Analysis of the effects of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in menstrual cycle on ankle proprioception,dynamic balance scores and visual-auditory reaction times in healthy young women

Objectives:Menstrual cycle (MC) can affect not only the female reproductive system, but also functions such as neuromuscular performance. For this reason, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) activity in MC on proprioception, balance and reaction times.Methods:For cortisol analysis, saliva samples were taken from the same women (n=43) in the four phases of MC. While State Trait Anxiety Inventory-I (STAI-I) was applied in each phase to support cortisol analysis, pain was measured with visual analogue scale (VAS). Proprioception, dynamic balance, visual and auditory reaction times (VRT-ART) measurements were made in the four phases of MC.Results:Cortisol, STAI-I and VAS scores, angular deviations in proprioception measurements, dynamic balance scores, VRT and ART measurements were found to show statistically significant difference between MC phases (p<0.05). As a result of the post hoc test conducted to find out which MC phase the statistical difference resulted from, it was found that statistically significant difference was caused by the mensturation (M) phase (p<0.05).Conclusions:It was found that neuromuscular performance and postural control was negatively affected by HPA axis activity in M phase of MC and by pain, which is a significant menstrual symptom.     

Posidonia becheri Bronn, 1828 from the Tournaisian of SE Turkey: A palaeobiogeographic enigma

The posidoniform bivalve species Posidonia becheri Bronn, 1828, has been identified for the first time in the Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) sandy limestone-dark grey shale deposits of Hakkari Province, south-eastern Turkey. Palaeogeographically, this area was located at the northern tip of the Gondwanan Arabian Palaeozoic platform at the southern Palaeotethyan margin during the Carboniferous. The closest localities to this new occurrence are the Lower Carboniferous of northern England, Germany (Kulm Basin), Poland (Walbrzych Basin), Northwest Belgium, Spain (Cantabrian Mountains), Portugal, and Northwest Turkey (Zonguldak Basin). All these locations are considered parts of the Avalonian or Perigondwanan terranes, and were located NW of the Palaeotethys. Hence, our new finding from the SE Palaeotethyan margin, together with the data from Morocco, indicates that this posidoniid bivalve had probably been transported by oceanic currents in its larval stage to lower palaeolatitudes (about 50° S) within the Palaeotethyan Ocean during the Early Carboniferous, or alternatively, the northern Arabian platform margin was located in lower latitudes than previously suggested.     

Immobilization of a thermostable α-amylase, Termamyl, onto nitrocellulose membrane by Cibacron Blue F3GA dye binding

Highly porous nitrocellulose membranes were prepared by a solvent casting technique for the first time to immobilize α-amylase. An affinity dye, namely Cibacron Blue F3GA (CB), was incorporated covalently within the structure. The nitrocellulose–CB derivatized membranes were used for the immobilization of a starch degrading enzyme, α-amylase. Optimum conditions of immobilization for highest apparent activity were determined as pH 6.0, temperature 50°C and initial enzyme concentration 0.317 KNU/l. Under these optimum conditions, maximum enzyme immobilization yield was around 21% of the initial amount of the enzyme in the solution. Performance of free and immobilized enzymes at the same amount was compared for repeated runs. Up to the third use, immobilized enzyme showed higher activity than that of free enzyme mainly due to higher enzyme concentration in the membrane structure, then the apparent activity decreased gradually. However, when regenerated by switching pH to cause contraction/expansion of the structure, the membrane showed the highest activity, almost 2.5 times than that of the free enzyme. This unusual feature along with inexpensive cost may well make the nitrocellulose membrane an economical material for industrial application in glucose syrup production.     

Metabolite Profiling by Hyphenated Liquid Chromatographic Mass Spectrometric Technique (HPLC‐DAD‐ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS/MS) and Neurobiological Potential of Haplophyllum sahinii and H. vulcanicum Extracts

In the current study, the ethanol extracts of flower, stem, and root parts of two endemic Turkish species, e. g., Haplophyllum sahinii O. Tugay & D. Uluku? and H. vulcanicum Boiss . & Heldr ., were screened against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) associated with Alzheimer's disease as well as tyrosinase (TYR) linked to Parkinson's disease using ELISA microplate assay at 200 μg/mL. Among the extracts, the highest inhibition was caused by the stem extract of H. sahinii against BChE (IC₅₀=64.93±1.38 μg/mL). Consistently, all of the extracts were found to exert a selective inhibition towards BChE to some extent. It was only the root extract of H. vulcanicum that could inhibit AChE at low level (IC₅₀=203.18±5.33 μg/mL). None of the extracts displayed an inhibition over 50 % against TYR. Metabolite profiling of the extracts was achieved by a highly hyphenated liquid chromatographic mass spectrometric technique (HPLC‐DAD‐ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS/MS), which revealed the presence of furoquinoline (β‐fagarine, γ‐fagarine) and amide (tubasenicine, tubacetine) alkaloids; furano‐ (rutamarin), pyrano‐ (xanthyletine), and geranyloxy coumarins; phenylpropanoid (secoisolariciresinol), arylnaphthalene (mono‐O‐acetyldiphyllin apioside), and dibenzylbutyrolactone (kusunokinin, haplomyrfolin) lignans. Several important differences were observed between the extracts analyzed. β‐Fagarine was the major alkaloid in H. vulcanicum, whereas γ‐fagarine was present only in the roots of both Haplophyllum species; moreover, secoisolariciresinol and secoisolariciresinol dimethyl ether were the main lignans in the stems and flowers. This is the first study identifying ChE and TYR inhibitory effect and metabolic profiles of H. vulcanicum and H. sahinii.     

