Efecto de remedios homeopáticos y gentamicina en diarreas en crías porcinas / Effect of homeopathic remedies and gentamicin in diarrhea in piglets

El estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el efecto de nux vómica y el complejo homeopático TratHo® cólera en comparación con la gentamicina al 5% en la diarrea de lechones. Se trabajó con 150 lechones de cinco días de nacidos que presentaron diarrea en una unidad porcina de Camagüey, Cuba. Los lechones fueron distribuidos en tres grupos, cada uno de 50 individuos. A los animales del grupo I se le administró nux vomica a la 30 CH en dosis de 5 gotas sublinguales cada 12 h el 1er día y luego cada 24 h hasta el 5° día. En el grupo II se les administró TratHo colera a la 30 CH en dosis de 5 gotas sublinguales cada 12 h el 1er día y luego cada 24 h hasta el 5° día. En el grupo III se les administró Gentamicina al 5% por vía intramuscular en dosis de 2 a 4 mg/kg de peso vivo, cada 12 h durante 5 días. En todos los casos, los lechones fueron rehidratados con solución Ringer, vía intraperitoneal, en dosis de 100 a 300 ml, según el grado de deshidratación. Se evaluó la evolución clínica, el apetito y la deshidratación sin llegar a encontrarse diferencias estadísticas entre grupos; no obstante la terapia homeopática resultó efectiva y más económica que el tratamiento con antibiótico.

Effect of drugs; baehavior of mice measured by modified hole board head-dipping exploratory test parameter

The aim of this study was to determine head-dipping exploratory test parameter as a measure of strong modulating effect on brain and behavior. It was an observational animal study. University of Karachi. Period: Jan 2004 to July 2006. In this present study, drugs used reserpine, nux- vomica; anacardium and chlorpromazine were wide range of pharmacological actions. We evaluate the effectiveness of these drugs as agents with modulating effect on brain and behavior accessed by head dipping parameter. In this study, 25 mice were included belonging to both sexes. The study animals were divided into five groups of five animals each. Four groups were given drugs and one group was kept as control. Mice [20-35g] of either sex were used in this study. One group was kept as control for drugs. Mice were kept under room temperature. Tap-water was allowed ad-Lihitum.30 minutes after giving drugs, animals were observed for 10 minutes with two minutes of interval. Tablet crushed in 10ml of water, 1 cc was given. Screening method used was head dipping. Strychnos Nux-Vomica when used in a dose of 0.07mg has strong action on cholinergic system, CNS activity and frequent head dipping [39.8 +/- 28.8] was observed. Rauwolfia serpentine is an active alkaloid particularly present in reserpine [62.2 +/- 43.4] no significant head dipping effect was observed. Anacardium [37.2 +/- 28.6] and Chlorpromazine [39.4 +/- 32.4], show decrease effects. Keeping in view, the medicinal importance of these herbs, our present study was designed to screen these drugs for CNS activity on albino mice

Study on preparation and thermosensitive release property of composite phospholipid liposomes containing total alkaloids from Strychnos nux-vomica / 中国中药杂志

To prepare composite phospholipid liposomes containing total alkaloids of Strychnos nux-vomica with hydrogenated soybean phosphatidylcholine (HSPC) and 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphacholine (DPPC), and compare with normal DPPC thermosensitive liposomes for thermosensitive release property. Total alkaloids were extracted from S. nux-vomica with the impregnation method and further purified. Liposomes containing total alkaloids, thermosensitive liposomes and conventional thermosensitive liposomes without thermosensitive release property were prepared by ammonium sulfate transmembrane gradients and stealth liposome technique. Their encapsulation efficiency (EE), grain size, zeta potential and drug release behavior were compared. Their EEs and zeta potentials were almost identical; but the grain sizes of composite phospholipid liposomes and thermosensitive liposomes were significantly smaller than conventional liposomes. After comparing release behaviors of the three liposomes at 37, 43 degrees C, we found that the release of composite phospholipid liposomes was significantly lower than that of thermosensitive liposomes at 37 degrees C, but higher than that of thermosensitive liposomes at 43 degrees C. Meanwhile, conventional liposomes, with a very high phase-transition temperature, showed only slight release behavior at both temperatures. The study results showed that composite phospholipid liposomes had a better thermosensitive release behavior when the dosage of lysophosphatidic was reduced by 2. 5 times.

