bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Puerarin protects human umbilical vein endothelial cells against high glucose‐induced apoptosis by upregulating heme oxygenase‐1 and inhibiting calpain activation
Authors: Chen Ying‐Ying , Chen Jie , Zhou Xin‐Mei , Meng Xiang‐Hong , Jiang Jian‐Ping , Shen Yue‐Liang 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate whether puerarin protects against high glucose (HG)‐induced apoptosis by suppressing calpain activation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs were exposed to normal glucose (NG) (5.5 mm) or HG (33 mm) for 48 h; then, apoptosis and caspase‐3 activity were determined. The expression of heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) mRNA was evaluated by RT‐PCR analysis. The activation of calpain and HO activity were also assessed. Compared with the NG group, exposure of HUVECs to HG for 48 h resulted in significant increases in calpain and caspase‐3 activity as well as apoptosis, which were prevented by co‐incubation with puerarin (1–100 μm) in a concentration‐dependent manner. HO‐1 mRNA expression and HO activity were decreased in HUVECs treated with HG for 48 h. Compared with the group exposed to HG alone, co‐incubation of HUVECs with puerarin and HG induced increases in HO‐1 mRNA expression and HO activity. The HO‐1 inhibitor protoporphyrin IX zinc (II) abolished the inhibitory effect of puerarin on HG‐induced calpain and caspase‐3 activation, as well as apoptosis. The data show that puerarin protects against HG‐induced endothelial cell apoptosis by a mechanism involving upregulation of HO‐1 expression and inhibition of calpain activity.
Furosemide‐induced genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in the hepatocytes, but weak genotoxicity in the bone marrow cells of mice
Authors: Mondal Sambhu Charan , Tripathi Durga Nand , Vikram Ajit , Ramarao Poduri , Jena Gopabandhu B. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractFurosemide (FS) is a potent loop diuretic widely used in the management of fluid retention associated with cardiac, renal, and hepatic failure as well as for the treatment of hypertension. FS is a well‐characterized and known hepatotoxin in both human and animal test systems. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate the in vivo genotoxicity of FS at the hepatotoxic equivalent doses using the chromosomal aberration and the comet assay in the bone marrow cells of mice as the endpoints of evaluation. The animals were treated with FS at the doses of 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/kg/body weight (bw) intraperitoneal (ip) for both single (24 h) and repeated dose (seven consecutive days) toxicity studies. FS toxicity in the hepatocytes was evaluated using the parameters, such as, alanine‐/aspartate‐aminotransferase (ALT/AST), single cell gel electrophoresis (comet), tissue histology, DNA fragmentation, and TUNEL assay as the endpoints. The results clearly demonstrate that FS produced toxic responses in the hepatocytes as evident from increased ALT/AST level, DNA damage, TUNEL positive cells and increased DNA fragmentation in mice in vivo. However, it is interesting that in bone marrow cells, FS did not induced structural chromosomal abberations, but produced mild DNA strand breaks as observed by the comet assay. So it is considered as weak genotoxic toward the bone marrow cells when compared to the hepatocytes of mice.
Short and long‐term distribution with depth of soil organic carbon and nutrients under traditional and conservation tillage in a Mediterranean environment (southwest Spain)
Authors: López‐Garrido R. , Madejón E. , Murillo J. M. , Moreno F. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThe impacts of tillage and cropping sequences on soil organic matter and nutrients have been frequently reported to affect the uppermost soil layers, but there is little published information concerning effects at greater depth. This article reports results on the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), active carbon (AC), N, Olsen‐P and extractable K within 100 cm in short (4 yr) and long (16 yr) term experiments under different tillage systems. Short (TT4) and long (TT16) traditional tillage are compared with conservation tillage, reduced (RT16) and non‐tillage (NT4). The results show more accumulation of SOC in the near‐surface under RT16 and NT4 in both experiments compared with traditional tillage. Moreover, greater C content occurs to 40 cm depth in the long‐term experiment. The results demonstrate the importance of time on C accumulation, not only in near‐surface layers but also at greater depths. Active C is an indicator of the increase in soil quality in the long‐term experiment. This trend is only apparent for the first 10 cm in the short‐term experiment. Patterns in N, Olsen‐P and extractable K are similar to that of SOC. However, only extractable K is significantly greater in soil under conservation tillage (RT16 and NT4) after short and long periods. Potassium availability is a good indicator of the changes caused by tillage. Our results indicate that studies of soils at depth could be very useful in long‐term experiments to demonstrate the effect of conservation tillage on C and nutrient distribution.