Assessment of Aflatoxin M1 and Heavy Metal Levels in Mothers Breast Milk in Famagusta,Cyprus

Breast milk contributes towards optimal nutrition for infants. However, studies showed that it can also contain different toxins and heavy metals, which reduce its health benefits. The aim of this study is to determine the level of contaminants such as aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), Pb, Cd, As, and Hg in breast milk samples from Famagusta, Cyprus. Correlations between moldy food consumption, smoking habits of the mothers, and contaminant levels in breast milk were also investigated. Breast milk samples from 50 lactating mothers in rural and urban areas of Famagusta District were analyzed for AFM1 by ELISA. Eighty percent of them were found to be contaminated with AFM1 with the mean measurement of 7.84?±?1.72 ng/l. Socio-demographic status, moldy food consumption habits, and smoking status do not have any effect on the AFM1 levels observed in breast milk. Heavy metal levels in breast milk were examined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the mean measurements were1.19?±?1.53 ppm for Pb, 0.73?±?0.58 ppm for As, 0?±?0.20 ppm for Hg, and 0.45?±?0.23 ppm for Cd. This study indicates that the levels of these contaminants in breast milk samples obtained in Famagusta District are well within the acceptable levels. However, the presence of AFM1 and heavy metals still may pose risks for infant health.     

Genetic and environmental influences on one-trial conditioned context aversion in mice

Anticipatory nausea (AN) is caused by an association between contextual cues and the experience of nausea (the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation treatment) and it develops predominantly in female patients undergoing chemotherapy. Preclinical studies in rodents show that the administration of an illness-inducing agent in the presence of novel contextual cues can cause conditioned context aversion (CCA) and this has been proposed to model AN. The literature also suggests that brief pre-exposure to a novel context prior to shock delivery is critical in the development of contextual fear conditioning in rodents (a phenomenon known as Immediate Shock Deficit), but this has not been assessed in CCA. The aim of present study was to develop a CCA paradigm to assess this in outbred (CD1) and inbred (C57BL/6J) mice and evaluate potential sex differences. The results revealed that a single conditioning trial in which a distinctive context was paired with LiCl-induced illness was sufficient to elicit a conditioned response in both female and male CD1 outbred mice, but not in C57BL/6J inbred mice. In addition, CCA was facilitated when animals had prior experience with the context. Finally, outbred female mice showed longer and more robust retention of CCA than male mice, which parallels clinical findings. The results indicate the importance of using CD1 outbred mice as an animal model of AN as well as examining sex differences in the CCA paradigm. Similar findings in humans encourage the future use of this novel CCA preclinical mouse model.     

Reverse micelles of dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline in chloroform and their interactions with dapsone.

1H NMR studies of DiPalmitoyl Phosphatidyl Choline (DPPC) in CDCl3 at various concentrations indicate that DPPC exists as reverse micelles for concentrations beyond 6 mM. The chemical environments of the two acyl chains of DPPC are inequivalent and the inequivalence decreases with increasing DPPC concentration. At low concentrations of DPPC (less than 1.0 mM) intramolecular interactions predominate, whereas at high concentrations, intermolecular interactions predominate. Addition of water to this system, at high concentrations of the phospholipid, reduces the intermolecular interactions. In the presence of the antileprotic drug, Diamino Diphenyl Sulfone (DDS or Dapsone), significant shifts were observed only in the choline resonances of DPPC and the amino resonance of the drug, showing that the amino group of DDS interacts with the head group of DPPC.     

Caprylic acid ameliorates rotenone induced inflammation and oxidative stress in the gut-brain axis in Zebrafish

Background

Dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is one of the most common non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Pathological processes causing PD were suggested to initiate in the enteric nervous system (ENS) and proceed to the central nervous system (CNS). There are studies showing that low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets can improve motor symptoms of PD. Caprylic acid (C8) is the principal fatty acid component of the medium-chain triglycerides in the ketogenic diets. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of caprylic acid, in neurotoxin exposed zebrafish focusing on the relationship between intestinal and brain oxidative stress and inflammation.

Methods

Adult zebrafish were exposed to rotenone (5 μg/L) (R group) and caprylic acid (20 and 60 mg/mL) (L?+?HDCA and R?+?HDCA groups) for 30 days. At the end of 30 days locomotor activities were determined. Levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO), nitric oxide, glutathione and superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase activities were determined by spectrophotometric methods and gene expressions of tnf?, il1, il6, il21, ifn? and bdnf were evaluated by RT-PCR in the brain and intestinal tissues of zebrafish.

Results

Caprylic acid ameliorated LPO, NO, SOD and the expressions of tnf?, il1, il6, il21, ifn? and bdnf in brain and intestines. Locomotor activities were only ameliorated in high dose R?+?HDCA group.

Conclusions

Caprylic acid ameliorated the neurotoxin-induced oxidative stress and inflammation both in the brain and intestines and enhanced locomotor activity in zebrafish.

Graphical abstract