Determination of brucine and strychnine in rat after cutaneous administration of semen strychni niosome gel by LC-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the determination of brucine and strychnine in rat plasma.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Samples were extracted by ethyl acetate-n-butanol (7: 3). Chromatographic separation was operated on ZORBAX XDB-C18 column with gradient elution of acetonitrile-methanol-water (0.05% acetic acid and 10 nmol x L(-1) ammonium formate contained), followed by LC-MS/MS in positive electrospray ionization. Quantification was carried out on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of the transition m/z 395.2/324.2, m/z 335.2/184.2 and m/z 199.1/171.1 for brucine, strychnine and tacrine (internal standard), respectively.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The method was linear in the range of 0.195-100 and 0.07840 microg x L(-1) for brucine and strychnine, with coefficient correlation 0.994 and 0.996 respectively. The recoveries of extraction were 78.9% - 102.4% for brucine and 95.2% - 106.1% for strychnine. Precision, accuracy, stability and matrix effect of the analytes met the requirement. The method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study of brucine and strychnine after cutaneous administration of Semen Strychni niosome gel. The C(max) were (26.20 +/- 5.81) and (12.50 +/- 3.00) microg x L(-1) while the AUC(0-infinity), were (193.75 +/- 39.43) and (98.25 +/- 28.54) microg x h x L(-1) of the two components.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>We conclude that the niosomes may reduce the systemic exposures and prolong the local release of brucine and strychnine.</p>

Brucine chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel for intra-articular injection / 药学学报

The aim of this study was to develop a sustained release converse thermosensitive hydrogel for intra-articular injection using chitosan-glycerol-borax as matrix, its physical properties and biocompatibility were investigated. Taking gelation time and gelation condition as index, the influence of concentration of chitosan, ratio of chitosan to glycerol, pH on physical properties of hydrogel were investigated. And then the in vitro drug release, rheological properties and biocompatibility were studied. The thermosensitive hydrogel flows easily at room temperature and turns to gelation at body temperature, which can certainly prolong the release of drug and has good biocompatibility.

Therapeutic effect of nux vomica total alkali gel on adjuvants arthritis rats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the therapeutic effect and mechanism of nux vomica total alkali gel (NVTAG) on adjuvants arthritis (AA) rats.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>SD rats were randomly divided into nine groups: the normal group, the AA model group, NVTAG high, middle and low-dose (25, 12.5, 6.25 mg x kg(-1)) groups and the Votalin control (diclofenac diethylamine emulgel, 50 mg x kg(-1)) group. Except for the normal group, the remaining groups were transcutaneously administered with 0.1 mL freund's adjuvant complete (FCA) for inflammation in left rear feet and then evenly treated with medicine and packed with oilpapers. The foot volume method was adopted to determine foot swelling degree, with pain scoring and polyarthritis scoring. HE staining was used to observe arthro-pathologic injury. The content of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and vascular epidermal growth factor (VEGF) in synovium homogenates were measured by enzyme-linked immuno-absorbent assay (ELISA) respectively.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with the model group, NVTAG and control gel can obviously reduce the foot swelling degree, polyarthritis indicators and relieve arthro-pathologic injury in AA rats (17-21 d). The levels of IL-1, PGE2, IL-6, VEGF and TNF-alpha in synovial homogenates of AA rats were also reduced by NVTAG significantly.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NVTAG shows an antergic effect on AA progress in rats, which is closely related to inhibition of development of inflammatory mediator.</p>

Effects of brucine combined with glycyrrhetinic acid or liquiritin on rat hepatic cytochrome P450 activities in vivo / 药学学报

Abstract: The activities of four CYP450 enzymes (CYP3A, 1A2, 2El and 2C) and the mRNA expression levels of CYP1A2, 2El, 2Cll and 3A1 in rat liver were determined after Wistar rats were orally administered with brucine (BR) at three dosage levels (3, 15 and 60 mg.kg-1 per day) and the high dose of BR combined with glycyrrhetinic acid (GA, 25 mg.kg-1 per day) or liquiritin (LQ, 20 mg.kg-1 per day) for 7 consecutive days. Compared with the control, brucine caused 24.5% and 34.6% decrease of CYP3A-associated testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation (6betaTesto-OH) and CYP2C-associated tolbutamide hydroxylation (Tol-OH), respectively, and 146.1% increase of CYP2El-associated para-nitrophenol hydroxylation (PNP-OH) at the high dose level. On the other hand, (BR+GA) caused 51.4% and 33.5% decrease, respectively, of CYP2El-associated PNP-OH and CYP1A2-associated ethoxyresorufin-O-de-ethylation (EROD) as compared with the high dose of BR group. Meanwhile, (BR+LQ) caused 41.1% decrease of CYP2El-associated PNP-OH and 37.7% increase of CYP2C-associated Tol-OH. The results indicated that the co-administration of BR with GA or LQ had effect on mRNA expression and activities of the CYP450 enzymes mentioned above to some extent, and the in vivo antagonism of LQ on BR-induced CYPs adverse effects and the in vivo inhibitory action of GA on CYP2E1 and 1A2 might play an important role in the detoxification of Radix Glycyrrhizae against Strychnos nux-vomica L.

