The present study was undertaken to elucidate the potentiation by furosemide of toxicity and positive inotropic effect of ouabain in guinea pigs. Arrhythmogenic responses to ouabain as well as the lowering of its lethal dose were potentiated by pretreatment with furosemide in guinea pigs. The potentiation of ouabain toxicity after furosemide administration was inhibited by pretreatment with pot...

Group 1 CD1 molecules have been shown to present lipid and glycolipid Ags of mycobacteria to human T cells. However, a suitable animal model for the investigation of this component of antimycobacterial immunity has not yet been established. Previously, we found that guinea pigs express multiple isoforms of group 1 CD1 proteins that are homologous to human CD1b and CD1c. In this study, we show t...

OBJECTIVE Oxidative stress plays an important role in the etiology of diabetic complications. Diabetes impairs hippocampus neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Nigella sativa seed on oxidative stress in STZ-induced diabetic rats' hippocampus. MATERIALS AND METHODS Diabetes induced by 60 mg/kg STZ, i....

A number of the properties of the L-asparaginase present in guinea pig serum have been examined and shown to be indistinguishable from those of the agent responsible for inhibiting cells of lymphoma 6C3HED in vivo. The patterns of instability of the enzyme to changes in temperature and pH were found to parallel closely those of the antilymphoma agent. L-Asparaginase activity was essentially abs...

OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to determine whether the blood pressure-lowering effect of Nigella sativa might be mediated by its effects on nitric oxide, angiotensin-converting enzyme, heme oxygenase and oxidative stress markers. METHODS Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided equally into 4 groups. One group served as the control (group 1), whereas the other three group...

BACKGROUND Nigella sativa Linn (Ranunculaceae) is popularly known as black cumin with a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and antihelmenthic. The seeds are externally applied for eruptions of skin. The seeds are used traditionally for psoriasis tropicus with general pain and eruption of patches. OBJECTIVE The ethanolic extract o...

The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of producing Nigella sativa powder under a foam mat drying technique. A central, composite design of experiments was used to optimize the drying condition and compare the solubility, the antioxidant and mineral content of roasted Nigella sativa, and the foam mat dried Nigella sativa powder. Foams were prepared from Nigella sativa solution b...

Bombyx mori (BM) silk fibroin is composed of two different subunits: heavy chain and light chain fibroin linked by a covalent disulfide bond. Current methods of separating the two silk fractions is complicated and produces inadequate quantities of the isolated components for the study of the individual light and heavy chain silks with respect to new materials. We report a simple method of separ...

We quantitated the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in homogenates and subcellular fractions of inner ear tissues from the rat and guinea pig and demonstrate inhibition of cochlear ODC by the aminoglycoside neomycin. Subcellular fractionation showed the enzyme associated with the post-mitochondrial supernatant fraction in each of the tissues: Specific activities of ODC, defined as alph...