The effects of fatty acids consumption on OPG/RANKL/RANK system in cardiovascular diseases: Current status and future perspectives for the impact of diet-gene interaction

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an overall term that comprises a number of related pathologies, these include peripheral arterial disease, cerebrovascular disease, coronary heart disease (CHD), venous thromboembolism, and rheumatic and congenital heart diseases. Fatty acids in the diet have been reported to affect CVD. The OPG/RANKL/RANK system appears to have a role in CVD outcomes. However, there have been few studies on the impact of diet-gene interaction for effects of fatty acids consumption on the OPG/RANKL/RANK system in CVD. This review focuses on the effects of fatty acids on OPG/RANKL/RANK in CVD.     

Intracerebroventricular Injection of the Glutamatergic Receptors Antagonist Affects N/OFQ-Induced Hyperphagia in Neonatal Broilers: Role of NMDA and AMPA Receptors

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - This study was designed to determine possible interaction of the central nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) and glutamatergic system on...     

The effect of polyethylene glycol-induced drought stress on photosynthesis,carbohydrates and cell membrane in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Stevia rebaudiana</Emphasis> grown in greenhouse

Drought stress is one of the major environmental stresses that limit crop production in arid regions. A greenhouse culture experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of an agronomically and economically important sweet medical herb (Stevia rebaudiana) to polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000)-induced drought stress (5, 10, and 15% (w/v) PEG, equivalent to leaf water potentials of ??0.49, ??1.40 and ??2.93 MPa, respectively) for 1 month. Plant mass, a major determinant of Stevia yield, showed a reduction after PEG treatments. PEG-reduced photosynthesis traits included the maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (F_v/F_m), efficiency of photosystems I and II (PI_abs), intercellular CO₂, net photosynthesis, chlorophylls, carotenoids and water use efficiency, followed by the reduction of carbohydrates. Under PEG treatment, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation occurred and plants exhibited an increase in H₂O₂ generation. Consequently, an increase in malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage was evident in PEG treatment, indicating membrane lipid peroxidation. In PEG-treated plants, the ROS accumulation was accompanied by an increase in activity of some enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. Leaf extracts of PEG-treated plants showed lower superoxide anion, hydroxyl and nitric oxide radical scavenging activity than control plants. Drought stress also caused the accumulation of the compatible solutes proline and glycine betaine. Collectively, the results demonstrated that PEG-induced oxidative stress, due to insufficient antioxidant mechanisms, provoked damages to cell membrane and photosynthetic apparatus, with consequently reduced carbohydrates and plant growth. These results are of basic importance as vegetative growth is the major determining criterion for Stevia crops and adequate irrigation is crucial for obtaining higher yield.     

Nitric Oxide Effect on Growth,Physiological and Biochemical Processes,Flowering, and Postharvest Performance of Narcissus tazzeta

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Narcissus tazetta is an appreciated ornamental plant worldwide with a unique sensory value. Therefore, every new insight into the behavioral aspects is crucial...     

Antioxidant potential in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Stevia rebaudiana</Emphasis> callus in response to polyethylene glycol,paclobutrazol and gibberellin treatments

The study on Stevia callus has the potential to advance the knowledge of antioxidant mechanisms involved in unorganized cells response to drought stress. The effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG; 0 and 4% w/v) in combination with paclobutrazol (PBZ; 0 and 2 mg l^?1) and gibberellin (GA; 0 and 2 mg l^?1) were studied on Stevia rebaudiana callus. PEG treatment led to an oxidative stress, as indicated by increased H₂O₂ content whose accumulation was prevented with PBZ and GA treatments. All treatments of PEG, PBZ and GA increased the total antioxidant capacity, with the highest antioxidant power in PBZ and GA treatments without PEG. The activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase significantly increased in PEG treatment alone or in combination with PBZ and GA. All treatments of PEG, PBZ and GA significantly increased proteins, amino acids and proline contents, with the highest increase in presence of PBZ in medium culture. In contrary to proline, the activity of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase and proline dehydrogenase did not change in response to any of the treatments. Collectively, our results demonstrated that PBZ and GA increased reactive oxygen species scavenging and osmolytes in PEG-treated calli more than PEG treatment alone to alleviate negative effects of PEG on Stevia calli. These findings will enable us to design effective genetic engineering strategies in callus culture to generate some somaclonal variation that may be useful in enhancing drought resistance in Stevia.     

