Influence of Lactobacillus brevis 15 and Lactobacillus plantarum 13 on blood glucose and body weight in rats after high-fructose diet.

In recent years, many authors have investigated the possible antidiabetic effect of lactic acid bacteria. Lactobacillus species constitute a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group and have been found to exhibit beneficial effects on the development of diabetes and its complications. In the current study, we investigated the effects of newly characterised Bulgarian Lactobacillus strains, Lactobacillus brevis 15 and Lactobacillus plantarum 13, on blood glucose levels and body weight of rats fed a fructose-enriched diet. An experiment was conducted over a period of 8 weeks with 24 2-month-old Wistar rats randomly assigned to receive a standard diet (Con, control group), fructose-enriched diet (Fr group), standard diet with probiotics given twice a week (Pro group), and fructose-enriched diet with probiotics given twice a week (Pro+Fr group). At the end of the experimental period, a statistically significant increase in body weight was observed in all experimental groups (P<0.0001). The highest rise was seen in the fructose group (Fr, 169±19 g), followed by the Pro+Fr group (153±15 g), Pro group (149±13 g), and Con group (141±5 g). Moreover, the final blood glucose levels had risen significantly in the groups receiving fructose either without (Fr; P<0.0001) or with lactobacilli (Pro+Fr; P=0.002), while the rise was insignificant in the group of rats given probiotic supplementation only (Pro, P=0.071) and inexistent in the Con group (P=0.999). The highest elevation of blood glucose levels was observed in the Fr group (3.18 mmol/l), followed by the Pro+Fr group (2.00 mmol/l) whereas the Pro group showed the lowest levels (0.60 mmol/l). The results of our study suggest that the newly characterised Bulgarian Lactobacillus strains, L. brevis 15 and L. plantarum 13, could be considered as possible probiotics and might be able to prevent some metabolic disturbances.

Effects of anti-inflammatory vagus nerve stimulation in endotoxemic rats on blood and spleen lymphocyte subsets.

BACKGROUND: Anti-inflammatory cytokine effects of vagus nerve stimulation in sepsis syndromes are well established. Effects on immune cells are less clear. Therefore, we studied changes in peripheral and spleen leukocyte subsets in an endotoxic rat sepsis model. METHODS: Ventilated and sedated adult male SD rats received 5 mg/kg b.w. lipopolysaccharide intravenously to induce endotoxic sepsis. Controls and a group with both-sided vagotomy were compared to animals with both sided vagotomy and left distal vagus nerve stimulation. 4.5 h after sepsis induction immune cell counts and types in the peripheral blood and spleen were determined [T-lymphocytes (CD3+), T-helper cells (CD3+ CD4+), activated T-helper cells (CD3+ CD4+ CD134+), cytotoxic T-cells (CD3+ CD8+), activated cytotoxic T-cells (CD3+ CD8+ CD134+), B-lymphocytes (CD45R+ CD11cneg-dim), dendritic cells (CD11c+ OX-62 +), natural killer cells (CD161+ CD3neg) and granulocytes (His48 +)] together with cytokine and chemokine plasma levels (IL10; IFN-g, TNF-a, Cxcl5, Ccl5). RESULTS: Blood cell counts declined in all LPS groups. However, vagus nerve stimulation but not vagotomy activated cytotoxic T-cells. Vagotomy also depleted natural killer cells. In the spleen, vagotomy resulted in a strong decline of all cell types which was not present in the other septic groups where only granulocyte numbers declined. CONCLUSION: Vagotomy strongly declines immune cell counts in the septic spleen. This could not be explained by an evasion or apoptosis of cells. A marginalisation of spleen immune cells into the peripheral microcirculation might be therefore most likely. Further studies are warranted to clear this issue.

Modification of the analgesic effect and the effect on body temperature of morphine and fentanyl, included in liposomal suspensions.

The analgesic and thermomodulating effect of the powerful narcotic analgesics morphine and phentanyl, included in liposomal suspensions, was tested in experiments on rats and rabbits. The aim of the experiments was to determine the changes taking place in these effects of the above analgesics, using as their carriers small neutral liposomes formed by phosphatidylcholine (egg lecithin) and cholesterol in molar ratio 7:2. The liposomes were obtained by applying the classical method of A. Bangham (1968), with subsequent ultrasoundtreatment. The changes in the body temperature of the rats and rabbits were traced in dynamics by means of electrothermometry. The analgesic activity was also investigated in dynamics, using two methods: thermal stimulation ("tail flick" test) and mechanical pressure (after Randall-Selitto, 1957). Incorporation of morphin and Fentanyl in liposomal suspensions was found to result in a tendency towards intensification and statistically significant prolongation of their thermomodulating and analgesic effects, compared with these effects of the free preparations. The pharmacological investigations carried out reveal considerable possibilities for a clinically favourable modification of the effects of the narcotic analgesics by means of their incorporation in liposomal carriers.

On the antiarrhythmic activity of one N-substituted piperazine derivative of trans-2-amino-3-hydroxy-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydroanaphthalene.

The antiarrhythmic activity of the compound N-(trans-3-hydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-naphthyl)-N-(3-oxo-3-phenyl-2-methylpropyl)-piperazine hydrochloride, referred to as P11, is studied on anaesthesized cats and Wistar albino rats, as well as on non-anaesthesized rabbits. Four types of experimental arrhythmia are used--with BaCl2, with chloroform-adrenaline, with strophantine G and with aconitine. The compound P11 is introduced in doses of 0.25 and 0.50 mg/kg intravenously and 10 mg/kg orally. The compound manifests antiarrhythmic activity in all models of experimental arrhythmia used, causing greatest inhibition on the arrhythmia induced by chloroform-adrenaline (in 90 per cent) and with BaCl2 (in 84 per cent). The results obtained are associated with the beta-adrenoblocking and with the membrane-stabilizing action of the compound.