Search

Objective: To evaluate the effect of long-term ethanol extract of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on serum hormone levels in ovariectomized (OVX) rats and compare them with the effect of diethylstilbestrol. Materials and Methods: Fifty female Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized or sham operated. Both sham and OVX control groups (n = 10, respectively) received the vehicle. The remaining OVX rats were oral administrated with ethanol extract of Maca (0.096, or 0.24g/kg; n = 10, respectively) and diethylstilbestrol (0.05 mg/kg; n = 10). The treatment continued for 28 weeks. At week 12 and week 28, the blood of rats was collected and serum hormone levels, including estradiol (E2), testosterone (T) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: At week 12, the levels of serum E2 were slightly higher in Maca groups than that in OVX group; T levels were signifi cantly decreased; and FSH levels were advanced slightly in Maca groups than that in sham group. After 28 weeks administration, serum E2 levels in Maca-treated animals did not differ signifi cantly from sham control, the low dose of Maca increased serum E2 levels, and Maca prevented increase in serum FSH levels compared with OVX group. Conclusions: Long-term Maca supply modulates endocrine hormone balance in OVX rats, especially it decreases enhanced FSH levels. It is proposed that Maca may become a potential choice for postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium (Ca) is an important nutrient element for plant growth and development. Nevertheless, excessive Ca restricts plant communities in Ca-rich environments. Lonicera confusa DC. is one species adapted to Ca-rich environments in the karst area of southwest China; however, the anatomical mechanism that allows these plants to respond to a Ca-rich environment remains unclear. L. confusa was cultivated in two types of soil with controlled Ca levels. The ultrastructure of leaves at different developmental stages was observed, and their Ca contents analyzed by laser scanning confocal microscope and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. There was no significant difference in leaves between the two experimental groups at very early stages of development. The glands of leaves growing in Ca-rich soil became saturated and showed a steady increase of Ca content in the following stages. The Ca level in leaf trichomes also increased steadily, compared with those from Ca-poor soil. When the leaves matured, Ca salts were excreted via stomata of L. confusa from Ca-rich soil. L. confusa had a special anatomical mechanism of responding to Ca-rich environments by excreting Ca salts via stomata, and storing Ca in leaf glands and trichomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapamycin (RAPA) has been successfully used for myoblast allotransplantation in X chromosome-linked muscular dystrophy mice. However, the mechanism of skeletal myogenesis, particularly in starved condition by RAPA, remains elusive. For this reason, we investigated the effect of RAPA on C2C12 myogenesis in serum-starved condition., Methods: Serum-free treated C2C12 cells were mimicked as skeletal myogenesis in nutrition shortage microenvironment. A methylthiazoletetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to investigate different RAPA concentrations on serum-free treated C2C12 cells and the following assays were used to detect the characteristic of C2C12 myogenesis by RAPA in vitro., Results: We found that 150 ng/mL of RAPA did not significantly suppress the viability of C2C12 differentiated cells by MTT assay. The RAPA concentration could protect myoblast serum-starved cells effectively from apoptosis through flow cytometry and retain myogenic regulatory factors through quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. However, RAPA significantly suppressed cell migration in wound healing assay (P<0.05). Morphological analyses indicated that RAPA also significantly suppressed myotube hypertrophy in serum-starved C2C12 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that the ratio of phosphate extracellular signal-regulated kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase and the protein level of p-Akt decreased in the proliferation medium and in the differentiation medium, respectively., Conclusion: These findings suggest that myoblast cells are sensitive to RAPA under a serum-starved microenvironment. As an immunosuppressive agent, RAPA shall be used as a considering dosage and as a safe strategy for future myoblast allotransplantation.

The thin-layer chromatography (TLC) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been proved to be a quick and valid method to detect the intermediates and the end-product created during the chemosynthesis process of vinorelbine (VB). This paper gives a detailed investigation on the results of two determination methods when the condition of the detection changed. It shows that when TLC developer is consisted of petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, and diethyl amine (23.5:12:2:2.5, v/v/v/v), vinblastine sulfate (VBS), anhydrovinblastine (AHVB), and VB can be separated specifically. When the mobile phase of HPLC is a mixture of methyl alcohol, acetonitrile, diethyl amine, and high purity water (420:252:3:225; v/v/v/v), adjusted with orthophosphoric acid to pH 6.5, the intermediates and the resultants of the chemosynthesis of VB can be determined effectively. It can also be used to fix quantify of the resultants. The calibration curve for VB shows good linearity in the two mass concentration ranges of 0.0100-0.0500 mg/mL (r = 0.9956) and 0.00600-0.0100 mg/mL (r = 0.9978), respectively. The limit of detection of HPLC for VB is 0.200 microg/mL.