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Ajuga decumbens is a naturally occurring herb in Japan and China. The whole flowering plant of A. decumbens has been used in treatment of hypertension, hemoptysis, carbuncles and joint pain, etc.1,2) Many compounds have been isolated and identified from the whole plant, A. decumbens, [3][4][5][6][7] several of which show anti-tumor activity. 8) Recently, the number of cases of age related illnesses, e.g. osteoporosis and osteoarthritis have been trending upwards. These illnesses seriously affect people's daily lives because bones and joints play an important role in supporting the body during everyday movement.Collagen is one of the important bone and joint composition, and decreases naturally with age. Calcium resorption is caused by this effect. It was reported that A. decumbens upregulates the synthesis of collagen in false aged model rats. 9)Accordingly, we focused on the effects of A. decumbens on bone and joint disease.Post-menopausal osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by a decrease of bone mass after menopause. 10)Many factors contribute to the development and maintenance of skeletal mass before and after menopause. 11,12) In fact, bone mass is the end result of a dynamic and complex process called remodeling. This process is characterized by a balance between osteoclast bone resorption and osteoblast bone formation. Estrogen is one of the factors that regulates bone metabolism, therefore, estrogen depletion after menopause causes an imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation.11) In addition, it is reported that NO, synthesized by iNOS, is related to the imbalance between osteoclast bone resorption and osteoblast bone formation. [13][14][15] It is widely known that NO is involved in a diverse array of physiological processes. Furthermore, NO, especially synthesized by iNOS, is related to inflammatory diseases like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.14,16) Based on this knowledge, we hypothesized that the inhibition or down-regulation of NO production by iNOS would provide a new form of treatment for the prevention of inflammatory bone diseases and bone metabolic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS AnimalsEight to ten-week-old female ddY mice and eight-week-old male LEW/SsN rats were obtained from SLC (Shizuoka, Japan). The mice and rats were housed under a 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle in a temperature and humidity-controlled room. They were allowed food and water ad libitum. After a week to adapt to the lighting conditions, healthy animals were used in a variety of experiments. All experimental procedures were approved by the Committee for Ethics and Animal Experimentation, Matsuura Yakugyo Co., Ltd. Preparation of Plant ExtractsThe whole plant A. decumbens (200 g) was grown in China and a voucher specimen (HS050601) was placed in our laboratory. The dried A. decumbens was refluxed with 70% aqueous ethanol for 30 min. The alcoholic extract was then concentrated to 50 g. The concentrate was freeze-dried, finally producing 20 g (i.e., 10% yield) of a dark brown, A. decumbens extr...

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In the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry of gold, signals with a single peak were observed with a pyrolytic graphite (PG) furnace, while signals with a shoulder on the tailing edge were observed with a nonpyrolytic graphite (NPG) furnace. A thermal shift of the atomic absorption signals for gold occurs in response to changes in the concentration of ascorbic acid without any loss for each furnace. When the pre-pyrolysis of a 5% (m/V) ascorbic acid solution was carried out at 1270 K, although the background signal due to the release of amorphous carbon was not observed, a thermal shift of the gold signal was confirmed. At a pre-pyrolysis temperature over 1460 K, the peak absorbance was reduced by increasing the pre-pyrolysis temperature, while absorbance at the position of the signal for gold only was increased. The values of the Arrhenius activation energy for the desorption of gold were obtained to be 60 ± 2 kcal mol−1 for gold only, 93 ± 3 kcal mol−1 for gold with 5% (m/V) ascorbic acid and 99 ± 2 kcal mol−1 after a pre-pyrolysis of ascorbic acid at 1270 K.

Objective:To investigate the surfaces and principal elements of the colorants of cosmetically tinted contact lenses (Cos-CLs).Methods:We analyzed the surfaces and principal elements of the colorants of five commercially available Cos-CLs using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray analysis.Results:In two Cos-CLs, the anterior and posterior surfaces were smooth, and colorants were found inside the lens. One lens showed colorants located to a depth of 8 to 14 μm from the anterior side of the lens. In the other lens, colorants were found in the most superficial layer on the posterior surface, although a coated layer was observed. The colorants in the other three lenses were deposited on either lens surface. Although a print pattern was uniform in embedded type lenses, uneven patterns were apparent in dot-matrix design lenses. Colorants used in all lenses contained chlorine, iron, and titanium. In the magnified scanning electron microscopy images of a certain lens, chlorine is exuded and spread.Conclusions:Cosmetically tinted contact lenses have a wide variety of lens surfaces and colorants. Colorants may be deposited on the lens surface and consist of an element that has tissue toxicity.

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