Effects of silymarin on the resolution of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats.

Silymarin, a standardized extract of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum), has a long tradition as a herbal remedy, and was introduced as a hepatoprotective agent a few years ago. However, the therapeutic effects of silymarin remain undefined. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a xenobiotic used extensively to induce oxidative stress and is one of the most widely used hepatic toxins for experimental induction of liver fibrosis in the laboratory. In this study, we investigated the restoration of the CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis by high dose of silymarin in rats. After treatment with oil (as normal group; n = 6) or CCl4 [as model (n = 7) and therapeutic (n = 7) groups] by intragastric delivery for 8 weeks for the induction of liver fibrosis, the rats in the normal and model group were administered orally normal saline four times a week for 3 weeks whilst the therapeutic group received silymarin (200 mg/kg). The histopathological changes were observed with Masson staining. The results showed that the restoration of the CCl4-induced damage of liver fibrosis in the therapeutic group was significantly increased as compared to that in the model group. Moreover, silymarin significantly decreased the elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase in serum, and also reversed the altered expressions of alpha-smooth muscle actin in liver tissue. Therefore, these findings indicated that silymarin may have the potential to increase the resolution of the CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in rats.

Protein kinase C isoforms during the development of deciduomata in pregnant rats.

In this study, we determined the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms during pregnancy. At pregnant duration, PKC alpha was down-modulated in the deciduomata but not in the myometrium. Down-modulation was compatible with the increase in cell mitosis, which reached a maximum at 8-9 days. On the other hand, PKC zeta was not down-modulated. It was increased both in the cytosolic and particulate fractions of the deciduomata, and paralleled the frequency of decidual cell mitosis. The other PKC isoform of delta was also increased, but it was associated with the cell regression. Therefore, these findings confirmed that the variable expression of PKC isoforms in decidualizing tissue may be involved in the modulation of decidual cell growth.

Fluctuation of serum leptin level in rats after ovariectomy and the influence of estrogen supplement.

In order to understand the mechanism of increasing body fat in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, an ovariectomy-induced obesity model was used to study the role of leptin. In this investigation, a long-term study lasted for 13 weeks was conducted to monitoring the change of serum leptin level in rats after the loss of estrogen, and also to examine the influence of estrogen replacement. The results showed that three weeks after the removal of ovaries the body weight of Ovx rats was already significantly higher than the other two groups, and continued to gain more weight thereafter. Accompanying with the significant weight gain was the changes in the serum leptin levels. The leptin concentration declined gradually during the first half of experimental period, dropping down to an almost undetectable level at week 7 (0.216+/-0.132 ng/ml). Subsequently, its concentration began to elevate, and by the end of experiment leptin level was significantly higher (3.182+/-0.936 ng/ml) than the value before the operation (0.818+/-0.242 ng/ml). This fluctuation of serum leptin level caused by ovariectomy was eliminated by the replacement of estrogen. The present data indicate that ovariectomy-induced weight gain is caused by the early drop in leptin level. The later rise in leptin production is connected to the increased body weight probably originated from a reduced sensitivity in leptin signal.

Protein kinase C isoforms during the development of deciduomata in pseudopregnant rats.

In this study, we determined the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms during trauma-induced decidualization. The findings revealed that at least five PKC isoforms (alpha, delta, zeta, iota and lambda) were present in both control and decidualized tissues. After trauma-stimulation, PKC alpha was down-modulated in the deciduomata but not in the myometrium. Down-modulation was compatible with the increase in cell mitosis which reached a maximum at 2-3 days. On the other hand, PKC zeta was not down-modulated. It was increased both in the deciduomata and myometrium, and paralleled the frequency of decidual cell mitosis. The PKC isoforms of delta, iota and lambda were also increased, but they were associated with the depression of cell mitosis. Therefore, these findings suggested that the variable expression of PKC isoforms in trauma-induced decidualizing tissue in pseudopregnant rats may be involved in the modulation of decidual cell growth.

Noninvasive glucose monitoring in vivo with an optical heterodyne polarimeter.

An amplitude-sensitive optical heterodyne polarimeter was set up to monitor noninvasively the aqueous glucose concentration in a rabbit's eye. A Zeeman laser in conjunction with a Glan-Thompson analyzer was used to generate an optical heterodyne signal. The amplitude of the heterodyne signal linearly related to the optical rotation angle of the aqueous glucose. The concentration of the aqueous glucose in a rabbit's eyeball was measured in vivo. There was a 30-min time delay between observations of aqueous glucose and blood glucose. The detection capability and the reproducibility of the experiment are demonstrated and discussed.

Common-path optical heterodyne profilometer: a configuration.

