Remediation of the effect of adding cyanides on an algal/bacterial treatment of a mixture of organic pollutants in a continuous photobioreactor

The effect of inorganic pollutants on the treatment of organic pollutants using algal/bacterial microcosm was investigated in a continuous photobioreactor. The microcosm was composed of Chlorella vulgaris MM1 and Pseudomonas MT1 and was able to efficiently treat artificial waste-water contaminated with 6.4 salicylate and 2.2 mM phenol at a hydraulic retention time of 4 days. No negative effect was recorded when the waste-water was supplemented with 1.6 mM thiocyanate; however, the treatment efficiency severely deteriorated when the system was challenged with 0.74 mM cyanide. Addition of 2 g NaHCO₃ l^?1 did not improve the efficiency of the treatment. Toxicity of the pollutants to the alga was cyanide > thiocyanate > phenol > salicylate. The high toxicity of the waste-water was eliminated either by a 25-fold dilution or by photocatalytic pre-treatment which allowed the subsequent efficient biological treatment.     

Oxidative toxicity in diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease: mechanisms behind ROS/ RNS generation

Reactive oxidative species (ROS) toxicity remains an undisputed cause and link between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Patients with both AD and T2DM have damaged, oxidized DNA, RNA, protein and lipid products that can be used as possible disease progression markers. Although the oxidative stress has been anticipated as a main cause in promoting both AD and T2DM, multiple pathways could be involved in ROS production. The focus of this review is to summarize the mechanisms involved in ROS production and their possible association with AD and T2DM pathogenesis and progression. We have also highlighted the role of current treatments that can be linked with reduced oxidative stress and damage in AD and T2DM.     

The metabolic pathway collection from EMP: the enzymes and metabolic pathways database.

The Enzymes and Metabolic Pathways database (EMP) is an encoding of the contents of over 10 000 original publications on the topics of enzymology and metabolism. This large body of information has been transformed into a queryable database. An extraction of over 1800 pictorial representations of metabolic pathways from this collection is freely available on the World Wide Web. We believe that this collection will play an important role in the interpretation of genetic sequence data, as well as offering a meaningful framework for the integration of many other forms of biological data.     

Therapeutic effects of Typha elephantina leave’s extract against paracetamol induced renal injury in rabbits

Present study focuses on ameliorative potential of Typha elephantina leave’s aqueous (TE.AQ) extract against Paracetamol (PCM) induced toxicity in rabbits. We fed the male rabbits with 300 mg PCM in alone and in combination with TE.AQ at different doses i.e. (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight) or silymarin (100 mg/kg) daily for 21 days. PCM in alone significantly (P < 0.5) increased serum urea, uric acid, creatinine, total protein, albumin, globulin and blood urea nitrogen. Serum sodium, potassium and magnesium level were high. The glutathione, radical scavenging activity and Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were significantly reduced. Treatment with TE.AQ at dose rate 300 mg/kg body weight and Silymarin significantly ameliorated all the parameters when compared with PCM administered group. The 100 and 200 mg of TE.AQ showed no significant effects. The histopathological examination confirmed the therapeutic potential of TE.AQ. These results established the presence of natural antioxidants in Typha elephantina leaves.     

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of Taxus wallichiana Zucc

Current study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antifungal and antibacterial potential of methanol extract and subsequent fractions obtained after partitioning in organic solvents with variable polarity of the aerial parts of the tree Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Traditionally, this plant is often used in folk medicines in Pakistan for treating microbial infections. In order to rationalize the traditional use, methanol extracts of leaf, bark, and heartwood of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. were tested against six bacteria and six fungal strains using the Hole diffusion and macro-dilution methods. All extracts and fractions displayed significant antimicrobial effect. Only three fungal strains, Trichophyton longifusus, Microspoum canis, and Fusarium solani were susceptible to the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.08 to 200 mg/mL. In case of bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi were susceptible to the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.08 to 200 mg/mL. Comparison results were carried out using imipinem, miconazole and amphotericin B as standard antibiotics.     

New water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari,?Hydrachnidia) from Turkey

In this study, the findings of three water mite species of the family Hygrobatidae collected from different streams in Turkey were evaluated. Hygrobates (s. str.) anatolicus Esen & Pešić, sp. n. is described as new for science. Hygrobates (Rivobates) diversiporus Sokolow, 1927 and Atractides (s. str.) nikooae Pešić, 2004, which were illustrated and thoroughly discussed, are new records for the Turkish fauna.     

A novel homozygous 10 nucleotide deletion in BBS10 causes Bardet–Biedl syndrome in a Pakistani family

Bardet–Biedl Syndrome is a multisystem autosomal recessive disorder characterized by central obesity, polydactyly, hypogonadism, learning difficulties, rod-cone dystrophy and renal dysplasia. Bardet–Biedl Syndrome has a prevalence rate ranging from 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 160,000 births although there are communities where Bardet–Biedl Syndrome is found at a higher frequency due to consanguinity. We report here a Pakistani consanguineous family with two affected sons with typical clinical features of Bardet–Biedl Syndrome, in addition to abnormal liver functioning and bilateral basal ganglia calcification, the latter feature being typical of Fahr's disease. Homozygous regions obtained from SNP array depicted three known genes BBS10, BBS14 and BBS2. Bidirectional sequencing of all coding exons by traditional sequencing of all these three genes showed a homozygous deletion of 10 nucleotides (c.1958_1967del), in BBS10 in both affected brothers. The segregation analysis revealed that the parents, paternal grandfather, maternal grandmother and an unaffected sister were heterozygous for the deletion. Such a large deletion in BBS10 has not been reported previously in any population and is likely to be contributing to the phenotype of Bardet–Biedl Syndrome in this family.     

Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism and the risk of left ventricular dysfunction among Egyptian β-thalassemia major

In Egypt, β-thalassemia is the most common hereditary hemolytic anemia. Cardiac dysfunction, secondary to iron overload with formation of oxygen free radicals, is the most common cause of death in β-thalassemia patients. This study was designed to determine whether the allelic genotype of apolipoprotein E (Apo E), which exhibits antioxidant properties, could represent a genetic risk factor for the development of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in β-thalassemia major. Fifty Egyptian β-thalassemia major patients were subjected to echocardiography to assess LV function. Apo E genotyping by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was done for all patients in addition to 50 age and sex matched healthy control subjects. Patients were classified into three groups. Group I and II were clinically asymptomatic. Group II subjects had evidence of LV dilatation, while Group III patients had clinical and echocardiographic findings of LV failure. Apo E4 allele was significantly higher among Group II and III than in controls. In conclusion, Apo E4 allele can be considered as a genetic risk factor for LV dysfunctions in β-thalassemic patients. It could be used as predictive indicator for additional risk of LV failure, particularly in asymptomatic patients with LV dilatation, requiring a closer follow-up, to prevent further disease progression.     

Overlapped Metabolic and Therapeutic Links between Alzheimer and Diabetes

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and diabetes are among the most common diseases associated with ageing. The pathology of AD is strongly associated with accumulated misfolding proteins that results in neuronal dysfunction within the brain. Diabetes, on the contrary, is characterised by altered insulin signaling that results in reduced glucose uptake, metabolic suppression of energy consuming cells and conversion of glucose to fat in the liver. Despite distinguishing features, these diseases share common elements and may in fact be viewed as fundamentally similar disorders that differ in magnitude of specific traits, primarily affected tissues and time of onset. In this review, we outline the fundamental basis of each of the two diseases and highlight similarities in their pathophysiology. Further ahead we will discuss these features in relation to the development of drugs to treat these two diseases, particularly AD, for which the development of therapeutic chemicals has proven to be particularly difficult. We conclude with comments on efforts to develop a simple organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, as a genetic model to be used to study the systems biology of diabetes and AD.     

New binary copper(II) complexes containing intercalating ligands: DNA interactions,an unusual static quenching mechanism of BSA and cytotoxic activities

New binary copper(II) complexes – [Cu(4-mphen)₂(NO₃)]NO₃·H₂O (1), [Cu(5-mphen)₂ (NO₃)]NO₃·H₂O (2), the known complex [Cu(dmphen)₂(NO₃)]NO₃ (3) and [Cu(tmphen)₂ (NO₃)]NO₃·H₂O (4) - (4-mphen: 4-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline, 5-mphen: 5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline, dmphen: 4,7-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, tmphen: 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline), have been synthesized and characterized by CHN analysis, ESI-MS, FTIR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Interaction of these complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been investigated by absorption spectral titration, ethidium bromide (EB) and Hoechst 33,258 displacement assay and thermal denaturation measurement. These complexes cleaved pUC19 plasmid DNA in the absence and presence of an external agent. Notably, in the presence of H₂O₂ as an activator, the cleavage abilities of these complexes are obviously enhanced at low concentration. Addition of hydroxyl radical scavengers like DMSO shows significant inhibition of the DNA cleavage activity of these complexes. BSA quenching mechanism was investigated with regard to the type of quenching, binding constant, number of binding locations and the thermodynamic parameters. The experimental results suggested that the probable quenching mechanism was an unusual static process and hydrophobic forces play a dominant role. The CT-DNA and BSA binding efficiencies of these complexes follow the order: 4 > 3 > 1 > 2. Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicities of these complexes on tumor cells lines (Caco-2, MCF-7 and A549) and healthy cell line (BEAS-2B) showed that these complexes exhibited anticancer activity with low IC₅₀ values. The effect of hydrophobicity of the methyl-substituted phenanthrolines on DNA and protein binding activities of these complexes is discussed.