A Quantitative Study on Vascular Angiotensin Ⅱ Receptors in Rats with Portal Hypertension

Angiotension-Ⅱ(A-Ⅱ) receptor maximal binding capacity (Bmax) and dissociation constants (Kd) of different blood vessels in rats with prehepatic portal hypertension were studied by radioligand binding analysis. The results showed that the A-Ⅱreceptor Bmax. in the thoracic aorta, superior mesenteric artery and portal vein of portal hypertensive animals (113. 7±19. 4 fmol/mg protein, 206.9 ±39. 3 fmol/mg protein and 31. 5±9. 2 fmol/mg protein respectively ) was all significantly lower than that of controls (146. 8±24. 5 fmol/mg protein, 297. 2±44. 7 fmol/mg protein and 53. 4±12.1 fmol/mg protein respectively, P＜0. 01).The A-Ⅱ receptor Kd in the superior mesenteric artery was markedly increased in portal hypertensive animals (1. 03±0.11 nmol/L) compared with that in controls (0. 88±0. 08 nmol/L, P＜0. 05). In the thoracic aorta and portal vein, the A-Ⅱ receptor Kd in portal hypertensive animals was slightly higher than that in controls, but no significant difference was observed between the two groups. The results suggested that the vascular hyporesponsiveness to A-Ⅱ in portal hypertension was caused partially by a reduction in number and a decrease in affinity of vascular A- Ⅱ receptors, and these changes might possibly lead to the formation of hyperdynamic circulation.

In vitro effects of buyang huanwu decoction and its ingredients on inhibiting the specific binding of ~3H-platelet activating factor to its receptor in rabbits

BACKGROUND： Pharmacologic action of traditional Chinese medicine compound is the comprehensive effect of various ingredients, and the interactions of various ingredients are closely correlated with the final effect. In order to reveal the compatibility mechanism of buyang huanwu decoction （BHD）＇s prescription in treating and preventing ischemic cerebrovascular disease, we need to explore the effect and relation of ingredients in prescription except for considering the effect of each ingredient on the whole prescription. OBJECTIVE： To study the effect of BHD and its ingredients in the prescription on the specific binding of 3H-platelet activating factor （PAF） to its receptor （PAFR）in rabbits in vitro, and to analyze the action of each ingredient in the prescription. DESIGN： A decomposed recipe study based on orthogonal test. SETTING： Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. MATERIALS： Five healthy adult New Zealand rabbits of either gender were provided by the Experimental Animal Center of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese medicine. The prescription herbal pieces were purchased from Foshan Kangpu Pharmaceuticals Company and Jianmin Pharmaceuticals Company, and were appraised by Professor Yanchen Xu from College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 3H-PAF was supplied by Amersham Co,Ltd.（Specific activity： 6.475 TBq/mmol;batch number：200402）; PAF standard by Biomol Co., Ltd.（batch number： P1318V）. METHODS： This experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between September and December 2004. ①The seven influencing factors were selected： such as Shenghuangqi , Dangguiwei, Chishao, Dilong, Taoren, Honghua, Chuanxiong. Each factor was divided into two levels, selected or not selected. The tests were arranged according to L8 （27） orthogonal test table. ②The specific binding of 3H-PAF to its receptors in rabbits was measured by radioligand binding assay. The inhibitory rate of the specific binding was used as an assessing index. The inhibitory action of and on 3H-PAF to PAFR binding was analyzed and compared in vitro. The inhibitory action of each ingredient in the prescription BHD on 3H-PAF to PAFR binding was investigated and compared in vitro by direct analysis and analysis of variance of orthogonal test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Effect of 8 prescriptions for L8 （27） orthogonal test table on the specific binding inhibition rate of 3H-PAF and PAFR. RESULTS： According to results of variance analysis of orthogonal test, the inhibitory action of each ingredient in the prescription BHD on 3H-PAF to PAFR binding from the highest to the lowest was in turn Honghua, ShenghuangqL Taoren, Dilong, DangguiweL Chuanxiong, Chishao. Honghua, Shenghuangqi, Taoren, Dilong, Danguiwei were major influence factors to 3H-PAF to PAFR in rabbits （F = 187.829,144.446,59.521,5.018,4.265, P 〈 0.05- 0.01）, but Chuanxiong and Chishao had not obviously inhibitory effect. The specific binding inhibition rate of prescriptions （except Shenghuangqi ） was obviously higher than that of one of prescriptions （Shenghuangqi included）. CONCLUSION： The results of orthogonal test show that Honghua, ShenghuangqL Taoren, Dilong, Dangguiwei are major influencing factors to inhibit binding of sH-PAF to PAFR in rabbits, among which, Honghua is the strongest in ingredients of prescription BHD. The results also reveal that Shenghuangqi is able to weaken the inhibitory effect and to prevent the strong inhibitory effect of blood-activating drugs in BHD.

Characterization of subtype selection properties of R-(-)-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride and its racemate on muscarinic receptors

In order to compare the potential selectivity of R-（-）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride with its racemate （±）-DM- phencynonate hydrochloride on acetylcholine muscarinic receptor subtypes, the five human acetylcholine muscarinic receptor subtypes （M1- M5） （CHO-hml-5R） were cloned and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary （CHO-K1） cell line. The specific mRNAs of the five acetylcholine muscarinic receptor subtypes were detected by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） method, demonstrating the definite expression of muscarinic receptor subtype genes （CHO-hml-5R）. The affinity and saturability of different muscarinic receptor subtypes to [^3H] N-methylscopolamine （[^3H]-NMS） were obtained by radioligand binding assay. Equilibrium binding assay revealed that the maximum binding capacity of [^3H]-NMS （Bmax value） to CHO-hml-5R were 40.22±3.23, 24.53±4.11, 29.65±2.65, 25.41±2.46, 32.78±4.81 pmol/mg·protein, respectively. Kd values of [^3H]-NMS to muscarinic receptors M1 to M5 were 0.97±0.22, 1.16±0.14, 0.99±0.06, 0.56±0.08, 1.12±0.06 nM, respectively. R-（-）-DM- phencynonate hydrochloride was found to block the M4 receptor with a much higher potency （pD2 = 7.48） than those displayed on M1 （pD2 = 6.20）, M2 （pD2 = 5.99）, M3 （pD2 = 5.99） and M5 （pD2 = 6.70） subtypes. However, for （±）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride, no significant subtype receptor selectivity was found. Both （±）-DM- and R-（-）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride showed allosteric effects on muscarinic receptors, the Hill coefficient （nH） of five receptor subtypes was less than 1, respectively. The results revealed that R-（-）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride showed selectivity torwards M4 subtype, and there were allosteric effects for both R-（-）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride and （±）-DM-phencynonate hydrochloride on muscarinic receptors.