Effect of organic extracts of Bunium incrassatum on the hematological, ovarian and uterine parameters of mature female rabbit

This work aims to evaluate the effect of the organic extracts of Bunium incrassatum roots on some hematological parameters and histological changes of the genital tract. The study was achieved on mature rabbits of the local breed for 15 days. The animals were divided into five groups, which have daily administered 0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day doses, respectively. The group with dose 0 was taken as a control. After treatment, the rabbits were sacrificed. The rabbit blood was collected in heparin tubes and their ovaries and uterus were removed, fixed in 10 % formalin; and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The treatment induces a significant decrease in the level of Triglyceride, Cholesterol and a significant increase in the number of growing follicles accompanied by a decrease in atretic follicles, compared to the control group. The study shows that the organic extract of B. Incrassatum has estrogenic effects.Keywords: Bunium incrassatum, Organic extract, Rabbits, Ovaries, Follicles, Liver, Uteru

HIF-independent role of prolyl hydroxylases in the cellular response to amino acids

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) are α-ketoglutarate (αKG)-dependent dioxygenases that function as cellular oxygen sensors. However, PHD activity also depends on factors other than oxygen, especially αKG, a key metabolic compound closely linked to amino-acid metabolism. We examined the connection between amino-acid availability and PHD activity. We found that amino-acid starvation leads to αKG depletion and to PHD inactivation but not to HIF stabilization. Furthermore, pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of PHDs induced autophagy and prevented mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activation by amino acids in a HIF-independent manner. Therefore, PHDs sense not only oxygen but also respond to amino acids, constituting a broad intracellular nutrient-sensing network.Oncogene advance online publication, 22 October 2012; doi:10.1038/onc.2012.465

Metabolic transformation in cancer

In 2000, Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg published a review detailing the six hallmarks of cancer. These are six phenotypes that a tumour requires in order to become a fully fledged malignancy: persistent growth signals, evasion of apoptosis, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, unlimited replicative potential, angiogenesis and invasion and metastasis. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that these phenotypes do not portray the whole story and that other hallmarks are necessary: one of which is a shift in cellular metabolism. The tumour environment creates a unique collection of stresses to which cells must adapt in order to survive. This environment is formed by the uncontrolled proliferation of cells, which ignore the cues that would create normal tissue architecture. As a result, the cells forming the tumour are exposed to low oxygen and nutrient levels, as well as high levels of toxic cellular waste products, which is thought to propel cells towards a more transformed phenotype, resistant to cell death and pro-metastatic