Hemorrhagic cystitis induced by an herbal mixture.

A healthy 33-year-old woman consumed a slimming product containing a mixture of herbal remedies without seeking medical advice. Two months later, the patient had hemorrhagic cystitis and discontinued the herbal product. Symptoms spontaneously remitted in a few days. Four months later, she took the same herbal remedy and the hemorrhagic cystitis reappeared. She then consulted her general practitioner. A urine culture test was negative, and the patient was advised to discontinue the herb intake. Again, the cystitis resolved within a week. The product involved contains a mixture of herbs, some of which have been associated with adverse effects that might account for the symptoms reported in this case.

Protective effects of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside from blackberry extract against peroxynitrite-induced endothelial dysfunction and vascular failure.

Anthocyanins are a group of naturally occurring phenolic compounds as colorants in several plants, flowers and fruits. These pigments have a great importance as quality indicators, as chemotaxonomic markers and antioxidants. The content of blackberry (Rubus species) juice was investigated by HPLC/ESI/MS using narrow bore HPLC columns. Using this method we demonstrated that cyanidin-3-O-glucoside represents about 80% of the total anthocyanin contents in blackberry extract. Here we investigated antioxidant activity of the blackberry juice and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside on the endothelial dysfunction in cells and in vascular rings exposed to peroxynitrite. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro, peroxynitrite caused a significant suppression of mitochondrial respiration (38 +/- 2.1% of control cells), as measured by the mitochondrial-dependent conversion of the dye MTT to formazan. Peroxynitrite caused DNA strand breakage (63 +/- 1.9% single strand vs 3 +/- 0.9% single strand in control cells), as measured by the alkaline unwinding assay, and caused an activation of PARS, as measured by the incorporation of radiolabeled NAD(+) to nuclear proteins. Blackberry juice (different dilutions that contained 80 ppm;40 ppm;14.5 ppm of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside) and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (as chloride) (0.085 microM; 0.028 microM; 0.0085 microM) reduced the peroxynitrite-induced suppression of mitochondrial respiration, DNA damage and PARS activation in HUVECs. Vascular rings exposed to peroxynitrite exhibited reduced endothelium-dependent relaxant responses in response to acetylcholine as well as a vascular contractility dysfunction in response to norepinephrine. The development of this peroxynitrite-induced vascular dysfunction was ameliorated by the blackberry juice (different dilutions that contained 80 ppm;40 ppm;14.5 ppm of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside) and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (as chloride) (0.085 microM;0.028 microM;0.0085 microM). In conclusion our findings clearly demonstrate that blackberry juice containing cyanidin-3-O-glucoside is a scavenger of peroxynitrite and that exert a protective effect against endothelial dysfunction and vascular failure induced by peroxynitrite.

Oral administration of a soy extract improves endothelial dysfunction in ovariectomized rats.

Effects of oral administration for 4 weeks of a soy fraction with mainly isoflavones (Glycine max, Leguminosae) (SOYPH; 5 mg/kg) on vascular dysfunction induced by bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) in rats were studied. We evaluated vascular reactivity of aortic rings after acetylcholine (ACh 10 nM-10 microM), sodium nitroprussiate (SN 15 - 30 nM) and NG-L-arginine (L-NMA; 10 - 100 microM). Uterine weight and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity were also investigated. The same parameters were observed after 4 weeks treatment with 17beta-estradiol. In OVX rats endothelial-dependent vascular responses were changed: reduction of induced contraction ( L-NMA 100 mM: sham OVX 2.1 +/- 0.2 g/mg tissue; OVX 1.7 +/- 0.4 g/mg tissue). Ovariectomy produced a reduction of constitutive NOS activity. Uterine weight was increased in animals treated with 17beta-estradiol but not with SOYPH. Either SOYPH or 17beta-estradiol produced a similar improvement of endothelial dysfunction and increased NOS activity. Our data suggest that soy isoflavones produce an improvement of endothelial dysfunction induced by ovariectomy so as 17beta-estradiol, but probably without changes in reproductive system.