[Hypouricemic effect of ethanol extracts from Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of ethanol extracts from Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma on hyperuricemic mice. METHODS: The hyperuricemia was induced by gavage of hypoxanthine and subcutaneous injection of potassium oxonate (model A) or subcutaneous injection of uric acid (model B) in ICR male mice. The mice in ethanol extracts groups were administrated with Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma ethanol extracts 5.4 g/kg by gavage, the positive control groups were given with 10 mg/ml allopurinol or 5 mg/ml benzbromarone by gavage, respectively. The plasma uric acid levels were measured by using HPLC. RESULTS: The plasma uric acid levels of model group, control group and ethanol extract group in model A mice were (40.03±27.24), (4.08±1.47) and (18.10±8.87) g/mL (compared with model group, P <0.05), respectively. The plasma uric acid levels of model group, control group and ethanol extract group in model B mice were (18.57±3.83), (4.29±2.36) and (15.36±2.71) g/mL (compared with model group, P <0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION: The ethanol extracts from Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma have certain hypouricemic effect in hyperuricemic mice induced by hypoxanthine and potassium oxonate or by uric acid.

[Protective effect of Jiangbaiweiyan tablet on ethanol-induced gastric mucosa injury in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Jiangbaiweiyan tablet, a Chinese medicine compound composed of Alpinta Officinarum, Cyperus Rotundus, Bulbus Lilii and Rlindera Strychnifolia, on ethanol-induced gastric mucosa injury in rats. METHODS: Acute gastric ulcer was induced in rats with absolute ethyl alcohol. The ulcer index was used to evaluate the extent of the gastric mucosa injury. RESULTS: The ulcer indexes of the model group, the mid-dose (1.08 g x kg(-1) x d-(-1)1) and high-dose (2.16 g x kg(-1) x d-(-1)) of Jiangbaiweiyan tablet groups were 141.58±47.43, 24.83±23.04 and 2.12±2.58, respectively (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Jiangbaiweiyan tablet has protective effects on ethanol-induced gastric mucosa injury in rats, which may be related to anti-oxidation and enhancing tissue regeneration capacity.

Predicting blood-brain barrier penetration from molecular weight and number of polar atoms.

A simple three-descriptor model to predict blood-brain barrier is derived from a training set of 78 compounds: logBB=-9.880 x 10(-6)M(W)(2)+7.339 x 10(-3)M(W)-0.2268n(pol)-0.1143 (n=78, r(2)=0.74), where logBB is the logarithm of the ratio of the steady-state concentration of the compound in the brain to concentration in the blood, M(W) is the molecular weight, n(pol) is the number of polar atoms (oxygen, nitrogen, and attached hydrogen), n is the number of compounds, and r is the correlation coefficient. The model is validated through use of leave-one-out procedure and an external test set (25 compounds). The model is suitable for the rapid prediction of the blood-brain barrier penetration of drug candidates because of its predictive ability and simplicity.