An understanding of the prevalence of diseases in free-ranging populations of felids is limited, and there is even less known about the overall health and diseases of wild felids that inhabit or utilize urban areas. We collected serum samples from 9 radiocollared mountain lions (Puma concolor) in the mountains surrounding Tucson, Arizona, USA, from August 2005 to August 2008. We tested serum samples for evidence of exposure to 10 feline viruses: Feline Calicivirus (FCV), Feline Herpesvirus, Feline Enteric Coronavirus, Feline Syncytial Virus-Feline Foamy Virus, Feline Infectious Peritonitis, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline Panleukopenia Virus (FPLV), Feline Leukemia Virus, Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), and Toxoplasma gondii. The highest prevalences of exposure were: T. gondii (8/9), FPLV (7/9), and FCV (6/9). One male was seropositive for CDV, T. gondii, and FPLV. Mountain lions inhabiting smaller fragmented landscapes and urban areas have more contact with other felids and domesticated animals. Frequent contact among mountain lions, other felids, and domesticated animals can lead to higher risk of exposure and facilitate the spread of the disease from animal to animal. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

A fast screening protocol was developed for the simultaneous determination of nine anti-estrogenic agents (aminoglutethimide, anastrozole, clomiphene, drostanolone, formestane, letrozole, mesterolone, tamoxifen, testolactone) plus five of their metabolites in human urine. After an enzymatic hydrolysis, these compounds can be extracted simultaneously from urine with a simple liquid-liquid extraction at alkaline conditions. The analytes were subsequently analyzed by fast-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (fast-GC/MS) after derivatization. The use of a short column, high-flow carrier gas velocity and fast temperature ramping produced an efficient separation of all analytes in about 4 min, allowing a processing rate of 10 samples/h. The present analytical method was validated according to UNI EN ISO/IEC 17025 guidelines for qualitative methods. The range of investigated parameters included the limit of detection, selectivity, linearity, repeatability, robustness and extraction efficiency. High MS-sampling rate, using a benchtop quadrupole mass analyzer, resulted in accurate peak shape definition under both scan and selected ion monitoring modes, and high sensitivity in the latter mode. Therefore, the performances of the method are comparable to the ones obtainable from traditional GC/MS analysis. The method was successfully tested on real samples arising from clinical treatments of hospitalized patients and could profitably be used for clinical studies on anti-estrogenic drug administration.

Plasma quinolone concentrations are not routinely measured in clinical practice. However, in order to optimize quinolone treatment, monitoring of plasma concentrations could sometimes be useful particularly in critically ill patients. In this study, anti-sparfloxacin antibody was obtained by immunizing rabbits with sparfloxacin conjugated with bovine serum albumin using isobutyl chloroformate method. After the assay procedure was optimized, the standard curve of sparfloxacin was established. The practical measuring range of the competitive ELISA extended from 5 ng/mL to 2 μg/mL. The recovery rates and coefficients of variation for rat plasma, urine and tissues were 87.7-106.2% and 4.8-15.3%, respectively. To demonstrate the potential of the ELISA, a preliminary pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution study of sparfloxacin in rats and quantitative analysis of sparfloxacin in several pharmaceuticals were performed and compared with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental data indicated that the proposed method would be a valuable tool in therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for sparfloxacin.

In the eradication therapy of Helicobacter pylori changes of antibiotics as these concentrations or amount in the stomach after oral administration were not clear. A simple and accurate method for determining the concentration of metronidazole (MTZ) in homogenate of rat stomach was developed in order to obtain basic data to design a pharmaceutical preparation having targeting ability to the surface of gastric-mucosa. This method included a deproteinization process by methanol, separation with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and detection with an ultraviolet wavelength of 370 nm. Regression analysis showed that the method was linear over a standard curve range from 5 μg/mL to 2000 μg/mL. The inter-day precision and accuracy values between the ranges were 5.0% or better and -7.5 to 5.2%, respectively. The newly developed method was applied to an analysis of gastric samples after oral administration of MTZ at a dose of 5 mg/kg. It was found that the residual MTZ in the stomach was determined within 5 h after dosing. This method is useful for monitoring MTZ in stomach after its oral administration to rats.

