Induction of NADPH-diaphorase activity in the forebrain in a model of intracerebral hemorrhage and its inhibition by the traditional Chinese medicine complex Nao Yi An.

Induction of NADPH-diaphorase (NDP) activity in the rat cerebral cortex was studied after autologous blood injection into the internal capsule as experimental model of intracerebral hemorrhage. The potential inhibitory effect on NDP induction by Nao Yi An (NYA), a complex derived from materials of animal and plant origin used in the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage in traditional Chinese medicine, was also investigated. In animals without therapeutic treatment 2 and 4 days after injection of autologous blood, NDP activity was highly induced in pyramidal neurons in the neocortex, piriform, and entorhinal cortices, in astrocytes and in phagocytes in the hematoma and the area surrounding it, as well as in the subcortical white matter, and in endothelial cells in both the cortex and subcortical white matter bilaterally. Oral administration of NYA failed to inhibit NDP induction in endothelial cells but demonstrated a strong inhibitory effect on NDP activity induced in pyramidal neurons and astrocytes. NDP induction in phagocytes was also inhibited by the administration of NYA. Altogether the present results suggest that intracerebral hemorrhage in the internal capsule may induce nitric oxide synthase activity in different cell populations in the cortex and that administration of NYA can selectively inhibit such induction and, thus, potentially play a neuroprotective role.

ESR dating of tooth enamel: comparison with U-series, FT and TL dating at the Peking man site.

Deer tooth samples from Zhoukoudian, the Peking Man Cave, were studied. Non-linear fitting is used to determine AD, from which ESR ages were calculated by both the disequilibria model (DU) and linear uptake model (LU). Comparison of ESR ages with those from U-series, FT and TL methods show that the enamel of deer teeth is a suitable material for ESR dating.

Pungent principles of ginger (Zingiber officinale) are thermogenic in the perfused rat hindlimb.

Crude extracts of both fresh and dry ginger induced the perfused rat hindlimb to consume oxygen in association with increases in perfusion pressure and lactate production. The principles responsible for these observations, the gingerols and shogaols, were isolated and tested for relative thermogenic activity. The gingerol homologues possessed greater molar potency than their shogaol counterparts. (6)-Gingerol was the most potent principle isolated, causing a mean maximal increase in oxygen consumption of 1.4 +/- 0.1 mumol/g/h (21%), an increase in lactate efflux of 4.7 +/- 0.6 mumol/g/h (87%) with a perfusion pressure increase of 7.7 +/- 0.7 mmHg (30%). Increases in alkyl chain length within each homologous series led to decreased molar potency. Specific nitro-vasodilation using glyceryl trinitrate demonstrated that thermogenesis was at least partly associated with vasoconstriction. Concurrent infusion of alpha or beta antagonists showed that neither adrenergic receptors nor secondary catecholamine release were responsible for the observed effects. Increasing doses of the ginger principles ultimately led to inhibition of steady state oxygen consumption, although perfusion pressure continued to increase. Removal of high ginger principle doses was followed by apparent increases in oxygen uptake unaccompanied by elevated perfusion pressure. As a consequence, the effective concentration ranges of the ginger principles were relatively narrow. The cause of high dose effects is as yet undetermined but may have been due in part to disruption of mitochondrial function.