Mesenteric phlebosclerosis associated with long-term oral intake of geniposide, an ingredient of herbal medicine.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis (IMP) is a rare disease, characterised by thickening of the wall of the right hemicolon with calcification of mesenteric veins. However, the aetiology remains unknown. AIM: To investigate the possible association of herbal medicines with IMP. METHOD: The clinical data of four of our own patients were collected. Furthermore, we searched for previous reports about similar patients with detailed descriptions of herbal prescriptions that they had taken. We compared herbal ingredients to identify the toxic agent as a possible aetiological factor. RESULTS: Clinical data on a total of 25 patients were summarised. Mean age was 61.8 years and there was female predominance (6 men and 19 women). The used Kampo prescription, the number of cases, and the mean duration of use were as follows: kamisyoyosan in 12 cases for 12.8 years, inshin-iseihaito in 5 cases for 13.4 years, orengedokuto in 4 cases for 14.3 years, inchinkoto in 1 case for 20 years, kamikihitou in 1 case for 19 years, seijobofuto in 1 case for 10 years and gorinsan in 1 case for an unknown duration. Only one ingredient, sansisi, was common to the herbal medicines of all 25 patients. This crude drug called geniposide in English is a major constituent of the Gardenia fruits. CONCLUSION: The long-term use of geniposide in herbal medicines appears to be associated with mesenteric phlebosclerosis.

Effect of tea polyphenols on fecal flora and fecal metabolic products of pigs.

The effects of tea polyphenols on fecal flora and fecal metabolic activities were studied in eight 30-day-old pigs fed a basal diet (control) or the diet supplemented with 0.2% of tea polyphenols for 2 weeks. During tea polyphenol administration compared to before administration, the levels of lactobacilli were increased significantly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 on days 7 and 14 of administration, respectively), whereas the levels of total bacteria (P < 0.01) and bacteroidaceae (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001 on days 7 and 14 of administration, respectively) were decreased significantly. The detection rate of lecithinase positive clostridia including Clostridium perfrigens showed a tendency to decrease during administration. No detectable change occurred in the levels of other organisms throughout the experimental period. Fecal concentrations of ammonia were decreased significantly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 on days 7 and 14 of administration, respectively). Fecal phenol (P < 0.001), p-cresol (P < 0.05), and skatol (P < 0.01) were reduced significantly on day 14 of administration compared to before administration. The amounts of fecal short chain fatty acids, acetic acid (P < 0.05) and lactic acid (P < 0.05) were increased significantly on day 14 of administration. The pH values were decreased slightly during administration. The odour of the feces was reduced remarkably during tea polyphenol administration.

Isopropylidine maltoheptosyl fructofuranoside, doubly blocked substrate for determination of endoamylase activity.

We synthesized o-(4,6-o-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl)-(1----4)- [o-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----4])5-o-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1----2)- alpha-D-fructofuranoside (IPG7F) and developed an assay for determining the activity of amylase in human serum and urine by using this substrate. Glucoamylase, alpha-glucosidase, and mannitol dehydrogenase are used as coupling enzymes. The coupled reactions are monitored by continuously measuring the oxidation rate of NADH. In this procedure, various substances in the test specimens do not interfere with the detection of amylase activity. Exactly one molecule of NADH is oxidized by one attack of amylase on the substrate, although four products can be produced in the reaction. The within-assay coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 1.0% to 4.1% and the between-assay CV ranged from 2.6% to 5.3%. The results of our new assay correlate well with those of the amylase assay involving p-nitrophenol maltoheptaoside as substrate (r = 0.978) and with those of the amylase assay involving maltopentaose (r = 0.987).

Determination and characterization of reversed-phase bonded ligands by chemical cleavage with aqueous hydrofluoric acid.

A simple and rapid method for the determination and characterization of chemically bonded ligands on reversed-phase packing materials is described. The method consists of cleavage with aqueous concentrated hydrofluoric acid and analysis of the reaction product by GC, NMR and mass spectrometry. It is confirmed from (13)C-NMR spectra that the structure of the bonded ligand is not altered by aqueous hydrofluoric acid. Several commercial reversed-phase packing materials have been analysed by mass spectrometry and because the cleavage reaction proceeds quantitatively, the alkylsilyl groups used are completely converted into the corresponding fluoride derivatives. In the proposed method the cleavage reaction is so fast that the determination takes only 15 min for the steps prior to the chromatographic and spectrometric analyses. The relative standard deviation is 3-4%.