Yukika Kitamura | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Effect of L-carnitine on erythroid colony formation in mouse bone marrow cells.

BACKGROUND: l-Carnitine can alleviate uraemic anaemia in haemodialysis patients by improving erythrocyte membrane functions or erythropoiesis, which are depressed under uraemic conditions. l-Carnitine and palmitoyl-l-carnitine were reported to increase the formation of colony-forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) colonies in cultures of fetal mouse liver cells, an effect that depended on the concentration of palmitoyl-l-carnitine but not of l-carnitine. In this study, we investigated l-carnitine's effect on CFU-E colony formation in cell cultures of mouse bone marrow cells. METHODS: Bone marrow from normal female mice was placed in 35 mm culture dishes containing a medium composed of methylcellulose and various nutrients. The dishes were incubated for 48 h, and the colonies of erythroblasts, which were differentiated from CFU-E, consisting of >/=8 cells, were counted in each dish using an inverted microscope. RESULTS: The numbers of CFU-E colonies correlated well with both the initial numbers of bone marrow cells and concentrations of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) in the methylcellulose medium. In the presence of 0.5 or 1.0 IU/ml of rhEPO, l-carnitine at concentrations of 200 and 400 micromol/l significantly enhanced CFU-E colony formation (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: l-Carnitine significantly increased the number of CFU-E colonies in mouse bone marrow cell cultures. This finding suggests that l-carnitine stimulates erythropoiesis, partially accounting for its mitigating effect on renal anaemia.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Beta-hydroxybutyrate, a cerebral function improving agent, protects rat brain against ischemic damage caused by permanent and transient focal cerebral ischemia.

In our previous study, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) was found to prolong survival time and to inhibit cerebral edema by improving energy metabolism in the hypoxia, anoxia and global cerebral ischemia models. In this study, the cerebroprotective effect of BHB was examined in rats with permanent (p)-occlusion and transient (t)-occlusion of middle cerebral artery (MCA). BHB (30 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1) was continuously administered through the femoral vein. In rats with p-MCA occlusion, BHB significantly reduced infarct area at 24 h after the occlusion, but not at 72 h after the occlusion. In rats with 2-h t-MCA occlusion followed by 22-h reperfusion, BHB significantly reduced cerebral infarct area, edema formation, lipid peroxidation and neurological deficits. Moreover, in the t-MCA occlusion model, delayed administration of BHB started at 1 h after the initiation of the MCA occlusion also significantly reduced cerebral infarct area. Taking together the results obtained in our previous study into account, these results indicate that BHB decreased cerebral edema formation and infarct area by improving of the cerebral energy metabolism during ischemia and by inhibition of lipid peroxidation after reperfusion.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