Increased visfatin expression is associated with nuclear factor-kb in obese ovalbumin-sensitized male wistar rat tracheae

Objective: To investigate the effects of diet-induced obesity on the expression of nuclear factor-KB [NF-KB] and visfatin messenger RNA in male Wistar rats' tracheae after sensitiza-tion with ovalbumin [OVA]

Materials and Methods: Twenty male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups [n = 5 for each group], which included a control group fed a normal diet [ND] and groups fed normal diet, OVA-sensitized [S+ND]; high-fat diet [HFD] only [diet-induced obesity]; and high-fat diet, OVA-sensitized [S+HFD]

All animals were fed for 8 weeks with standard chow or a high-fat diet, and then were sensitized and challenged with OVA or saline for another 4 weeks as per the above groups. The rats were anesthetized, after which the necks were exposed and the tracheae iso-lated and examined for expression levels of NF-KB and visfatin mRNA with the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Data were compared between the different groups using one-way analysis of variance

Results: The expression level of NF-KB mRNA in the S+HFD group was 2.67, which was statistically higher than the levels in the ND [0.96; p = 0.001], S+ND [1.86; p = 0.05], and HFD [1.26;p = 0.001] groups. Also, the visfatin mRNA expression level in the S+HFD group was 4.21, which was higher than the levels in the ND [0.92], S+ND [1.79], and HFD [2.20] [p = 0.001] groups

Conclusion: In this study, the expression levels of NF-KB and visfatin were markedly higher in the S+HFD group in comparison to the other groups. These findings indicate that alternative signaling pathways might be activated in diet-induced obesity as-sociated with the OVA-sensitized animal model and could be responsible for possible altered sensitization phenotype

Contribution of water and lipid soluble substances in the relaxant effects of Tymus vulgaris extract on guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle in vitro / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the relaxant effects of hydro-ethanolic, macerated aqueous (MA) and lipidfree macerated aqueous (LFMA) extract of Tymus vulgaris on tracheal chains of guinea pigs.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The relaxant effects of five cumulative concentrations of each extract (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 g/100 mL) were compared with saline as negative control and five cumulative concentrations of theophylline (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mmol/L) on precontracted tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig with 60 mmol/L KCl (group 1) and 10 µmol/L methacholine (group 2, n=6 for each group).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In group 1 all concentrations of theophylline, three higher concentrations of hydro-ethanolic, two concentrations of LFMA and last concentration of MA extracts showed significant relaxant effects compared with that of saline (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Two lower concentrations of LFMA and all concentrations of MA except higher one caused contraction compared with saline (P<0.05 or 0.01). In group 2 experiments, all concentrations of theophylline, hydro-ethanolic, MA and LFMA extracts showed significant relaxant effects compared to that of saline (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In both groups, the relaxant effect of all concentrations of hydro-ethanolic extract were significantly higher than most concentrations of others (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The relaxant effect of different concentrations of three extracts were significantly greater in group 2 compared with group 1 experiments (all P<0.01). There were significantly positive correlations between the relaxant effects and concentrations for theophylline and all extracts in both groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Hydro-ethanolic extract has a potent weaker relaxant effect for other extracts from Tymus vulgaris on tracheal chains of guinea pigs.</p>