Sperm mitochondrial mutations as a cause of low sperm motility

We report the unique case of a 28-year-old man who, in spite of having a varicocele and a sperm concentration of 5 million/mL, of which 10% were motile and 20% had normal forms (oligoasthenoteratozoospermia [OAT]), was fertile. This was confirmed by paternity testing using 16 autosomal and 6 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci. An analysis of mitochondrial genes that included cytochrome oxidase I (COI), cytochrome oxidase II (COII), adenosine triphosphate synthase6 (ATPase6), ATPase8, transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) serine I, tRNA lysine, and NADH dehydrogenase3 (ND3) revealed, for the first time, 9 missense and 27 silent mutations in the sperm's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) but not in the DNA from the blood cells. There was a 2-nucleotide deletion in the mitochondrial COII genes, introducing a stop codon, which might be responsible for low sperm motility

New water soluble glycosides of 11-keto-β-boswellic acid: A paradigm

<p>Though several glycosides of various triterpenes are known, but surprisingly no boswellic acid glycosides are reported so far. With a view to make water soluble boswellic acids, prepared glycosides of 11-keto boswellic acid for the first time. Naturally occurring boswellic acids which are anti-inflammatory agents are lipophylic in nature and thus, become a limiting factor in terms of their bioavailability. Among boswellic acids, 11-keto-β-boswellic acid is found to exhibit superior biological activity and hence successfully prepared its glucosyl and maltosyl derivatives viz., 11-keto-β-boswellic acid-24-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (<b>9</b>) and 11-keto-β-boswellic acid-24-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-glucopyranoside (<b>15</b>) which are water soluble. Both these compounds are soluble in water to the extent of 10% (w/w) which is very significant.</p

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Not AvailableA lowland integrated farming system model was studied for the productivity, profitability, inter-dependency and sustainability in West coast of India for four years. The model included rice based cropping systems (0.4 ha) viz., rice-cowpea, rice-groundnut, rice-brinjal and rice-sweet corn integrated with dairy and forage crops grown on the bunds of the field. The results indicated that rice-sweet corn + dairy was productive (32.6 t ha-1) and profitable system while rice-brinjal + dairy generated higher employment (256 man-days year-1) throughout the year. Dairy was found economical due to on-farm generated green fodder (6.7 tonne) throughout the year and efficient use of crop by-products, about 30-35% of the gross return contributed from the dairy except during 2014-15. The lowland farming system facilitated maximum recycling of nutrients through composting, on an average 101.2 kg of N, 18.2 kg of P and 61.9 kg of K were recycled every year. Significantly higher carbon sequestration was noticed in rice-groundnut system (28.6 Mg C ha-1). The study concluded that integrated farming system including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables integration with dairy were productive, sustainable, climate resilient and economically viable for west coast region of India.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA lowland integrated farming system model was studied for the productivity, profitability, inter-dependency and sustainability in West coast of India for four years. The model included rice based cropping systems (0.4 ha) viz., rice-cowpea, rice-groundnut, rice-brinjal and rice-sweet corn integrated with dairy and forage crops grown on the bunds of the field. The results indicated that rice-sweet corn + dairy was productive (32.6 t ha-1) and profitable system while rice-brinjal + dairy generated higher employment (256 man-days year-1) throughout the year. Dairy was found economical due to on-farm generated green fodder (6.7 tonne) throughout the year and efficient use of crop by-products, about 30-35% of the gross return contributed from the dairy except during 2014-15. The lowland farming system facilitated maximum recycling of nutrients through composting, on an average 101.2 kg of N integrated, 18.2 kg of P and 61.9 kg of K were recycled every year. Significantly higher carbon sequestration was noticed in rice-groundnut system (28.6 Mg C ha-1). The study concluded that integrated farming system including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables integration with dairy were productive, sustainable and economically viable for west coast region of India.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThis study is an initial attempt to understand the significance of meteorological parameters in agricultural production and its influence on the agricultural productivity in Goa region. A statistical analysis of the meteorological parameters like mean maximum temperature has shown a positive trend during the study period whereas rainfall over Goa region shows a steady and constant trend over the time without showing wide variations. Mean annual trend of bright sunshine hours was found to be negative. However, wind speed and cloudy days in Goa region increased significantly over the years. These trends would help the farmers to plan in advance different agricultural practices such as sowing, inter cultural operations, disease, insect and pest control activities, harvesting, etcNot Availabl

