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Abstract:The anti-inflammatory activity of auraptene (AUR), a citrus coumarin, in peripheral tissues is well-known, and we previously demonstrated that AUR exerts anti-inflammatory effects in the ischemic brain; the treatment of mice with AUR for eight days immediately after ischemic surgery suppressed demise and neuronal cell death in the hippocampus, possibly through its anti-inflammatory effects in the brain. We suggested that these effects were at least partly mediated by the suppression of inflammatory mediators derived from astrocytes. The present study showed that (1) AUR, as a pretreatment for five days before and another three days after ischemic surgery, suppressed microglial activation, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in astrocytes, and COX-2 mRNA expression in the hippocampus; (2) AUR suppressed the lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of COX-2 mRNA and the mRNA of pro-inflammatory cytokines in cultured astrocytes; (3) AUR was still detectable in the brain 60 min after its intraperitoneal administration. These results support our previous suggestion that AUR directly exerts anti-inflammatory effects on the brain.

The present study evaluated the effects of treatment with the citrus flavonoid, 3,5,6,7,8,3',4'-heptamethoxyflavone (HMF) on protection against memory impairment and neuronal death in a global cerebral ischemia mouse model. The results showed that HMF, administrated for three days immediately after ischemic surgery, protected against ischemia-induced memory dysfunction, rescued neuronal cell death in the CA1 cell layer, increased the production of BDNF, stimulated the autophosphorylation of CaMK II and suppressed microglial activation in the hippocampus. These results suggest that HMF has a neuroprotective effect after brain ischemia by inducing BDNF production and anti-inflammatory effects.

Key words：lanthanum carbonate, phosphate 〈Abstract〉Lanthanum carbonate chewable tablets can be administered without water. However, it has been reported that phosphate(P)absorption varies according to the degree of chewing of the lanthanum carbonate tablet. To resolve this problem, a granule formulation of lanthanum carbonate has been released. We investigated P absorption when the new granule formulation of lanthanum carbonate was administered. We administered the granule formulation of lanthanum carbonate to 18 hemodialysis patients previously treated with a chewable tablet formulation of lanthanum carbonate. The mean serum P concentration significantly declined from the initial level of 5.69±0.86 mg／dL to 5.38±0.86 mg／dL at two weeks and to 5.20±1.20 mg／dL at four weeks. When the daily dose of lanthanum carbonate was higher, the decrease in the serum P concentration might be larger. No significant changes were seen in the serum calcium(Ca)or intact parathyroid hormone(iPTH)levels.