Sodium Thiosulfate Ameliorates Renovascular Hypertension-Induced Renal Dysfunction and Injury in Rats.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Arterial stenosis activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system subsequently resulting in renovascular hypertension (RVHT) and renal oxidative injury. We explored the effect of sodium thiosulfate (STS, Na2S2O3), a developed antioxidant in clinical trial, on RVHT-induced hypertension and renal oxidative injury in rats. METHODS: We induced RVHT in male Wistar rats with bilaterally partial ligation of renal arteries in the 2-kidney 2-clip model. We evaluated the STS effect on RVHT-induced oxidative injury and apoptosis by a chemiluminescence amplification method, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: We found STS displayed a dose-dependent antioxidant H2O2 activity and adapted the maximal scavenging H2O2 activity of STS at the dosage of 0.1 g/kg intraperitoneally 3 times/week for 4 weeks in RVHT rats. RVHT induced a significant elevation of arterial blood pressure, blood reactive oxygen species amount, neutrophil infiltration, 4-HNE and NADPH oxidase gp91 expression, Bax/Bcl-2/poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-mediated apoptosis formation, blue Masson-stained fibrosis, and urinary protein level. STS treatment significantly reduced hypertension, oxidative stress, neutrophil infiltration, fibrosis, and Bax/Bcl-2/PARP-mediated apoptosis formation and depressed the urinary protein level in the RVHT models. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that STS treatment could ameliorate RVHT hypertension and renal oxidative injury through antioxidant, antifibrotic, and antiapoptotic mechanisms.

Paeonol Derivative, 6'-Methyl Paeonol, Attenuates Aß-Induced Pathophysiology in Cortical Neurons and in an Alzheimer's Disease Mice Model.

Herbs themselves and various herbal medicines are great resources for discovering therapeutic drugs for various diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the common neurodegenerative diseases. Utilizing mouse primary cortical neurons and DiBAC4(3), a voltage-sensitive indicator, we have set up a drug screening system and identified an herbal extraction compound, paeonol, obtained from Paeonia lactiflora; this compound is able to ameliorate the abnormal depolarization induced by Aß42 oligomers. Our aim was to further find effective paeonol derivatives since paeonol has been previously studied. 6'-Methyl paeonol, one of the six paeonol derivatives surveyed, is able to inhibit the abnormal depolarization induced by Aß oligomers. Furthermore, 6'-methyl paeonol is able to alleviate the NMDA- and AMPA-induced depolarization. When a molecular mechanism was investigated, 6'-methyl paeonol was found to reverse the Aß-induced increase in ERK phosphorylation. At the animal level, mice injected with 6'-methyl paeonol showed little change in their basic physical parameters compared to the control mice. 6'-Methyl paeonol was able to ameliorate the impairment of memory and learning behavior in J20 mice, an AD mouse model, as measured by the Morris water maze. Thus, paeonol derivatives could provide a structural foundation for developing and designing an effective compound with promising clinical benefits.

Silicon-containing water intake confers antioxidant effect, gastrointestinal protection, and gut microbiota modulation in the rodents.

We explored the effects of silicon-containing water (BT) intake on gastrointestinal function and gut microbiota. BT was obtained by pressuring tap water through silicon minerals (mullite, Al6Si2O13) column. BT decreased H2O2 chemiluminescence counts, indicating its antioxidant activity. Four weeks of BT drinking increased H2O2 scavenging activity and glutathione peroxidase activity of plasma. BT drinking did not affect the body weight but significantly reduced the weight of feces and gastrointestinal motility. BT drinking significantly suppressed pylorus ligation enhanced gastric juice secretion, gastric reactive oxygen species amount, erythrocyte extravasation, IL-1ß production by infiltrating leukocyte, and lipid peroxidation within gastric mucosa. Data from 16S rRNA sequencing revealed BT drinking significantly increased beneficial flora including Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, Prevotellaceae NK3B31, Weissella paramesenteroides, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus murinus and decreased harmful flora including Mucispirillum, Rodentibacter, and Staphylococcus aureus. This study pioneerly provided scientific evidences for the potential effects of water-soluble forms of silicon intake on antioxidant activity, gastrointestinal function, and gut microbiota modulation.