Prevalence of classical swine fever in Karnataka, India

Aim: The present study was conducted to know the current scenario of classical swine fever (CSF) in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Madikeri, Mandya, Bagalkot, Gadag, Yadgir, Koppal, and Bidar districts of Karnataka with the using of both antigen and antibody ELISA. Materials and Methods: We collected 218 sera and 121 blood samples from pigs from 10 different districts of Karnataka. Screening of sera for CSF IgG antibody and whole blood for CSF virus antigen were carried out using the CSF virus (CSFV) antibody and antigen ELISA kits, respectively. Results: The mean seroprevalence was 41% (89/218) and prevalence of CSFV antigen in blood samples was 32% (39/121) for the 10 districts of Karnataka. Seroprevalence of 61%, 29%, 20%, and 21%; and antigen prevalence of 40%, 50%, 13%, and 12% were recorded for Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum, and Gulbarga divisions of Karnataka, respectively. Conclusions: The study revealed an alarmingly high prevalence of CSF, both for the antigen (32%) and antibody (41%) in Karnataka. Southern Karnataka has the highest seroprevalence (61% in Bangalore and 29% in Mysore divisions), which confirms the endemicity of the disease in that region. This could be attributed to the intensive pig farming practices in the region as compared to Northern Karnataka (Seroprevalence of 20% in Belgaum and 21% in Gulbarga divisions), where the commercial pig farming is still in infantile stages

Induction of colon and cervical cancer cell death by cinnamic acid derivatives is mediated through the inhibition of Histone Deacetylases (HDAC)

<div><p>Recent studies from our group and many others have shown the ability of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for retarding the growth of carcinomas of cervix, colon and rectum in vitro. A search for naturally occurring HDAC inhibitors continues due to the adverse effects associated with known HDAC inhibitors like SAHA and TSA. Therefore in the current study, naturally occurring cinnamic acids derivatives were screened for HDAC inhibitory effect using in silico docking method which identified cinnamic acids as potential candidates. Cinnamic acids (CA) are naturally occurring phenolic compounds known to exhibit anticancer properties. However, it is not clearly known whether the anticancer properties of CA derivatives are due to the inhibition of oncogenic HDACs, if so how the efficacy varies among various CA derivatives. Hence, the HDAC inhibitory potential of CA derivatives containing increasing number of hydroxylic groups or methoxy moieties was determined using Discovery Studio software and the most potent CA derivatives tested ex vivo (biochemical assay) as well as in vitro (using cell based assay). Among CA derivatives tested, dihydroxy cinnamic acid (DHCA, commonly known as caffeic acid) exhibited better interactions with HDAC2 (compared to other isoforms) in silico and inhibited its activity ex vivo as well as in vitro. Targeted reduction of HDAC activity using DHCA induced death of cancer cells by (a) generating reactive oxygen species, (b) arresting cells in S and G2/M phases; and (c) induction of caspase-3 mediated apoptosis. In conclusion, we demonstrated that DHCA inhibited cancer cell growth by binding to HDAC followed by the induction of apoptosis.</p></div

Docking energy and c-docker interactions of CA derivatives with HDAC at TSA binding site.

<p>Docking energy and c-docker interactions of CA derivatives with HDAC at TSA binding site.</p

DHCA and sodium butyrate inhibited HDAC activity ex vivo: To assess whether DHCA (which showed better HDAC inhibition in silico) inhibits HDAC activity ex vivo, HDAC enzyme (isolated from HeLa cells-provided in kit) was incubated with increasing concentrations of DHCA for 20 minutes and the percentage inhibition calculated.

<p>Analysis of the data demonstrated much better HDAC inhibition with DHCA compared to sodium butyrate (a well-known HDAC inhibitor). TSA, another known HDAC inhibitor used as positive control in this study, showed much stronger HDAC inhibition compared to DHCA or sodium butyrate.</p