Preventive effects of Spirulina platensis on skeletal muscle damage under exercise-induced oxidative stress

The effects of spirulina supplementation on preventing skeletal muscle damage on untrained human beings were examined. Sixteen students volunteered to take Spirulina platensis in addition to their normal diet for 3-weeks. Blood samples were taken after finishing the Bruce incremental treadmill exercise before and after treatment. The results showed that plasma concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly decreased after supplementation with spirulina (P < 0.05). The activity of blood superoxide dismutase (SOD) was significantly raised after supplementation with spirulina or soy protein (P < 0.05). Both of the blood glutathione peroxidaes (GP (x) ) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were significantly different between spirulina and soy protein supplementation by an ANCOVA analysis (P < 0.05). In addition, the lactate (LA) concentration was higher and the time to exhaustion (TE) was significantly extended in the spirulina trail (P < 0.05). These results suggest that ingestion of S. platensis showed preventive effect of the skeletal muscle damage and that probably led to postponement of the time of exhaustion during the all-out exercise

Fluctuations and Dissipation of Coherent Magnetization

A quantum mechanical model is used to derive a generalized Landau-Lifshitz equation for a magnetic moment, including fluctuations and dissipation. The model reproduces the Gilbert-Brown form of the equation in the classical limit. The magnetic moment is linearly coupled to a reservoir of bosonic degrees of freedom. Use of generalized coherent states makes the semiclassical limit more transparent within a path-integral formulation. A general fluctuation-dissipation theorem is derived. The magnitude of the magnetic moment also fluctuates beyond the Gaussian approximation. We discuss how the approximate stochastic description of the thermal field follows from our result. As an example, we go beyond the linear-response method and show how the thermal fluctuations become anisotropy-dependent even in the uniaxial case.Comment: 22 page

Characterization of the physico-chemical and antioxidant properties of Taiwanese kiwifruit (Actinidia setosa)

In Taiwan the kiwifruit Actinidia setosa grows higher than 1,500 in above sea level. The National Chung Hsing University of Taiwan maintains a collection of experimental vines grown from cuttings of the native A. setosa collection. Actinidia setosa 'No.9', which produced the largest fruit, was selected for a study of its physicochemical and antioxidant characteristics, which were compared with those of A. deliciosa 'Chung Hsing No.3' and 'Chung Hsing No.4'. Kiwifruit fresh weight, soluble solids content, flesh firmness, titratable acidity, quinic, malic, ascorbic and citric acid contents, chlorophyll content, total phenol compound content, peroxidase activity, polyphenolic oxidase activity, free radical scavenging (DPPH) effect, and chelating effect were measured. Anthesis of A. selosa and A. deliciosa occurs in late April and late May, and fruit maturity Occurs in late September and late October, respectively. The strong insect and diseaseresistant characteristics of A. selosa 'No.9' can be attributed to the long down on the branches, leaves, and fruit. ACIinidia setosa 'No.9' has a yellow rust leaf infection rate of 14 +/- 3% while that of 'Chung Hsing NoY and 'Chung Hsing No.4' leaves was 77 +/- 5% and 92 +/- 7%, respectively. The A. setosa 'No.9' fruit has a flat, long shape with a down length of 33 +/- 4 mu m, and the down length on 'Chung Hsing No.3' and 'Chung Hsing No.4' fruit was 18.2 +/- 0.7 and 17 +/- 4 mu m, respectively. Under organic cultivation, A. selosa 'No. 9' had a mature fruit fresh weight of 66 +/- 10 g, Soluble solids content of 6.2 +/- 0.1 'Brix, and titratable acidity of 2.2 +/- 0.0%. In A. setosa 'No.9' the ascorbic acid concentration was 83 +/- 6 mg/100 g, inalic acid was 565 9 mg/100 g, and the total phenol Compound content was 0.4 +/- 0.1 rng/g of fresh weight, all significantly higher than those of 'Chung Hsing No.4'. The peroxidase and polyphenolic oxidase activities of A. selosa 'No.9' were 0.02 +/- 0.0 Delta A(470)/min/g.fw and 0.01 +/- 0.0 Delta A(420)/min/g.fw at 150 days after anthesis (DAA), respectively. The DPPH ability of A. setosa 'No.9', 'Chung Hsing No.3' and 'Chung Hsing No.4' was 96.1 +/- 0.2%, 93 +/- 1% and 95 +/- 1%, respectively. The experimental results indicate that A. setosa 'No.9' has great potential for commercial production and breeding

