The clinical observation that coronary artery disease is more common in men and postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women has suggested cardioprotective effects of female sex hormones including hormone-mediated coronary vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the sex hormone-induced coronary relaxation is caused by inhibition of Ca mobilization into coronary sm...

The clinical observation that coronary artery disease is more common in men and postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women has suggested cardioprotective effects of female sex hormones including hormone-mediated coronary vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the sex hormone-induced coronary relaxation is caused by inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization into coronary ...

Objective: Bladder function depends upon several complex signaling pathways that induce either contraction or relaxation. We performed nerve re-routing surgery on bladder of decentralized dogs (reinnervated) as a model with the goal of restoring bladder function in spinal cord injured patients. The neuromuscular nicotinic receptor blocker, succinylcholine blocks spinal root-stimulated bladder c...

Hypoxia appears to promote contraction [hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV)] of bovine pulmonary arteries (BPA) through removal of a peroxide-mediated relaxation. This study examines the roles of BPA Nox oxidases and mitochondria in the HPV response. Inhibitors of Nox2 (0.1 mM apocynin and 50 muM gp91-dstat) and mitochondrial electron transport (10 muM antimycin and rotenone) decreased sup...

The aim of this study was to establish the involvement of acetylcholine (Ach) and calcium ions in modulating contractions induced by Bay K8644 (an agonist of calcium channels located in the cell membrane) and KCl (at depolarizing concentrations), and also to examine the importance of the vascular endothelium in the activity of Bay K8644. The study was performed on perfused Wistar rat tail arter...

Prangos ferulacea is a plant found in the Mediterranean and Middle-east regions used as carminative, anti-flatulent, emollient and antibacterial herb. It is believed that the coumarins are responsible for some of known effects of Prangos. In this research the relaxant effects of P. ferulacea coumrin rich extract as well as osthole as its main prenylated coumarins were investigated on rat ileum ...

rhododendron dauricum l. is an ancient chinese traditional herb. the pharmacological effects of r. dauricum extract have been shown in chronic tracheitis. the aim of this study was to investigate the cardiovascular effects of rhododendron dauricum l. flavonoids (rf) on rats and its mechanisms. this study was performed in isolated vascular rings and a rat model of myocardial infarction and isola...

flower of rosa damascena mill is widely used in iran for gastrointestinal (gi) disorders. however, its pharmacological action on ileum contraction has not been studied. in this research we have investigated ileum motility effect of essential oil of flower petals of r. damascena growing in kashan, iran, and two of its constituents. the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation were investigat...

Zataria multiflora Boiss. is used in Iranian traditional medicine to treat gastrointestinal disorders and menrrhalgia. The inhibitory effect of this herb on rat ileum contractions is also reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss. hydroalcoholic leaf extract (ZHLE) on isolated rat uterus in presence of some known uterus stimulants. Pieces of virgi...

Pregnancy is associated with significant adaptations in the maternal hemodynamics and arterial circulation, but the changes in the venous mechanisms during pregnancy are less clear. We hypothesized that pregnancy is associated with alterations in venous function, intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i), and Ca(2+)-dependent mechanisms of venous contraction. Circular segments of infe...