[A Brief Analysis of Equivalence Demonstration Techniques for Clinical Evaluation of Medical Devices].

This study overviewed equivalence demonstration, the principles for the selection of comparative devices, the difficulties in equivalence demonstration, and the equivalence demonstration of special medical devices. In addition, the concept of equivalence demonstration was adopted for the products exempted from clinical evaluation, and there were many confusion in actual use. The operation points and difficult points of equivalence demonstration for the products exempted from clinical evaluation were introduced in order to provide reference for medical device colleagues.

Antidepressant abietane diterpenoids from Chinese eaglewood.

Ten new abietane diterpenoids, aquilarabietic acids A-J (1-10), and a new podocarpane diterpenoid, aquilarabietic acid K (11), were isolated from the petroleum ether and ethanol extracts of Chinese eaglewood. Among them, 3, 9, and 10 are artifacts. Their structures were established on the basis of data from extensive spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction analyses. Bioassay results indicated that 1 at 10 µM demonstrated remarkable antidepressant activity in vitro by inhibiting norepinephrine reuptake in rat brain synaptosomes by 81.4% and with an IC(50) value of 9.1 × 10(-7) M.

Evaluation of the anti-ulcerogenic activity of the antidepressants duloxetine, amitriptyline, fluoxetine and mirtazapine in different models of experimental gastric ulcer in rats.

The effects of acute systemic administration of duloxetine, amitriptyline, mirtazapine and fluoxetine were compared in experimental models of gastric ulcer in rats. Compared with the vehicle control group, duloxetine (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), amitriptyline (10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), mirtazapine (10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) and fluoxetine (5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly protected against water-immersion plus restraint stress-induced gastric lesions, as evidenced by dose-dependent decrease in ulcer index and score for intraluminal bleeding. Duloxetine (20 mg/kg, i.p.), amitriptyline (10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), fluoxetine (10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) and mirtazapine (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased indomethacin (30 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced gastric lesions and intraluminal bleeding. In reserpine (25 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced gastric ulcer experiment, duloxetine (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), amitriptyline (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.), fluoxetine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and mirtazapine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly attenuated gastric lesions and intraluminal bleeding. These results (a) highlighted the relationship in correlating antiulcer effect of drugs from different antidepressant classes across various animal gastric ulcer models and (b) suggested that antidepressants that differently affected both norepinephrine and serotonin levels (such as duloxetine, amitriptyline and mirtazapine) had more potent and efficacious antiulcer effect in various gastric ulcer animal models than drugs that only affected serotonin level (such as fluoxetine).

The antidepressant effect of Cynanchum auriculatum in mice.

CONTEXT: Antidepressant effects of various plants are generally attributed to their anti-inflammation and antioxidant activities. Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight (Asclepiadaceae) is a traditional medicinal plant in China and India used for immunological regulation, anti-inflammation, and antioxidant purposes. However knowledge about its antidepressant activity has been poorly investigated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antidepressant activities of the total glycosides of C. auriculatum (TGC) and its CHCl3/MeOH (10:1) fractions (TGC-D and TGC-E) in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TGC, TGC-D and TGC-E (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg) were intragastrically administered to mice twice a day for 5 days. The tail suspension test, forced swimming test, and locomotor activity test in mice were used to evaluate the effect of C. auriculatum. The inhibition of [³H]-serotonin reuptake in rat brain synaptosomes was detected to investigate their mechanism. RESULTS: TGC, TGC-D and TGC-E (80 mg/kg) decreased the immobility time by 61.7, 64.5, and 61.9% in tail suspension test. TGC (80 mg/kg), TGC-D (80 mg/kg) and TGC-E (20 mg/kg) decreased the immobility time by 32.6, 47.3, and 48.7% in forced swimming test. TGC (80 mg/kg) and TGC-E (20 and 40 mg/kg) decreased the crossing distances by 28.8, 29.5, and 36.2% in locomotor activity test. TGC, TGC-D and TGC-E (10 mg/L) inhibited serotonin reuptake by 7.4, 4.5, and 71.1% in rat brain synaptosomes, and IC50 value of TGC-E was 5.2 mg/L. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: TGC, TGC-D and TGC-E have potential antidepressant activities. The antidepressive effect of TGC-E maybe attributed partly by the inhibiting effect on serotonin reuptake.

[Effect of scopolamine on depression in mice].

Based on the report of previous clinical study which showed cholinergic receptor antagonist scopolamine had antidepressant activity, this study was to investigate the antidepressant activity of scopolamine and explore its effective dose in mice, and to evaluate the effect of scopolamine on the central nervous system and learning/memory ability at its antidepressant effective dose. Tail suspension test, forced swimming test, step-down passive avoidance test and open field test were used to evaluate its effects on mice. Compared with the vehicle control group, single-dose administration of scopolamine (0.1-0.4 mg x kg(-1), ip) significantly decreased the immobility time (P < 0.01 or P < 0.001) in tail suspension test, and significantly decreased the immobility time (P < 0.001) in forced swimming test, but had no effect on the step-down latency and errors in step-down passive avoidance test. Scopolamine (0.1 and 0.2 mg x kg(-1), ip) had no influence on the locomotor activity in open field test, while at dose of 0.4 mg x kg(-1) significantly increase the locomotor activity. These results showed that scopolamine produced reliable antidepressant effect at doses of 0.1 and 0.2 mg x kg(-1), without impairment on learning and memory, as well as excitory or inhibitory effect on central nervous system in mice.

[Design, synthesis and 5-HT/NE dual reuptake inhibitory activity of aromatic heterocyclic arylamidine derivatives].

Based on the pharmacophore information and the analysis of structure-activity relationship of SSRIs and SNRIs, a series of substituted aromatic heterocyclic arylamidine derivatives were designed and synthesized in order to search for lead compounds with dual activity. All of them were new compounds, and their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR and HRMS. Preliminary in vitro pharmacological tests showed that all target compounds exhibited 5-HT reuptake inhibitory activity and some compounds exhibited NE reuptake inhibitory activity. These aromatic heterocyclic arylamidine designed can be further optimized for finding more potent 5-HT/NE dual reuptake inhibitors and antidepressant candidates as well.