€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****ENDOCRINOLOGY***** Auf'mkolk M Ingbar JC Amir SM Winterhoff H Sourgens H Hesch RD Ingbar SH Inhibition by certain plant extracts of the binding and adenylate cyclase stimulatory effect of bovine thyrotropin in human thyroid membranes. In: Endocrinology (1984 Aug) 115(2):527-34 ISSN: 0013-7227 The present studies were undertaken to explore the mechanism by which, as previous studies have shown, freeze-dried aqueous extracts (FDE) of plants of the species Lycopus virginicus and Lycopus europaeus, Melissa officinalis (Laminaceae), and Lithospermum officinale (Boraginaceae) have the ability to inhibit at least many of the effects of exogenous and endogenous TSH on the thyroid gland. To this end, we have examined the in vitro effects of FDE from these plants on the ability of bovine TSH (bTSH) to both bind to human thyroid plasma membranes (TPM) and activate adenylate cyclase therein. FDE of these four species produced a dose-related, ultimately complete, inhibition of the binding of 125I-labeled bTSH when studied at 4 C in a 20 mM Tris-HCl-0.5% BSA buffer, pH 7.45. Half-maximum inhibition of bTSH binding was produced by approximately 50 mU/ml bTSH and only about 10-30 micrograms/ml of the four active FDE. When studied in Tris-BSA-50 mM NaCl buffer at 37 C, these FDE remained inhibitory to bTSH binding, but their potency was decreased to about one fifth of that seen in the absence of NaCl. The binding of [125I]hCG to rat testis membranes was also inhibited by all of these FDE, but no effect on the binding of [125I]insulin to crude rat liver membranes was observed. In concentrations as high as 1 mg/ml, FDE of Verbena officinalis (Verbenaceae), which belongs to the same order (Tubiflorae) as the other plants, but exhibits no antithyrotropic or antigonadotropic activity in vivo, had no effect on either the binding of bTSH to thyroid membranes or the binding of hCG to rat testis membranes. No inhibition of [125I]bTSH binding occurred when TPM were preincubated with the four active FDE, washed, and then incubated with [125I]bTSH in medium devoid of FDE. Hence, the inhibition of [125I]bTSH binding seen when labeled hormone and active FDE were added together was not due to irreversible binding of FDE to TPM or damage to the TSH receptor. When [125I]bTSH was incubated with the active FDE in Tris-BSA and the mixture was chromatographed on Sephadex G-100 using the same buffer, [125I]bTSH was shifted from an apparent mol wt of 30,000 and eluted at the void volume. Direct binding of [125I]bTSH in fractions from the new, large molecular peak was nil. Addition of a large excess of unlabeled bTSH during preincubation prevented the shift in the elution pattern of [125I] bTSH produced by these FDE.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) Registry Numbers: EC 4.6.1.1 (Adenyl Cyclase) 9002-71-5 (Thyrotropin) €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****CONTACT DERMATITIS***** Potter PC Mather S Lockey P Knottenbelt JD Paulsen E Skov PS Andersen KE Immediate and delayed contact hypersensitivity to verbena plants. In: Contact Dermatitis (1995 Nov) 33(5):343-6 ISSN: 0105-1873 Plants from the Verbenaceae family may cause contact dermatitis of unknown nature. This report describes 2 cases of allergic reactions to the Verbena species. A teenage boy developed an anaphylactic allergic response following contact with the leaves of Verbena hybrida. Characterization of the patient's specific IgE response to Verbena hybrida, using Western blots and autoradiography, identified the specific 62000 Dalton allergen present in the verbena leaves to which the patient reacted. This is the first report of an IgE- mediated immediate contact hypersensitivity reaction to Verbena hybrida, a common perennial in South African gardens. The other case was a 23-year-old female gardener who developed immediate and delayed- type contact dermatitis from Verbena elegans 'Cleopatra' produced in a Danish nursery. Prick tests to plant material were considered positive and of an allergic nature. Registry Numbers: 37341-29-0 (IgE) €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****INTERNATIONAL UROLOGY AND NEPHROLOGY***** Grases F Melero G Costa-Bauza A Prieto R March JG Urolithiasis and phytotherapy. In: Int Urol Nephrol (1994) 26(5):507-11 ISSN: 0301-1623 The effects of seven plants with suspected application to prevent and treat stone kidney formation (Verbena officinalis, Lithospermum officinale, Taraxacum officinale, Equisetum arvense, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Arctium lappa and Silene saxifraga) have been studied using female Wistar rats. Variations of the main urolithiasis risk factors (citraturia, calciuria, phosphaturia, pH and diuresis) have been evaluated. It can be concluded that beneficial effects caused by these herb infusions on urolithiasis can be attributed to some disinfectant action, and tentatively to the presence of saponins. Specifically, some solvent action can be postulated with respect to uric stones or heterogeneous uric nucleus, due to the basifying capacity of some herb infusions. Nevertheless, for all the mentioned beneficial effects, more effective and equally innocuous substances are well known. €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****PLANTA MEDICA***** Carnat A Carnat AP Chavignon O Heitz A Wylde R Lamaison JL Luteolin 7-diglucuronide, the major flavonoid compound from Aloysia triphylla and Verbena officinalis. In: Planta Med (1995 Oct) 61(5):490 ISSN: 0032-0943 [No Abstract Available] €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€