Toxicity studies with potassium embelate, a new analgesic compound

Potassium embelate, 2,5-dihydroxy, 3-undecyl-1, 4-benzoquinone, from Embelia ribes Burm. was subjected to toxicity evaluation which included subacute, chronic, reproductive toxicity testing and teratological investigations in laboratory animals (mice, rats and monkeys). The results did not indicate adverse effects suggesting that potassium embelate is a safe compound.     

Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents – Findings from the MyBreakfast Study

Background

Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents.

Methods

This analysis is from the MyBreakfast study, a national cross sectional study investigating eating habits among primary and secondary school children throughout Malaysia, conducted in 2013. Children (n = 5,165) and adolescents (n = 2,947) who completed two days of dietary assessment using a food record or recall respectively were included. The whole grain content of foods was estimated mainly through the use of quantitative ingredient declarations on food labels. All wholegrain foods were considered irrespective of the amount of whole grain they contained.

Results

Overall, only 25% of children and 19% of adolescents were wholegrain consumers. Mean daily intakes in the total sample were 2.3g/d (SD 5.8g/d) in children and 1.7g/d (SD 4.7g/d) in adolescents and in the consumer’s only sample, mean intakes reached 9.1g/d (SD 8.6) and 9.2g/d (SD 7.1g/d) respectively. Wheat was the main grain source of whole grain while ready to eat breakfast cereals and hot cereals were the main food contributors. Less than 3% of the children and adolescents reached the US quantitative whole grain recommendation of 48g/day.

Conclusion

Whole grain is consumed by only a minority of Malaysian children and adolescents and even among consumers, intakes are well below recommendations. Efforts are needed to firstly understand the barriers to whole grain consumption among Malaysian children in order to design effective health promotion initiatives to promote an increase in whole grain consumption.     

Selection of plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas spp. that enhanced productivity of soybean-wheat cropping system in Central India

The aim of this investigation was to select effective Pseudomonas sp. strains that can enhance the productivity of soybean-wheat cropping systems in Vertisols of Central India. Out of 13 strains of Pseudomonas species tested in vitro, only five strains displayed plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties. All the strains significantly increased soil enzyme activities, except acid phosphatase, total system productivity, and nutrient uptake in field evaluation; soil nutrient status was not significantly influenced. Available data indicated that six strains were better than the others. Principal component analysis (PCA) coupled cluster analysis of yield and nutrient data separated these strains into five distinct clusters with only two effective strains, GRP3 and HHRE81 in cluster IV. In spite of single cluster formation by strains GRP3 and HHRE81, they were diverse owing to greater intracluster distance (4.42) between each other. These results suggest that the GRP3 and HHRE81 strains may be used to increase the productivity efficiency of soybean-wheat cropping systems in Vertisols of Central India. Moreover, the PCA coupled cluster analysis tool may help in the selection of other such strains.     

Piriformospora indica enhances plant growth by transferring phosphate

Piriformospora indica is an endophytic fungus that colonized monocot as well as dicot. P. indica has been termed as plant probiotic because of its plant growth promoting activity and its role in enhancement of the tolerance of the host plants against abiotic and biotic stresses. In our recent study, we have characterized a high affinity phosphate transporter (PiPT) and by using RNAi approach, we have demonstrated the involvement of PiPT in P transfer to the host plant. When knockdown strains of PiPT-P. indica was colonized with the host plant, it resulted in the impaired growth of the host plants. Here we have analyzed and discussed whether the growth promoting activity of P. indica is its intrinsic property or it is dependent on P availability. Our data explain the correlation between the availability of P and growth-promoting activity of P. indica.Key words: Piriformospora indica, phosphate transport, plant growth promotionPhosphorous (P) is one of the most essential mineral nutrients for plant growth and development. In the soil P is present mainly in the form of sparingly soluble complexes that are not directly accessible to plants. Thus, it is the nutrient that limits crop production throughout the world.¹ Plants have therefore evolved a range of strategies to increase the availability of soil P, which include both morphological and biochemical changes at the soil-root interface. For example, increased root growth and branching, proliferation of root hairs, and release of root exudates can increase plant access to inorganic phosphate (Pi) from otherwise poorly available sources.^2,3 Plant root possess two distinct modes of phosphate uptake, direct uptake by its own transporters and indirect uptake through mycorrhizal associations. In plants several high affinity P transporters specifically associated with the uptake of Pi from soil solution. Expression of these transporters is induced in response to P deficiency and enables Pi to be effectively taken up against the large concentration gradient that occurs between the soil solution and internal plant tissues.⁴ However, in arbuscular mycorrhizal associations (indirect uptake), plants acquire Pi from the extensive network of fine extra radical hyphae of fungus, that extend beyond root depletion zones to mine new regions of the soil.⁵ In the case of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), including Glomus versiforme and G. intraradices, the regulation of phosphate transporters that are expressed, typically upregulated under P deficiency but their role in P transfer to the host plant have not been characterized.^5,6P. indica was reported to be involved in high salt tolerance, disease resistance and strong growth-promoting activities leading to enhancement of host plant yield.^7–9 Recently, we have shown the role of PiPT in the P transport to the host plant.¹⁰ Here we discuss the performance of P. indica (grown under P-rich and -deprived conditions and colonized with the host plant) and its involvement in the P transportation to, and the growth of the host plant.     

