Catechol-O-methyl tranferase (COMT; E.C.2.1.1.6) is widely distributed enzyme in nature that plays an essential role in the metabolism of catechol neurotransmitters and catechol linked foreign entities. As L-DOPA, a key medicine in Parkinsonism is being catabolised by COMT, this justified the interest in developing improved COMT inhibitors as significant adjunct to L-DOPA therapy. Although tolc...

1. Blood pressure and heart rate responses to adrenaline, noradrenaline, tyramine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and stimulation of the spinal sympathetic outflow were measured in pithed rats pretreated either with progesterone (20 mg/kg daily for 14 days) or the vehicle solution of ethyl oleate.2. Pretreatment with progesterone increased the durations but not the magnitudes of the blood pressure and hea...

Fishman and Tulchinsky (1) present evidence that the catechol estrogen 2hydroxyestrone suppresses serum prolactin in normal ovulatory young women. However, in 3 of the 12 subjects studied the authors were unable to suppress serum prolactin and suggested that prolactin response to 2-hydroxyestrone is subjectand not time-dependent. In a study designed to evaluate the kinetics of catechol estrogen...

background : a single nucleotide variation within  atechol-o-methyl transferase (comt) gene may alter the comt enzyme activity level. polymorphism of val158met in the comt gene has been related to malignancy. in this regard, a study was carried out to find a possible association between the comt gene polymorphism in patients with sporadic prostate cancer (pca) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (...

BACKGROUND Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst., commonly known as Brahmi, is renowned in Indian traditional system for its potent memory enhancing activity, which has been validated by various scientific studies. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to understand the molecular mechanism of memory enhancing activity of BacoMind® (BM), a standardized extract of B. monnieri. MATERIALS AND METHOD...

Catechol, 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, prepared through bacterial biotransformation from higher order polyphenols, has been proposed to regulate carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the context of type 2 diabetes. This review aims contextualize this finding. It describes biosynthesis catechol both glucose, and as a degradation product natural products transformation. The then considers mechanism act...

Disposition of lasofoxifene (LAS; 6-phenyl-5-[4-(2-pyrrolidin-1-yl-ethoxy)-phenyl]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-naphthalen-2-ol. tartrate) was investigated in rats and monkeys after oral administration of a single oral dose of [(14)C]LAS. Total mean recoveries of the radiocarbon were 96.7 and 94.3% from rats and monkeys, respectively. The major route of excretion in both species was the feces, and based ...

Although an enormous and still growing number of biologically diverse methyltransferases have been reported and identified, a comprehensive understanding of the enzymatic methyl transfer mechanism is still lacking. Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT), a member of the family that acts on small metabolites as the substrate, catalyzes methyl transfer from S-adenosyl-l-methionine (AdoMet) to glycine...

Parkinson's disease is associated with a variety of dermatologic disorders and the study skin may provide insights into pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this common neurodegenerative disorder. Skin in patients can be divided two major groups: 1) non-iatrogenic disorders, including melanoma, seborrheic dermatitis, sweating bullous pemphigoid, rosacea, 2) iatrogenic related either to syst...