Simple chemiluminescence determination of ketotifen using tris(1,10 phenanthroline)ruthenium(II)‐ Ce(IV) system

A new method using chemiluminescence (CL) detection has been developed for the simple determination of ketotifen fumarate (KF). The method is based on the catalytic effect of KF in the CL reaction of tris(1,10 phenanthroline)ruthenium(II), Ru(phen)₃²⁺, with Ce(IV) in sulfuric acid medium. The CL response was detected using a lab‐made chemiluminometer. Effects of chemical variables were investigated and under optimum conditions, the CL intensity was proportional to the concentration of the drug over the range 0.34‐34.00 µg mL^?1 KF. The limit of detection (S/N=3) was 0.09 µg mL^?1. Effects of common ingredients were investigated and the method was applied successfully for determining KF in pharmaceutical formulations and human plasma. The percent of relative standard deviation (n=11) at level of 3.4 µg mL^?1 of KF was 4.6% and the minimum sampling rate was 70 samples per hour. The possible CL mechanism is proposed based on the kinetic characteristic of the CL reaction, CL spectrum, UV‐Vis and phosphorescence spectra. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Harnessing an Integrative In Silico Approach to Engage Highly Immunogenic Peptides in an Antigen Design Against Epsilon Toxin (ETX) of Clostridium perfringens

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Epsilon toxin (ETX) is one of four lethal toxins of Clostridium perfringens produced by types B and D of the pathogen. This pore-forming...     

Alteration of Phospholipase C Expression in Rat Visual Cortical Neurons by Chronic Blockade of Orexin Receptor 1

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Orexin-A well-known as hypocretin-1 is a neuropeptide that is produced in the lateral hypothalamus area (LHA). It promotes widespread...     

Adipocytokine Profile,Cytokine Levels and Foxp3 Expression in Multiple Sclerosis: a Possible Link to Susceptibility and Clinical Course of Disease

Background

Adipocytokines may be involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as other autoimmune and inflammatory-related diseases. This study aims to compare levels of resistin, visfatin and leptin in three subgroups of MS patients with healthy subjects and also to study their relationship with Foxp3 expression and levels of several pro-inflammatory mediators such as interleukine-1 β(IL-1 β),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and human sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Methods

A total of 391 subjects including 200 healthy controls and 191 MS patients were recruited for this case-control study. Circulating adipocytokines and inflammatory mediators were measured using immunoassay methods. Foxp3 gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Fat tissue mass was evaluated by using dual energy X-ray absorptiometery (DEXA).

Results

A significant difference was observed in levels of inflammatory mediators, adipocytokines, Foxp3 gene expression and adipose tissue mass between MS patients and healthy controls. All adipocytokines were positively correlated with levels of inflammatory mediators and negatively correlated with Foxp3 expression in MS patients. In controls, there were positive correlations between circulating leptin and resistin with TNF-α and IL-1β in subgroup analysis, the highest levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, hs-CRP, resistin and leptin were observed in primary progressive-MS (PP-MS) patients. Also, expression of Foxp3 and levels of visfatin in relapsing remitting-MS(RR-MS) patients were higher compared with the other subgroups.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest the potential role of adipocytokines in pathogenesis and severity of MS. Notably, the relationship of adipocytokines levels with inflammatory cytokines as well as clinical features of MS could be considerable in translational medicine and biomarker studies.     

Combinational therapy of lithium and human neural stem cells in rat spinal cord contusion model

A large number of treatment approaches have been used for spinal cord injury improvement, a medically incurable disorder, and subsequently stem cell transplantation appears to be a promising strategy. The main objective of this study is to ascertain whether combinational therapy of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) together with lithium chloride improves cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation in a rat spinal contusion model, or not. Contusive spinal cord injury was implemented on Wistar male rats. Experimental groups comprised of: control, hNSCs transplanted, lithium chloride (Li), and hNSCs and lithium chloride (hNSCs + Li). In every experimental group, locomotor activity score and motor evoked potential (MEP) were performed to evaluate motor recovery as well as histological assessments to determine mechanisms of improvement. In accordance with our results, the hNSCs + Li and the Li groups showed significant improvement in locomotor scores and MEP. Also, Histological assessments revealed that transplanted hNSCs are capable of differentiation and migration along the spinal cord. Although NESTIN-positive cells were proliferated significantly in the Lithium group in comparison with control and the hNSCs + Li groups, the quantity of ED1 cells in the hNSCs + Li was significantly larger than the other two groups. Our results demonstrate that combinational therapy of hNSCs with lithium chloride and lithium chloride individually are adequate for ameliorating more than partial functional recovery and endogenous repair in spinal cord-injured rats.     

The interaction of high and low-risk human papillomavirus genotypes increases the risk of developing genital warts: A population-based cohort study

Cervical cancer is among the most common type of cancers in women and is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Genital warts are also reported to be linked with HPV infection types 11 and 6. In turn, clinical characteristics and morphological features of warts may be useful in the prediction of prognosis and in making treatment decisions. Thus, we have investigated the association of high and low-risk HPVs genotype with genital wart risk, as well as pathological and cytological information in cases recruited from a population-based cohort study of 1380 patients. Patients infected with HPV genotype 6 or 11 had an increased risk of having warts, with OR of 2.34 (95% CI: 0.955-5.737, P = 0.06). Also, this association was enhanced in the presence of high plus low-risk HPV for having genital wart (OR: 2.814; 95%: 1.208-6.55, P = 0.017) and cases having high-risk HPV (OR: 2.329; 95% CI: 1.029-5.269, P = 0.042). Moreover, we observed patients with genital warts having CIN2/3, indicating the importance of informing the physician to the patient to prevent more severe lesions. Our data demonstrated that patients with both low/high-risk HPV types had an increased risk of developing genital warts and persistent infection with HPV was a necessary precursor for the increase in cervical lesions.     

An efficient protocol for micropropagation of old cypress of Abarkuh (Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis [Mill.]) under in vitro condition

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - This study was carried out to investigate the DNA markers between diploid and colchicine-induced autotetraploid Platycodon grandiflorum A. De Candolle...