The approximate entropy of the electromyographic signals of tremor correlates with the osmotic fragility of human erythrocytes

Background  

The main problem of tremor is the damage caused to the quality of the life of patients, especially those at more advanced ages. There is not a consensus yet about the origins of this disorder, but it can be examined in the correlations between the biological signs of aging and the tremor characteristics.     

Heat-shock responsive genes identified and validated in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) liver, head kidney and skeletal muscle using genomic techniques

Background

The Mongolian gerbils are a good model to mimic the Helicobacter pylori -associated pathogenesis of the human stomach. In the current study the gerbil-adapted strain B8 was completely sequenced, annotated and compared to previous genomes, including the 73 supercontigs of the parental strain B128.

Results

The complete genome of H. pylori B8 was manually curated gene by gene, to assign as much function as possible. It consists of a circular chromosome of 1,673,997 bp and of a small plasmid of 6,032 bp carrying nine putative genes. The chromosome contains 1,711 coding sequences, 293 of which are strain-specific, coding mainly for hypothetical proteins, and a large plasticity zone containing a putative type-IV-secretion system and coding sequences with unknown function. The cag -pathogenicity island is rearranged such that the cag A-gene is located 13,730 bp downstream of the inverted gene cluster cag B- cag 1. Directly adjacent to the cag A-gene, there are four hypothetical genes and one variable gene with a different codon usage compared to the rest of the H. pylori B8-genome. This indicates that these coding sequences might be acquired via horizontal gene transfer. The genome comparison of strain B8 to its parental strain B128 delivers 425 unique B8-proteins. Due to the fact that strain B128 was not fully sequenced and only automatically annotated, only 12 of these proteins are definitive singletons that might have been acquired during the gerbil-adaptation process of strain B128.

Conclusion

Our sequence data and its analysis provide new insight into the high genetic diversity of H. pylori -strains. We have shown that the gerbil-adapted strain B8 has the potential to build, possibly by a high rate of mutation and recombination, a dynamic pool of genetic variants (e.g. fragmented genes and repetitive regions) required for the adaptation-processes. We hypothesize that these variants are essential for the colonization and persistence of strain B8 in the gerbil stomach during inflammation.     

Effect of the combined action of flavonoids, ascorbate and alpha-tocopherol on peroxidation of phospholipid liposomes induced by Fe2+ ions

The effect of alpha-tocopherol, ascorbate, rutin and dihydroquercetin on chemiluminescence (CL) accompanying the Fe2+-induced peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in phospholipid liposomes has been investigated. The amplitude of CL decreased and the latent period increased in the presence of alpha-tocopherol, rutin and dihydroquercetin which is typical of peroxide radical traps. Ascorbate also reduced the CL amplitude but only at small concentrations up to about 4 microM. A further increase of ascorbate concentration had a negligible effect on the amplitude. At the same time, the latent period in CL development increased with the growth of ascorbate concentration, apparently, as a result of recycling of divalent iron oxidized in the course of lipid peroxidation. The effects of rutin and dihydroquercetin on the liposomal CL in the presence of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbate in all experiments were almost the same as when these compounds were added individually. The antioxidant effects were merely summed up without any mutual enhancement or inhibition of each other's action.     

Lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence of animal tissues

Lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) makes it possible to study directly the reactions of superoxide anion radical (O ₂ ^? ) produced by mitochondria and is used for detection of the superoxide generated in enzyme and membrane systems, isolated mitochondria and cells, and whole animal organs. Lucigenin-enhanced CL is applicable to examination of human tissues; this assay requires small fragments as, for example, biopsies; however, no systematic studies with these objects have been conducted. In this work, we studied the lucigenin-enhanced CL in tissue specimens of various rat organs to determine its dependence on the degree of tissue fragmentation, storage time, and oxygen access. Addition of lucigenin to tissue fragment, slurry, or homogenate drastically increased CL; note that the whole tissue fragment displayed considerably lower (by 1–1.5 order of magnitude) CL intensity than the homogenate or slurry. The lucigenin-enhanced CL in tissue in the absence of stirring of the surrounding solution rapidly decreased, presumably because of a drop in the tissue oxygen level as a result of its consumption. The CL had two components, namely, lucigenin-enhanced CL and lucigenin-independent (intrinsic) CL. The tissue itself was the source of lucigenin-enhanced CL, and this CL was observed only in the case of sufficient oxygen access. The lucigenin-independent CL component was virtually independent of oxygen and was determined by the components released from the tissue specimen into the surrounding solution. Nitric oxide inhibited CL with increase in its concentration but had no essential effect on the rate of tissue oxygen consumption. These results suggest that lucigenin can be used as a very efficient chemiluminescent probe for superoxide radicals generated by tissue fragments.     

Antioxidant activity of free radical reactions inhibitors, applied to the dressing material for wound healing

Antioxidant activity (AA) of inhibitors of free radical reactions (FRR) (dieton, mexidol, trypsin), applied to the dressing material for wound healing was studied using a model system containing suspension of laminated liposomes, formed from the fraction of total chicken yolk phospholipids. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) of liposome membranes was initiated by addition of Fe²⁺ ions. The kinetics of FRR was monitored by coumarin enhanced chemiluminescence (CL). AA of the inhibitors was determined by their ability to intercept aqueous and hydrophobic free radicals and chelate Fe²⁺ ions. Their ability to intercept radicals reduced in the following order: dieton > trypsin > mexidol. We have also found previously unknown ability of mexidol to interact with Fe²⁺ and to eliminate the FRR catalyst. Studying AA of the FRR inhibitors in the two-components mixture, containing dieton and mexidol, we have observed the multifunctional effect: dieton increased the duration of latent period of CL by intersepting lipid peroxyl radicals, while mexidol, decreased this parameter by interacting with Fe²⁺, i.e. mexidol masked the action of dieton. Study of AA of two-components mixture, containing mexidol and trypsin has demonstrated the same multifunctional effect. In the two-component mixture, containing trypsin and dieton, the inhibitors exhibit synergistic action. All the antioxidant properties of these FRR inhibitors were also preserved in the three component mixture. Thus, the mixture dieton, mexidol and trypsin, possesses high AA, that validates their use in the dressing materials employed for wound healing.