A review of the biological and potential therapeutic actions of Harpagophytum procumbens.

Harpagophytum procumbens (Hp), commonly known as Devil's Claw is a perennial plant which thrives in arid conditions. For centuries, it has been used as a traditional treatment for a variety of illnesses, including fevers, skin complaints, arthritis and diseases of the digestive tract as well as an appetite stimulant. Since its introduction to Europe in the early twentieth century, it has become a popular antiinflammatory and analgesic preparation amongst herbalists for supportive or adjuvant treatment of degenerative joint diseases, tendonitis, headache, backache and menstrual pain. The validity of Hp as an effective antiinflammatory and analgesic preparation, particularly in the relief of arthritic symptoms, has been investigated in numerous animal, clinical and in vitro studies. Although some contradictory evidence exists, the majority of animal studies appear to indicate Hp as an effective antiinflammatory and analgesic preparation in the treatment of acute and subacute inflammation. Clinical trials support Hp as a beneficial treatment for the alleviation of pain and improvement of mobility in a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. Analysis of the in vitro and ex vivo studies that currently exist, indicate that Hp has significant effects on numerous proinflammatory markers. However, the exact mechanism(s) by which Hp may reduce inflammation remain to be elucidated.

7-nitroindazole reduces cerebral blood flow following chronic nitric oxide synthase inhibition.

Blood flow and glucose utilization were measured in rat brain after chronic L-NAME treatment followed by acute 7-nitroindazole. Following chronic L-NAME, blood flow was not significantly different from control. Treatment with acute 7-nitroindazole reduced blood flow to the same extent in both chronic saline and L-NAME groups. Glucose utilization was unaffected. These results suggest that residual NOS activity in brain is sufficient to provide tonic, NO-dependent cerebrovascular dilator tone.

Effects of the specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram, upon local cerebral blood flow and glucose utilisation in the rat.

The effects of the potent selective 5-HT reuptake blocking agent, citalopram (10 mg/kg, i.v.), on local cerebral blood flow (lCBF) and local cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (lCMRglu) were measured using [14C]iodoantipyrine (IAP) and [14C]2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiography, respectively. Significant decreases in lCBF were observed in nine of the 27 brain areas analysed, with significant decreases in lCMRglu observed in 17 areas. While decreases in blood flow were observed, it cannot be concluded that these were in fact the result of a direct action of 5-HT upon serotonergic receptors in cerebrovascular smooth muscle, since the dynamic relationship between flow and metabolism remains largely intact. The reductions in lCBF may be explained entirely by the secondary effects of depressed cerebral metabolic demand induced by citalopram which would, once again, question the role of specifically perivascular serotonergic nerve activity in the tonic control of cerebral blood flow.

Intracerebral fetal raphé implants normalize hippocampal function but not cerebrovascular control in serotonin-depleted adult rat brain.

The effects of hypercapnia upon local cerebral blood flow and local cerebral glucose utilization were measured by quantitative autoradiography in parallel groups of rats (six per group) which 14-16 weeks previously had been treated with the serotonergic neurotoxin, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, followed by implantation of fetal raphé or basal forebrain tissues. Following the experiments, transplants were visualized by acetylcholinesterase histochemistry, and serotonergic reinnervation assessed using [3H]paroxetine binding to serotonin reuptake sites. In methylenedioxymethamphetamine-treated rats, contralateral to the implants, [3H]paroxetine binding was reduced by between 50 and 90% in the neocortex and hippocampus. Hippocampal glucose utilization was significantly increased in these rats, and the normal increase in flow which accompanies hypercapnia was also significantly enhanced. High levels of [3H]paroxetine binding were found within the raphé transplants (308 +/- 13 fmol/mg tissue). In host brain adjacent to the implant, binding levels were normalized, and in these same areas glucose utilization was also normalized. Basal forebrain implants had no effect upon either [3H]paroxetine binding or glucose utilization. Raphé transplants did not, however, alter the enhanced cerebrovascular response to hypercapnia induced by methylenedioxymethamphetamine, even in those areas where there was evidence of serotonergic reinnervation. The transplants also showed the same enhanced response. In conclusion, intracerebral fetal raphé implants normalize hippocampal function but not cerebrovascular control in serotonin-depleted adult rat brain, and despite not sharing the serotonergic deficit, blood flow in the implants follows that of the dysfunctional host.

