Improving sperm quality and spermatogenesis through a bioactive marine compound : an experimental study

Dietary lipids may affect sperm membrane structure, fluidity and its susceptibility to oxidative phenomena which may lead to altered sperm viability and proper binding to eggs.Given the recently demonstrated beneficial effects of fish oil diets on turkey fertility and embryo viability, the aim of this study was to test a caviar-derived marine product on spermatogenesis and sperm quality. Sixty mice were divided into four different groups and fed for 3 weeks with normal chow (group A), added with LD-1227 at the dosage of either 5 mg/day (B1) or 10 mg/day (B2) while Group C received standard chow added with 10 mg of a DHArich mixture. At sacrifice tests/body weight ration and spermatogenesis was checked. No toxicity, histological sign or body or testes growth abnormality was noted, irrespective of the treatment. As compared to control, all supplements showed to increase sperm counting and motility although the effect of LD-1227 10 mg was significantly higher than DHA alone (p<0.05). Viability was improved by DHA (p<0.05) but not by low LD-1227 dosage while higher dosage performed better than DHA (p<0.05).Morphology was unaffected by any of the employed supplements. Taken altogether, these data suggest that LD-1227 has a remarkable effect on quali-quantitative parameters of spermiogenesis, some of them being more effective than high dosage DHA. These findings may prove to be of interest in clinical practice

Effect of Celergen, a marine derivative, on in vitro hepatocarcinogenesis

The aim of this study was to test for a potential anticarcinogenic effect of Celergen, a marine derivative devoid of traceable amounts of inorganic arsenic, on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in the HepG2 human liver cancer cell line. Celergen significantly inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner while limiting the cell cycle progression at the G1 phase and significantly inducing apoptosis. Further examination showed that Celergen enhanced expression of the p21CIPl1WAF1, GADD153 genes and downregulated the c-myc gene. These results suggest that Celergen exerts promising chemopreventive properties to be further investigated

Celep, F., Karaer, F., Duman, H. (2021) Resurrection of Lamium ponticum (Lamiaceae) with a new subspecies, Lamium ponticum subsp. anatolicum, from Turkey. Phytotaxa 511 (1): 071-076.

Celep, F., Karaer, F., Duman, H. (2021): Celep, F., Karaer, F., Duman, H. (2021) Resurrection of Lamium ponticum (Lamiaceae) with a new subspecies, Lamium ponticum subsp. anatolicum, from Turkey. Phytotaxa 511 (1): 071-076. Phytotaxa 514 (1): 88-88, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.514.1.7, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.514.1.

Anatomy, trichome morphology and palynology of Salvia chrysophylla Stapf (Lamiaceae)

The anatomy, palynology, morphology and distribution of the trichomes on the aerial parts of Salvia chrysophylla Stapf, an endemic species in Turkey, were studied in order to understand the usefulness of these characteristics for systematic purposes. Some anatomical characters such as (1-)2-24-rowed pith rays in roots, dorsiventral leaves, obviously larger upper epidermal cells, and two to three large vascular bundles in the center and two to four small subsidiary bundles in the wings of petiole provide information of taxonomical significance. Three main types of trichomes were observed on the stem, inflorescence axis, leaf and calyx surfaces of S. chrysophylla. They are peltate, capitate glandular and non-glandular. Capitate glandular and non-glandular trichomes were further subdivided into several kinds. Glandular trichomes are present in abundance on the inflorescence axis and calyx, but non-glandular ones were mainly situated on the leaf and stem. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies on the pollen grains have revealed that they are oblate-spheroidal and their exine ornamentation is bireticulate-perforate

Karyomorphological studies in seven taxa of the genus Salvia (Lamiaceae) in Turkey

In this study, the karyotypes of mitotic chromosomes were determined of seven taxa of Salvia (Lamiaceae) collected from their natural habitats in Turkey: S. viridis (2n = 16), S. candidissima subsp. occidentalis (2n = 20), S. sclarea, S. ceratophylla, S. chionantha (2n = 22), S. viscosa and S. verticillata subsp. amasiaca (2n = 32). The karyotype formulae were 5m+3sm in S. viridis, 2M+5m+3sm in S. candidissima subsp. occidentalis, 1M+10m in S. sclarea, 8m+3sm in S. ceratophylla, 7m+4sm in S. chionantha, 9m+5sm+2st in S. viscosa, and 15m+1sm in S. verticillata subsp. amasiaca by the karyotype image analysis system. Somatic chromosome numbers ranged from 2n = 16 to 2n = 32. The ideograms were drawn based on centromeric index and arranged in decreasing size order. The present results were compared with the previous cytological studies in the genus

Antioxidant properties of Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl., Chaerophyllum macropodum Boiss. and Heracleum persicum Desf. from Apiaceae family used as food in Eastern Anatolia and their inhibitory effects on glutathione-S-transferase

Therapeutic effects of several medicinal plants and vegetables, which are commonly used as food and in folk medicine against many disease, are well known. Antioxidant capacities of Heracleum persicum Desf., Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl., Chaerophyllum macropodum Boiss. species from Apiaceae family were evaluated by determining their effects on DPPH radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation inhibition, as well as their total phenolic contents. Potential natural glutathione-S-transferase inhibitors have gained great importance in the last decade especially because of the role of glutathione-S-transferases in developing resistance to chemotherapy. Selected plants were therefore further investigated for their influence on the activity of glutathione-S-transferase enzyme

Pollen morphology of the genus Lamium L. (Lamiaceae) and its systematic implications

This is the first comprehensive palynological investigation of the genus Lamium. The pollen morphology of 48 taxa (including species, subspecies and varieties) of the genus Lamium was investigated and documented using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Lamium pollen is small to medium sized (I) = 21.65-39.96 mu m), oblate-spheroidal to subprolate in shape and tricolpate. Three major exine sculpturing patterns (reticulate, granulate and microreticulate) were observed. The results indicated that the exine sculpturing pattern of Lamium is systematically informative at sectional level, but not at the species and infraspecific levels. In the present study, the palynological data are compared with available phylogenetic studies to evaluate the systematic value of pollen characters in the genus. Analysis show that; (1) Mennema's infrageneric classification is partly corroborated by our palynological data, (2) recent phylogenetic analysis on the genus and our results are partly corroborated, and (3) pollen morphology supports the inclusion of L. galeobdolon (=Galeobdolon), L. orientale and L. multifidum (=Wiedemannia) in Lamium. (4) Variation in exine sculpturing pattern have systematic importance particularly at sectional level. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved