Determination of neuroprotective oxysterols in Calculus bovis, human gallstones, and traditional Chinese medicine preparations by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry.

So far, the components responsible for the neuroprotective effects of Calculus bovis are unclear. Cholesterol, one of the major components in Calculus bovis, is easily oxidized into oxysterols, which possess direct or indirect neuroprotective effects proved by our and others' previous studies. Therefore, a liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry method coupled with ultrasonic extraction and solid-phase extraction was developed for the determination of neuroprotective oxysterols in Calculus bovis, human gallstones, and traditional Chinese medicine preparations. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column with isocratic elution at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The established method showed good linearity (R(2) > 0.998), sensitivity with low limits of detection (0.06-0.39 µg/g), acceptable precisions (relative standard deviations ≤ 7.4%), stability (relative standard deviations ≤ 5.9%), and satisfactory accuracy (92.4-102.9%) for all analytes identified by different retention times, which could be applied for the determination of oxysterols. Five kinds of oxysterols proved to function as neuroprotectants were detected at different concentrations. Among them, 7ß-hydroxycholesterol and cholestane-3ß,5α,6ß-triol were rather abundant in the samples. It could be concluded that the potential neuroprotective components in Calculus bovis may be these oxysterols.

Ultrasonographic findings in cattle and buffaloes with chronic hepatic fascioliosis.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the ultrasonographic findings in cattle and buffaloes with chronic hepatic fascioliosis. To the best of the author's knowledge, this report is the first to document ultrasonographic findings in buffaloes with chronic hepatic fascioliosis. Ultrasonographic findings included distended gallbladders with either homogenous or heterogeneous contents, edema of the gallbladder walls, which ranged from mild or moderate to severe and bile duct mineralization. In 78% of the buffaloes, there was an ultrasonographic picture of hepatic fibrosis in which heterogeneous and hyperechogenic hepatic parenchymas with multiple echogenic foci were imaged. Other ultrasonographic findings included peritoneal, pleural and pericardial effusions. Two cows and one buffalo were slaughtered and examined postmortem. Hence, it was possible to verify distended gallbladders, edema of the gallbladder wall, calcified bile ducts, cholestasis and hepatic fibrosis by using ultrasonography in the cows and buffaloes with chronic hepatic fascioliosis. The procedure offers a useful supplement to clinical, hematological and biochemical examinations on the diagnosis of this condition.