The histamine H3 receptor: from discovery to clinical trials with pitolisant
Authors: Schwartz Jean‐Charles 
Published: February 2011

The third histamine receptor was discovered in 1983 by a traditional pharmacological approach, consisting of assessing the inhibitory effect of histamine on its own release from depolarized rat brain slices. The same in vitro test was used to design, in 1987, the first highly selective and potent H3‐autoreceptor ligands, the antagonist thioperamide and the agonist (R)alphamethylhistamine which enhances and inhibits, respectively, the activity of histaminergic neurons in brain. The use of these research tools was instrumental in establishing the main functions of cerebral histaminergic neurons, namely their role in maintenance of wakefulness, attention, learning and other cognitive processes. In 1990, the cloning of the gene of the H3‐receptor, a member of the superfamily of heptahelical receptors coupled to G proteins, paved the way to the demonstration of the high constitutive activity of the receptor, including its native form, and its participation in the tonic control of histamine release; it also facilitated the development of H3‐receptor inverse agonist programs in many drug companies. Pitolisant (BF2.649, 1‐{3‐[3‐(4‐chlorophenyl)propoxy]propyl}piperidine, hydrochloride) is the first inverse agonist to be introduced in the clinics. Its wake‐promotion activity was evidenced in excessive diurnal sleepiness of patients with narcolepsy, Parkinson's disease or Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea, in which this activity is characterized by a mean decrease of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale by about five units. The procognitive activity of this novel class of drugs may also find therapeutic applications in dementias, schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.LINKED ARTICLESThis review is dedicated to the memory of Sir James Black who recently passed away and whose achievements in classical pharmacology and drug design have been examples to the author throughout his career. BJP published an issue in 2010 on Analytical Receptor Pharmacology in Drug Discovery, which was dedicated to the memory of Sir James Black. To view this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2010.161.issue‐6 In 2009 BJP published a Histamine themed issue. To view this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2009.157.issue‐1
Clinging to the past: medievalism in the English ‘Renaissance’ garden
Authors: Henderson Paula 
Published: February 2011

AbstractWhen studying the Tudor period, garden historians often over‐emphasize what is deemed new, concentrating on anything that might be linked to continental, particularly Italianate, influences. If some of the greatest architectural triumphs of the period were a quirky combination of ‘antiquarian medieval’ motifs (Wollaton Hall's traceried windows and soaring tourelles, for example) with sophisticated continental features (Wollaton's Italianate plan), it seems likely that the same eclecticism would have been employed in gardens. What needs to be examined is what Tudor builders knew about earlier gardens in Britain (or elsewhere). Because the period is so often treated as a ‘beginning’ (of the early modern period), what remained of important royal and aristocratic medieval gardens, both materially and in the collective memory, has not been adequately determined. Once we have a proper understanding of what survived to be admired by the Tudors, we might be able to assess how gardens reflected both indigenous and Renaissance ideas. Perhaps the best way to differentiate between medieval and classical inspiration is to look carefully at the evolution of individual garden features – fountains, garden buildings, earthworks, planting and basic principles of design – to determine at what point classical ideas began to dominate and when medieval features were revived and to what purpose.