Rodent models of global cerebral ischemia: a comparison of two-vessel occlusion and four-vessel occlusion.

1. Human stroke is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon that may defy attempts to develop a unitary animal model with which to address all of the relevant issues. 2. Focal models are regarded by many to be the approach of choice, but both global and focal models of cerebral ischemia can be sources of useful and complementary insight. 3. Of the global models, four-vessel occlusion requires a preparatory operative procedure that may increase the risk of extraneous factors confounding the response to the ischemic insult itself. The procedures are only partly reversible, with the vertebral arteries remaining permanently occluded. 4. The two-vessel occlusion model is easier to perform in a single procedure, and the less-intrusive surgical intervention allows greater scope for recovery experiments. The occlusion is fully reversible. 5. Many classes of compounds with therapeutic potential have been identified in the laboratory, often on the basis of success in one class of animal model, but translating these successes into a clinical context has proved singularly difficult. If, in future, compounds of interest are tested across a range of the available models, the likelihood of subsequent clinical success may be enhanced.

Neuroprotective efficacy of lifarizine (RS-87476) in a simplified rat survival model of 2 vessel occlusion.

1. A new, modified rat two vessel occlusion model (with hypotension) was established and the neuroprotective efficacy of the novel agent lifarizine (RS-87476) was examined. 2. The two vessel occlusion model used in the study was a modification of the model described in the literature, whereby we have obviated the need to use a muscle relaxant and intubate the trachea to provide ventilatory support by providing a tight fitting face mask attached to the ventilator. Furthermore, the need to combine exsanguination and additional pharmacological means of inducing the mandatory hypotension (50 mmHg), required to decrease brain blood perfusion pressure, has been removed by simply manipulating the concentration of the already present halothane anaesthetic. 3. The appropriate level of hypotension having been reached, microvascular clips were applied to bilaterally occlude the common carotid arteries for 12 min. This resulted in a loss of the cortical EEG activity. Local cerebral blood flow was measured 6 min into the occlusion period, using the fully quantitative [14C]-iodoantipyrine autoradiographic technique, in a separate group of rats (n = 5). This illustrated the lack of any blood flow, in the areas under study, during the period when there was an isoelectric cortical EEG pattern. 4. The high grade global ischaemic lesion which occurred gave quantifiable neuronal damage in several vulnerable regions of the brain, namely, the hippocampal CA1 sub-field, cortex, thalamus, striatum, and cerebellar brain stem (Purkinje cells). 5. Following the global ischaemic insult the rats were allowed to recover for 72 h before assessment of the damage, during which time one group of rats (n = 11) received 100 micrograms kg-1 lifarizine i.a. 5 min post-occlusion, 500 micrograms kg-1 lifarizine i.p. 15 min post-occlusion, and 500 micrograms kg-1 lifarizine i.p. twice daily for 72 h. A second group of rats (n = 12) was treated with appropriate volumes of vehicle (0.4 ml kg-1 i.a. and 2 ml kg-1 i.p.) at identical time points. 6. Histopathological damage was assessed, from cresyl violet and haematoxyline/eosin stained sections, using a scoring system of 0-6 (no damage-complete neuronal death). The dosing regimen of lifarizine gave reduced damage in the hippocampal CA1 sub-field (4.1 +/- 0.3 to 2.8 +/- 0.6) and striatum (1.7 +/- 0.3 to 1.2 +/- 0.3) and significant neuroprotection in the anterior cortex (2.0 +/- 0.2 to 1.2 +/- 0.2; p < 0.05), thalamus (1.5 +/- 0.2 to 0.8 +/- 0.2; p < 0.01), posterior cortex (1.5 +/- 0.2 to 1.0 +/- 0.2; p < 0.05) and cerebellar brain stem (0.9 +/- 0.2 to 0.4 +/- 0.1; p < 0.01). The overall mean brain score was significantly reduced (from 1.5 +/- 0.1 to 0.9 +/- 0.2). 7. These data show that the newly modified 2 vessel occlusion model produced a quantifiable level of ischaemic damage and that the novel agent lifarizine is neuroprotective in the model.

