Plausible biochemical mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (“chemobrain”), a condition that significantly impairs the quality of life of many cancer survivors

Increasing numbers of cancer patients survive and live longer than five years after therapy, but very often side effects of cancer treatment arise at same time. One of the side effects, chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), also called “chemobrain” or “chemofog” by patients, brings enormous challenges to cancer survivors following successful chemotherapeutic treatment. Decreased abilities of learning, memory, attention, executive function and processing speed in cancer survivors with CICI, are some of the challenges that greatly impair survivors' quality of life. The molecular mechanisms of CICI involve very complicated processes, which have been the subject of investigation over the past decades. Many mechanistic candidates have been studied including disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), DNA damage, telomere shortening, oxidative stress and associated inflammatory response, gene polymorphism of neural repair, altered neurotransmission, and hormone changes. Oxidative stress is considered as a vital mechanism, since over 50% of FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) or reactive nitrogen species (RNS), which lead to neuronal death. In this review paper, we discuss these important candidate mechanisms, in particular oxidative stress and the cytokine, TNF-alpha and their potential roles in CICI.     

Myocardial protection of MCI-186 in rabbit ischemia-reperfusion

We observed that 3-methyl-1-1phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one (MCI-186), a newly-developed free radical scavenger, attenuated necrosis in the in vivo rabbit hearts upon reperfusion after prolonged ischemia. In rabbits undergoing 1 hour ligation of the anterior ventricular coronary artery, a single bolus injection of MCI-186 (1.5 mg/kg) was introduced into the post-ischemic heart immediately before 4 hour reperfusion. Compared to negligible necrosis in sham-operated control animals and 33.81 +/- 13.50% necrosis in the area at risk for the saline control group (n = 8), the MCI-186 - treated group (n = 8) had a necrosis of 13.27 +/- 4.60% (p < 0.05 vs saline control group). The pressure-rate index had a slight decrease in MCI-186 treated group compared to the control group (p > 0.05). However, the blood levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in MCI-186 treated group (2.08 +/- 0.23 microM) was significantly smaller than that of 2.65 +/- 0.31 microM in control animals (p < 0.01), while sham control had an average MDA level of 1.91 +/- 0.40 microM, with p > 0.05 relative to that in the MCI-186 treated group. These data support our contention that MCI-186 reduces reperfusion injury in perfused hearts with prolonged ischemia and the mechanism for the in vivo efficacy of MCI-186 is predominantly related to its antioxidant activities.     

Levels of zinc and lipid peroxidation in acute coronary syndrome

The present study was carried out on 20 female patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The control group was composed of 20 healthy female volunteers. Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and serum zinc (Zn), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and VLDL-cholesterol, Lp(a), Apo-A₁, and Apo-B were determined in all patients and controls. Plasma MDA levels were determined to be significantly high in patients with ACS compared to the controls (1.75±0.27 vs 0.8±0.43 nmol/mL; p<0.05). On the other hand, Zn levels in patients with ACS were determined to be significantly low compared to the control group (67.9±14.8 vs 101.8±22.4 mg/dL; p<0.05). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between MDA and Zn levels in patients with ACS (r=−0.678, p<0.05). Other lipid parameters were significantly altered in patients with ACS compared to the controls (p<0.05). In conclusion, Zn and lipid peroxidation levels are important in patients with ACS and they must be monitored during diagnosis and treatment of these patients.     

