Cucurbiturils as supramolecular inhibitors of DNA restriction by type II endonucleases

Cucurbiturils (CB6 and CB7) were shown to inhibit the enzymatically catalyzed restriction of plasmids and linear DNA. This effect can be inverted by supramolecular masking of the macrocycles through competitive complexation with polyamines. These experiments provide supramolecular control of biocatalytic processes.Spanish MINECO [CTQ2011-28390]; FEDER; COST [CM1005]; DFG [NA-686/5]; Portuguese FCT [SFRH/BD/81628/2011, PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013

Evaluation of the nutritional effects of fasting on cardiovascular diseases, using fuzzy data mining

Background: Advances in information technology and data collection methods have enabled high-speed collection and storage of huge amounts of data. Data mining can be used to derive laws from large data volumes and their characteristics. Similarly, fuzzy logic by facilitating the understanding of events is considered a suitable complement to scientific data mining. Materials and Methods: The present study used clustering to identify the independent characteristics of data. Related fuzzy sets, linguistic variables, and data classifications were defined, and the index was introduced based on the characteristics extracted from useful results. By considering the disease risk factors, the results were analyzed. Results: Two factors contributing to the health improvement or deterioration were defined: ‘age’ and ‘the appropriateness or inappropriateness between insulin level and blood sugar’. In addition, according to the results, fasting had a positive effect on fatty substances of the blood (cholesterol and triglycerides). Conclusion: The results can help us determine whether or not an individual with a cardiovascular disease should fast in the month of Ramadan. However, due to variations in some features such as blood pressure throughout the day, there are uncertainties in some input data; therefore, the results could be far from reality. If it is possible to generate fuzzy data, then we can obtain more accurate results

Ramadan fasting: Do we need more evidence?

Over a billion of Muslims fast worldwide during Ramadan each year. Through this religious custom, fasting contributes to their health as well as their spiritual growth. However, available evidence regarding the health-benefits of Ramadan fasting is scarce and highly contentious. Although Islam exempts patients from fasting, many fast conceivably, and their clinical condition is prone to deteriorate due to persistent gap between current expert knowledge and conclusive strong evidence regarding the pathophysiologic and metabolic alterations of fasting and the consensus that should be taken into account to implements guided managing of various patient groups during Ramadan fasting among health care professionals. In this article, we summarized the results of initial studies regarding the effects of Ramadan fasting on some clinical conditions including alterations of body composition and clinically important outcomes of patients with a previous history of cardiovascular disease, asthma and renal colic disease. Our studies have shed light on several outcomes in favor of Ramadan fasting, and encourage those with mentioned diseases to consult their physicians and follow medical and scientific recommendations. In this review we aimed to present a piece of relevant evidence, clarify future scope and provide suggestions for future investigations

Effects of Ramadan fasting on ambulatory blood pressure in hypertensive patients

Background: Previous studies have indicated that Ramadan fasting has beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, specially blood pressure and heart rate (1). In the present study, the effect of Ramadan fasting on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate has been investigated. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on two groups of individuals. Six patients under hypertension treatment were allocated to the case group and 12 healthy individuals were selected as the control group. Twenty-four-hour blood pressure monitoring was carried out during four periods: prior to Ramadan, during the first ten days and the last ten days of Ramadan, and one month after it. All patients continued their medication, which was administered twice per day. Twenty-four-hour mean blood pressure, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference were compared among the groups. Results: In the case group, there was a significant reduction in subjects’ weight during the third period of the experiment; also, a significant improvement was observed in the heart rate during the second and third periods in the case group (

Corynebacterium jeikeium jk0268 Constitutes for the 40 Amino Acid Long PorACj, Which Forms a Homooligomeric and Anion-Selective Cell Wall Channel