Expression profiling of human epidermal keratinocyte response following 1-minute JP-8 exposure

The cDNA microarray analysis of 9600 expressed sequence tags was performed to examine the gene expression changes in human epidermal keratinocytes after 1-minute JP-8 exposure, 151 genes were identified as JP-8 responsive and classified into 8 clusters by self organization map. Genes involved in basal transcription and translations were up-regulated, whereas genes related to DNA repair, metabolism, and keratin were mostly down-regulated. Genes encoded for growth factors, apoptosis, signal transduction, and adhesion were also altered. These results indicated that human keratinocyte responds to a single dose of JP-8 insult and revealed several cellular processes previously not associated with jet fuel exposure

Anti-invasive gene expression profile of curcumin in lung adenocarcinoma based on a high throughput microarray analysis

Curcumin has been reported to exhibit anti-invasive and/or antimetastatic activities, but the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, microarray analysis of gene expression profiles were used to characterize the anti-invasive mechanisms of curcumin in highly invasive lung adenocarcinoma cells (CL1-5). Results showed that curcumin significantly reduces the invasive capacity of CL1-5 cells in a concentration range far below its levels of cytotoxicity (20 muM) and that this anti-invasive effect was concentration dependent (10.17+/-0.76x10(3) cells at 0 muM; 5.67+/-1.53x10(3) cells at 1 muM; 2.67+/-0.58x10(3) cells at 5 muM; 1.15+/-1.03x10(3) cells at 10 muM; P<0.05) in the Transwell cell culture chamber assay. Using microarray analysis, 81 genes were down-regulated and 71 genes were up-regulated after curcumin treatment. Below sublethal concentrations of curcumin (10 &mu;M), several invasion-related genes were suppressed, including matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14; 0.65-fold), neuronal cell adhesion molecule (0.54-fold), and integrins &alpha;6 (0.67-fold) and &beta;4 (0.63-fold). In addition, several heat-shock proteins (Hsp)[Hsp27 (2.78-fold), Hsp70 (3.75-fold), and Hsp40-like protein (3.21-fold)] were induced by curcumin. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry confirmed these results in both RNA and protein levels. Curcumin (1 to 10 &mu;M) reduced the MMP14 expression in both mRNA and protein levels and also inhibited the activity of MMP2, the down-stream gelatinase of MMP14, by gelatin zymographic analysis. Based on these data, it can be concluded that curcumin might be an effective antimetastatic agent with a mechanism of anti-invasion via the regulation of certain gene expressions

Dynamic changes of gene expression profiles during postnatal development of the heart in mice

Objective: To study postnatal cardiac differentiation in the mouse. Hypothesis: There might be mechanisms or factors in cardiac differentiation that could be identified by systematic gene expression analysis during postnatal cardiac development. Methods: Expression of 6144 genes was examined in mouse heart, from the newborn period (day 0), through day 7 and day 14 day, to adulthood, using the cDNA microarray approach. Northern blotting and immunohistochemical techniques were used to confirm the microarray results. Results: Various cardiac development related genes involving the cell cycle (cyclin B1, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and Ki67), growth factors (IGF-II, pleiotrophin (PTN), and midkine (MK)), and transcriptional regulation, cytoskeleton, and detoxification enzymes were identified by microarray analysis. Some of these genes were also confirmed by Northern blotting and immunohistochemistry of their RNA and protein content. In vivo treatment with PTN (20 ng/g) increased bromodeoxyuridine incorporation (by 2.24-fold) and PCNA expression (by 1.71-fold) during day 7 to day 14, indicating that PTN induces cell proliferation in mouse heart. Conclusions: Global gene expression analysis in the whole heart may be useful in understanding the orchestrated process of postnatal development or terminal differentiation in the cardiac environment. These data are likely to be helpful in studying developmental anomalies of the heart in neonates