Free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts of Astraeus hygrometricus (Pers.) Morg.

The present study was aimed to evaluate free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory potential of extracts of Astraeus hygrometricus - a tropical wild edible mushroom. Free radical scavenging potential of crude, boiled and ethanolic extracts was studied using different in vitro antioxidant models. The anti-inflammatory activity of the potential extract was evaluated in carrageenan and dextran induced acute and formalin induced chronic inflammatory model in mice. Among all the extracts, ethanolic extract possesses significant in vitro superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibition activities. The IC50 values of ethanolic extracts of A. hygrometricus represented 357.95, 81.2 and 87.96 μg/ml respectively. Furthermore, the ethanolic extract showed remarkable anti-inflammatory activity in all models comparable to the standard reference drug diclofenac. The results suggest that anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanolic extract of A. hygrometricus is possibly attributed to its free radical scavenging properties.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Baseline information of reproduction parameters of an amphidromous croaker Johnius coitor (Hamilton, 1822) from Ganga river basin, India with special reference to potential influence of climatic variability

Reproductive biology of female amphidromous croaker Johnius coitor (Hamilton, 1822) was studied for the first time from various freshwater stretches of Ganga river basin, India in relation to climatic variability. The species showed high spatial variation in reproductive phenology and capable of breeding during pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon and winter. Water temperature is the most crucial environmental parameter influencing gonadal maturation and breeding. Generalized additive model (GAM) models revealed water temperature near 23–25 °C as optimum and threshold GSI above 3 units necessary for breeding. Pre-spawning fitness (Kspawn50) and size at 50% maturity (LM50) benchmarked through Kaplan-Meier survival fit estimates were in the range 1.27–1.37 units and 19–24.5 cm respectively. First maturity of females was encountered at 11.4 cm within the size range 7.2–28.5 cm. Egg parameters in mature-ripe females ranged between 0.29–0.80 mm (diameter), 0.05–0.19 mg (weight) and 5687–121 849 eggs (absolute fecundity). Mapping of climate preferendum through LOESS smoothing technique hinted water temperatures 32 °C to be detrimental for attainment of pre-spawning fitness while no dependence on rainfall was observed. Based on the climato-hydrological influence on breeding and regional trends of changing climate along river Ganga, we infer minimal climate driven changes in breeding phenology of this amphidromous fish species. Results of this study may serve as baseline information for future studies assessing climate driven changes and evolutionary adaptations in croakers from river Ganga

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes

Sustained proliferation in cancer: mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets

Proliferation is an important part of cancer development and progression. This is manifest by altered expression and/or activity of cell cycle related proteins. Constitutive activation of many signal transduction pathways also stimulates cell growth. Early steps in tumor development are associated with a fibrogenic response and the development of a hypoxic environment which favors the survival and proliferation of cancer stem cells. Part of the survival strategy of cancer stem cells may manifested by alterations in cell metabolism. Once tumors appear, growth and metastasis may be supported by overproduction of appropriate hormones (in hormonally dependent cancers), by promoting angiogenesis, by undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition, by triggering autophagy, and by taking cues from surrounding stromal cells. A number of natural compounds (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol, indole-3-carbinol, brassinin, sulforaphane, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, genistein, ellagitannins, lycopene and quercetin) have been found to inhibit one or more pathways that contribute to proliferation (e.g., hypoxia inducible factor 1, nuclear factor kappa B, phosphoinositide 3 kinase/Akt, insulin-like growth factor receptor 1, Wnt, cell cycle associated proteins, as well as androgen and estrogen receptor signaling). These data, in combination with bioinformatics analyses, will be very important for identifying signaling pathways and molecular targets that may provide early diagnostic markers and/or critical targets for the development of new drugs or drug combinations that block tumor formation and progression

IMPARTING PROTECTIVE PROPERTIES TO LYOCELL VIA FINISHING TREATMENTS

Abstract: Lyocell fabric was analysed for its protective properties against UV radiation and disease-causin

Impact of stocking density on growth, feed utilization and survival of cage reared minor carp, Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) in Maithon reservoir, India

Not AvailableThe present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of stocking density on growth performance of stunted fingerlings of Labeo bata in cages for a period of 180 days, at Maithon reservoir, Jharkhand, India. L. bata (8.80 + 0.67 cm; 6.18 ? 1.32 g) were reared at three stocking densities of 50 fingerlings m?3, 75 fingerlings m?3, and 100 fingerlings m??3 in triplicates in Galvanized Iron (GI) cages. Fishes were fed with floating pelleted feed (CP: 32%, CL: 4%) @ 5?3% of the body weight twice a day. L. bata reared at density of 50 fingerlings m?3 showed significantly higher (p 0.05) in SGR were found between the densities 75 fingerlings m?3 and 100 fingerlings m?3. The growth and survival were lowest at stocking density of 100 fingerlings m?3. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were highest i.e. 1.95 ? 0.08 and 1.65 ? 0.06 respectively at 50 fingerlings m?3. Condition factor (K) varied significantly (p 0.05) among the treatments. Length weight relationship exhibited positive allometric growth of L. bata in cages. In spite of higher biomass produced at higher densities, the benefit cost ratio (BCR) was highest at stocking density of 50 fingerlings m?3 (1.57). Overall, our results indicate that L. bata exhibit better growth and condition at lower stocking density indicating that higher densities negatively affect the growth. The fish in cages exhibited growth comparable to ponds and open waters. It can be concluded that the stocking density of 50 fingerlings m?3 is the most desirable and economic for L. bata fingerlings to achieve table size in the cage culture system