Evaluation of Hungarian Wines for Resveratrol by Overpressured Layer Chromatography

A method, including solid phase extraction sample preparation, overpressured layer chromatographic separation and subsequent densitometric evaluation, was developed for measurement of total resveratrol (cis- and trans-isomers) content of wine. The amount of resveratrol was determined in wine samples from different winemaking regions of Hungary. The total resveratrol was high in Hungarian red wines (3.6–11 mg/L), and much lower in white ones (0.04–1.5 mg/L)

Underweight and overweight men have greater exercise-induced dyspnoea than normal weight men.

INTRODUCTION: Persons with high or low body mass index (BMI), involved in clinical or mechanistic trials involving exercise testing, might estimate dyspnoea differently from persons with a normal BMI. AIMS: Our objective was to investigate the relationship between BMI and dyspnoea during exercise in normal subjects with varying BMI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 37 subjects undertook progressive exercise testing. Subjects were divided into three groups: underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), and overweight (OW). Dyspnoea was estimated using the visual analogue scale (VAS). Spirometry, maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV), and respiratory muscle strength (RMS) were measured. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The intercept of the VAS/ventilation relationship was significantly higher in NW subjects compared to UW (P = 0.029) and OW subjects (P = 0.040). Relative to the OW group, FVC (P = 0.020), FEV(1) (P = 0.024), MVV (P = 0.019), and RMS (P = 0.003) were significantly decreased in the UW group. The greater levels of dyspnoea in UW subjects could possibly be due to decreased RMS. Healthy persons should aim to achieve an optimum BMI range to have the lowest exercise-induced dyspnoea

Rescue of Photoreceptor Degeneration by Curcumin in Transgenic Rats with P23H Rhodopsin Mutation

The P23H mutation in the rhodopsin gene causes rhodopsin misfolding, altered trafficking and formation of insoluble aggregates leading to photoreceptor degeneration and autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP). There are no effective therapies to treat this condition. Compounds that enhance dissociation of protein aggregates may be of value in developing new treatments for such diseases. Anti-protein aggregating activity of curcumin has been reported earlier. In this study we present that treatment of COS-7 cells expressing mutant rhodopsin with curcumin results in dissociation of mutant protein aggregates and decreases endoplasmic reticulum stress. Furthermore we demonstrate that administration of curcumin to P23H-rhodopsin transgenic rats improves retinal morphology, physiology, gene expression and localization of rhodopsin. Our findings indicate that supplementation of curcumin improves retinal structure and function in P23H-rhodopsin transgenic rats. This data also suggest that curcumin may serve as a potential therapeutic agent in treating RP due to the P23H rhodopsin mutation and perhaps other degenerative diseases caused by protein trafficking defects

Incidence and detection of beak and feather disease virus in psittacine birds in the UAE

Beak and feather disease is caused by Circovirus, which affects actively growing beak and feather cells of avian species. The disease affects mainly young birds while older birds may overcome the disease with few lasting effects. Due to lack of treatment, the only way to control the disease is through hygiene and early diagnosis. As a diagnostic tool, we have established a Taqman probe based real-time PCR assay to detect the presence of the viral genome in psittacine birds in UAE and reported the incidence of circovirus in different species of psittacine birds. The sensitivity of our assay was found to be very high with detection limit of up to 3.5 fg of DNA in the sample. The mean prevalence of circovirus was found to be 58.33% in African Grey Parrots, 34.42% in Cockatoos, 31.8% in amazon parrots and 25.53% in Macaws. The Taqman assay is a quick, reliable and sensitive detection method that has been instrumental in identifying this disease that was not previously reported in the region

Functional SNP in the microRNA-367 binding site in the 3′UTR of the calcium channel ryanodine receptor gene 3 (RYR3) affects breast cancer risk and calcification

We have evaluated and provided evidence that the ryanodine receptor 3 gene (RYR3), which encodes a large protein that forms a calcium channel, is important for the growth, morphology, and migration of breast cancer cells. A putative binding site for microRNA-367 (miR-367) exists in the 3′UTR of RYR3, and a genetic variant, rs1044129 A→G, is present in this binding region. We confirmed that miR-367 regulates the expression of a reporter gene driven by the RYR3 3′UTR and that the regulation was affected by the RYR3 genotype. A thermodynamic model based on base pairing and the secondary structure of the RYR3 mRNA and miR-367 miRNA showed that miR-367 had a higher binding affinity for the A genotype than for the G genotype. The rs1044129 SNP was genotyped in 1,532 breast cancer cases and 1,600 healthy Chinese women. The results showed that compared with the AA genotype, G was a risk genotype for breast cancer development and was also associated with breast cancer calcification and poor survival. Thus, rs1044129 is a unique SNP that resides in a miRNA-gene regulatory loop that affects breast cancer risk, calcification, and survival