Tissue malondialdehyde and adenosine triphosphatase level after experimental liver ischaemia-reperfusion damage

Functional irregularities due to damage after ischaemia-reperfusion vary depending upon the organs affected. High energy phosphates such as ATP and ADP are destroyed after ischaemia-reperfusion damage. Subsequently, protons and inorganic phosphates accumulate within the cells and the proton pumps such as adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), which maintain intracellular ion balance are damaged. In the present study, malondialdehyde (MDA), a product of lipid peroxidation, was measured as an indicator of tissue damage. Additionally, we measured sodium-potassium-ATPase levels and determined the interactions between MDA and Na+-K+ ATPase levels. A total of 31 female guinea pigs were divided into four groups: sham operated guinea pigs (group 1), ischaemia-reperfusion (group 2), ischaemia-reperfusion + superoxide dismutase (SOD) (group 3), ischaemia-reperfusion + allopurinol (group 4). Following reperfusion, the livers of guinea pigs in each group were removed for histopathological examination and the levels of MDA and Na+-K+ ATPase were determined in homogenized tissue samples. There was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction in tissue MDA levels in group 2 when compared with group 1. The level of tissue MDA in groups 3 and 4 was significantly lower than tissue MDA levels of group 2. However, there was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction in tissue Na+-K+ ATPase levels of group 2 when compared with group 1. Similarly, the level of tissue Na+-K+ ATPase in groups 3 and 4 was significantly higher than the tissue Na+-K+ ATPase levels of group 2. The results of the histopathologic examination also revealed the beneficial effects of the use of SOD and allopurinol in preventing liver damage in cases of ischaemia-reperfusion. Although the levels of MDA and Na+-K+ ATP ase in group 2 were not equal to the level in group 1, antioxidant therapy significantly improved the tendency to reverse the effects of ischaemia-reperfusion and to protect the liver from damage due to ischaemia-reperfusion.     

参麦注射液抗心肌缺氧-再给氧损伤实验研究

采用Ｌａｎｇｅｎｄｏｒｆ离体心脏灌注模型,对大鼠心肌缺氧—再给氧损伤中抗自由基酶ＳＯＤ和ＧＳＨ－Ｐｘ,过氧化产物ＭＤＡ、心肌酶ＣＰＫ和心肌细胞超微结构进行了观察、同时探讨了参麦注射液的保护作用机理。结果表明：（１）心肌缺氧灌注４０ｍｉｎ,富氧再灌５ｍｉｎ,与正常对照组比较,心肌细胞超微结构损伤严重,线粒体数目减少,大部分空泡变性,嵴消失,糖原颗粒减少,心肌收缩结构受到严重破坏。同时ＣＰＫ活性明显升高,ＳＯＤ及ＧＳＨ－Ｐｘ活性明显降低,ＭＤＡ含量明显升高（Ｐ＜０．０１）。（２）预先给不同剂量参麦注射液进行灌注,与模型组比较,心肌超微结构损伤明显减轻,线粒体数目较多,嵴密集,未见肿胀变形,糖原颗粒丰富,心肌收缩结构基本正常。ＣＰＫ活性明显降低,心肌ＳＯＤ及ＧＳＨ－Ｐｘ活性明显增高,心肌ＭＤＡ含量明显降低（Ｐ＜０．０１）。且参麦大剂量组疗效优于复方丹参液（Ｐ＜０．０５）。我们推测其保护作用机理可能是稳定心肌细胞膜,保护心肌线粒体,增加能量供应,提高抗自由基酶活性,从而减轻氧自由基对心肌的损害     

Modelling parasite aggregation: disentangling statistical and ecological approaches

The overdispersion in macroparasite infection intensity among host populations is commonly simulated using a constant negative binomial aggregation parameter. We describe an alternative to utilising the negative binomial approach and demonstrate important disparities in intervention efficacy projections that can come about from opting for pattern-fitting models that are not process-explicit. We present model output in the context of the epidemiology and control of soil-transmitted helminths due to the significant public health burden imposed by these parasites, but our methods are applicable to other infections with demonstrable aggregation in parasite numbers among hosts.     

