Improvement in HDL cholesterol in postmenopausal women supplemented with pumpkin seed oil: pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Pumpkin seed oil is rich in phytoestrogens and animal studies suggest that there is some benefit to supplementation in low estrogen conditions. This study is the first to evaluate the benefit of pumpkin seed oil in postmenopausal women. METHODS: This pilot study was randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled. Study participants included 35 women who had undergone natural menopause or had iatrogenically entered the climacteric due to surgery for benign pathology. Wheat germ oil (placebo; n = 14) and pumpkin seed oil (n = 21) were administered to eligible participants over a 12-week period at a dose of 2 g per day. Serum lipids, fasting plasma glucose and blood pressure were measured and an 18-point questionnaire regarding menopausal symptoms was administered; the atherogenic index was also calculated. Differences between groups, as well as before and after the period of supplementation, were evaluated with Student's t-test, Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-ranked test and Mann-Whitney test, as appropriate (Stata version 10.1). RESULTS: Women receiving pumpkin seed oil showed a significant increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (0.92 ± 0.23 mmol/l vs. 1.07 ± 0.27 mmol/l; p = 0.029) and decrease in diastolic blood pressure (81.1 ± 7.94 mmHg vs. 75.67 ± 11.93 mmHg; p < 0.046). There was also a significant improvement in the menopausal symptom scores (18.1 ± 9.0 vs. 13.2 ± 6.7; p < 0.030), with a decrease in severity of hot flushes, less headaches and less joint pains being the main contributors. Women in the group receiving wheat germ oil reported being more depressed and having more unloved feeling. CONCLUSION: This pilot study showed pumpkin seed oil had some benefits for postmenopausal women and provided strong evidence to support further studies.

Commonly used botanicals and vitamins and their impact on blood pressure and blood loss in surgical gynaecology patients.

We wanted to determine botanical and vitamin use in surgical gynaecology patients at UHWI and their effects on blood pressure and blood loss. The study was prospective and observational. Before elective surgery, we evaluated 133 patients on the use of botanicals and vitamins. We measured pre- and intraoperative blood pressure and intraoperative blood loss to determine any association with botanical use. Botanicals were used by 68.4% of patients with a 45.1% use within 2 weeks before surgery, p = 0.002). Users were older (p = 0.024) and had more chronic illnesses (p = 0.003). They also had higher mean preoperative diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.016) but no statistically significant difference in intraoperative blood pressures. Blood loss was greater with recent use of certain anticoagulant botanicals. We conclude that the use of certain botanicals may increase blood pressure or increase surgical bleeding and patients and doctors should be aware of their risk.

Design, synthesis, SAR, and biological evaluation of highly potent benzimidazole-spaced phosphono-alpha-amino acid competitive NMDA antagonists of the AP-6 type.

A series of 2-amino-(phosphonoalkyl)-1H-benzimidazole-2-alkanoic acids was synthesized and evaluated for NMDA receptor affinity using a [3H]CPP binding assay. Functional antagonism of the NMDA receptor complex was evaluated in vitro using a stimulated [3H]TCP binding assay and in vivo by employing an NMDA-induced seizure model. Several compounds of the AP-6 type demonstrated potent and selective NMDA antagonistic activity both in vitro and in vivo. In particular, [R(-)]-2-amino-3-(5-chloro-1-phosphonomethyl-1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)-propionic acid (1) displayed an IC(50) value of 7.1 nM in the [3H]CPP binding assay and an ED(50) value of 0.13 mg/kg (ip) in the NMDA lethality model. Compound 1, when administered intravenously as a single bolus dose of 3 mg/kg following permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in the rat, reduced the volume of infarcted brain tissue by 45%. These results support a promising therapeutic potential for compound 1 as a neuroprotective agent.

Effect of acute soman on selected endocrine parameters and blood glucose in rats.

