Antihyperlipidemic effect and increased antioxidant enzyme levels of aqueous extracts from Liupao tea and green tea in vivo.

Liupao tea (fermented dark tea) may improve the active function of hyperlipidemia. Utilizing a hyperlipidemia Sprague-Dawley model and UPLC-MS/MS metabolomics, we examined how the effect of Liupao and green tea extracts on hyperlipidemia and antoxidant enzyme levels and compared their constituents. The results showed that the two types of tea could reduce the levels of total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C); increase the contents of bile acids and cholesterol in feces; and improve catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities. Compared with the model control group, Liupao tea effectively reduced TC and LDL-C levels by 39.53% and 58.55% and increased GSH-Px activity in the liver by 67.07%, which was better than the effect of green tea. A total of 93 compounds were identified from two samples; the amounts of alkaloids and fatty acids increased compared with green tea, and ellagic acid, hypoxanthine, and theophylline with relatively high contents in Liupao tea had a significantly positive correlation with antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant effects. Therefore, Liupao tea had better antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities in vivo than green tea, which might be related to the relatively high content of some active substances.

Retention of amphotericin-B therapeutic efficacy at half doses by synergistic activation of phagocytes.

Amphotericin B (AMB) is a mainstay in the treatment of serious systemic fungal infections, such as those occurring prevalently in immuno-compromised patients treated with immunosuppressive agents or affected by Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). However AMB is an extremely toxic agent whose therapeutical utilization is often accompanied by acute side effects and chronic impairment of renal function. It is here reported that the preactivation of polymorphonucleated cells (PMN) in vivo, by a new immunomodulatory agent (PCF 39:N alpha-5[1,6,dihydro-(6-oxo-9 purinyl) pentoxycarbonyl]-L-Arginine) allows marked reduction of the AMB doses with full retention of therapeutic efficacy. This was observed in an experimental fungal infection induced in mice by intravenous inoculation of Candida albicans.

The effect of allopurinol on oxygen-induced seizures in mice.

Prolonged exposure to hyperbaric oxygen causes central nervous system (CNS) oxygen toxicity manifested by grand mal seizures. The superoxide anion is believed to be a cause of tissue damage in CNS oxygen toxicity and it is proposed that xanthine oxidase activity is one of the prime sources of superoxide. Groups of mice were given equivalent doses of allopurinol, hypoxanthine, or saline, and exposed to five atmospheres absolute of oxygen. It was proposed that allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, would decrease the rate of superoxide formation thus delaying the onset of oxygen-induced seizures. It was further proposed that hypoxanthine would increase the rate of superoxide formation decreasing the preconvulsive latency. The data indicated that neither allopurinol nor hypoxanthine altered susceptibility to the CNS manifestations of oxygen toxicity. The results do not support the theory that xanthine oxidase is a prime source of superoxide anions in mouse brain.

[Radiomodifying action of 8-azahypoxanthine]. / Radiomodifitsiruiushchee deistvie 8-azagipoksantina.

In experiments on mice it was established that 8-azahypoxanthine has a slight radiosensitizing effect on haemopoietic stem cells and leucotic cells. The pattern of the changes observed has prompted an assumption that the preparation used has an inhibitory action on the post-irradiation recovery.