Prevention of a systematic underestimation of antioxidant activity in competition assays. The impact of unspecific reactions of the reactive species

In antioxidant competition assays, an antioxidant (A) and a detector compound (D) compete for a reactive species (R). In the evaluation of these assays, it is tacitly assumed that all of R is captured by either D or A. Due to the - by definition - high reactivity of R, unspecific reactions of R are likely to occur and neglecting these reactions will result in a systematic underestimation of antioxidant activity. It was shown that in the standard hydroxyl radical scavenging assay this was indeed the case; the inaccurate mathematical evaluation resulted in an underestimation of antioxidant activity of 25% in this competition assay. The systematic underestimation of antioxidant activity can be prevented by using an adjusted Stern-Volmer equation that takes into account that only part of R is captured by D or A.     

Genotoxic potential of copper oxide nanoparticles in human lung epithelial cells

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) are increasingly used in various applications. Recent studies suggest that oxidative stress may be the cause of the cytotoxicity of CuO NPs in mammalian cells. However, little is known about the genotoxicity of CuO NPs following exposure to human cells. This study was undertaken to investigate CuO NPs induced genotoxic response through p53 pathway in human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549). In addition, cytotoxicity and oxidative stress markers were also assessed. Results showed that cell viability was reduced by CuO NPs and degree of reduction was dose dependent. CuO NPs were also found to induce oxidative stress in dose-dependent manner indicated by depletion of glutathione and induction of lipid peroxidation, catalase and superoxide dismutase. The expression of Hsp70, the first tier biomarker of cellular damage was induced by CuO NPs. Further, CuO NPs up-regulated the cell cycle checkpoint protein p53 and DNA damage repair proteins Rad51 and MSH2 expression. These results demonstrate that CuO NPs possess a genotoxic potential in A549 cells which may be mediated through oxidative stress. Our short-term exposure study of high level induction of genotoxic response of CuO NPs will need to be further investigated to determine whether long-term exposure consequences may exist for CuO NPs application.     

The effect of salt stress on lipid peroxidation, antioxidative enzymes and proline content of sesame cultivars

The effect of increasing NaCl concentrations was studied on two different cultivars (cv. Orhangazi and cv. Cumhuriyet) of Sesamum indicum. Seedlings were grown for 40 days in half strength Hoagland solution and after 40 days treated with different NaCl concentrations (0, 50 and 100 mM) for 21 days. Differences in growth parameters, lipid peroxidation, antioxidative enzyme activities and proline accumulation were tested in order to put forward the relative tolerance or sensitivity of the cultivars. Results indicated that both parameters differ according to the cultivar's ability in coping oxidative stress caused by salinity. Constitutive levels of antioxidative enzyme activities were almost the same between the cultivars; however, cv. Cumhuriyet was able to induce antioxidative enzyme activities more efficiently when subjected to salt stress. Growth parameters, lipid peroxidation and proline accumulation results are also in good correlation with supporting this cultivar's being relatively tolerant.     

Quantification of the elevated rate of domain rearrangements in metazoa

Most eukaryotic proteins consist of multiple domains created through gene fusions or internal duplications. The most frequent change of a domain architecture (DA) is insertion or deletion of a domain at the N or C terminus. Still, the mechanisms underlying the evolution of multidomain proteins are not very well studied.Here, we have studied the evolution of multidomain architectures (MDA), guided by evolutionary information in the form of a phylogenetic tree. Our results show that Pfam domain families and MDAs have been created with comparable rates (0.1-1 per million years (My)). The major changes in DA evolution have occurred in the process of multicellularization and within the metazoan lineage. In contrast, creation of domains seems to have been frequent already in the early evolution. Furthermore, most of the architectures have been created from older domains or architectures, whereas novel domains are mainly found in single-domain proteins. However, a particular group of exon-bordering domains may have contributed to the rapid evolution of novel multidomain proteins in metazoan organisms. Finally, MDAs have evolved predominantly through insertions of domains, whereas domain deletions are less common.In conclusion, the rate of creation of multidomain proteins has accelerated in the metazoan lineage, which may partly be explained by the frequent insertion of exon-bordering domains into new architectures. However, our results indicate that other factors have contributed as well.