The effect of exercise training and water extract from propolis intake on the antioxidant enzymes activity of skeletal muscle and liver in rat

[Purpose]

In this study, the authors have intended to investigate the effects that the exercise training and the intake of the water extract from propolis have on the activity of antioxidant enzymes.

[Methods]

For this purpose, the exercise training (70% VO₂max treadmill running exercise for 60min)of 5 times per week for six weeks and the intake (50mg/kg/day) of the water extract from propolis were performed by separating the experimental animals (SD rats, n=32) into CON(n=8) group, CON+Ex(n=8), PA(n=8), and PA+Ex(n=8).

[Results]

As a result, the following conclusions were obtained: The concentration of the blood glucose and insulin of the CON+Ex group and PA+Ex group which are the exercise parallel group were significantly decreased in comparison with the control group, whereas if comparing the glycogen concentration in skeletal muscle and liver tissue between the exercise parallel group and the CON group, the former showed significantly high value in comparison with the latter (p < .05). In the case of the activity of the antioxidant enzyme in the skeletal muscle and the liver tissue, the activities of SOD, GPX and CAT in the gastrocnemius muscle tissue of the experimental animals showed significantly high value in PA+Ex group in comparison with other experimental groups (p < .05). In addition, the SOD activity in the liver tissue showed that only PA+Ex group was significantly increased, whereas GDX activity showed significantly higher value in CON+Ex group and PA group than CON group (p < .05). However, the activity of CAT in the liver tissue showed that there is no difference between the experimental groups. As a result that measured the concentration of MDA in order to evaluate the damage level of the tissue by oxygen free radicals, the difference between the groups in the liver tissue was not shown, while it was shown that only PA+Ex group in the skeletal muscle tissue was significantly decreased in comparison with other experimental groups (p < .05).

[Conclusion]

Taken together the above findings, it is considered that the parallel treatment of the exercise training and the water extract from propolis can not only increase the use of glycogen of the skeletal muscle and liver tissue, but also it can give the effect to suppress the creation of active oxygen by inducing the activity of the antioxidant enzyme in the body, and in the future, the possibility as the exercise supplements and the antioxidant of the water-soluble propolis are expected.     

Wherever I may roam—Human activity alters movements of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) across two continents

Human activity and associated landscape modifications alter the movements of animals with consequences for populations and ecosystems worldwide. Species performing long-distance movements are thought to be particularly sensitive to human impact. Despite the increasing anthropogenic pressure, it remains challenging to understand and predict animals' responses to human activity. Here we address this knowledge gap using 1206 Global Positioning System movement trajectories of 815 individuals from 14 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 14 elk (Cervus canadensis) populations spanning wide environmental gradients, namely the latitudinal range from the Alps to Scandinavia in Europe, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in North America. We measured individual-level movements relative to the environmental context, or movement expression, using the standardized metric Intensity of Use, reflecting both the directionality and extent of movements. We expected movement expression to be affected by resource (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) predictability and topography, but those factors to be superseded by human impact. Red deer and elk movement expression varied along a continuum, from highly segmented trajectories over relatively small areas (high intensity of use), to directed transitions through restricted corridors (low intensity of use). Human activity (Human Footprint Index, HFI) was the strongest driver of movement expression, with a steep increase in Intensity of Use as HFI increased, but only until a threshold was reached. After exceeding this level of impact, the Intensity of Use remained unchanged. These results indicate the overall sensitivity of Cervus movement expression to human activity and suggest a limitation of plastic responses under high human pressure, despite the species also occurring in human-dominated landscapes. Our work represents the first comparison of metric-based movement expression across widely distributed populations of a deer genus, contributing to the understanding and prediction of animals' responses to human activity.     

高原适应过程中大鼠脑内β－内啡肽含量变化的研究

选用成年雄性Ｗｉｓｔａｒ大鼠,由平原（海拔５ｍ,上海）直接运送到高原（２２６１ｍ,西宁和３４６０ｍ,天峻）。以放射免疫分折法研究了大鼠在高原２４ｈ．急性缺氧期和３０ｄ慢性缺氧期中枢脑内β－内啡肽样免疫活性物质（β－ＥＰ）的含量变化。结果表明：１．大鼠在两个不同海拔（２２６１ｍ,３４６０ｍ）环境２４ｈ急性缺氧期与平原对照组相比,脑垂体内β－ＥＰ含量降低非常显著（Ｐ＜０．０１）,纹状体、丘脑、下丘脑、桥－延脑、海马内β－ＥＰ含量均增加非常显著（Ｐ＜０．０１）。２．大鼠在３４６０ｍ高原３０ｄ慢性习服期,垂体及各脑区内β－ＥＰ的含量变化呈时相性：即１—３ｄ均呈进行性增加（Ｐ＜０．０１）：３－１５ｄ呈持续性减少,除中脑、纹状体、丘脑外,均为Ｐ＜０．０１。１５－３０ｄ垂体、丘脑、皮层、纹状体内β－ＥＰ含量仍持续减少（毒体、皮层Ｐ＜０．０１）,桥－延脑、下丘脑、海马趋于回升（Ｐ＜０．０１）,中脑亦趋于回升（Ｐ＞０．０５）。脑内β－ＥＰ的这种变化可能具有十分重要的生物学意义。     

Source gene composition and gene conversion of the AluYh and AluYi lineages of retrotransposons

Background  

Alu elements are a family of SINE retrotransposons in primates. They are classified into subfamilies according to specific diagnostic mutations from the general Alu consensus. It is now believed that there may be several retrotranspositionally-competent source genes within an Alu subfamily. In this study, subfamilies falling on the AluYi and AluYh lineages, and the AluYg6 subfamily, are assessed for the presence of secondary source genes, and the influence of gene conversion on the AluYh and AluYi lineages is also described.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 9-functional heterocyclic coupled 7-deoxy-9-dihydropaclitaxel analogue

Novel 9-functional heterocyclic coupled 7-deoxy-9-dihydropaclitaxel analogues 17 and 22-24 synthesized from a natural taxoid 5-cinnamoyltriacetyltaxicin-I (3) and their biological evaluation in tubulin assembly activity and cytotoxicity in vitro against several human tumor cell lines are first presented. The biologically tested results show that 17, 22 and 23 are inactive in tubulin assembly assay and have no more remarkable cytotoxicities against human tumor cell lines SK-OV3, WIDR and MCF-7, though 22 and 23 exhibit more potent cytotoxicity against human liver cancer and human esophagus cancer cell lines (BEL-7402 and ECa-109) than paclitaxel.     

Vero细胞毒素大肠菌（VTEC）的分离及表型和分子生物学特性的研究

２６株Ｖｅｒｏ细胞毒素（ＶＴ）阳性大肠菌,经分子生物学鉴定表明,其中１４株与ＥＨＥＣ探针杂交阳性,按Ｌｅｖｉｎｅ等的标准判定属产Ｖｅｒｏ细胞毒素大肠菌（ＶＴＥＣ）,其血清型为Ｏ_１５７：Ｈ_７３株（血便２株,脓血便１株）,Ｏ_２５７ＮＭ３株（血便１株,腹泻牛便２株）,Ｏ_２９样便１株）;其余１２株虽ＶＴ毒素阳性,但ＥＨＥＣ探针阴性,按标准判定尚难确认,有待进一步研究。