Abdali N, Barth E, Norouzy A, et al. Corynebacterium jeikeium jk0268 Constitutes for the 40 Amino Acid Long PorACj, Which Forms a Homooligomeric and Anion-Selective Cell Wall Channel. PloS one. 2013;8(10): e75651.Corynebacterium jeikeium, a resident of human skin, is often associated with multidrug resistant nosocomial infections in immunodepressed patients. C. jeikeium K411 belongs to mycolic acid-containing actinomycetes, the mycolata and contains a channel-forming protein as judged from reconstitution experiments with artificial lipid bilayer experiments. The channel-forming protein was present in detergent treated cell walls and in extracts of whole cells using organic solvents. A gene coding for a 40 amino acid long polypeptide possibly responsible for the pore-forming activity was identified in the known genome of C. jeikeium by its similar chromosomal localization to known porH and porA genes of other Corynebacterium strains. The gene jk0268 was expressed in a porin deficient Corynebacterium glutamicum strain. For purification temporarily histidine-tailed or with a GST-tag at the N-terminus, the homogeneous protein caused channel-forming activity with an average conductance of 1.25 nS in 1M KCl identical to the channels formed by the detergent extracts. Zero-current membrane potential measurements of the voltage dependent channel implied selectivity for anions. This preference is according to single-channel analysis caused by some excess of cationic charges located in the channel lumen formed by oligomeric alpha-helical wheels. The channel has a suggested diameter of 1.4 nm as judged from the permeability of different sized hydrated anions using the Renkin correction factor. Surprisingly, the genome of C. jeikeium contained only one gene coding for a cell wall channel of the PorA/PorH type found in other Corynebacterium species. The possible evolutionary relationship between the heterooligomeric channels formed by certain Corynebacterium strains and the homooligomeric pore of C. jeikeium is discussed

Changes in dietary intake during Ramadan in north east of Iran population

Introduction: Ramadan is the holiest month in Islamic calendar and Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to sunset, in which there are changes in quality of food and eating patterns. The purpose of this study was to know whether these changes provide nutritional needs, and supply all of necessary macronutrients for individuals in the month. Method: A prospective observational study was performed during Ramadan of 1429A.H (September, 2008) in Mashhad, Iran. Among 335 subjects enrolled for the study, 266 subjects met inclusion criteria. We used a semi-quantitative 302-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that was self-administered and assessed the subject’s energy, macronutrient, and fiber intake over the previous three days. Dietary intake assessment was carried out one week before or after Ramadan and during the month. Results: Data showed that the amount of energy intake and macronutrients increased significantly in women and men less than 35 years during Ramadan, and also we found a significant difference in protein intake between males and females less than 35 years old out of Ramadan time,. Conclusion: This study revealed that there was a significant increase in intake of energy and macronutrients in men and women less than 35 years that was mainly due to high consumption of carbohydrate during this month. In this study there was no change in energy intake of participants over 35 years old

Coulomb Repulsion in Short Polypeptides

Coulomb repulsion between like-charged side chains is presently viewed as a major force that impacts the biological activity of intrinsically disordered polypeptides (IDPs) by determining their spatial dimensions. We investigated short synthetic models of IDPs, purely composed of ionizable amino acid residues and therefore expected to display an extreme structural and dynamic response to pH variation. Two synergistic, custom-made, time-resolved fluorescence methods were applied in tandem to study the structure and dynamics of the acidic and basic hexapeptides Asp₆, Glu₆, Arg₆, Lys₆, and His₆ between pH 1 and 12. (i) End-to-end distances were obtained from the short-distance Förster resonance energy transfer (sdFRET) from N-terminal 5-fluoro-l-tryptophan (FTrp) to C-terminal Dbo. (ii) End-to-end collision rates were obtained for the same peptides from the collision-induced fluorescence quenching (CIFQ) of Dbo by FTrp. Unexpectedly, the very high increase of charge density at elevated pH had no dynamical or conformational consequence in the anionic chains, neither in the absence nor in the presence of salt, in conflict with the common view and in partial conflict with accompanying molecular dynamics simulations. In contrast, the cationic peptides responded to ionization but with surprising patterns that mirrored the rich individual characteristics of each side chain type. The contrasting results had to be interpreted, by considering salt screening experiments, N-terminal acetylation, and simulations, in terms of an interplay of local dielectric constant and peptide-length dependent side chain charge–charge repulsion, side chain functional group solvation, N-terminal and side chain charge–charge repulsion, and side chain–side chain as well as side chain–backbone interactions. The common picture that emerged is that Coulomb repulsion between water-solvated side chains is efficiently quenched in short peptides as long as side chains are not in direct contact with each other or the main chain

The effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of Achillea millefolium on appetite hormone in rats

Objective: Achillea millefolium (A. millefolium) is known as an orexigenic herb in Iranian traditional medicine. In this study, the possible orexigenic effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of A. millefolium was investigated by measuring plasma ghrelin level.Materials and Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into five groups. Control group received water. Treatment groups received 50, 100 or 150 mg/kg of A. millefolium extract for 7 days via gavage. Before the intervention, daily amount of the food eaten by each rat was measured for 10 days. During the investigation, the amount of energy intake of each rat was also estimated 1, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hr after each intake, for 7 days. Later, the orexigenic dose of extract and distilled water was fed to two separate groups of 6 male Wistar rats. Plasma ghrelin level was measured 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 hr after extract intake.Results: The change in energy intake after treatment by 50 and 100 mg/kg of the extract was significantly higher than other groups (