Dissembling his art: ‘Gascoigne's Gardnings’
Authors: Staub Susan C. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThis essay considers how garden and agricultural manuals from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries provide insight into George Gascoigne's negotiation of his role as professional writer in A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres and The Posies. By considering Gascoigne's collection in conjunction with gardening books from the period, we can see more clearly the issues Gascoigne confronts, issues that seem inextricably involved with print culture and changing social values. The same concerns that permeate so much of Gascoigne's work are evident in the gardening manuals of the period with their interrogation of profit and pleasure, art and nature, the reliability of sources – and with their obsession with the vulgarity of men who wrote or gardened for profit. Recent scholarship also suggests the connection between the garden manual and notions of nationhood, the history of the book, and the burgeoning print marketplace – all issues apparent in Gascoigne's work. Gascoigne's analogy then is more than just a convention and is fundamentally connected to the ways that he fashions his identity as gentleman, author, and Englishman.
Association between occult hepatitis B infection and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Shi Yu , Wu Yi Hua , Wu Wei , Zhang Wan Jun , Yang Jun , Chen Zhi 
Published: February 2011

Abstract
Background: The association between occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial.
Aims: We conducted a meta‐analysis of prospective studies and retrospective studies to examine whether occult HBV infection increases the risk of HCC.
Methods: Two independent reviewers searched databases for eligible studies published in English or Chinese dated from 1966 to 6 April 2010. The odds ratios or the relative risks (RRs) of each study were considered respectively.
Results: We identified 16 eligible studies. A significantly increased risk of HCC was found in subjects with occult HBV infection in comparison with non‐infected controls in both retrospective [ORunadjusted=6.08, 95% confidence interval (CI)=3.45–10.72] and prospective studies (RRadjusted=2.86, 95% CI=1.59–4.13), and occult HBV increased the risk for HCC in both hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected populations (summary RR=2.83, 95% CI=1.56–4.10) and in non‐infected populations (ORunadjusted=10.65, 95% CI=5.94–19.08). A higher prevalence of occult HBV was observed in individuals who were positive for anti‐HBs and anti‐HBc (ORunadjusted=1.81, 95% CI=1.06, 3.09).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that occult HBV infection was associated with an increased risk of HCC. Occult HBV may serve as a cofactor in the development of HCV‐related HCC, and it may also play a direct role in promoting Non‐B and Non‐C HCC growth. Suggestive evidence indicates that individuals with a concomitant presence of anti‐HBs and anti‐HBc had an increased risk of occult HBV infection. However, further studies are needed to clarify these observations.
Genetic contribution to the relationship between social role function and depressive symptoms in Japanese elderly twins: a twin study
Authors: NISHIHARA Reiko , INUI Fujio , KATO Kenji , TOMIZAWA Rie , HAYAKAWA Kazuo 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground:  Social role function is the capacity to maintain interpersonal relationships and is essential for being independent in the community. Limitations in social role function often coexist with depressive symptoms, suggesting a possible common mechanistic basis. We investigated whether the observed association between these traits is mainly a result of genetic or environmental influences.Methods:  In 2008, a questionnaire was sent to 745 male twins aged 65 years and older. Our sample included 397 male twins. The number of monozygotic twins was 302, and dizygotic was 95. Among the twin pairs for whom data were available for both twins, 75 twin pairs (150 individuals) were monozygotic and 28 pairs (56 individuals) were dizygotic. Social role function was assessed using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence. Depressive symptoms were measured by the 15‐item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Relative importance of genes and environments for the phenotypes was calculated using structural equation analyses.Results:  Our results show that genetic influence was the major contributor to the relationship between social role function and depressive symptoms, and non‐shared environmental influence was important for overall variation in each trait.Conclusions:  We concluded that focusing on a non‐shared environment is an essential approach for maintaining social role function and psychological well‐being. It is suggested that treatments specific to depressive symptoms are more effective than indirect intervention targeting social role function.
