Effect Of Individual Fractions Research Articles

Cytotoxic activity of water extract fractions of Hypericum androsaemum L. on colorectal cancer cells

Hypericum androsaemum L. (HA) grows wild in shadowy sites, namely in northern region of Portugal, where it is widely used as a medicinal herb. According to some authors, this species is used in popular medicinal preparations as a cholagogue, hepatoprotector, and diuretic and in kidney failure [1]. In this work, the composition of water soluble and volatile components of HA infusions was characterized and the total extract (HA-T) fractioned in order to identify the active compound(s) responsible for their cytotoxic effects. HA-T and each of its seven fractions (HA-A to HA-G) were tested against CO115 cells, at 40 µg/mL. Effects on cell viability/proliferation and apoptosis were assessed by MTT and nuclear condensation assays, respectively. The expression of intermediates of the MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signalling pathways and the expression of apoptotic markers were evaluated by western blot. HA-E and F showed decreases in cell viability in relation to control. Of these fractions, only HA-F showed to slightly increase apoptosis. The effects of individual fractions did not explain the 40% apoptosis reached in response to the total and the reconstituted extract, suggesting that the synergistic effects of the extract's constituents are needed for the HA cytotoxic properties against the CO115 cells. In agreement with this, only HA-T showed significant increases in the apoptotic markers cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved PARP-1. Relative to the total extract (HA-T), only slight decreases in BRaf (HA-E), pERK (HA-E) and pAKT (HA-E and HA-F) were observed. Only HA-T reduced significantly the expression of BRaf, pErk and pAKT. These results support the hypothesis that there is more than one compound in the HA-T responsible for the HA toxicity on the colorectal cancer cells.

Effects of individual fractions of cerebrospinal fluid from drug addicts treated by liquor adsorption on behavior of recipient rats

Effects of individual fractions of the liquor preparation from drug addicts, eluted from filters after liquor adsorption session, on rat behavior in an elevated plus-maze was analyzed. Fraction I activated and fraction IV inhibited orientation and exploratory activity and increased anxiety of experimental animals. Effects of fraction IV coincided with the effect of total preparation on rat behavior in an elevated plus-maze, which indicates that this fraction contains substances actively accumulating in the liquor of drug addicts and partially responsible for functional changes observed during abstinence.

Fractionation of brain extracts for acid phosphatase-elevating activity.

IN a previous communication1 it was demonstrated that in vitro incubation of rat pituitary with whole aqueous hypothalamic extract increased acid phosphatase activity in the pituitary gland. Temporal lobe extract had no such effect. The results of a study of the effect of individual fractions of the extracts are given below.