Involvement of P-glycoprotein and CYP 3A4 in the enhancement of etoposide bioavailability by a piperine analogue

Etoposide, a semi-synthetic derivative of podophyllotoxin, is widely used anticancer agent. Etoposide presents low bioavailability with wide inter-, and intra-patient variability after oral dosing. In an earlier study a piperine analogue, namely, 4-ethyl 5-(3, 4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2E,4E-pentadienoic acid piperidide (PA-1), was shown to cause 2.32-fold enhancement of the absolute bioavailability of co-dosed etoposide in mice. In the present investigation a mechanistic evaluation was undertaken using various in vitro and animal-derived models. In everted rat gut sac studies PA-1 enhanced mucosal uptake of the drug while it inhibited efflux of Rh-123, a P-glycoprotein substrate from serosal-to-mucosal direction. In a single pass in situ perfusion experiment PA-1 significantly reduced the intestinal exsorption rate, exsorption clearance and the total plasma clearance of etoposide. On the other hand PA-1 did not alter the passive diffusion pattern of the drug in PAMPA assay. PA-1 was inhibitory to NADPH-assisted deethylation and demethylation reactions catalyzed by erythromycin N-demethylase, 7-methoxycoumarin-O-demethylase (MOCD) and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD). PA-1 was not cytotoxic to mucosal membrane and showed no adverse effect in acute toxicity determination. The results suggested that PA-1-mediated enhancement in the oral bioavailability of etoposide could possibly be due to its ability to modify P-gp/CYP 3A4 mediated drug disposition mechanisms.     

Contrasting evolution of diversity at two disease-associated chicken genes

There have been significant evolutionary pressures on the chicken during both its speciation and its subsequent domestication by man. Infectious diseases are expected to have exerted strong selective pressures during these processes. Consequently, it is likely that genes associated with disease susceptibility or resistance have been subject to some form of selection. Two genes involved in the immune response (interferon-γ and interleukin 1-β) were selected for sequencing in diverse chicken populations from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Botswana, as well as six outgroup samples (grey, green, red and Ceylon jungle fowl and grey francolin and bamboo partridge). Haplotype frequencies, tests of neutrality, summary statistics, coalescent simulations and phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood were used to determine the population genetic characteristics of the genes. Networks indicate that these chicken genes are most closely related to the red jungle fowl. Interferon-γ had lower diversity and considerable coding sequence conservation, which is consistent with its function as a key inflammatory cytokine of the immune response. In contrast, the pleiotropic cytokine interleukin 1-β had higher diversity and showed signals of balancing selection moderated by recombination, yielding high numbers of diverse alleles, possibly reflecting broader functionality and potential roles in more diseases in different environments. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Anti--Histaminic potentila of fractions from Hedranthera Barteri [(Hook F.) Pichon] root in laboratory rodents

Hedranthera barteri, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-nociceptive activity, anti-histaminic activityL. (HB) is used in the treatment of painful conditions and oedema amongst its folkloric use. The hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of the root of H. barteri were investigated for anti-nociceptive and antiinflammatory properties and probable mechanism of action. Hot plate, tail flick, formalin-induced oedema and acetic acidinduced writhing tests were employed to investigate the anti-nociceptive activity while the anti-inflammatory activity was investigated using carrageenan-induced paw oedema. Anti-histaminic potential of HB root extracts on the rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMCs) was explored through pectrofluorometric method. The root was screened for its phytochemical components. The HB root contains alkaloids,cardenolides and saponins. HXHBR exhibited higher anti-inflammatory potentials (P <0.001). HXHBR dose-dependently (P <0.01) reduced the histamine release from the rat peritoneal mast cells which is comparable with a standard anti-histaminic drug, ketotifen. These results showed that EAHBR and HXHBR possess anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities, and suggested its mechanism of action through the inhibition of histamine, an inflammatory mediator, usually released during the early phase of allergic responses and chronic phase of inflammatory pain. Flavonoids, alkaloids and/or saponins present in HB root may be responsible for its anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties.     

Purification and characterisation of an ester hydrolase from a strain of Arthrobacter species: its application in asymmetrisation of 2-benzyl-1,3-propanediol acylates

An ester hydrolase (ABL) has been isolated from a strain of Arthrobacter species (RRLJ-1/95) maintained in the culture collection of this laboratory. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 1700 U/mg protein and is found to be composed of a single subunit (Mr 32,000), exhibiting both lipase and esterase activities shown by hydrolysis of triglycerides and p-nitrophenyl acetate respectively. Potential application of the enzyme concerns the asymmetrisation of prochiral 2-benzyl-1,3-propanediol esters besides enantioselective hydrolysis of alkyl esters of unsubstituted and substituted 1-phenyl ethanols.