AIMS Hawthorn's efficacy when added to contemporary evidence-based heart failure therapy is unknown. We aimed to determine whether hawthorn increases submaximal exercise capacity when added to standard medical therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 120 ambulatory patients aged > or = 18 years with New York Heart Association (NYHA) cla...

Rev Esp Cardiol 2004;57(4):347-56 347 Chronic heart failure secondary to ventricular dysfunction is characterized by neurohormonal activation, reflected mainly as increased sympathetic and reninangiotensin system activation. Increased plasma levels of several neurohormones have been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Neurohormone activation is part of the mechanism of compensati...

Chronic heart failure secondary to ventricular dysfunction is characterized by neurohormonal activation, reflected mainly as increased sympathetic and renin-angiotensin system activation. Increased plasma levels of several neurohormones have been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Neurohormone activation is part of the mechanism of compensation that is activated to maintain hemo...

Nine neuropeptides isolated from Drosophila melanogaster and five neuropeptides, previously isolated from the CNS of Limulus with antisera to FMRFamide-related peptides, were tested for their effects on the myogenic heart of Drosophila melanogaster. Of the native peptides, TDVDHVFLRF-NH(2) (Dromyosuppressin), DPKQDFMRFamide, and PDNFMRFamide significantly slowed the heart. Of the Limulus peptid...

Octopamine has been called the 'fight or flight' hormone of insects. We tested this hypothesis by measuring octopamine levels in the haemolymph of field crickets after fighting, flying, courting and escape behaviours. Octopamine levels in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus increased during aggressive (agonistic) behaviour from baseline levels of 4.5 +/- 2.1 pg microliters-1 haemolymph to 24.3 +/- ...

We aimed to investigate the mechanism of shaking as a prenatal stressor impacting the development of the offspring and Chinese medicines correcting the alterations. Pregnant rats were randomized into earthquake simulation group (ESG), herbal group (HG) which received herbal supplements in feed after shaking, and control group (CG). Findings revealed body weight and open field test (OFT) score o...

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged in recent years as a tractable system for studying sleep. The sleep-wake dichotomy represents one of the principal transitions in global brain state, and neurohormones and neuromodulators are well known for their ability to change global brain states. Here, we describe studies of two brain systems that regulate sleep in Drosophila, the neurohorm...

The quantitative distribution of FMRFamide-like peptides in the nervous system and in their putative target sites in the locust Schistocerca gregaria is described using radioimmunoassay techniques. The nature of the immunoreactive material has been characterized by high-pressure liquid chromatography. At least six peaks of FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity can be separated in extracts of locust n...

We examined Period (PER) protein regulation in the brain of the silkmoth Antheraea pernyi. PER expression is restricted to the cytoplasm and axons of eight neurons, with no evidence of temporal movement into the nucleus. These neurons appear to be circadian clock cells, because PER and per mRNA are colocalized and their levels oscillate in these cells, Timeless protein immunoreactivity is coexp...

Malhotra and Pundlik (7) observed that after reserpine, there was increase in the acetylcholine content of the hypothalamus, the temporal lobe, the frontal lobe, the cerebellum, and the spinal cord whilst there was decrease in the hippocampus. Malhotra and Mehta (8), reported that after meprobamate, there was significant increase in the acetylcholine content of the hypothalamus and the hippocam...