Carbonyl Traps as Potential Protective Agents against Methimazole‑Induced Liver Injury

Liver injury is a deleterious adverse effect associated with methimazole administration, and reactive intermediates are suspected to be involved in this complication. Glyoxal is an expected reactive intermediate produced during methimazole metabolism. Current investigation was undertaken to evaluate the role of carnosine, metformin, and N‐acetyl cysteine as putative glyoxal (carbonyl) traps, against methimazole‐induced hepatotoxicity. Methimazole (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) was administered to intact and/or glutathione (GSH)?depleted mice and the role of glyoxal trapping agents was investigated. Methimazole caused liver injury as revealed by an increase in serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Moreover, lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation occurred significantly in methimazole?treated animals’ liver. Hepatic GSH reservoirs were decreased, and inflammatory cells infiltration was observed in liver histopathology. Methimazole?induced hepatotoxicity was severe in GSH‐depleted mice and accompanied with interstitial hemorrhage and necrosis of the liver. Glyoxal trapping agents effectively diminished methimazole‐induced liver injury both in intact and/or GSH?depleted animals.     

Successive subculturing alters spore-bound Pr1 activity,germination and virulence of the entomopathogenic fungus,Beauveria bassiana

One of the hurdles in the development of entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana is loss of virulence when successively maintained in vitro. This may result in products of inferior quality in mass production programs. Also, there are many contradicting data and unclear points in this case. Three isolates of B. bassiana were subcultured successively 15 times. Spore-bound Pr1 activity, germination rate, and virulence of conidia against mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) larvae were studied. Results showed that isolates normally retained their virulence during 10 subculturings. However, they clearly offered decreased virulence (elevated LT₅₀ values and lower percent mortality). The activity of Pr1 bound to conidia declined as subculturing continued; the lowest spore-bound activity and germination potential of conidia was recorded for the 15th subculture. Virulence data were in agreement with Pr1 activity and germination rate as there was a positive correlation between germination rate and spore-bound Pr1 activity with fungal virulence. This explains that at least a part of attenuation in fungal virulence can be explored in enzymatic activity, especially in the important cuticle-degrading protease, Pr1.     

Biodegradation pathway and detoxification of the diazo dye Reactive Black 5 by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The in vivo biodegradation of the diazo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium immobilised on cubes of nylon sponge and on sunflower-seed shells (SS) in laboratory-scale bioreactors was investigated. The SS cultivation led to the best results with a decolouration percentage of 90.3% in 72 h for an initial RB5 concentration of 100 mg/L. It was found that the addition of 0.4 mM veratryl alcohol (VA) into the medium considerably increased the decolouration rate in SS cultivation. However, the addition of VA had no effect in the nylon cultivation. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) revealed that RB5 was transformed into one metabolite after 24 h. UV-vis spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) also confirmed the biodegradation of RB5. Toxicity of RB5 solutions before and after fungal treatment was assayed using Sinorhizobium meliloti as a sensitive soil microorganism. P. chrysosporium transformed the toxic dye RB5 into a non-toxic product.     

Nano silver entrapped in phospholipids membrane: synthesis, characteristics and antibacterial kinetics

The antimicrobial property of stabilized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with phospholipid membrane was investigated on both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strains. The influence of phospholipid concentrations on antibacterial kinetics actions of AgNPs was studied with two different methodologies in order to understand the bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects. The bacterial inactivation of synthesized AgNPs fitted well to the Chick-Watson model with a high regression coefficient, R(2) > 0.91. The antibacterial properties of AgNPs depend on the particle size, stabilizer and lecithin concentrations. Only the stabilized AgNPs that have the K(lec/Ag) values of 1 and 2 presented the inhabitation zone, while unstabilized AgNPs agglomerated quickly, settled on the wells and did not diffuse in agar. In addition, the specific coefficient of lethality depends on the lecithin concentration. An increase in lecithin concentration caused multilayer creation on the AgNPs' surface and reduced the release of AgNPs which led to low bacterial killing rate.     

Prenatal diagnosis in a mentally retarded woman with mosaic ring chromosome 18

We present a pregnant woman with mental retardation and mosaic for ring 18 referred for prenatal diagnosis. Major clinical features included short stature with clinodactyly in feet, foot deformity and club feet, hypotonia, kyphosis, and absence of breast development, low set ears, high arched palate, dental decay and speech disorder. Prenatal diagnosis was carried. Using amniocentesis. The fetus had a normal karyotype described as 46,XX. The fetus was evaluated for clinical features after delivery; she was healthy with no abnormal clinical characterizations.     

Synthesis and SAR comparative studies of 2-allyl-4-methoxy-1-alkoxybenzenes as 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors

A group of 2-alkoxy-5-methoxyallylbenzene were designed, synthesised and evaluated as potential inhibitors of the soybean 15-lipoxygenase (SLO) on the basis of the eugenol and esteragol structures. Compound 4d showed the best half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC??) for SLO inhibition (IC???=?5.9?±?0.6 μM). All the compounds were docked in the SLO active site retrieved from the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank (PDB entry: 1IK3) and showed that the allyl group of the synthetic compounds similar to the linoleic acid double bond, were oriented toward the Fe3+-OH moiety in the active site of the enzyme and this conformation was especially fixed by the hydrophobic interaction of the 2-alkoxy group with Leu?1?, Trp?1?, Val??? and Ile??2. It was concluded that the molecular volume and shape of the alkoxy moiety was a major factor in the inhibitory potency variation of the synthetic compounds.     

Direct chemiluminescence determination of penicillin G potassium and a chemometrical optimization approach

A highly selective and simple chemiluminescence (CL) method for determination of penicillin G potassium (PGK) was developed. In the proposed method, CL was elicited from PGK upon its oxidation with H₂O₂. The light emission was enhanced in the presence of N‐cetyl‐N,N,N‐trimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB). An experimental design, central composite design (CCD), was used to realize the optimized variables, including pH, surfactant (CTMAB) and H₂O₂ concentrations. Under optimum condition, the calibration graph was linear in the range 3.3 × 10^?3–3.3 × 10^?1 mmol/L, with a detection limit of 8.8 × 10^?4 mmol/L for PGK. The precision was calculated by analysing samples containing 1.6 × 10^?1 mmol/L PGK (n = 5) and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.40%. The utility of this method was demonstrated by determining PGK in pharmaceutical formulations for injection. The proposed method was validated by a reference method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phytochemical and morphological characterization of Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad populations from Iran

Satureja khuzistanica is an endemic herb growing wild in Iran with interesting pharmacological and biological properties. Here, as an initial step of the domestication process, the variability of phytochemical and morphological traits among 69 individuals of eight natural populations of the plant was studied. The investigated characteristics were the essential oil content and composition, the rosmarinic acid (RA) content, and the leaf and flower morphologies. The Abdanan and Kaver populations showed the highest oil contents. The characterization by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses of the oils revealed that all 69 sampled individuals had carvacrol as the main component with very high contents (89.59-95.41%). The content of RA of the MeOH extracts of S. khuzistanica showed a high level of variability (coefficient of variation (CV) 50.0%) ranging from 0.59% (w/w) in the Paalam population to 1.81% (w/w) in the Abdanan population. The peduncle length and the leaf surface area (CVs of 47.39 and 47.21%, resp.) were the most variable morphological characteristics among the examined populations. The high level of phytochemical and morphological variability among the studied populations suggests a breeding approach during the domestication, to gain new, promising, and homogenous cultivars, attractive for the industry and agriculture.