Preparation and characterization of niosomes of Semen Strychni alkaloids extract / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prepare a noisome formulation of Semen Strychni alkaloids extract with high encapsulation efficiency.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>S. Strychni alkaloids were encapsulated into niosomes by pH gradient loading method. The factors influencing on the encapsulation efficiency were investigated, and formulation and preparation process of niosomes were optimised and validated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>When the drug to lipid weight ratio was under 1: 10, pH gradient in buffer solution of citric acid at 50 degrees C was more than 4.0, the niosomes (mean diameter 179.2 nm and Zeta potential -25.41 mV) were formed with encapsulation efficiency of over 86.9%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The pH gradient loading method was reliable for preparing niosomes of Semen Strychni alkaloids extract.</p>

Pharmacokinetics of brucine in rats after intravenous administration of liposomes containing total alkaloids from seed of Strychnos nux-vomica / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the pharmacokinetic characteristics of brucine following intravenous administration of liposomes, containing total alkaloids from seed of Strychnos nux-vomica, to rats with different phospholipids composition.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Liposomes containing the total alkaloids were prepared by the method of ammonium sulfate transmembrane gradients and stealth liposome technique. The contents of total alkaloids and brucine in liposomes were determined and compared after free drug being removed. After intravenous administration of total alkaloids solution or liposomes with different composition, plasma samples were drawn at predetermined time points and the concentrations of brucine were determined by a validated method of HPLC. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed by 3P97 program.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The ratios of brucine to total alkaloids in liposomes hardly varied with phospholipids composition. Compared with SPC liposome, AUC of brucine was increased 13.3-fold and apparent volume of distribution was decreased to only 3.6% following intravenous administration of HSPC liposome. In addition, besides that AUC of brucine was slightly increased, most pharmacokinetic parameters were not significantly changed after administration of the novel liposome compared with those of SPC liposome.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Phospholipids composition has a significant influence on the pharmacokinetics of brucine after intravenous administration of liposomes containing total alkaloids from seed of S. nux-vomica.</p>

In vitro absorption mechanism of strychnine and the transport interaction with liquiritin in Caco-2 cell monolayer model / 药学学报

To study the effect of liquiritin (Liq) on the transport of strychnine (Str) in Caco-2 cell monolayer model, the transport parameters of Str, such as apparent permeability coefficient (P app (B-->A) and P app (A-->B)) and cumulative transport amount (TRcum), were determined and comparatively analyzed when Str was used solely and co-used with Liq. The effect of drug concentrations, conveying times, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor verapamil and conveying liquor pH values on the transport of Str were also investigated. The results indicated that the absorption of Str in Caco-2 cell monolayer model was well and the passive transference was the main intestinal absorption mechanism of Str in the Caco-2 monolayer model, along with the excretion action mediated by P-gp. Liq enhanced the absorption of Str. Meanwhile, conveying liquor pH value had significant influence on the excretion transport of Str.

Pharmaceutical properties of novel liposomes containing total alkaloids from seed of Strychnos nux-vomica / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prepare the novel liposomes composed of hydrogenated soybean phosphatidylcholine (HSPC) and soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC) containing the total alkaloids from seed of Strychnos nux-vomica, and to compare the pharmaceutical properties of the novel liposomes with the corresponding HSPC or SPC liposomes.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The total alkaloids were extracted from seeds of S. nux-vomica. and further purified. Novel liposomes containing the total alkaloids were prepared by ammonium sulfate transmembrane gradients and stealth liposome technique. Pharmaceutical properties such as encapsulation efficiency (EE), size, zeta potential and drug release profile of novel liposomes and corresponding HSPC or SPC liposomes were compared intensively.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>For novel liposomes, HSPC-SPC (1:3) was the best ratio which has the highest EE. At the drug/lipid weight ratio of 1:6, the EE of novel, SPC and HSPC liposomes were (73.6 +/- 2.9)%, (62.9 +/- 1.8)% and (54.7 +/- 1.0)% (n = 3), respectively. Compared with the corresponding SPC or HSPC liposomes, the size of novel liposomes was obviously decreased but the zeta potential was not different. The results of drug release showed that the novel liposomes were more stable than the SPC liposomes in the presence of rat plasma</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Taken together, high encapsulation efficiency improved stability in blood, and relative low price of phospholipids of the novel liposomes, indicate that the novel liposomes may act as promising carriers for anti-tumor traditional Chinese medicine.</p>

