[An orientational examination of the effects of extracts from mixtures of herbal drugs on selected renal functions]. / Orientacní sledování vlivu výluhu ze smesí rostlinných drog na vybrané funkce ledvin.

The paper aimed to determine the effects of mixtures of selected medicinal plants on some physiological renal functions, i.e. excretion of urine and electrolytes and changes in the quantity of prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) and kallikrein-kinins in rat blood plasma after water and salt load. The following medicinal plants were selected for the examination: downy birch (Betula pubescens EHRH.), everlasting flower (Helichrysum arenarium L. MOENCH.), hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha L.), woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.), sweet corn (Zea mays L.), German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), and field horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.). Herbal drugs were used to compose 6 mixtures. Extracts from these mixtures were administered to Wistar strain males and their effects were compared with the effects of an administered suspension of hydrochlorothiazide, an extract from field horsetail herb alone, and a control group of animals which was not administered any preparation. The greatest diuretic effect was found in a mixture composed of birch leaves (Betulae folium), hawthorn berries (Crataegi fructus), strawberry leaves (Fragariae folium), corn silk (Maydis stigmata), chamomile flowers (Matricariae flos), and horsetail herb (Equiseti herba). Its effect was greater by 47% and 34% than the effect of a horsetail herb extract and a hydrochlorothiazide suspension (p < 0.05), respectively. The extract from this mixture also increased the quantity of prostaglandins E2 and kallikrein-kinins in rat blood plasma in water and salt load.

[Effect of euphyllin on metabolic processes in blood and tissues during experimental pituitrin hypertension]. / Vliianie éufillina na metabolicheskie protsessy v syvorotke krovi i tkaniiakh pri éksperimental'noi pituitrinovoi gipertenzii.

A study was made of the effect of euphylline administration (25 mg/kg) for 20 days on some indicators of carbohydrate, energy, lipid and electrolyte metabolism in blood serum and tissues of the heart, aorta and liver during pituitrin hypertension in rabbits experiencing arterial pressure normalization. It was found that euphylline appreciably decreased hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipoproteinemia seen in hypertension. At the same tine the aortal wall showed a decrease in cholesterol content, in lactate dehydrogenase activity, and the normalization of transketolase activity and calcium concentration. In liver tissue, the activity of glycolytic enzymes was inhibited and cholesterol level declined. The heart muscle manifested a decrease in the activity of glycolytic and pentosephosphate pathway enzymes and in that of creatine kinase. The changes in electrolyte balance included sodium elevation in blood serum, heart and liver tissues.

[Effect of imidazo(1,2-f)xanthine derivatives on cerebral cortical bioelectrical activity and evoked potentials]. / Vliianie nekotorykh proizvodnykh imidazo(1,2-f)ksantina na bioelektricheskuiu aktivnost' i vyzvannye potentsialy kory bol'shikh polusharii golovnogo mozga.

Potassium salt of 8-bromotheophylline was made interact with alpha-bromoketones to obtain initial products (7-acylalkyl-8-bromotheophyllines) for the synthesis of the derivatives of 1H-imidazo(1,2-f)xanthine. 1-(beta-Oxyethyl)-2,3,6,8-tetramethylimidazo(1,2-f)xanthine and 1,2,6,8-tetramethylimidazo (1,2-f)xanthine were discovered to have a stimulant effect on the central nervous system, to increase the amplitude of evoked potentials of the visceral, auditory and cutaneous projection zones of the brain cortex, and to improve rhythm assimilation.