ratio of x/y descent (r = 0.88) and the ratio of systolic/diastolic velocity-time integral (r = 0.89). The correlation between the ratio of systolic/diastolic flow or velocity-time integral and mean atrial pressure was less strong (r = -0.49 and -0.70, respectively). We conclude that the ratio of peak systolic/diastolic flow velocity, or the ratio of systolic/ diastolic velocity-time integral of pulmonary venous flow reflects the phasic change in left atrial pressure more appropriately than the mean left atrial pressure. Due to the good correlation between the phasic change in left atrial pressure and pulmonary venous flow pattern, the flow pattern of pulmonary veins could be used to identify diseases with specific patterns of left atrial pressure.
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