Int J Med Sci
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Forskolin is a diterpene derived from the plant Coleus forskohlii. Forskolin activates adenylate cyclase, which increases intracellular cAMP levels. The antioxidant and antiinflammatory action of forskolin is due to inhibition of macrophage activation with a subsequent reduction in thromboxane B2 and superoxide levels. ⋯ In both healthy and diabetic rats, forskolin treatment lowered the fasting glucose at the end of the experiment but no effect was found on oral glucose tolerance. The 8-OHdG levels tended to be less elevated in forskolin-treated than in untreated group. Our results showed that chronic administration of forskolin decreased fasting blood glucose levels; however, the reductions of 8-OHdG were not statistically significant.
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Our purpose was to provide the clinical advantages of the laparoscopic approach compare to the vaginal approach in correcting uterine and vaginal vault prolapse. ⋯ Our result suggest there is significantly lower recurrence rate requiring reoperation and less catheterization time but increased operative time for laparascopic sacrocolpopexy.
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Nrf2 is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of antioxidant genes. This study aimed to investigate the association of Nrf2 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs35652124 (-653A/G) and rs6721961 (-617C/A), with laboratory data and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. ⋯ Nrf2 SNPs were associated with BP in Japanese HD patients. More notably, rs35652124 was associated with cardiovascular mortality in these patients.
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Recent studies indicate that the functional renin-angiotensin system (RAS) exists in the adipose tissue. The adipose tissue RAS is proposed in the pathophysiology of metabolic disorders. In the present study, we examined therapeutic effects of irbesartan, an angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 receptor (AT1R)-specific blocker, in genetically obese diabetic KKAy mice, a model of human metabolic disorders without any dietary loading, with our focus on the analysis on possible effect of irbesartan on the adipose tissue. ⋯ In addition, irbesartan significantly decreased the adipose leptin mRNA expression and tended to decrease IL-6 mRNA expression in the adipose tissue of KKAy mice. Furthermore irbesartan preserved the adipose gene expression of AT1R-associated protein (ATRAP), an endogenous inhibitory molecule of tissue AT1R signaling, with a concomitant tendency of up-regulation of adipose tissue ATRAP/AT1R ratio. Collectively, these results suggest that the irbesartan-induced beneficial suppressive effect on the leptin-IL-6 axis in the adipose tissue in KKAy mice is partly mediated by a trend of up-regulation of the adipose ATRAP/AT1R ratio as one of pleiotropic effects of irbesartan.
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The incidence of non-contact knee injury was found higher in female than in male and is related to the phases of the menstrual cycle. This raised the possibility that female sex-steroids are involved in the mechanism underlying this injury via affecting the expression of the receptors for relaxin, a peptide hormone known to modulate ligament laxity. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of sex-steroids on relaxin receptor isoforms (RXFP1 & RXFP2) expression in the ligaments and tendons of the knee. ⋯ Relaxin receptor isoforms up-regulation by progesterone and high dose estrogen could provide the basis for the reported increase in knee laxity while down-regulation of these receptor isoforms by testosterone could explain low incidence of non-contact knee injury in male.