Although anticoagulation therapy is commonly used in the prostate cancer population, there are only a few studies about the correlation between radiation proctitis and anticoagulation therapy. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether low-dose aspirin increases the severity of acute radiation proctitis in an experimental animal model.

The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-Br) is a quality of life (QOL) assessment tool that was originally developed for use in patients with primary brain tumors. However, the tool has also been used to assess QOL in patients with metastatic brain tumors. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in QOL responses as assessed by the FACT-Br in patients with primary and metastatic brain neoplasms.

This study investigated whether immediate acupuncture effects in the acupoint are histamine dependent. Both histamine injection and manual acupuncture stimulation increased the pain threshold (PT) after treatment compared with the model group (P < 0.01), producing an analgesic effect. After pretreatment with clemastine, an H1 receptor antagonist and an antipruritic, the increase in the animals' pain threshold after acupuncture was suppressed compared with the Acu group (P < 0.01); however, there was no interference with the acupuncture-induced degranulation of mast cells. Pretreatment with disodium cromolyn did not suppress the increase in PT induced by the histamine injection at Zusanli (ST-36). We conclude that in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats, acupuncture analgesic effects are histamine dependent, and this histamine dependence determines the acupoint preference of acupoints away from the target site in acupuncture practice.

Although pruritus is the critical symptom of atopic dermatitis that profoundly affect the patients' quality of life, controlling and management of prurirtus still remains as unmet needs mainly due to the distinctive multifactorial pathogenesis of pruritus in atopic dermatitis. Based on the distinct feature of atopic dermatitis that psychological state of patients substantially influence on the intensity of pruritus, various psychotropic drugs have been used in clinic to relieve pruritus of atopic dermatitis patients. Only several psychotropic drugs were reported to show real antipruritic effects in atopic dermatitis patients including naltrexone, doxepin, trimipramine, bupropion, tandospirone, paroxetine and fluvoxamine. However, the precise mechanisms of antipruritic effect of these psychotropic drugs are still unclear. In human skin, serotonin receptors and serotonin transporter protein are expressed on skin cells such as keratinocytes, melanocytes, dermal fibroblasts, mast cells, T cells, natural killer cells, langerhans cells, and sensory nerve endings. It is noteworthy that serotonergic drugs, as well as serotonin itself, showed immune-modulating effect. Fenfluramine, fluoxetine and 2, 5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine significantly decreased lymphocyte proliferation. It is still questionable whether these serotonergic drugs exert the immunosuppressive effects via serotonin receptor or serotonin transporter. All these clinical and experimental reports suggest the possibility that antipruritic effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in atopic dermatitis patients might be at least partly due to their suppressive effect on T cells. Further studies should be conducted to elucidate the precise mechanism of neuroimmunological interaction in pruritus of atopic dermatitis.

Prostaglandin (PG) E2, the most abundant prostaglandin in the human body, is synthesized from arachidonic acid via the actions of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes. PGE2 exerts homeostatic, cytoprotective, inflammatory, and in some cases anti-inflammatory effects. Also, it has been reported that PGE2 is involved in hair growth. Diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC) is a phlorotannin compound isolated from the brown algae Ishige okamurae, with various biological activities in vitro and in vivo. In this study, the biological effect and mechanism of action of DPHC on prostaglandin synthesis in HaCaT human keratinocytes was examined. The results showed that, in these cells, DPHC significantly and dose-dependently induced PGE2 synthesis by increasing the protein and mRNA levels of COX-1 and COX-2. Interestingly, DPHC-induced COX-1 expression preceded that of COX-2. Also, while both rofecoxib and indomethacin inhibited PGE2 production, the latter was seems to be the more potent. From above results, we can expect that DPHC has some beneficial effects via increasing of PGE2 production.