Preliminary report of histopathology associated with infection with tongue worms in Australian dogs and cattle

Tongue worms utilise herbivorous mammals as intermediate hosts and reside in the nasopharynx of carnivores as their definitive hosts. A recent study in south eastern Australia showed an unexpectedly high infection (67%) of wild dogs with these parasites. The present study aimed at determining the pathogenicity of the parasite in both definitive (dog) and intermediate (cattle) hosts by histopathology. The definitive host showed multifocal haemorrhage of the interstitium of the nasal mucosa, multifocal mucosal erosion, congestion and haemorrhage, with haemosiderin laden macrophages present in those foci and distortion and destruction of the nasal mucosa. Histopathologic examination of lymph nodes from an infected cow showed diffuse eosinophilic granulomatous necrotising lymphadenitis and perinodal panniculitis with intralesional parasitic remnants and comparatively large numbers of eosinophils. A large, ~300–500?μm diameter, area of necrosis was also observed in one lymph node. This is the first time a study has been undertaken in Australia to determine the pathogenicity of tongue worms in both their definitive and intermediate hosts. This is a preliminary study and to properly estimate the health impact of infection with this pathogenic parasites on Australian production and companion animals more studies are necessary.     

Re-description and molecular characterisation of Choricotyle australiensis Roubal,Armitage & Rohde, 1983 (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) infecting Chrysophrys auratus (Forster) (Perciformes: Sparidae)

Choricotyle australiensis Roubal, Armitage & Rohde, 1983, a diclidophorid monogenean species, is redescribed and genetically characterised using the partial nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA gene (28S rRNA) and a fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene sequences for specimens collected from Chrysophrys auratus (Forster) off Australia and New Zealand. Previous studies have either provided morphological or genetic results, whereas this study combines morphological and advanced molecular methods. A total of 70 Ch. auratus were examined with 22 individuals of C. australiensis recovered from the gills (overall prevalence of 23%). This study has provided the first evidence for the exploration of mitochondrial cox1 region for C. australiensis. Comparison of the newly generated sequences with other available data supported the distinction of C. australiensis among diclidophorid Furhmann, 1928 species thus confirming its taxonomic status.

     

Exogenously applied paclobutrazol modulates growth in salt-stressed wheat plants

Effect of paclobutrazol (PBZ) treatment on salinity tolerance of wheat (Triticum aestivum) was investigated on a salt-tolerant (Karchia-65) and salt-sensitive (Ghods) cultivars. Salinity significantly reduced the investigated growth parameters such as plant height, length and area of sixth leaf, root length, fresh and dry weight of shoot, roots and sixth leaf, water content (WC) of plant and seeds weight in the both cultivars. The negative effect of salinity in Ghods cultivar was more than Karchia cultivar. However, PBZ treatment reduced the growth in both cultivars, the differences in plant growth among various levels of NaCl decreased in PBZ-treated plants. Salt stress resulted in high accumulation of Na⁺ in the sixth leaf and roots in both cultivars, particularly in Ghods cultivar. Against Karchia cultivar, salt stress decreased the storage of K⁺, P and N in sixth leaf and roots in Ghods cultivar. In the both cultivars, PBZ treatment enhanced the K⁺, P and N contents in sixth leaf and roots by increasing salinity. Although PBZ treatment decreased the growth of plants, it improved the weight of seeds against stress damage. PBZ treatment reduced the accumulation of harmful Na⁺ ion in plant tissues while increased the K⁺, P and N contents. These observations suggest that PBZ treatment may increase tolerance by diminishing ionic imbalance caused by salt stress.