A series of novel imperatorin derivatives were synthesized from commercially available xanthotoxin. The in vitro pharmacological evaluation indicated that all of the compounds possessed potent vasodilatory activity. Among them, compounds (5b), (5d) and (5e) exhibited higher vasdilatory activity (with EC(50) values of 0.68 µM, 0.59 µM and 0.49 µM, respectively) than imperatorin (EC(50) = 1.12 µM...

A series of 6-halo-3-hydroxyphenylcoumarins (resveratrol-coumarins hybrid derivatives) was synthesized in good yields by a Perkin reaction followed by hydrolysis. The new compounds were evaluated for their vasorelaxant activity in intact rat aorta rings pre-contracted with phenylephrine (PE), as well as for their inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation induced by thrombin in washed human pla...

Atrial natriuretic peptide, a diuretic, natriuretic and vasorelaxant hormone, is also involved in the regulation of cardiovascular remodeling and it has been recently shown to be significantly associated with higher occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, high plasma ANP levels predict higher mortality rate for cardiovascular events. Moreover, ANP gene alterations are associated with hi...

Nitric oxide (NO) in general plays a beneficial physiological role as a vasorelaxant and the role of NO is decided by its concentration present in physiological environments. NO either facilitates cancer-promoting characters or act as an anti-cancer agent. The dilemma in this regard still remains unanswered. This review summarizes the recent information on NO and its role in carcinogenesis and ...

In this study, we prepared alcohol extracts of the larva, pupa, queen, and cocoon (clony) of B. ignitus, B. terrestris, and B. h. sapporoensis, and tested the anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts by using a rat model of adjuvant-induced edema. The extracts derived from the queen of B. ignitus, the queen of B. terrestris, and the cocoon of B. ignitus decreased hind paw edema after 1 day of...