Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction elicited in ears of male ddY mice was studied by means of assessing dye leakage. In the ear, PCA reaction was more sensitive and reproducible than that in the dorsal skin. The reaction was significantly suppressed by ketotifen, one of antianaphylactic agents. Correspondence to: Dr. Akihide Koda, Department of Pharmacology, Gifu College of Pharmacy, 6...

Vertebrate eyes are known to contain circadian clocks, but their regulatory mechanisms remain largely unknown. To address this, we used a cell line from human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE-YC) with stable coexpression of reporters for molecular clock oscillations (Bmal1-luciferase) and intracellular Ca2+ concentrations (YC3.6). We observed concentration-dependent increases in cytosolic Ca2+ ...

The antiallergic activity of betotastine besilate was evaluated in comparison to that of other compounds in various rat models of allergy. Betotastine besilate inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells and inhibited LTB4 and 5-HETE production in peritoneal cells at high concentrations (1 mM). Following oral administration at doses ranging from 0.1-30 mg/kg p.o., betotastine inh...

This study compares between unmodified carbon paste (CPE; the paste has no ion pair) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane selective electrodes that were used in potentiometric determination of ketotifen fumarate (KTF), where sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) was used as titrant. The performance characteristics of these sensors were evaluated according to IUPAC recommendations which reveal a fas...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Mast cells are sparsely distributed in the kidneys under normal conditions; however, the number of mast cells increases dramatically during renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (RI/RI). When mast cells are stimulated, numerous mediators are released, and under pathological conditions, they produce a wide range of biological effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effe...

Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (LT) is a bipartite toxin composed of protective antigen (PA) and lethal factor (LF). Injection of LT produces clinical signs characteristic of anthrax infection, including pleural edema and vascular collapse in various animal models. We utilized the classic Miles leakage assay to quantify vascular leakage in mice. LT injected intradermally induced leakage as ear...