OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effects of Xiaoyan Lidan Pian extract (XLP) on restraint stress induced liver injury in mice.

METHODSLiver injury mouse model was established by restraint stress. Sixty mice were equally divided into 6 groups, the normal control group, the model group, the Thiopronin group, and the three XLP groups treated with low (125 mg/kg), moderate (250 mg/kg) and high dose (500 mg/kg) XLP respectively. Effect of various treatments was evaluated by assessing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in plasma; malondialdehyde (MDA) content in liver by thiobarbituric acid method; content of nitric oxide (NO) by Griess chemical method; hepatic antioxidant capacity index (ORAC) by fluorescent enzyme immunoassay; glutathione (GSH) content by HPLC; activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX-Px) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) by colorimetry; activity of hepatic mitochondrial respiratory chain complex enzyme (MRCCE) by ultraviolet spectrophotometry; and contents of cytochrome a, b, c, and c1 by the redox differential spectra.

RESULTSAs compared with the model group, in the XLP groups, level of plasma ALT activity, liver content of MDA and NO, and contents of cytochromes were lower, while levels of ORAC index, GSH, GPX-Px and GST in liver, and MRCCE activity were higher.

CONCLUSIONXLP has definite protective effects on stressive liver injury in mice, which may be related to its action in alleviating the oxidative stress condition in mice.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Liver Diseases ; etiology ; Male ; Mice ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Phytotherapy ; Random Allocation ; Restraint, Physical ; adverse effects

Positional asphyxia of restraint means that when an individual was limited in an abnormal body position, asphyxia would take place owing to the disorder of spontaneous respiratory function, and finally it lead to die. So, it belongs to a special type of the mechanical asphyxia. From the cases reported, we could found that it would take place in several conditions. Because the cases were not caused enough recognition, the study has been researched carefully only in recent years. Following the more cases reported, many experts of forensic medicine had investigated it on the mechanism of death and the standard of identification, but they could not reach to agreements. So, they have changed the directions of the researches, began to value the factors of risk and research how to avoid it. In the following text, the mechanism of death, factors of risk, preventive methods, standard of identification and prospecting of positional asphyxia of restraint were reviewed.
Alcoholic Intoxication/physiopathology* ; Animals ; Asphyxia/prevention & control* ; Cause of Death ; Diaphragm/physiopathology* ; Expert Testimony/standards* ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans ; Muscle Fatigue ; Posture/physiology* ; Respiratory Mechanics ; Restraint, Physical/adverse effects*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of sufentanil pretreatment on acute gastric mucosal lesion and its impact on the expression of acid-sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) in thoracic dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons in rats with water immersion-restraint stress (WIRS).

METHODSTwenty-four Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups, namely the normal control group (n=6), WIRS group (n=12) and sufentanil pretreatment group (n=6). Gastric mucosal lesion was induced by WIRS, and after 6 h of WIRS, the gastric tissues were excised and observed under microscope, with the ulcer index (UI) calculated. The expression of ASIC3 in the DRG neurons was detected by immunofluorescence assay, and the ASIC3 mRNA expression by quantitative real-time RT-PCR.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, the rats in the WIRS group showed obvious gastric injury with increased UI and extensive expression of ASIC3 in the DRG neurons. Sufentanil pretreatment of the rats subjected to WIRS significantly alleviated the gastric mucosal injury, lowered the UI, and reduced ASIC3 mRNA expression in thoracic DRG neurons.

CONCLUSIONASIC3 is involved in the development of acute gastric mucosal lesion, and sufentanil pretreatment offers protection of gastric mucosa by inhibiting the expression of ASIC3.

Acid Sensing Ion Channels ; Animals ; Ganglia, Spinal ; metabolism ; Male ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; metabolism ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Restraint, Physical ; adverse effects ; Sodium Channels ; metabolism ; Stomach Diseases ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Stress, Physiological ; Sufentanil ; pharmacology

AIMTo observe the protective effects of tanshinones (tanshinone IIA, tanshinone I, cryptotanshinone and dihydrotanshinone) against liver injury in mice loaded with restraint stress.

METHODSThe liver injury model was established under 12 h restraint stress in mice 5 days after tanshinones treatment. The hepatoprotective effects were evaluated by assessing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in plasma. The contents of vitamin C, GSH and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver were performed by HPLC and TBARS methods, respectively. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay was used to measure the antioxidant capacity.

RESULTSTanshinones decreased ALT and MDA levels, and increased ORAC, vitamin C and GSH levels in liver tissues as compared with restraint stress control. Tanshinones also significantly inhibited oxidation in vitro. Among four tanshinones, dihydrotanshinone was more effective than others both in vivo and in vitro test.

CONCLUSIONTanshinones possesses potent antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo, and protected against liver injury induced by restraint stress. The active mechanisms may be related to their antioxidant capability.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Ascorbic Acid ; metabolism ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; injuries ; metabolism ; Liver Diseases ; blood ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Mice ; Phenanthrenes ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Restraint, Physical ; adverse effects ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Stress, Physiological ; complications