Progressive studies on toxity of Strychons nuxvomica / 中国中药杂志

Strychons nuxvomica is widely used by clinic and individual owing to its officinal value. Since toxic dose and therapeutic dose are very close, the poisoning cases are reported frequently. In this review, based on the recent available papers published in the PubMed and CNKI about Strychons nuxvomica, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, we present the major current approaches in the field of composition, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, decreasing toxicity and increasing efficacy, in order to guide the use of S. nuxvomica in the clinic.

Suppressive effect of strychnos nux-vomica on induction of ovalbumin-specific IgE antibody response in mice.

Strychnos nux-vomica Linn. (SNV; Loganiaceae), a medicinal plant has been used as folk medicine for alleviating inflammation, joint pains and allergic symptoms. In the present study, we examined its possible immunomodulatory effect on induction of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific IgE antibody response in a murine model, as evaluated by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA). The OVA-specific IgE antibody response was significantly suppressed in BALB/c mice (H-2d), following intraperitoneal administration of aqueous stem extract of the plant along with OVA. Furthermore, the different doses of SNV extract were found to significantly suppress the induction of OVA-specific IgE antibody response. The anti-OVA IgE antibody response was suppressed in different haplotypes of mice viz., C57BL/6 (H-2b) and SWR/J (H-29). However, preliminary findings revealed no significant change in the total IgG antibody response against OVA, as evaluated by ELISA. These results confirm the suppressive activity of S. nux-vomica on allergen-specific IgE antibody response and suggest its possible application in allergic conditions. Keywords: Strychnlos nux-vomica, Immunomodulation, Immunosuppression, IgE antibody response, Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis, ELISA

Interaction between strychnine and bovine serum albumin / 药学学报

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the interaction between strychnine and bovine serum albumin.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fluorescence spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy were used.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The static quenching and the non-radiation energy transfer are the two main reasons to leading the fluorescence quenching of BSA. The apparent combining constants (K(A)) between strychnine and BSA are 3.72 x 10(3) at 27 degrees C, 4.27 x 10(3) at 37 degrees C, 4.47 x 10(3) at 47 degrees C and the combining sites are 1.01 +/- 0.03. The combining distance (r = 3.795 nm) and energy transfer efficiency (E = 0.0338) are obtained by Förster's non-radiation energy transfer mechanism.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The interaction between strychnine and BSA was driven mainly by hydrophobic force.</p>

Pharmacokinetics of the alkaloids from the processed seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica in rats / 药学学报

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the pharmacokinetic process about the concentration in rat plasma of the alkaloids from processed seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica with RP-HPLC method.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hypersil BDS C18 column was used and the mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water at the flow rate of 0.8 mL.min-1. The UV detection wave length was 254 nm.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The concentration-time data of strychnine, brucine, strychnine N-oxide and brucine N-oxide were all in accordance with an open two-compartment model after i.v. alkaloids. Their parameters were as follows: T1/2 alpha were (8 +/- 5), (4 +/- 3), (6.2 +/- 1.7) and (3.0 +/- 0.8) min, T1/2 beta were (262 +/- 125), (416 +/- 131), (285 +/- 50) and (342 +/- 141) min, CL were (17 +/- 4), (21 +/- 12), (1.9 +/- 1.8) and (2.8 +/- 1.1) mL.min-1, Vc were (1.4 +/- 0.5), (1.7 +/- 1.1), (0.24 +/- 0.16) and (0.23 +/- 0.06) L.kg-1, Vd were (6.0 +/- 1.2), (12 +/- 7), (0.8 +/- 0.6) and (1.5 +/- 0.6) L.kg-1, AUC were (57,578 +/- 25,578), (35,240 +/- 15,616), (93,088 +/- 22,375) and (177,712 +/- 120,110) h.microgram.L-1, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method is a good reference for pharmacokinetics in human bodies.</p>

HPLC determination of strychnine and brucine in Semen Strychni and its processed products / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This paper reports a HPLC method for determinition of strychnine and brucine in Semen Strychni and its processed products of Jiangxi method and innovated methed.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>SiO2 was used as the stationary phase, n-hexane-dichloromethane-methanol-ammonia(47.5:47.5:5:0.35) as the mobile phase, with detection wavelength of 254 nm.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The contents of strychnine and brucine in the processed products of Jiangxi are lower.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This method is accurate, simple and reliable.</p>