€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****BRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION***** Horigome T Kumar R Okamoto K Effects of condensed tannins prepared from leaves of fodder plants on digestive enzymes in vitro and in the intestine of rats. In: Br J Nutr (1988 Sep) 60(2):275-85 ISSN: 0007-1145 1. Of the nineteen plants screened, six were found to contain large quantities of condensed tannins. Black locust (Robinia pseudo- Acacia), bush clover (Lespedeza bicolor), wistaria (Wistaria floribunda) and Japanese knotgrass (Reynoutria japonica) were used for the present experiment. Tannins of the investigated plants were fractionated into three or four molecular forms, according to the degree of polymerization, by chromatography on a column of Sephadex LH-20. 2. The protein-precipitating capacity of the fractionated tannins increased with the increase in degree of polymerization. The inhibitory effect of tannins on trypsin (EC 3.4.21.4), alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) and lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) activities in vitro also increased with the increase in degree of polymerization. The digestion of tannin-bovine serum albumin complex by trypsin was related to the degree of polymerization of tannins complexed. 3. Inclusion of black locust tannins in the diet (10 g/kg) depressed the activities of trypsin and alpha-amylase in the upper, middle and lower parts of the intestine of the rats, but the lipase activity was increased in the middle part and remained unaffected in the upper and lower parts. It is presumed that the tannins have little affinity for lipase. 4. Digestion trials, when the microflora level of the alimentary canal of rats was reduced by dietary antibiotic treatment, revealed that the inclusion of tannins in the diet (20 g/kg) depressed the digestibilities of proximate constituents, except crude fat, and increased faecal bile acid excretion. Registry Numbers: EC 3.1.1.3 (Lipase) EC 3.2.1.- (Amylases) €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****JOURNAL OF OCULAR PHARMACOLOGY***** Chiou GC Li BH Wang MS Facilitation of retinal function recovery by natural products after temporary ischemic occlusion of central retinal artery. In: J Ocul Pharmacol (1994 Summer) 10(2):493-8 ISSN: 8756-3320 The b-wave of electroretinogram (ERG) was used as an indicator of the retinal function in this research to study the facilitation of retinal function recovery by some natural products isolated from medicinal plants. The retinal ischemia was induced by occlusion of the central retinal artery. It was found that the recovery of b-waves was limited to approximately 30-37% in control animals, whereas the b- wave recovery was doubled by natural products, including scoparone, corylifolinin and EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-0-gallate). Lespedeza flavanone A had biphasic action by suppressing the b-wave recovery below control level initially, then enhancing the b-wave recovery over the control rate later. These results indicate that some natural products could be used for the treatment of ischemic retinopathy. €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€ *****JOURNAL DE PHARMACIE DE BELGIQUE***** Brasseur T [Flavonoids as medicines] Medicaments renfermant des flavonoides. In: J Pharm Belg (1989 Nov-Dec) 44(6):403-10 ISSN: 0047-2166 (Published in French) Although flavonoids have been used for a long time, many medical practitioners and pharmacists know very little about them. This article gives a few particulars of some flavonoids and plant extracts: rutin, water soluble derivatives of rutin, citroflavonoids, anthrocyanins, procyanidins, silymarin, Ginkgo biloba, Chrysanthellum indicum and Lespedeza capitata. €€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€