In vitro effects of Yunnan Baiyao on canine hemangiosarcoma cell lines.

Yunnan Baiyao is a Chinese herbal medicine that has been utilized for its anti-inflammatory, haemostatic, wound healing and pain relieving properties in people. It has been utilized in the veterinary profession to control bleeding in dogs with hemangiosarcoma (HSA) and has been anecdotally reported to prolong survival times in dogs with this neoplasm. This study evaluated the in vitro activity of Yunnan Baiyao against three canine HSA cell lines after treatment with increasing concentrations of Yunnan Baiyao (50, 100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 µg mL(-1) ) at 24, 48 and 72 h. Mean half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) at 72 h for DEN, Fitz, SB was 369.9, 275.9 and 325.3 µg mL(-1) , respectively. Caspase-3/7 activity increased in correlation with the IC50 in each cell line which was confirmed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL, APO-BRDU Kit; BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA) assay. VEGF in cell supernatant was also quantified. Overall, the study found that Yunnan Baiyao causes dose and time dependent HSA cell death through initiation of caspase-mediated apoptosis, which supports future studies involving Yunnan Baiyao.

The adjuvant effect of bacitracin on nasal absorption of gonadorelin and buserelin in rats.

Nasal absorption of gonadorelin (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone; LH-RH) and buserelin, an LH-RH agonist, was studied in anesthetized rats. Administration of peptides was by nasal instillation of aqueous peptide/buffer solutions. Peptide absorption was monitored using different techniques: (a) by specific radioimmunoassays for serum levels of lutropin (LH), (b) by the cumulative urinary excretion of buserelin, and (c) by the ovulatory activity after nasal LH-RH and buserelin, respectively. Without adjuvant the nasal absorption of LH-RH and buserelin was relatively poor compared to subcutaneous or intravenous injection. Using absorption adjuvants of different types, e.g., sodium taurodihydrofusidate (STDHF) and bacitracin, marked increases in nasal absorption and, therefore, significant nasal adjuvant activity were found, as demonstrated by an increase in the biological response after nasal administration of the peptides. The mucosal compatibility of bacitracin at the concentrations used for enhancement of absorption was confirmed by an in vitro investigation using isolated gastric mucosa of guinea pigs as a test model.