ABSTRACT
This study examined the effect of Natrii sulfas, a treatment for stroke patients suffering constipation in Oriental medicine, on the physiological indices and brain edema of rats. Brain edema was induced by a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), Natrii sulfas was administered after the MCAO. At 3, 6, 15, 24, and 48 hours after reperfusion, the physiological indices such as the fecal weight, urine volume and water content in the stools were assessed. The edema index was measured 48 hours after reperfusion. At 48 hours, the expressions of iNOS, MMP9, VEGF, GFAP, Bax, Bcl-2, c-Fos, and HSP72 positive astrocytes were observed on the brain tissues by immunohistochemistry. Natrii sulfas significantly improved the decrease in fecal weight, urine volume and water content in the stool caused by the ischemic insult (p < 0.05) and attenuated the brain edema caused by the ischemia insult (p < 0.05). Natrii sulfas significantly down-regulated iNOS and MMP9 expressions and attenuated the astrocyte swelling due to brain edema in the penumbra of the cerebral cortex of MCAO rats. Natrii sulfas reduced the excess Bax and HSP72 expressions in ischemic brain, which was statistically significant in the penumbra of the cerebral cortex but not in the caudate putamen. These results suggest Natrii sulfas has a protective effect on ischemia-induced brain edema and improves the physiological symptoms.
Subject(s)
Brain Ischemia/prevention & control , Materia Medica/therapeutic use , Animals , Brain Ischemia/metabolism , Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/metabolism , HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , Immunohistochemistry , Male , Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/metabolism , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Sulfates , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism , bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolismABSTRACT
A series of experiments on various factors which induce optimal in vitro excystation of the metacercariae of Metagonimus yokogawai isolated from the fish, Plecoglossus altivelis was conducted and the following results were obtained. 1)The metacercariae used in this experiment were isolated by the digestion technique therefore all of them were pretreated with the acid-pepsin solution before being applied to the various tests. 2)No excystation occurred when the metacercariae were placed in a salt solutions such as physiological saline, Tyrode solution and Veronal, Tris buffers alone or in combination. 3)The metacercariae underwent complete excystation in the trypsin and pancreatin solution in Tris buffer within an hour at 38 degrees C. The best results were obtained in 0.8-0.9% trypsin solutions, pH 8.0-8.6 and at 38-40 degrees C, approximately one hundred per cent excystation occurred in 40 minutes. Not only temperature but also hydrogen ion concentration played an important role causing excystation of the metacercariae in trypsin-Tris buffer solution. However, bile salts were not responsible for the excystation. 4)Agitation effect on the excystation was tested as a mechanical stimulus and it was found that the shaking stimulus accelerated the excysting mechanism, compared with the metacercariae on which it was not imposed. It is concluded that the metacercariae pretreated in the acid pepsin solution demonstrates an essential requirement for the enzyme solution such as trypsin or pancreatin, provided with the optimum conditions of temperature and hydrogen ion concentration in excysting medium.