Reduction by lifarizine of the neuronal damage induced by cerebral ischaemia in rodents.

1. The objective of this study was to evaluate the broad neurocytoprotective potential of the novel sodium-calcium ion channel modulator, lifarizine (RS-87476), in two rodent 72 h survival models of forebrain ischaemia. 2. Under fluothane anaesthesia, rats were subjected to 10 min four vessel occlusion and gerbils to either (i) 5 or (ii) 10 min bilateral carotid artery occlusion. 3. Rats were dosed parenterally solely post-ischaemia (reperfusion) in a series of five studies covering a range of intra-arterial/intraperitoneal (i.a./i.p.) combination doses from 2/10, 5/20, 20/100, 50/200 and 100/500 micrograms kg-1, where the initial loading dose was injected i.a. at 5 min. An i.p. dose was given at 15 min and repeated twice daily. In a sixth study, treatment at 50/200 micrograms kg-1 was deferred for 1 h. 4. Gerbils were treated (i) 15 min pre-ischaemia with either (a) 250, (b) 500 micrograms kg-1 i.p., or (c) 5 mg kg-1 by gavage (p.o.) for 3 days then at 1 h pre-ischaemia. Animals treated as (ii) received 500 micrograms kg-1 i.p. 15 min pre-ischaemia. The above doses were repeated twice daily for 3 days post-ischaemia for the respective groups. 5. In rats, the protective effect of lifarizine was regionally and cumulatively assessed in six brain regions (anterior and posterior neocortex, hippocampal CA1 subfield, thalamus, striatum, cerebellar Purkinje cells-brain stem) at each dose level. Cumulative (total) means +/-s.e.mean neurohistopathological scores(0-4) of 1.16+/-0.09 (n=5), 1.02+/-0.10 (n=5), 0.93+/-0.06 (n=6), 0.79+/-0.09 (n=9) and 0.45+/-0.16(n = 7), respectively, were obtained for the above treatment groups compared to the control (2.01 +/- 0.17,n = 16) group (P<0.0035). The score for the 1 h deferred treatment group was also significant at 0.77 +/- 0.10, n =5 (P< 0.0035). The normal group without ischaemia showed a score of 0.52 +/- 0.09 (n = 6).6. In gerbils, (i) percentage delayed neuronal death (DND) of hippocampal pyramidal cells in the CA1subfield was prevented at 250 (a) and 500 microg kg-' i.p. (b) (27.2+/- 14.6, n=6 and 26.9+/- 10.4%, n= 10 respectively, P<0.02) compared to controls (78.3+/-8.5%, n= 12) and by 5 mg kg-1 p.o. (c) (2.9+/-0.8%,n =l1, P <0.002). Mean +/- s.e.mean total brain scores (0-4) for each of 4 different features denoting cerebral 'oedema' were lower for normal brains (1.60 +/-0.34, n =6) and reduced in animals dosed at 250(a) (3.00+/-0.79, n=6) and 500 microg kg-1 i.p. (b) (3.75 0.36, n= 10) compared to controls (6.58+/-1.00,n = 12) (P< 0.02 -0.03). There was a linear relationship (r = 0.97) between the 'oedema' scores and percentage CA1 DND. Percentage CA1 DND in response to 10 min ischaemia (ii) was reduced(53.0+/-21.0%, n=6, P<0.05) compared to controls (100.0+/-0.0%, n=7).7 The significant neuroprotection shown by lifarizine in rodents substantiates findings in other species.These observations, together with its effect on ion channels and efficacy at extremely low doses offers novelty and suggests a broad spectrum of activity in ischaemia.

