Ethanol and other drugs of abuse modulate cAMP-PKA signaling within the mesolimbic reward pathway. To understand the role of the cAMP-PKA signal transduction in mediating the effects of ethanol, we have studied ethanol consumption and the sedative effects of ethanol in three lines of genetically modified mice. We report that mice with the targeted disruption of one Gsalpha allele as well as mic...

The purpose of this updating manuscript is to briefly describe the profile, clinical use and indication of some of the most used sedative and hypnotic compounds. About 2/3 of all hypnotic prescriptions go to chronic use. Benzodiazepines are among the most prescribed drugs worldwide. Women, elderly, psychiatric and medical disease patients are among chronic users of hypnotics. Zolpidem is now th...

Introduction There is some debate as to whether commonly used herbs can help the passage of pre-existing large kidney stones. Given the advances with modern techniques of stone removal, this is probably now a bypothetical issue in most clinical situations. What is probably more relevant is whether herbs can help prevent stone formation or assist in the dissolution (or passage) of small stones. ...

Herbaceous plants are a key component of tropical forests. Previous work indicates that herbs contribute substantially to the species richness of tropical plant communities. However, the processes structuring tropical herb diversity, and how they contrast with woody communities, have been underexplored. Within the understory of a 50-ha forest dynamics plot in central Panama, we compared the div...

this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of nettle (urtica dioica) a medicinal plant in starter and grower feeds on performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical and immunity parameters of broilers. a completely randomized design was used with 324 broilers (ross-308) divided in nine treatments and three replicates (with 12 birds in each replicate) 1 to 42 days....

In 2009 the Brazilian Ministry of Health published a document named RENISUS that lists 71 herbs traditionally used in Brazil that could result in phytomedicines to be dispensed by the governmental health care program. This manuscript reviews female reproductive and/or developmental toxicity information of these herbs. More than half (35) of the herbs lack information regarding female reproducti...

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, pathogenic heat and toxins, which are akin to the inflammatory factors, are the causes of cancer and could promote its virulent development. Therefore, heat-clearing and detoxicating (HCD) herbs are essential components of TCM formulas for cancer treatment. An increasing interest has been focused on the study of HCD herbs and accumulated evidences h...

Chinese tonifying herbs such as herba cistanche, ganoderma and cordyceps, which possess antioxidant and/or immunomodulatory activities, can be useful in the prevention and treatment of age-related diseases. Pharmacological studies on Yang and Yin tonifying herbs suggest that Yang tonifying herbs stimulate mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) generation, presumably through the intermediacy...

Antioxidants are substances that prevent oxidation of other compounds or neutralize free radicals. Spices and herbs are rich sources of antioxidants. They have been used in food and beverages to enhance flavor, aroma and color. Due to their excellent antioxidant activity, spices and herbs have also been used to treat some diseases. In this review article, the chemical composition and antioxidan...

Purpose Classical Chinese herbal therapy uses herb combinations within formulas based upon the belief that there is a synergistic effect between herbs. Herbal pairs and combinations may change the hydrophobicity and ion concentration of the decoction. These changes may increase extraction of constituents from other herbs within the formula. Furthermore, herbs may react within the decoction medi...