nigella sativa (n. sativa) is a spice plant which has been traditionally used for culinary and medicinal purposes. different therapeutic properties including the beneficial effects on asthma and dyspnea, digestive and gynecology disorders have been described for the seeds of n. sativa. there is evidence of the relaxant effects of this plant and some of its constituents on different types of smo...

It has been suggested that papaverine relaxes the smooth muscle through inhibition of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) and subsequent accumulation of cellular cyclic AMP (1-4). On the other hand, our previous study indicated that the relaxant effect of papaverine on the smooth muscle is partially due to a mechanism which is only activated in the presence of external sodium ion (5). Therefore,...

The ability of forskolin and isoproterenol to inhibit the contractile action of the muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine-M, was investigated in smooth muscle from wild-type and M(2) muscarinic receptor knockout mice. Forskolin (5.0 micro M) caused a significant reduction in the contractile activity of oxotremorine-M in ileum, trachea, and urinary bladder from both wild-type and M(2) muscarinic rece...

Motor depressant effects of diazepam were studied in the intact, decerebrate and high spinal cat. Diazepam (0.125516 mg/kg, i.v.) produced a depression of both the patellar and linguomandibular reflexes in the intact cat. In the high spinal (Cl) cat only the linguomandibular reflex was depressed. Facilitation and inhibition of the patellar reflex elicited in both intact and high spinal (Cl) cat...

1. Our previous results showed that the non-selective nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-N(G)-nitroarginine (L-NOARG) and the selective inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitor N-(3-(acetaminomethyl)-benzyl)acetamidine (1400W) inhibited the relaxant effect of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in isolated smooth muscle cells of the mouse gastric fundus, suggesting the involvement of iNOS. The i...

Thiocolchicoside is a commonly used muscle relaxant in the treatment of acute painful muscle spasms. It exhibits a selective affinity for the inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid and glycinergic receptors, although, the exact mechanism for muscle relaxant property is not known. It has a proconvulsant action and hence should be avoided in patients predisposed to seizures. The recent drug warning f...

Corresponding author: Kwang Rae Cho, M.D., Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Gaegeum 2-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan 614-735, Korea. Tel: 82-51-890-6520, Fax: 82-51-898-4216, E-mail: [email protected] This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// c...

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a progressive neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The sensitivity to non-depolarizing muscle relaxant in a patient with muscle dystrophy is reportedly higher than that in normal individuals, and the duration of the effect is known to be prolonged. In this report, we present the case of a 58-year-old man with BMD who underwent lap...