Enhanced cerebrovascular responsiveness to hypercapnia following depletion of central serotonergic terminals.

Serotonin-containing nerve fibres innervate cerebral blood vessels, but the source of this innervation and the physiological effects of perivascular serotonin release remain controversial. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of central serotonergic depletion upon the relationship between CBF and glucose utilization under both normo- and hypercapnic conditions. To induce the loss of serotonergic terminals, rats were injected twice daily for 4 consecutive days with 20 mg/kg of the specific serotonergic neurotoxin methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA). Between 4 and 6 weeks later, local CBF and glucose utilization were measured using the fully quantitative [14C]iodoantipyrine and [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic techniques, respectively, and the efficacy of the lesioning protocol was assessed using [3H]paroxetine radioligand binding analysis. In all animals treated with MDA, there was a significant decrease in serotonin uptake sites throughout the brain, falling from 223 +/- 20 to 40 +/- 16 fmol/mg tissue in parietal cortex, for example, although the raphe nuclei themselves were unaffected (300 +/- 20 fmol/mg tissue in controls and 291 +/- 18 in MDA-treated rats). In normocapnic rats, the effects of MDA pretreatment upon blood flow and glucose use were slight and focally concentrated. However, when the animals were rendered hypercapnic, CBF was significantly higher in MDA-treated rats than in normal controls, for example, increasing from 356 +/- 22 ml 100 g-1 min-1 in frontal cortex of hypercapnic controls to 700 +/- 81 ml 100 g-1 min-1 in MDA-pretreated rats with similar levels of hypercapnia. In some brain areas of hypercapnic MDA-pretreated rats, blood flows were too high (> 800 ml 100 g-1 min-1) to be accurately quantified.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alterations in local cerebral blood flow in mature rats following prenatal exposure to cocaine.

Time-mated female Sprague-Dawley rats were injected subcutaneously with either 40 mg/kg cocaine-HCl or saline once daily on gestational days 13 through to 16. Local cerebral blood flow and glucose use were measured in the mature male offspring from these dams using the fully quantitative [14C]2-deoxyglucose and [14C]iodoantipyrine autoradiographic techniques, respectively. The effects of the treatment upon the integrity of central serotonergic terminals was assessed using [3H]paroxetine radioligand binding autoradiography. There were no significant changes in glucose use in any of the 40 brain areas analysed in this study, and although there was a generalized tendency towards increases, these never exceeded +15% of control values. In contrast, significant increases in local cerebral blood flow were measured in more than one-third of the areas examined in cocaine-treated rats, ranging from +20% in dorsal raphe nucleus to +95% in some parts of the neocortex. In all but three brain areas, the ratio of cerebral blood flow to metabolic demand was found to increase following cocaine exposure, resetting the relationship from an overall ratio of 1.6 in controls to 2.5 in treated rats. This relative hyperaemia, which must result from excessive dilatation of the cerebrovascular bed under normal physiological conditions, could not be explained by a direct effect of the treatment on serotonergic constrictor neurons as there was no evidence for any changes in [3H]paroxetine binding. Whatever the underlying cause, we conclude that the effects upon cerebrovascular control mechanisms of prenatal exposure to cocaine identified here, might present a further source of difficulty in the management of "crack babies".

Cerebrovascular and functional consequences of 5-HT1A receptor activation.

Cerebral glucose utilization and blood flow were measured in rats using 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose and [14C]iodoantipyrine quantitative autoradiography, respectively, following treatment with the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT). In control and 8-OH-DPAT-treated animals blood flow and glucose use were similarly correlated, but the ratio was increased following 8-OH-DPAT treatment. Since 5-HT1A receptor activation is known to reduce neuronal 5-HT release, these results are consistent with a vasoconstrictor role for endogenous serotonin.

