Toe flexor muscle strength decreased significantly with age. This decrement underlies the known age-related reduction in the functional base of support.

Bisphenol A, an environmental oestrogenic chemical, was found to conjugate highly with glucuronic acid in male rat liver microsomes studied in vitro. In the various isoforms tested (1A1, 1A3, 1A5, 1A6, 1A7 and 2B1), glucuronidation of bisphenol A and of diethylstilboestrol, a synthetic crystalline compound possessing oestrogenic activity and known to be glucuronidated by liver microsomes, was catalysed by an isoform of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT), namely UGT2B1, which glucuronidates some endogenous androgens. UGT activity towards bisphenol A in liver microsomes and in UGT2B1 expressed in yeast AH22 cells (22.9 and 0.58 nmol/min per mg of microsomal proteins respectively) was higher than that towards diethylstilboestrol (75.0 and 4.66 pmol/min per mg of microsomal proteins respectively). UGT activities towards both bisphenol A and diethylstilboestrol were distributed mainly in the liver but were also observed at substantial levels in the kidney and testis. Northern blot analysis disclosed the presence of UGT2B1 solely in the liver, and about 65% of the male rat liver microsomal UGT activities towards bisphenol A were absorbed by the anti-UGT2B1 antibody. These results indicate that bisphenol A, in male rat liver, is glucuronidated by UGT2B1, an isoform of UGT.

BackgroundDaikenchuto (DKT), a gastrointestinal prokinetic Japanese herbal medicine, is prescribed for patients with postoperative ileus (POI) and adhesive bowel obstruction following abdominal surgery. Several mechanisms for the amelioration of POI by DKT have been suggested; however, it has remained unclear whether DKT shows anti-inflammatory effects in POI. In the present study, we investigated the effects of DKT in a mouse POI model and attempted to clarify the detailed mechanisms of action.MethodIntestinal manipulation (IM) was applied to the distal ileum of mice. DKT was administered orally to the animals 4 times before and after IM. Gastrointestinal transit in vivo, leukocyte infiltration, cytokine mRNA expression and gastrointestinal motility were analyzed. We also investigated the effects of the α7nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine citrate (MLA) on the DKT-mediated ameliorative action against POI, and we studied the effects of DKT on inflammatory activity in α7nAChR knockout mice.ResultsDKT treatment led to recovery of the delayed intestinal transit induced by IM. DKT significantly inhibited the infiltration of neutrophils and CD68-positive macrophages, and inhibited mRNA expressions of TNF-α and MCP-1. MLA significantly reduced the anti-inflammatory action of DKT, and the amelioration of macrophage infiltration by DKT was partially suppressed in α7nAChR knockout mice.ConclusionsIn conclusion, in addition to the gastrointestinal prokinetic action, DKT serves as a novel therapeutic agent for POI characterized by its anti-inflammatory potency. The DKT-induced anti-inflammatory activity may be partly mediated by activation of α7nAChR.

Currently, superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (MCA) anastomosis, encephalomyosynangiosis (EMS), and encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis are used to treat moyamoya disease and are reported to effectively improve ischemic symptoms. All are methods of reversing the flow of blood from the external carotid artery system into the cortical branches of the MCA. As moyamoya disease advances, these operations alone will predictably not correct the deterioration in blood flow in the territory of the anterior cerebral artery. It was noted in a case of moyamoya disease with intraventricular hemorrhage that a burr hole, made in the frontal region for drainage purposes, induced marked neovascularization. Since then, similar frontal burr holes have been made in five juvenile cases of moyamoya disease; this procedure involved making a burr hole in both frontal bones and incising both the dura and the arachnoid membrane. In two cases a frontal burr hole in both frontal bones and incising both the dura and the arachnoid membrane. In two cases a frontal burr hole was placed simultaneously with EMS, and in the others the frontal burr hole was made following EMS. The clinical symptoms improved after the frontal burr hole was made, and dynamic computerized tomography revealed improved circulation in the frontal regions. Together with conventional surgical therapy for juvenile cases of moyamoya disease, this operation is considered beneficial both to the circulation in the frontal region and for the protection of frontal brain function.

No abstract