Impact of dementia on cancer discovery and pain
Authors: IRITANI Shuji , TOHGI Mizuho , MIYATA Hiroaki , OHI Gen 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground:  Dementia is clinically noted to influence both reporting and experience of cancer pains. However, no systemic evaluation of this aspect has been reported. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate how dementia modified the cancer discovery process, frequency of cancer pain reports and analgesic‐narcotic use at a large psychiatric hospital.Methods:  We reviewed all the records of cancer patients with and without dementia treated at the surgical ward of Matsuzawa Hospital from 1993 to 2004. Psychiatric diseases other than dementia, brain metastasis and alcoholism, as well as leukaemia and skin cancer, were excluded. Patients' communicativeness as to pain was ascertained from nursing records.Results:  A total of 134 cancer patients with and without dementia (50 demented and 84 non‐demented) were included. Demented patients were accidentally discovered to have cancer (48%) or by an unexpected unfolding of clinical signs (44%), whereas most non‐demented patients (63%) voluntarily sought medical evaluation (P= 0.000). Overall, 76% of non‐demented patients had cancer pains (stages I and II, 64%; stages III and IV, 84%), whereas just 22% of demented patients had cancer pains (stages I and II, 16%; stages III and IV, 26%; P= 0.000). Non‐demented patients showed stage‐dependent requirements for both non‐narcotic analgesics (stages I and II, 64%; stages III and IV, 84%) and narcotics (stages I and II, 0%; stages III and IV, 41%). Demented patients required much less analgesics (stages I and II, 11%; stages III and IV, 13%), with only one stage IV patient requiring narcotics (P= 0.000).Conclusion:  Dementia greatly modifies the cancer discovery process, reduces prevalence of cancer pain and analgesic requirement.
Touch Panel‐type Dementia Assessment Scale: a new computer‐based rating scale for Alzheimer's disease
Authors: INOUE Masashi , JIMBO Daiki , TANIGUCHI Miyako , URAKAMI Katsuya 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground:  The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) was designed as a rating scale for the severity of dysfunction in the cognitive and non‐cognitive behaviours that are characteristic of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Its subscale, the ADAS‐cog, is a cognitive testing instrument most widely used to measure the impact of the disease. However, the ADAS‐cog takes more than 45 min to administer and requires a qualified clinical psychologist as the rater. A more comprehensive rating battery is therefore required. In the present study, we developed a computerized test battery named the Touch Panel‐type Dementia Assessment Scale (TDAS), which was intended to substitute for the ADAS‐Cog, and was specifically designed to rate cognitive dysfunction quickly and without the need of a specialist rater.Methods:  The hardware for the TDAS comprises a 14‐inch touch panel display and computer devices built into one case. The TDAS runs on Windows OS and was bundled with a custom program made with reference to the ADAS‐cog. Participants in the present study were 34 patients with Alzheimer's disease. Each participant was administered the ADAS‐cog and the TDAS. The test scores for each patient were compared to determine whether the severity of cognitive dysfunction of the patients could be rated equally as well by both tests.Results:  Pearson's correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation between the total scores (r= 0.69, P < 0.01) on the two scales for each patient. The Kendall coefficients of concordance obtained for the three corresponding pairs of tasks (word recognition, orientation, and naming object and fingers) showed the three TDAS tasks can rate symptoms of cognitive decline equally as well as the corresponding items on the ADAS‐cog.Conclusions:  The TDAS appears to be a sensitive and comprehensive assessment battery for rating the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, and can be substituted for the ADAS‐cog.
Genetic association between clusterin polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease in a Japanese population
Authors: KOMATSU Miwa , SHIBATA Nobuto , KUERBAN Bolati , OHNUMA Tohru , BABA Hajime , ARAI Heii 
Published: February 2011

AbstractBackground:  Previous papers have reported that clusterin (CLU, also called apolipoprotein J) maintains amyloid β‐peptide (Aβ) solubility and protects against Aβ neurotoxicity. Recently, two large genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) identified that a specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the gene has been reported to modify the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aimed to investigate whether common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the CLU gene are associated with AD.Methods:  Six SNP, genotyped using TaqMan technology, were analyzed using a case–control study design. Furthermore, an analysis of the cases divided according to apolipoprotein E (APO E) status was also carried out. Our case–control dataset consisted of 180 AD patients and 130 age‐matched controls.Results:  The present study failed to detect any association between the SNP of the CLU gene and AD. Although rs7982 and rs1532277 showed marginal association in the APO E4 negative group, the linkage disequilibrium analysis results suggest this to be a false positive.Conclusion:  The negative associations were mainly the result of our small sample size. Larger genetic studies in different ethnics and future meta‐analysis are needed to clarify the relationship between the CLU gene and AD.