Acute cocaine administration: effects on local cerebral blood flow and metabolic demand in the rat.

Local cerebral blood flow and glucose utilisation were measured in both saline (n = 10) and cocaine (10 mg/kg; n = 10) treated rats using [14C]iodoantipyrine and [14C]2-deoxyglucose quantitative autoradiography respectively. In control animals, the ratio of flow to metabolism was 1.40 (r = 0.92) for the 40 brain regions examined. Cocaine treatment altered neither the correlation (r = 0.83) nor the ratio (1.49). Thus, the fundamental relationship between CBF and metabolism remains intact following acute cocaine exposure.

Cerebrovascular responsiveness to hypercapnia in intracerebral tissue transplants.

Cerebral blood flow was measured using [14C]iodoantipyrine quantitative autoradiography in rats which had previously undergone unilateral ibotenate-induced nucleus basalis lesion followed by intracortical implantation of foetal basal forebrain cell suspensions. Transplants had no effect upon host cortical blood flow, although within the transplant itself, blood flow was significantly lower than the contralateral site. Both the transplant and host cortex exhibited a similar degree of hyperaemia in response to hypercapnia.

Normal cerebrovascular regulatory mechanisms are present in intracerebral neuronal transplants.

Local cerebral blood flow and local cerebral glucose utilization were measured using quantitative autoradiography in parallel groups of rats (n = 5-7) which 12-15 weeks previously had undergone limited unilateral ibotenate-induced lesion of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, followed by implantation into ipsilateral neocortex of primordial basal forebrain cell suspensions. Surviving transplants were visualized by acetylcholinesterase histochemistry. Neither lesion alone nor the presence of a transplant produced significant side-to-side differences in either blood flow or glucose use in any of the 20 brain areas measured. Glucose use within the transplant was independent of the site of implantation. When sited in neocortex, glucose use in the transplant (66 +/- 4 mumol/100 g per min) was significantly lower than in the corresponding contralateral site (113 +/- 3 mumol/100 g per min), whereas when sited in subcortical white matter, glucose use (53 +/- 3 mumol/100 g per min) was significantly higher than in the contralateral side (29 +/- 4 mumol/100 g per min). In the host brain as a whole, the ratio of blood flow to glucose use ipsilateral to the transplant (m = 1.27, r = 0.88) was not significantly different from that of the contralateral side (m = 1.30, r = 0.94). This relationship was also observed within the transplanted tissue itself despite the fact that alkaline phosphatase histochemistry revealed a relative hypervascularization associated with the implantation site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alterations in hippocampal function following repeated exposure to the amphetamine derivative methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("Ecstasy").

The effect of the psychomotor stimulant, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy"), upon integrated cerebral function was measured in rats using the quantitative [14C]deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique. Animals were injected with MDMA (20 mg/kg sc) twice daily for 4 days. Fourteen days after the final administration, [3H]-paroxetine binding to 5HT uptake sites was reduced by 89% in membranes prepared from tissue samples of frontal cortex. In the same rats [3H]-paroxetine binding autoradiography revealed heterogeneity in the regional distribution of 5-HT uptake site depletion within neocortex (0-92%) and hippocampus (30-95%). Despite these profound reductions in 5-HT uptake sites no significant alterations were found in glucose utilisation in any area of neocortex examined. However, significant increases in glucose use were found in subregions of the hippocampus, most notably within the pyramidal cell layer of CA2 and CA3 (25-35%). This study provides direct evidence that the loss of 5-HT innervation caused by exposure to MDMA results in lasting functional changes in hippocampus.

Cerebrovascular permeability in intracerebral implants of foetal basal forebrain cell suspensions.

