The disposition and pharmacokinetics of Dioscorea nipponica Makino extract in rats

This study was aimed to investigate the disposition and pharmacokinetics of the total saponins of dioscorea (TSD) in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administrated with 3H labeled TSD at a single dose ratio of 80 mg TSD per 1 kg rat. Blood samples and feces were collected at different time points to measure the level of TSD activity. At the final time point, determination of the disposition of TSD in lung, kidney, heart, liver, adrenal, and small intestine were performed. From the blood samples' emission of radioactivity, pharmacokinetic parameters were derived as T1/2 = 33.33 ± 4.48 h, T max = 6.5 ± 0.71 h, AUC = 119400 ± 421097.67, and C max = 2643.33 ± 192.26 dpm/ml. There was 51.609% of 3H labeled substance excreted in 24 h. These results suggested that blood concentration of 3H-TSD was extremely low and the majority of TSD was excreted in the feces. The TSD was extensively distributed to multitissues. The radioactivity level was measured to be the highest in the liver, adrenal gland, and wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The radioactivity of TSD was still being detected in blood after 96 h. This showed TSD was excreted in vivo very slowly. © 2008 Academic Journals.published_or_final_versio

Detection of Bacteroides forsythus and Porphyromonas gingivalis in infected root canals during periapical periodontitis by 16S rDNA

Periapical periodontitis is termed when inflammation of the periodontium is caused by irritants of endodontic origin. Bacterial strains in the root canals were not easy to be identified by the traditional agar culture. In this study a 16S rDNA-based polymerase chain reaction detection method was used to determine the occurrence of Bacteroides forsythus and Porphyromonas gingivalis in chronic periapical periodontitis among Chinese patients. 217 patients with chronic periapcial periodontitis were recruited and a total of 266 teeth were collected. The subjects had no systemic diseases, no antibiotics taken, no root canal treatment (RCT) performed on the infected teeth in the last 3 months. The DNA of bacteria in the root canal was extracted and amplified using universal 16S rDNA primers. The amplification was performed to detect B. forsythus and P. gingivalis using oligonucleotide primers designed fromspecies-specific 16S rDNA signature sequences. B. forsythus and P. gingivalis were detected in 26 and 40% of the participants, respectively. 24 out of 217 infected root canals demonstrated the existence of both types of bacteria, the utility of a 16S rDNA-based PCR detection method showed high sensitivity and high specificity to directly detect B. forsythus, P. gingivalis or other pulpal microorganisms from samples of root canal infections. The results indicated that B. forsythus or P. gingivalis might be a member of the microbiota associated with chronic periapical periodontitis and there was a strong association between the studied species and periodontitis

The disposition and pharmacokinetics of Dioscorea nipponica Makino extract in rats

This study was aimed to investigate the disposition and pharmacokinetics of the total saponins of dioscorea (TSD) in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administrated with 3H labeled TSD at a single dose ratio of 80 mg TSD per 1 kg rat. Blood samples and feces were collected at different time points to measure the level of TSD activity. At the final time point, determination of the disposition ofTSD in lung, kidney, heart, liver, adrenal, and small intestine were performed. From the blood samples’ emission of radioactivity, pharmacokinetic parameters were derived as T1/2 = 33.33 ± 4.48 h, Tmax = 6.5 ± 0.71 h, AUC = 119400 ± 421097.67, and Cmax = 2643.33 ± 192.26 dpm/ml. There was 51.609% of 3H labeledsubstance excreted in 24 h. These results suggested that blood concentration  of 3H-TSD was extremely low and the majority of TSD was excreted in the feces. The TSD was extensively distributed to multitissues. The radioactivity level was measured to be the highest in the liver, adrenal gland, and wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The radioactivity of TSD was still being detected in blood after 96 h. Thisshowed TSD was excreted in vivo very slowly