The effects of acute doses of soman (40, 60, or 80 micrograms/kg sc) in rats were evaluated for toxic symptoms as well as for changes in plasma levels of glucose, insulin, glucagon, corticosterone, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. The relationship between changes in these levels and depressed acetylcholinesterase activity in the hypothalamus was determined. Soman 40 micrograms/kg did not manifest significant changes in any of the parameters evaluated. However, both the 60 and 80 micrograms/kg doses of soman caused dose- and time-related increases in plasma levels of glucose, corticosterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and a depression of insulin. Many of these increases, as well as the severity of toxicity, appear to be inversely related to the hypothalamic acetylcholinesterase levels. The hyperglycemia following the higher doses of soman is likely due to the combined effects of elevated levels of corticosterone, catecholamines, possibly glucagon, and depressed insulin levels. Stress from the toxic effects of soman is likely partially responsible for the endocrine effects since most of the changes observed are consistent with changes in these levels that would be manifested in an animal stress model.

Effect of repeated administration of soman on selected endocrine parameters and blood glucose in rats.

The effects of repeated administration of soman on plasma glucose levels, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in erythrocytes and hypothalamus, and plasma levels of corticosterone, glucagon, insulin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine were studied in male rats. Rats were given soman subcutaneously (sc), either 30 micrograms/kg every 24 hr for 5 or 12 days or 40 micrograms/kg every 24 hr for 5 days. All doses of soman markedly depressed AChE activity in the hypothalamus and completely inhibited AChE activity in erythrocytes. Soman 30 micrograms/kg given for 5 days did not alter plasma levels of any hormone assayed and produced few signs of intoxication. Soman 40 micrograms/kg given for 5 days elevated plasma levels of glucose and corticosterone and produced signs of severe cumulative intoxication. Daily administration of 30 micrograms/kg of soman for 12 days inhibited hypothalamic AChE activity 75%, lowered plasma insulin, and produced signs of moderate intoxication. Repeated administration of soman produced endocrine alterations only when significant signs of intoxication were evident. The absence of increases in plasma levels of catecholamines and corticosterone in rats exhibiting signs of moderate intoxication, and of catecholamines in rats exhibiting signs of severe intoxication, may indicate an impairment by soman of the normal endocrine response to stress.

Controlled trial of acupuncture for disabling breathlessness.

In a randomised controlled trial, twelve matched pairs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease received traditional Chinese acupuncture or placebo acupuncture. After three weeks' treatment the traditional-acupuncture group showed significantly greater benefit in terms of subjective scores of breathlessness and six-minute walking distance. Objective measures of lung function were unchanged in either group. Whether these differences are mediated by endogenous opiate and/or peptide release remains speculative.

Increasing accuracy in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis with modern diagnostic techniques.

One hundred consecutive patients admitted to the hospital with the prospective diagnosis of appendicitis were evaluated retrospectively to determine the effect of the use of modern diagnostic techniques upon the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis. Appendectomy was performed on 48 patients. In three of these patients, the diagnostic process was assisted by the use of radiologic or ultrasound techniques. Of the 52 patients who did not undergo appendectomy, 13 patients clearly avoided surgery or were steered towards an other appropriate operative procedure due to findings on ultrasound or barium enema. Ultrasound was particularly useful in differentiating the etiology of right lower quadrant pain in the childbearing aged female. This study demonstrates that the traditionally expected 15% normal appendix rate can be narrowed (6.25% in this group of patients) without increasing morbidity, with the use of sophisticated diagnostic techniques in the evaluation of selected patients who present diagnostic dilemmas.

Gas-producing clostridial and nonclostridial infections.

Clostridial infections have always been treated promptly and aggressively on the basis of history and Gram's strain. We believe that nonclostridial infections with similar fulminating, septic courses also should receive as prompt and radical treatment and perhaps more so, as hyperbaric oxygen therapy is of far less benefit in a nonclostridial infection. It is particularly important to treat the high risk, obese, patient with diabetes and an infection of the perineum or groin promptly and aggressively if the current, high morality is to be decreased.