Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in healthy Indian doctors

Currently, hyperhomocysteinemia is a well-known risk factor for variety of vascular diseases. Prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia increases with age. Hence, the present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in healthy upper socio-economic class population in India. Total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration was determined in 1243 (906 men & 337 women) healthy Indian doctors with different age group. Using Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) study criteria, the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was 92.85% among men (>11.4 µmol/L) and 81.60% among women (>10.4 µmol/L). The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was higher among men with mean tHcy concentration (21.96 ± 0.38 µmol/L) significantly higher (P<0.0001) than women (15.90 ± 0.39 µmol/L) (95% CI, 4.733- 7.376). Our study showed very high prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia which may point to the future risk for various pathologies in the present subset of population. Further studies to look at the plasma levels of homocysteine lowering vitamins are warranted to prevent the future risk of vascular diseases.     

Probiotic lactic acid bacterium from <Emphasis Type="Italic">kanjika</Emphasis> as a potential source of vitamin B<Subscript>12</Subscript>: evidence from LC-MS,immunological and microbiological techniques

Vitamin B₁₂ was produced by probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum in submerged fermentation (96 h) with successive anaerobic and aerobic phases of 48 h each to give 13 ng vitamin B₁₂/g dry biomass. Sodium cyanide-mediated cell lysis, followed by benzyl alcohol/chloroform/water extraction, improved the release of intracellular vitamin B₁₂ for analysis. The presence of the K⁺ adduct of cyanocobalamin (m/z of 1394) was established using electron spray ionization–mass spectra; growth of a mutant of Escherichia coli in the presence of cyanocobalamin ascertained its bioavailability.     

Fast Decay of CaMKII FRET Sensor Signal in Spines after LTP Induction Is Not Due to Its Dephosphorylation

Because CaMKII is the critical Ca²⁺ sensor that triggers long-term potentiation (LTP), understanding its activation and deactivation is important. A major advance has been the development of a FRET indicator of the conformational state of CaMKII called Camui. Experiments using Camui have demonstrated that the open (active) conformation increases during LTP induction and then decays in tens of seconds, with the major fast component decaying with a time-constant of ~ 6 sec (tau1). Because this decay is faster if autophosphorylation of T286 is prevented (the autophosphorylation prolongs activity by making the enzyme active even after Ca²⁺ falls), it seemed likely that the fast decay is due to the T286 dephosphorylation. To test this interpretation, we studied the effect of phosphatase inhibitors on the single-spine Camui signal evoked by two-photon glutamate uncaging. We applied inhibitors of PP1 and PP2A, two phosphatases that are present at synapses and that have been shown to dephosphorylate CaMKII in vitro. The inhibitors increased the basal Camui activation state, indicating their effectiveness in cells. However, in no case did we find that tau1 was prolonged, contrary to what would be expected if the decay was phosphatase-dependent. This could either mean that decay was due to some unknown phosphatase or that the decay was not due to dephosphorylation. To distinguish between these possibilities, we expressed pseudo-phosphorylated Camui (T286D) (plus additional mutations [T/A] that prevented inhibitory 305/306 phosphorylation). This form had an elevated basal activation state, but was further activated during glutamate uncaging; importantly the activation state decayed with tau1 nearly the same as that of WT Camui. Therefore, the data strongly indicate that tau1 is not due to T286 dephosphorylation. We conclude that, although Camui is an excellent tool for observing CaMKII signaling, further experimentation is needed to determine how CaMKII is turned off by its dephosphorylation.     

Risk assessment of submicron PM-bound hexavalent chromium during wintertime

This study reports health risk assessment of PM₁-bound carcinogenic hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] from central part of Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) (PM₁: particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤1µm). Cr(VI) concentration has been estimated utilizing spectrophotometer with a modified novel method. Average ratio of Cr(VI)/Cr_T was 0.39 ± 0.07 (Cr_T: Total chromium) in the central IGP (Kanpur). Our study reports that mass fraction of Cr(VI) averaging at 0.39 is ～3 times higher than that assumed conventionally [Cr(VI)/Cr_T: 1/7]. Cancer risk assessment has been performed by assessing excess cancer risk (ECR) for the Cr(VI). ECR determined due to Cr(VI) was 57 and 14.3 (in one million) for adults and children, respectively. Our study suggests that risk due to Cr(VI) reported in previous studies were being underestimated by a factor of three. The Cr(VI)/Cr_T average ratio of 0.39 determined in this study was utilized to calculate risk assessment due to Cr(VI) from other locations in the IGP. Owing to large population of India (～125 million), the cancer risk due to Cr(VI) inhalation itself would become very significant. Thus, future research should focus on metal speciation of PM-bound samples from different locations to better constraint the toxicological risk assessment on a regional-to-global scale.     

Fast Fourier infrared spectroscopy to characterize the biochemical composition in diatoms

Diatoms are photosynthetic unicellular microalgae and are nature’s hidden source of several biosynthetic metabolites with their use in biofuel, food and drug industries. They mainly contain various lipids, sterols, isoprenoids and toxins with their use in apoptotic, fertility controlling and cancer drugs. Chemical studies on diatoms are limited due to various limitations such as variation of nutrients, contaminants and change in seasonal factors in the environment. To overcome these limitations, we obtained axenic cultures of 12 fresh-water diatom strains on the 22nd day of inoculation having a dry weight of 1 mg each and performed their Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study for the detection of functional groups responsible for their chemical moiety. The spectral mapping showed a varied level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, amides, amines, ketone bodies and esters for their applications in various pharmacological, food and biofuel industries in the exponential phase of their growth in f/2 media. The FTIR study of the 12 diatom strains showed various similarities in the form of some common peak patterns ranging from 3000 to 3600 cm^?1 for ν_O–H absorption. The symmetric stretching vibration frequency of Diadesmis confervaceae (V2) type species showed different behaviour than others in the spectral region starting from 1600 to 1700 cm^?1. The absorption between 1500 and 1575 cm^?1 reflects the presence of the –N–H group. Infrared (IR) absorptions falling between 1600 and 1700 cm^?1 reflect the presence of amide’s ν_C=O in all species. Placoneis elginensis (V8) type species showed an additional absorption band which is centred around 1735–1750 cm^?1 which perhaps reflects the presence of ester’s ν_C=O. Diadesmis confervaceae (V2), Nitzschia palea (V4), Placoneis elginensis (V8), Nitzschia palea var. debilis (V6), Nitzschia inconspicua (V10), Gomphonema parvulum (V11) and Sellaphora (V12) showed distinct structural features with important key functionalities that can make them essential drug markers in the pharmaceutical industry.