A case report of spontaneous staphylococcal meningitis in a cynomolgus monkey.

This report describes a suppurative meningitis in a young cynomolgus. The animal had neutrophil aggregation in the subarachnoid space and hemorrhage in bilateral adrenal glands. Staphylococcus was identified by FISH in brain. To our knowledge, this is the first case of staphylococcal meningitis with Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a cynomolgus monkey.

The HepaRG cell line, a superior in vitro model to L-02, HepG2 and hiHeps cell lines for assessing drug-induced liver injury.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a leading cause of discontinuation of new drug approval or withdrawal of marketed medicine based on safety due to organ vulnerability. The aim of this research is to investigate the potential abilities of four different in vitro cell models (L-02, HepG2, HepaRG, and hiHeps cell lines) in assessing marketed drugs labeled with apparently different types of liver injury. A total of 17 drugs with versatile pharmacological profiles were chosen, of which, 14 drugs are recognized as DILI agents and 3 drugs are DILI irrelevant. Preliminary cellular screening assays indicated that the HepaRG cell line had an advantage over other cell lines in predicting drugs associated with DILI in vitro as it had the highest Youden's index (71.4%). A multi-parametric screening assay showed that oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and disorders of neutral lipid metabolism were changed notably in the HepaRG cell line after DILI-related drugs exposure, accounting for its high sensitivity in comparison with other three cell lines. In addition, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) all correlated with the cytotoxic effects of diclofenac sodium (p < 0.05), buspirone hydrochloride (p < 0.01), and danazol (p < 0.01) in the HepaRG cell line. We conclude that the HepaRG cell line is a superior in vitro cell model to other three cell lines for evaluating drugs with DILI potential.

Polygonumnolides C1-C4; minor dianthrone glycosides from the roots of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.

Four new dianthrone glycosides, named polygonumnolides C1-C4 (1-4), were isolated from the dried roots of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, together with two known emodin dianthrones (5-6). Their hepatotoxicities were evaluated against L-02 cell lines. Compounds 1-4 showed weak hepatotoxicity against L-02 cell lines with IC50 values of 313.05, 205.20, 294.20, and 207.35 µM, respectively.

Corn oil as a vehicle in drug development exerts a dose-dependent effect on gene expression profiles in rat thymus.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of corn oil (CO), which is widely used as a vehicle for water-insoluble agents in drug development, on the gene expression profiles in rat thymus with microarray technique. Female Wistar rats were administered daily with normal saline (NS) and CO 2, 5 and 10 ml kg⁻¹ per day for 14 days, respectively. Then, the thymus samples of rats were collected for microarray test and histopathology examination. CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes in peripheral blood were also numerated to assess the effects on lymphocyte subpopulations. The microarray data showed that the numbers of differentially expressed genes in the 2, 5 and 10 ml kg⁻¹ CO groups were 0, 40 and 458, respectively, compared with the NS control group. The altered genes were mainly associated with immune response, cellular response to organic cyclic substance and regulation of fatty acid ß-oxidation. However, no abnormal changes in thymus weight, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ lymphocytes counts and histopathological examination were observed in the three CO groups. These data showed that 10 ml kg⁻¹ CO, the usually recommended dosing volume as a vehicle in drug safety assessment, caused obvious dysregulated genes in rat thymus. Our study suggests that the appropriate dosing volume of CO gavage as a vehicle for water-insoluble agents in drug development should be 2 ml kg⁻¹ per day, if agent effects on thymus will be assessed in gene levels.

The involvement of RGS9 in l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-induced dyskinesias in unilateral 6-OHDA lesion rat model.

Chronic dopamine (DA) replacement therapy with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) in Parkinson's disease (PD) often leads to abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs) known as L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID), mediated by DA receptors. However, mechanisms underlying LID occurrence are still unclear. Regulator of G-protein signaling RGS9, a member of the RGS family of GTPase accelerating proteins, is expressed specifically in the striatum, has been reported participated in LID. L-DOPA-induced AIMs can be modeled in rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions by chronic injection of L-DOPA. Herein, we compared the rotational responses and AIMs in 6-OHDA lesioned rats with L-DOPA/benserazide (10/2.5 mg/kg, once per day, i.p.) administration for 14 days whereas control animals received injections of saline. Furthermore, whether sub-chronic L-DOPA treatment impact RGS9 mRNA or protein expression in 6-OHDA lesion rats were also evaluated. As results shown, rotational behavior was not increased significantly, while an obvious AIMs were observed in rats with L-DOPA/benserazide (10/2.5mg/kg, i.p.) administration sub-chronically. In addition, expressions of RGS9 protein or mRNA analyzed by Western blot or real-time PCR with striatal extracts increased significantly after L-DOPA/benserazide. These data demonstrate that RGS9 expression can be modulated by sub-chronic L-DOPA/benserazide administration and increased RGS9 expression in striatum may be one of the reasons for the side effects such as dyskinesia induced by L-DOPA therapy.