6-Shogaol attenuated ethylene glycol and aluminium chloride induced urolithiasis and renal injuries in rodents

The 6-shogaol, is a flavanone type flavonoid that is abundant in citrus fruit and has a wide range of pharmacological effects. The present study attempted to evaluate the antiurolithic effect of 6-shogaol on ethylene glycol (EG) and ammonium chloride (AC)-induced experimental urolithiasis in rats. The efficacy of 6-shogaol 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg was studied in EG 0.75% (V/V) and AC 1% (W/V) experimentally induced urolithiasis in rats for 21 days. The weight difference, urine volume, the levels of calcium, phosphate, magnesium, oxalate and uric acid in urine was observed. The blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, uric acid in serum and levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) were also measured. Histopathological analyses in kidneys were also performed. The rats weights were higher in the 6-shogaol groups than the urolithiasis group. EG caused a significant increase in serum creatinine (p < 0.05), BUN (P < 0.001), and uric acid (p < 0.01) while treatment with Cystone (750 mg/kg), and 6-shogaol (50 and 100 mg/kg) showed the significant reduction in increased serum levels of creatinine (p < 0.001), uric acid (p < 0.01) and BUN (p < 0.001). Administration of EG and AC showed statistically significant (p < 0.001) elevated levels of MDA and reduction in GSH levels. Treatment of Cystone (750 mg/kg), and 6-shogaol (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.001) reduced MDA levels and an increase GSH levels as compared to EG and AC-treated group. The histological findings further attested antiurolithiatic properties of 6-shogaol. The present study attributed clinical shreds of evidence first time that claiming the significant antiurolithic effect of 6-shogaol and could be a cost-effective candidate for the prevention and treatment of urolithiasis.     

Viral impacts on honey bee populations: A review

Honey bee is vital for pollination and ecological services, boosting crops productivity in terms of quality and quantity and production of colony products: wax, royal jelly, bee venom, honey, pollen and propolis. Honey bees are most important plant pollinators and almost one third of diet depends on bee’s pollination, worth billions of dollars. Hence the role that honey bees have in environment and their economic importance in food production, their health is of dominant significance. Honey bees can be infected by various pathogens like: viruses, bacteria, fungi, or infested by parasitic mites. At least more than 20 viruses have been identified to infect honey bees worldwide, generally from Dicistroviridae as well as Iflaviridae families, like ABPV (Acute Bee Paralysis Virus), BQCV (Black Queen Cell Virus), KBV (Kashmir Bee Virus), SBV (Sacbrood Virus), CBPV (Chronic bee paralysis virus), SBPV (Slow Bee Paralysis Virus) along with IAPV (Israeli acute paralysis virus), and DWV (Deformed Wing Virus) are prominent and cause infections harmful for honey bee colonies health. This issue about honey bee viruses demonstrates remarkably how diverse this field is, and considerable work has to be done to get a comprehensive interpretation of the bee virology.     

Foliar application of ascorbic acid enhances salinity stress tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) through modulation of morpho-physio-biochemical attributes,ions uptake,osmo-protectants and stress response genes expression

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a major cereal grain and is known as a halophyte (a halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity). We therefore conducted a pot experiment to explore plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, stomatal properties, oxidative stress and antioxidant response and their associated gene expression and absorption of ions in H. Vulgare. The soil used for this analysis was artificially spiked at different salinity concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM) and different levels of ascorbic acid (AsA) were supplied to plants (0, 30 and 60 mM) shortly after germination of the seed. The results of the present study showed that plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange parameters, stomatal properties and ion uptake were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by salinity stress, whereas oxidative stress was induced in plants by generating the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells/tissues compared to plants grown in the control treatment. Initially, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and relative gene expression increased to a saline level of 100 mM, and then decreased significantly (P < 0.05) by increasing the saline level (150 mM) in the soil compared to plants grown at 0 mM of salinity. We also elucidated that negative impact of salt stress in H. vulgare plants can overcome by the exogenous application of AsA, which not only increased morpho-physiological traits but decreased oxidative stress in the plants by increasing activities of enzymatic antioxidants. We have also explained the negative effect of salt stress on H. vulgare can decrease by exogenous application of AsA, which not only improved morpho-physiological characteristics, ions accumulation in the roots and shoots of the plants, but decreased oxidative stress in plants by increasing antioxidant compounds (enzymatic and non-enzymatic). Taken together, recognizing AsA's role in nutrient uptake introduces new possibilities for agricultural use of this compound and provides a valuable basis for improving plant tolerance and adaptability to potential salinity stress adjustment.     

Ribosome induces transdifferentiation of A549 and H-111-TC cancer cell lines

Previously we reported that, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can induce human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells to form multipotent cell clusters which are able to transdifferentiate into three germ layer derived cell lineages. Later on, we confirmed that ribosome is responsible for the LAB-induced transdifferentiation and ribosomes from diverse organisms can mimic the LAB effect on HDF cells. In our present study we have shown that, upon incorporation of ribosomes, non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 and gastric tubular adenocarcinoma cell line H-111-TC are transformed into spheroid like morphology those can be transdifferentiated into adipocytes and osteoblast. Our qPCR analysis has revealed that, during the formation of ribosome induced cancer cell spheroids, the expression of the cancer cell associated markers and cell cycle/proliferation markers were altered at different time point. Through our investigation, here we report a novel and a non-invasive approach for cancer cell reprogramming by incorporating ribosomes.     