To examine the neuroprotective effects of ginsenoside R0, we investigated the effects of ginsenoside R0 in PC12 cells under an anoxic or oxidative environment with Edaravone as a control. PC12 neuroendocrine cells were used as a model target. Anoxic damage or oxidative damage in PC12 cells were induced by adding sodium dithionite or hydrogen peroxide respectively in cultured medium. Survival ratios of different groups were detected by an AlamarBlue assay. At the same time, the apoptosis of PC12 cells were determined with flow cytometry. The putative neuroprotective effects of ginsenoside R0 is thought to be exerted through enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes Superoxide dismutases (SOD). The activity of SOD and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), were measured to evaluate the protective and therapeutic effects of ginsenoside R0. Ginsenoside R0 treated cells had a higher SOD activity, lower MDA level and lower ROS, and their survival ratio was higher with a lower apoptosis rate. It is suggested that ginsenoside R0 has a protective effect in the cultured PC12 cells, and the protection efficiency is higher than Edaravone. The protective mechanisms of these two are different. The prevent ability of ginsenoside R0 is higher than its repair ability in neuroprotection in vitro.

Interest has been generated in the capacity of cellular-derived microvesicles to alter the fate of different target cells. Lung, liver, heart and brain-derived vesicles can alter the genetic phenotype of murine marrow cells; however, the stability of such changes and the mechanism of these changes remain unclear. In the present work, we show that lung-derived microvesicles (LDMV) alter the transcriptome and proteome of target marrow cells initially by mRNA and regulator(s) of transcription transfer, but that long term phenotype change is due solely to transfer of a transcriptional regulator with target cell.

With growing number of obese children, the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in pediatric population is increasing. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a severe form of NAFLD, and can cause morbid complications. It is important to identify patients in order to grade pathologic severities and treat those children who possibly have NASH. This study was performed to evaluate whether the pharmacological therapy is also effective as well as the body weight reduction in pediatric NAFLD.

Despite the increasing utilization of in-home services, the assessment of in-home services used by those that have certified levels of care needs has been limited to the actual changes in individual outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine factors affecting how the utilization of in-home services could have sustained and/or improved or deteriorated the care needs levels of frail persons. We also examined the effect of in-home services used in the lower level of care needs subgroup and the higher level of care needs subgroup during a two-year period.

This study was carried out to compare the histomorphological structures of oviductal regions of the apparently healthy adult laying hens (Gallus gallus dometicus) and ducks (Ansa ansa domesticus). For this purpose, 20 hens and 20 female ducks aged between 1-1.5 years were used. After euthanasia, the oviducts were dissected out and all of the gross morphometrical parameters including length, width and thickness as well as weight and length of them were recorded. For histological studies, after tissue preparation and staining with H&E, histological layers of isthmus, uterus and vagina were recognized and the size of them with micrometry method were determined. Our data analyses indicated that, the mean weight, length of oviduct as well as weight of isthmus, uterus in hen were significantly (P < 0.05) greater than that of duck, whereas the vaginal thickness and weight were greater in duck than the hen. In histological studies, epithelium and cilia were well developed in duck and lamina propria was filled with glands in the regions of the isthmus and uterus. The length of primary mucosal folds of isthmus and uterus in duck was more than hen. The longest mucosal fold has been seen in uterus. Most of the parameters in duck were greater than hen except the length of secondary fold of three parts of oviduct including isthmus, uterus, and vagina.

In this study, the effects of subcutaneous (SC) injection of pilocarpine (a cholinomimetic agent) and atropine (a muscarinic receptors antagonist) were investigated on a tonic model of orofacial pain in rats. The contribution of the endogenous analgesic opioid system was assessed using naloxone (an opioid receptors antagonist). Tonic orofacial pain was induced by SC injection of a diluted formalin solution (1%, 50 μL) in the right upper lip, and the time spent face rubbing was measured in five min blocks for 1 h. Formalin induced a biphasic (first phase: 0-5 min and second phase: 15-35 min) pain response. Pilocarpine significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed both phases of orofacial pain. Atropine did not have any effect and naloxone non-significantly increased the intensity of pain when used alone. In the pre-injection examinations, atropine prevented, but naloxone did not reverse the antinociceptive effect of pilocarpine. The results indicated that SC injection of formalin in the orofacial region induced a marked biphasic pain. Pilocarpine via muscarinic cholinergic receptors produced antinociceptive effect in the orofacial formalin-induced pain. The endogenous opioid analgesic system may not have a role in pilocarpine-induced antinociception.

