Antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective potential of agaro-oligosaccharides in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: Agaro-oligosaccharides derived from red seaweed polysaccharide have been reported to possess antioxidant activity. In order to assess the live protective effects of agar-oligosaccharides, we did both in vitro and in vivo studies based on own-made agaro-oligosaccharides, and the structural information of this oligosaccharide was also determined. METHOD: Structure of agaro-oligosaccharides prepared with acid hydrolysis on agar was confirmed by matrix-assisted ultraviolet laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and NMR. The antioxidant effect of agaro-oligosaccharides on intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed by 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate. Carbon tetrachloride was used to induce liver injury, some index including SOD, GSH-Px, MDA, AST, ALT were examined to determine the hepatoprotective effect of agaro-oligosaccharides. RESULTS: Agaro-oligosaccharides we got were composed of odd polymerizations with molecular weights ranged from 500 to 2500. Results from intracellular test indicated that agaro-oligosaccharides could significantly scavenge the level of oxidants in the hepatocytes, more beneficially, also associated with the improvement of cell viability In vivo studies of the antioxidant effects on tissue peroxidative damage induced by carbon tetrachloride in rat model indicated that agaro-oligosaccharides could elevate the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decrease the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (AST), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (ALT) significantly. At 400 mg/kg, MDA level reduced 44 % and 21 % in liver and heart, SOD and GSH-Px increased to highest in liver and serum, while ALT level decreased 22.16 % in serum. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results of the present study indicate that agaro-oligosaccharides can exert their in vitro and in vivo hepatoprotective effect through scavenging oxidative damage induced by ROS

DNA methylation dynamics of the human preimplantation embryo

In mammals, cytosine methylation is predominantly restricted to CpG dinucleotides and stably distributed across the genome, with local, cell type-specific regulation directed by DNA binding factors1-3. This comparatively static landscape dramatically contrasts the events of fertilization, where the paternal genome is globally reprogrammed. Paternal genome demethylation includes the majority of CpGs, though methylation is maintained at several notable features4-7. While these dynamics have been extensively characterized in the mouse, only limited observations are available in other mammals, and direct measurements are required to understand the extent to which early embryonic landscapes are conserved8-10. We present genome-scale DNA methylation maps of human preimplantation development and embryonic stem cell (ESC) derivation, confirming a transient state of global hypomethylation that includes most CpGs, while sites of persistent maintenance are primarily restricted to gene bodies. While most features share similar dynamics to mouse, maternally contributed methylation is divergently targeted to species-specific sets of CpG island (CGI) promoters that extend beyond known Imprint Control Regions (ICRs). Retrotransposon regulation is also highly diverse and transitions from maternally to embryonically expressed, species-specific elements. Together, our data confirm that paternal genome demethylation is a general attribute of early mammalian development that is characterized by distinct modes of epigenetic regulation

A proposal for calculating the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for organic compounds responsible for liver toxicity based on their physicochemical properties

Objectives: Both environmental and occupational exposure limits are based on the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL), lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL) or benchmark dose (BMD) deriving from epidemiological and experimental studies. The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent the NOAEL values for organic compounds responsible for liver toxicity calculated based on their physicochemical properties could be used for calculating occupational exposure limits. Material and Methods: The distribution coefficients from air to the liver (log Kliver) were calculated according to the Abraham solvation equation. NOAEL and LOAEL values for early effects in the liver were obtained from the literature data. The descriptors for Abraham's equation were found for 59 compounds, which were divided into 2 groups: "non-reactive" (alcohols, ketones, esters, ethers, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, amides) and "possibly reactive" (aldehydes, allyl compounds, amines, benzyl halides, halogenated hydrocarbons, acrylates). Results: The correlation coefficients between log-log K and log NOAEL for non-reactive and reactive compounds amounted to r = -0.8123 and r = -0.8045, respectively, and were statistically significant. It appears that the Abraham equation could be used to predict the NOAEL values for compounds lacking information concerning their liver toxicity. Conclusions: In view of the tendency to limit animal testing procedures, the method proposed in this paper can improve the practice of setting exposure guidelines for the unstudied compounds

Preventing falls among older people with mental health problems : a systematic review

© 2014 Bunn et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Falls are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in older people and the risk of falling is exacerbated by mental health conditions. Existing reviews have focused on people with dementia and cognitive impairment, but not those with other mental health conditions or in mental health settings. The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of fall prevention interventions for older people with mental health problems being cared for across all settingsPeer reviewedFinal Published versio