Role of tissue engineered collagen based tridimensional implant on the healing response of the experimentally induced large Achilles tendon defect model in rabbits: a long term study with high clinical relevance

Background

Tendon injury is one of the orthopedic conditions poses with a significant clinical challenge to both the surgeons and patients. The major limitations to manage these injuries are poor healing response and development of peritendinous adhesions in the injured area. This study investigated the effectiveness of a novel collagen implant on tendon healing in rabbits.

Results

Seventy five mature White New-Zealand rabbits were divided into treated (n = 55) and control (n = 20) groups. The left Achilles tendon was completely transected and 2 cm excised. The defects of the treated animals were filled with collagen implants and repaired with sutures, but in control rabbits the defects were sutured similarly but the gap was left untreated. Changes in the injured and normal contralateral tendons were assessed weekly by measuring the diameter, temperature and bioelectrical characteristics of the injured area. Clinical examination was done and scored. Among the treated animals, small pilot groups were euthanized at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 60 (n = 5 at each time interval) and the remainder (n = 20) and the control animals at 120 days post injury (DPI). The lesions of all animals were examined at macroscopic and microscopic levels and the dry matter content, water delivery and water uptake characteristics of the lesions and normal contralateral tendons of both groups were analyzed at 120 DPI.No sign of rejection was seen in the treated lesions. The collagen implant was invaded by the inflammatory cells at the inflammatory phase, followed by fibroplasia phase in which remnant of the collagen implant were still present while no inflammatory reaction could be seen in the lesions. However, the collagen implant was completely absorbed in the remodeling phase and the newly regenerated tendinous tissue filled the gap. Compared to the controls, the treated lesions showed improved tissue alignment and less peritendinous adhesion, muscle atrophy and fibrosis. They also showed significantly better clinical scoring, indices for water uptake and water absorption, and bioelectrical characteristics than the controls.

Conclusion

This novel collagen implant was biodegradable, biocompatible and possibly could be considered as a substitute for auto and allografts in clinical practice in near future.     

The Prooxidant Action of Dietary Antioxidants Leading to Cellular DNA Breakage and Anticancer Effects: Implications for Chemotherapeutic Action Against Cancer

Plant-derived dietary antioxidants have attracted considerable interest in recent past for their ability to induce apoptosis and regression of tumors in animal models. While it is believed that the antioxidant properties of these agents may contribute to lowering the risk of cancer induction by impeding oxidative injury to DNA, it could not account for apoptosis induction and chemotherapeutic observations. In this article, we show that dietary antioxidants can alternatively switch to a prooxidant action in the presence of transition metals such as copper. Such a prooxidant action leads to strand breaks in cellular DNA and growth inhibition in cancer cells. Further, the cellular DNA breakage and anticancer effects were found to be significantly enhanced in the presence of copper ions. Moreover, inhibition of antioxidant-induced DNA strand breaks and oxidative stress by Cu(I)-specific chelators bathocuproine and neocuproine demonstrated the role of endogenous copper in the induction of the prooxidant mechanism. Since it is well established that tissue, cellular, and serum copper levels are considerably elevated in various malignancies, such a prooxidant cytotoxic mechanism better explains the anticancer activity of dietary antioxidants against cancer cells.     

Effects of Erythropoietin in Murine-Induced Pluripotent Cell-Derived Panneural Progenitor Cells

Induced cell fate changes by reprogramming of somatic cells offers an efficient strategy to generate autologous pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from any adult cell type. The potential of iPS cells to differentiate into various cell types is well established, however the efficiency to produce functional neurons from iPS cells remains modest. Here, we generated panneural progenitor cells (pNPCs) from mouse iPS cells and investigated the effect of the neurotrophic growth factor erythropoietin (EPO) on their survival, proliferation and neurodifferentiation. Under neural differentiation conditions, iPS-derived pNPCs gave rise to microtubule-associated protein-2 positive neuronlike cells (34% to 43%) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor positive oligodendrocytelike cells (21% to 25%) while less than 1% of the cells expressed the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein. Neuronlike cells generated action potentials and developed active presynaptic terminals. The pNPCs expressed EPO receptor (EPOR) mRNA and displayed functional EPOR signaling. In proliferating cultures, EPO (0.1–3 U/mL) slightly improved pNPC survival but reduced cell proliferation and neurosphere formation in a concentration-dependent manner. In differentiating cultures EPO facilitated neurodifferentiation as assessed by the increased number of β-III-tubulin positive neurons. Our results show that EPO inhibits iPS pNPC self-renewal and promotes neurogenesis.     

Antibacterial and antifungal activities of teucrium royleanum (Labiatea)

The crude methanolic extract and subsequent fractions of Teucrium royleanum (Labiatea) were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities. Against tested pathogens, crude extract and subsequent fractions demonstrated moderate to excellent antibacterial activities. Highest antibacterial activity was displayed by the ethyl acetate fraction against S. typhi (100%), against E.coli (76.7%) and against P. aerugenosa (70.8%) followed by the chloroform fraction against S. typhi (85.7%). Similarly, the crude extract and its subsequent fractions showed mild to excellent activities in the antifungal bioassay with maximum antifungal activity against M. canis (87%) by the chloroform fraction followed by the ethyl acetate (71%) and n-butanol (70%) fractions.     

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.