A novel configuration that combines a linearly polarized He-Ne laser and a birefringent lens to produce a common-path polarized optical heterodyne profilometer with respect to the heterodyned P and S waves has been set up. In this profilometer a linear polarized frequency-stabilized He-Ne laser was used with an acousto-optical modulator to replace the Zeeman laser as the light source that had two polarization eigenstates in different temporal frequencies. The proposed interferometer shows a more symmetric and ideal common-path structure than the conventional optical heterodyne profilometers with the Zeeman laser. The phase error aroused by the elliptical polarization and the nonorthogonality of the two eigenpolarization modes of the Zeeman laser can be reduced. The system's resolution in the vertical direction reaches 2 A, and in a 27-mum scanning range the repeatability of the surface profile measurements is shown to be 5 A.

Change in protein kinase C activity on day 5 of decidualization in pseudopregnant rats.

The specific activities of protein kinase C (PKC) and protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) were determined in the decidualized uterine tissue of pseudopregnant rat on day 5 of decidualization. We found that the activity of the cytosolic PKC was significantly lower in decidualized uterine tissue as compared with that of the controlateral untreated uterine tissues (1.5 +/- 1.4 versus 57.5 +/- 4.1 pmol 32P/min/mg, P < 0.001), while the PKC activity in particulate fraction was not significantly different (124.8 +/- 14.5 versus 236.8 +/- 88.6 pmol 32P/min/mg) concerning protein concentration. The reduced expression of the cytosolic PKC activity was observed on all five individual rats. In contrast, the decidualized uterine tissue showed similar cytosolic PTK activity as compared with the controlateral untreated uterine tissues (20.1 +/- 3.0 versus 20.6 +/- 3.2 pmol 32P/min/mg protein), and similar in particulate PTK activity (42.5 +/- 9.0 versus 36.8 +/- 5.1 pmol 32P/min/g protein). These results indicate that cytosolic PKC activity may be involved in modulation of decidual growth.

Nucleus accumbens dopaminergic mediation of protection against gastric mucosal ulcerations by cold-restraint stress in the male hyperprolactinemic rats.

An investigation was undertaken to study the relationship between change in gastric lesion induced by cold-restraint stress and brain dopamine (DA) activity in male rat with chronic hyperprolactinemia. Male rats of Wistar strain were divided into two groups: one received extra two pieces of anterior pituitary (AP) from its littermates, the other grafted with several pieces of muscle served as control. Experiment I: From the 5th day to 40th day after transplantation, the levels of serum prolactin (PRL) in the AP-grafted group were higher than those of control (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Experiment II: On the 40th day after transplantation, AP-grafted and control rats were restrained and placed supine in a ventilated refrigerator with an ambient temperature of 5 degrees C for 3 hrs. Although gastric mucosal ulceration was observed in both groups, the ulcer index (including total number and length of gastric mucosal ulceration) was lower in AP-grafted group than that in control group (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Experiment III: On the 40th day after transplantation, all rats were divided into AP-grafted and muscle-grafted rats. Subsequently, they were allowed to expose to cold-plus-restraint stress and unstress (room temperature: 24 +/- 1 degrees C) respectively. After stress and unstress, all animals were immediately sacrificed by decapitation, the brains were dissected with Palkovits' micropunch technique. DA and its metabolites, DOPAC content in Nucleus accumbens (NAc) area of brain were assayed by HPLC with electrochemical detection. These results showed that concentrations of DA, DOPAC and their ratios (DOPAC/DA) in the NAc area of brain, were not statistically different under room temperature condition between muscle-grafted and AP-grafted rats. The DOPAC/DA ratio in both groups showed significant increase in the brain's NAc area under cold-restraint stress condition as compared with unstress condition. But AP-grafted rats exhibited significantly higher DOPAC content in the brain's NAc area when compared with muscle-grafted rats under cold-restraint stress condition (171.7 +/- 22.1 versus 101.5 +/- 14.2 ng/mg protein, p < 0.05). According to these findings, we suggest that reduced effect of chronic high serum PRL level from extra pituitary grafts on gastric mucosal ulceration produced by cold-restraint stress is probably mediated via Nucleus accumbens dopaminergic neuronal mechanism.

Localization of protein kinase C alpha and zeta during the decidualization in pseudopregnant rats.

Our previous data showed that at least five PKC isoforms (alpha, delta, zeta, lambda and tau) were present in the decidualization. In this study, we then localized the PKC alpha and zeta by immunohistochemistry in the decidualized uterine tissues. The decidualized uterine tissues were induced by trauma-stimulation and fixed in formalin. The immunofluorescence were photographed by confocal microscope. The data revealed that the fluorescence of PKC alpha was present in the deciduomata and myometrium. In the deciduomata, PKC alpha was mainly located in the surrounding nuclear. This phenomenon of localization was especially performed on day 2 and 3 of the decidualization, just on the time of higher frequence of cell mitosis. Since the myometrium with hypertrophy did not display the phenomenon of perinuclear localization, these suggested that the expression and localization of PKC alpha may be associated with the cell proliferation. On the other hand, the PKC zeta was also present and distributed broadly in the deciduomata and myometrium. This expression was increased and similar to the previous Western blot studies. Thus, the data confirmed that the various expression and localization of PKC isoforms may be correlated with the development of deciduomata.