Blood-brain barrier permeability was measured using [14C]-labelled a-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) quantitative auto-radiography in rats which had previously received unilateral ibotenate-induced lesions of the nucleus basalis followed by intracortical implantation of foetal basal forebrain cell suspensions. The permeability characteristics of intracortical transplants were found to be dependent upon the site of implantation. Superficial transplants were invariably associated with AIB transfer constants (Ki) 3- to 4-fold higher than those in corresponding contralateral host cortex. In transplants sited deep in host neocortex, Ki values were not significantly different from those measured in surrounding host brain tissue.

Evidence for a possible role for serotonergic systems in the control of cerebral blood flow.

Cerebral blood flow and glucose utilisation were measured in rats using [14C]iodoantipyrine and [14C]2-deoxyglucose quantitative autoradiography respectively following repeated exposure to the serotonergic neurotoxin methylenedioxyamphetamine. In both control and treated animals blood flow and glucose use were similarly correlated but the ratio was increased following lesion. Some focal increases in flow were greatly in excess of metabolic demand. These results are consistent with a cerebrovascular vasoconstrictor role for serotonin.

Chronic effects of the selective serotoninergic neurotoxin, methylenedioxyamphetamine, upon cerebral function.

The amphetamine derivative methylenedioxyamphetamine selectively destroys serotoninergic terminals in the brain. We have studied the effects of this toxin upon resting cerebral function, as reflected in rates of glucose utilization. Rats were injected subcutaneously with either 1 ml/kg saline (n = 5) or 20 mg/kg methylenedioxyamphetamine (n = 5) twice daily for four days. Local cerebral glucose utilization was measured between six and nine weeks after treatment using [14C]2-deoxyglucose quantitative autoradiography. Samples of frontal cortex taken from these animals for in vitro [3H]paroxetine binding showed a 64% reduction in 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake sites. In the majority of the 31 functionally diverse brain areas analysed, no significant changes were measured, but significant (P less than 0.05) increases in glucose use were found in neocortical regions e.g. anterior cingulate cortex (+16%) and sensorimotor cortex (+21%). However, the most profound increases were found in globus pallidus (+30%) and hippocampus molecular layer (+34%). It would appear, therefore, that treatment with methylenedioxyamphetamine results in long-lasting alterations in cerebral functional activity.

A cerebral vasoconstrictive effect of some adenosine analogues. A study of adenosine analogues on local cerebral blood flow and glucose utilisation in the rat.

Local CBF (LCBF) in the rat was determined using [14C]iodoantipyrine autoradiography. Adenosine and 5'-(N-ethyl)carboxamidoadenosine in a 15-min infusion had no significant effect on LCBF, although there was a tendency to increase. N6-Cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) and 2-chloroadenosine (2-CADO) significantly decreased LCBF in a number of brain regions. Laser-Doppler experiments using CHA confirmed that CHA decreased CBF and that this change was monophasic. Further experiments involving the use of [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiography showed that the unexpected vascular effects of CHA and 2-CADO were not a consequence of a decreased metabolic demand. The available data do not allow us to identify the mechanism of action by which the known vasodilators CHA and 2-CADO were able to cause a vasoconstriction and a decrease in LCBF.

Effects of adenosine and its analogues on porcine basilar arteries: are only A2 receptors involved?

The aim of this study was to test the effect of adenosine and four of its analogues, 5'-(N-ethyl)carboxamidoadenosine (NECA), 2-chloroadenosine (2-CADO), L-phenylisopropyladenosine (L-PIA), and N6-cyclohexyl-adenosine (CHA), on prostaglandin (PG) F2 alpha-constricted pig basilar arteries, and from their rank order of potency determine the receptor type involved. The order of potency for the relaxation of the PGF2 alpha constriction was NECA greater than adenosine, 2-CADO greater than L-PIA greater than CHA, which is in keeping with the A2 receptor subtype. The study also investigated the effects of a known adenosine antagonist, namely, the xanthine derivative 8-phenyltheophylline, which at concentrations having no intrinsic effect (10(-8) and 10(-7) M) produced a significant shift to the right only for the NECA dose-response curve.