Effect of the Selective NMDA NR2B Antagonist, Ifenprodil, on Acute Tolerance to Ethanol‐Induced Motor Impairment in Adolescent and Adult Rats
Authors: Ramirez Ruby Liane , Varlinskaya Elena I. , Spear Linda P. 
Published: February 2011

Background:  Adolescent rats have been observed to be less sensitive than adults to a number of acute ethanol effects, including ethanol‐induced motor impairment. These adolescent insensitivities may be related in part to the more rapid emergence of within session (acute) tolerance in adolescents than adults. Adolescent‐related alterations in neural systems that serve as ethanol target sites, including changes in NMDA receptor subunit expression, may influence the responsiveness of adolescents to acute ethanol effects. This study explored the role of NMDA NR2B receptors in the development of acute tolerance to ethanol‐induced motor impairment in male adolescent [postnatal day (P)28–30] and adult (P68–70) Sprague–Dawley rats.Methods:  Motor‐impairing effects of ethanol on the stationary inclined plane and blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) were examined following challenge at each age with a functionally equivalent ethanol dose (adolescents: 2.25 g/kg; adults: 1.5 g/kg). Data were collected at two postinjection intervals (10 or 60 minutes) to compare rate of recovery from ethanol intoxication with BEC declines using the Radlow approach (Radlow, 1994) and changes in motor impairment/BEC ratios over time for assessing acute tolerance.Results:  Both vehicle‐treated adolescent and adult animals showed similar acute tolerance development to the motor‐impairing effects of ethanol at these functionally equivalent doses on the stationary inclined plane, as indexed by an increasing time‐dependent dissociation between BECs and ethanol‐induced motor impairment, with motor impairment declining faster than BECs, as well as by significant declines in motor impairment/BEC ratios over time. Acute tolerance development was reliably blocked by administration of the NR2B antagonist, ifenprodil, (5.0 mg/kg), in adult rats, whereas adolescents were affected by a higher dose (10.0 mg/kg).Conclusions:  These data support the suggestion that alterations in NMDA receptor systems occurring during adolescence may contribute to reduced sensitivity to ethanol by enhancing the expression of acute tolerance development in adolescents relative to adults.
Event‐Related Potentials During Visual Target Detection in Treatment‐Naïve Active Alcoholics
Authors: Fein George , Andrew Colin 
Published: February 2011

Background:  Reduced P3b event‐related potentials (ERP) amplitude during visual target detection in alcoholics is a robust phenomenon. However, this finding is based primarily on samples of treated alcoholics, who comprise only about 25% of alcoholics. We studied visual target detection in a treatment‐naïve alcohol‐dependent sample (TNAD) versus age and gender comparable nonalcoholic controls (NAC) to investigate whether reduced P3 amplitudes generalize to TNAD.Methods:  EEGs were recorded from 74 TNAD and 63 age and gender comparable NAC during visual target detection. ANOVA was applied at midline electrodes to amplitudes and latencies of N2 and P3 ERP components during target and rare nontarget conditions.Results:  Treatment‐naïve alcohol‐dependent subjects had a modestly lower P3b amplitude (p = 0.05) and a more robustly lower N2b amplitude (p = 0.29). In the target condition, TNAD showed a significant reduction in P3b amplitude and a larger reduction in N2b amplitude, with these phenomena being independent of each other. Latencies to P3b, N2b, and P3a were earlier in TNAD than NAC, with this effect correlating with our reported effect of better attention in TNAD versus NAC.Conclusion:  The significant reduction in P3b amplitude in TNAD suggests that this phenomenon is present in TNAD, but dramatically smaller than that observed in treated samples (we reported an effect over 5 times as large in treated long‐term abstinent alcoholics). The N2b amplitude reduction (not present in long‐term abstinent alcoholics) may reflect the effects of active alcohol abuse. Finally, the shorter latencies of these components in TNAD is associated with better scores on tests of attention and may reflect compensatory attentional effort in the context of active drinking.