1. Intimal thickening is a common site for atherosclerosis. Therefore, we investigated whether the calcium entry blocker verapamil (10 mg kg-1 body weight day-1, s.c.) can retard intimal thickening and changes in vascular reactivity induced by a non-occlusive, silicone collar positioned around the left carotid artery of rabbits. The contralateral carotid artery was sham-operated and served as a control. 2. Verapamil and placebo (saline 0.1 ml kg-1, day-1, s.c.) treatments were initiated 7 days before placing the collar and lasted 3 weeks. Thereafter, segments were cut from collared and sham-treated arteries for histology and isometric tension recording. 3. The intima/media (I/M ratio increased after 14 days of collar treatment, but intimal thickening was not inhibited by verapamil (I/M ratio placebo 0.31 +/- 0.07, verapamil 0.32 +/- 0.09). 4. The collar decreased the capacity to develop force, as indicated by the response to a supramaximal concentration of KCl, decreased the sensitivity (pD2) to acetylcholine (ACh) and phenylephrine (Phe), but increased the sensitivity to 5-hydroxytryamine (5-HT). 5. Although verapamil did not affect intimal thickening, it normalized the hypersensitivity to 5-HT in collared arteries. 6. The contraction to the supramaximal concentration of KCl was not affected by verapamil. Verapamil decreased the Emax of ACh, but this was only seen in collar-treated arteries. Verapamil also decreased the sensitivity to ACh and Phe, in both sham- and collar-treated arteries. 7. We conclude that verapamil, without preventing thickening of the intima, can modify collar-induced changes in vascular reactivity.

Erythraea centaurium is a plant which is used in the treatment of various inflammatory conditions in popular medicine. The aqueous extract of the plant has been examined for its antiinflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic effects in several animal models. The extract exhibited antiinflammatory and antipyretic activity although no analgesic activity was observed.

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Light petrol and chloroform extracts of the herba of C n i c u s b e n e d i c t u s yielded a-amyrenone; a-amyrine acetate; a-amyrine; oleanolic acid; multiflorenol acetat; mtlltiflorenol and sitosteryl-3 B-D-glucoside.Cnicus benedictus is a well known plant for its pharmacological activity. In a study by VANHAELEN and VANHAELEN FASTRE (1975) cynicin, arctigenin, trachelogenin, nortracheloside, 2-acetyl nortracheloside and salonitenolide were isolated from C. &~~~?~~C~U S .~A N H A E L E N FASTRE (1968) showed the antibacterial activity of cynicin. The presence of n-nonacosan, stigmasterol, sitosterol and a-amyrine were shown by KUBALA and LUDWICZAK (196Sa, b).In this study six triterpenic and a steroidal compounds were isolated from the light petrol and chloroform extracts of the herba of Cnicus benedictus, these were identified as a-amyrenone, a-amyrine acetate, a-amyrine, oleanolic acid, multiflorenol acetate, multiflorenol and sitosteryl-3p-D-glucoside by using UV, IR,, NMR and mass spectral methods as well as standard sample comparison. ExperimentalCnicus benedictus (Compositue) was collected from Urla (near Izmir) western p a n of Turkey in October 1974. It was identified by Prof. Dr. N. ZEYBEK (Ege University), a voucher sample is deposited in the herbarium of the University of Ege, Faculty of Sciences. The herba of the plant (2 kg) was extracted with light petrol and chloroform, 32 g and 90 g of the extracts were obtained respectively. Silica gel columns were used in order to fractionate the extracts.In this study melting points were taken in a Reichert-microscope instrument and uncorrected. The following instruments were used for the spectra: A Varian techtron model 635 for UV, Perkin-Elmer 557 for IR, Joel 100 Hz for NMR and LKB 9000 instrument (Sweden) for Mass.

In order to determine the relationship between the nephrotoxicity of acetaminophen and urinary gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) excretion, a single dose of 900 mg/kg acetaminophen (APAP) was administered to rats intraperitoneally. Following drug administration, 24 hour urine was collected and the kidneys were removed under ether anesthesia for histological examination. GGT activity measurements and quantitative analysis for creatinine was carried out on urine samples. Urinary GGT activity in the APAP administered group (n=12) (1.88 ± 0.21 U/mg creatinine) was significantly higher than in the control group (n=16) (0.77 ± 0.05 U/mg creatinine) (p<0.0002). Histological examination of the kidneys under light microscopy showed only very slight tissue damage. Further use of urinary GGT activity measurements in experimental nephrotoxicity studies has been suggested.