There is some report about the hypoglycemic effect of Juglans rejia L. leaf in alloxan induced diabetic rats and hypoglycemic effect of its fruit peel administered intra peritoneally. Thirty male Wistar rats divided into five groups, to evaluate the hypoglycemic and pancreas β-cells regenerative effects of oral methanolic extracts of leaf and fruit peel of walnut. Rats were made diabetic by intravenous (IV) injection of 50 mg kg(-1) streptozotocin (STZ). Negative control group did not get STZ and any treatment. Positive control, leaf extract, peel extract and insulin groups were treated orally by extract solvent, 200 mg kg(-1) leaf extract, 200 mg kg(-1) peel extract and 5 IU kg(-1) of subcutaneous neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin, respectively. Four weeks later, blood was collected for biochemical analysis and pancreases were removed for β-cells counts in histological sections. Diabetes leads to increase of fast blood sugar (FBS) and HbA1c, and decrease of β-cell number and insulin. FBS decreased only in leaf extract group. HbA1c decreased in leaf extract and insulin groups. The β-cells number increased in leaf and peel extract groups. Insulin increased moderately in all treatment groups. We showed the proliferative properties of leaves and peel of Juglans regia L. methanolic extract in STZ- induced diabetic rats, which was accompanied by hypoglycemic effect of leaf extract.

In this study, we investigated the effects of adenovirus-mediated transfection of PC12 cells with glucose transporter 3 after ischemic injury. The results of flow cytometry and TUNEL showed that exogenous glucose transporter 3 significantly suppressed PC12 cell apoptosis induced by ischemic injury. The results of isotopic scintiscan and western blot assays showed that, the glucose uptake rate was significantly increased and nuclear factor kappaB expression was significantly decreased after adenovirus-mediated transfection of ischemic PC12 cells with glucose transporter 3. These results suggest that adenovirus-mediated transfection of cells with glucose transporter 3 elevates the energy metabolism of PC12 cells with ischemic injury, and inhibits cell apoptosis.

To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of atorvastatin in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Preliminary work by our research team revealed that Schisandra, a renowned traditional Chinese medicine, causes learning and memory improvements in ovariectomized mice. This activity was attributed to active ingredients extracted with N-butyl alcohol, named Schisandra N-butanol extract. In this study, ovariectomized mice were pretreated with Schisandra N-butanol extract given by intragastric administration. This treatment led to the enhancement of learning, and an increase in hippocampal CA1 synaptic, surface and postsynaptic density. A decrease in the average size of the synaptic active zone was also observed. These experimental findings showing that Schisandra N-butanol extract improved synaptic morphology indicate an underlying mechanism by which the ability of learning is enhanced in ovariectomized mice.

The present study analyzed changes in Wnt3a expression during differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells into cholinergic neurons. Immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence revealed significantly increased nestin, neuron-specific enolase, microtubule-associated protein 2, and choline acetyltransferase expression in adipose-derived stem cells isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats and cultured in vitro in neural-induced medium. These expressions increased with prolonged induction time. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR and western blot assay results demonstrated significantly increased choline acetyltransferase and Wnt3a protein and mRNA expressions, respectively, in adipose-derived stem cells following induction. Choline acetyltransferase expression positively correlated with Wnt3a protein and mRNA expressions. These results demonstrated that neural-induced medium induced differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells into cholinergic neuronal-like cells, with subsequent increased Wnt3a expression.