Effect of Ursodeoxycholic Acid on Pentylenetetrazole Kindling and Kindling Induced Memory Impairment in Rat

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy is one of the common diseases of the brain that about 30-40% of patients with epilepsy experience recurent attacks due to drug resistance. Recently, the beneficial effects of Ursodeoxycholic acid on brain disorders have been considered. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA)on the Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced kindling, and related learning and memory impairments on Morris water maze. METHODS: This experimental study was done on 32 male Winstar rats divided into 4 groups. The first(n=7)and the second(n=9)groups have received three injections of 0.5 ml NaCl or 50 mg/kg of UDCA respectively and third(n=7) and fourth(n=9) groups have received fifteen injections of 0.5 ml NaCl or 50 mg/kg of UDCA respectively. All injections were given intraperitoneally(ip)(every 48 hours). In all groups, chemical kindling were started after third injections. Twenty-four hour after the last injection, spatial memory was investigated in the Morris water maze. FINDING: Fifteen injections of UDCA significantly reduced the seizure stage from 3.5±0.17 to 3.08±0.11 and duration of stages five from 12.37±1.21 to 8.43±1.09 and increased time to reach the stage five seizures from 1021.65±72.07 to 1252.41±49.63 as compared to control group. However, three injections of UDCA have no effect on the kindling process. However, three time administration of UDCA significantly increased reference memory from 18.72±1.2 s to 26.11±1.8 s. CONCLUSION: Ursodeoxycholic acid inhibits chemical kindling and improves kindling induced memory impairment

Novel ocellatin peptides mitigate LPS-induced ROS formation and NF-kB activation in microglia and hippocampal neurons

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Cre-ative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not per-mitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Cutaneous secretions of amphibians have bioactive compounds, such as peptides, with potential for biotechnological applications. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the primary structure and investigate peptides obtained from the cutaneous secretions of the amphibian, Leptodactylus vastus, as a source of bioactive molecules. The peptides obtained possessed the amino acid sequences, GVVDILKGAAKDLAGH and GVVDILKGAAKDLAGHLASKV, with monoisotopic masses of [M + H]± = 1563.8 Da and [M + H]± = 2062.4 Da, respectively. The molecules were characterized as peptides of the class of ocellatins and were named as Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21). Functional analysis revealed that Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) showed weak antibacterial activity. However, treatment of mice with these ocellatins reduced the nitrite and malondialdehyde content. Moreover, superoxide dismutase enzymatic activity and glutathione concentration were increased in the hippocampus of mice. In addition, Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) were effective in impairing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and NF-kB activation in living microglia. We incubated hippocampal neurons with microglial conditioned media treated with LPS and LPS in the presence of Ocellatin-K1(1-16) and Ocellatin-K1(1-21) and observed that both peptides reduced the oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, these ocellatins demonstrated low cytotoxicity towards erythrocytes. These functional properties suggest possible to neuromodulatory therapeutic applications.Alexandra Plácido is a recipient of a post-doctoral grant from the project FCT (PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017). Renato Socodato and Camila Cabral Portugal hold postdoctoral fellowships from FCT (Refs: SFRH/BPD/91833/2012 and FRH/BPD/91962/2012, respectively). This work was funded through project UID/QUI/50006/2013-POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 (LAQV/REQUIMTE) with financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT 2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Commiphora leptophloeos Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Characterization

Commiphora leptophloeos is a plant specie usually known for its medicinal purposes in local communities in Northeast Brazil. In order to evaluate its therapeutic potential, we aimed to determine the phytochemical and antimicrobial properties of C. leptophloeos extracts. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) was able to detect the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and reducing sugars. Three phenolic compounds were identified by HPLC and described as Gallic, Chlorogenic and Protocatechuic acids. On the other hand, H(1)NMR analysis revealed the presence of hinokinin, a bioactive lignan further characterized in the present work. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for hinokinin ranged from 0.0485 to 3.125 mg/mL in different S. aureus clinical isolates and showed a bactericidal activity against MRSA isolated from blood (MMC 0.40 mg/mL) and postoperative secretion (MMC = 3.125 mg/mL). C. leptophloeos extracts also showed antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium species such as M. smegmatis (MIC = 12.5 mg/mL) and M. tuberculosis (MIC = 52 mg/mL). Additionally, we determined the toxicity of C. leptophloeos by in vitro HC50 tests with hemolytic activity detected of 313 \ub1 0.5 \u3bcg/mL. Our results showed that C. leptophloeos possesses inhibitory properties against MRSA as well as several other clinically important microorganisms. Furthermore, the present work is the first report of the presence of hinokinin in Commiphora genus

Polyphasic identification of Penicillium spp. isolated from Spanish semi-hard ripened cheeses

P. 409-444Fifteen samples of semi-hard ripened cheeses, both spoiled (10) and unspoiled (5), and obtained from cheese factories located in Northwest of Spain, were analysed by a dilution plating technique and direct sampling. A total of 32 isolates were identified at species level by a polyphasic approach (phenotypic characterization, partial extrolite analysis and molecular identification). Most isolates (65.6%) belonged to the species P. commune; other species found were P. solitum, P. chrysogenum, P. nordicum, P. expansum and P. cvjetkovicii. All of the P. commune isolates were able to produce cyclopiazonic acid, while the P. nordicum and the P. expansum isolates were producers of ochratoxin A and patulin respectively. Despite this, the role of P. commune as beneficial fungi in cheese ripening should be investigated. Molecular identification based on BenA sequence analysis was able to identify the majority of isolates. The three mycotoxins investigated can be considered key for identification. The polyphasic approach seems to be a very valuable tool for identification of isolates of this complex genusS

The institutions of archaic post-modernity and their organizational and managerial consequences: The case of Portugal

The long march of modernization of the Western societies tends to be presented as following a regular sequence: societies and institutions were pre-modern, and then they were modernized, eventually becoming post-modern. Such teleology may provide an incomplete or distorted narrative of societal evolution in many parts of the world, even in the ‘post-modern heartland’ of Western Europe, with Portugal being a case in point. The concept of archaic post-modernity has been developed by a philosopher, José Gil, to show how Portuguese institutions and organizations combine elements of pre-modernity and post-modernity. The notion of an archaic post-modernity is advanced in order to provide an alternative account of the modernization process, which enriches discussion of the varieties of capitalism. Differences in historical experiences create singularities that may be considered in the analysis of culture, management and organization

A Study on the Effects of Orally Administered Copper Sulfate on Learning ‎and Spatial Memory of Wistar Rats

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Copper is one of the main micronutrients in the human body. Malfunction in copper homeostasis results in Menkes syndrome and Wilson’s disease, which are associated with complications such as seizure and impairments in learning and memory. Use of high copper concentrations can cause permanent damage to the cells and neurons. The aim of this study was to examine the toxic effects of orally administered copper sulfate on rats’ learning in Morris water maze. METHODS: In this experimental study, 39 Wistar rats were divided into male (n=21) and female (n=18) groups. These two groups were each randomly divided into three sub-groups. The control group received distilled water, while the other two groups were administrated 1 and 1.5 mM of copper sulfate, dissolved in distilled water for a period of one month. After this period, the Morris water maze was incorporated to evaluate the spatial memory of rats. FINDINGS: In male rats, copper sulfate, which was added to drinking water, made no significant changes in the distance traveled to find the platform (24.09%±3.01 in the control group, 26.06%±2.95 in the 1 mm copper sulfate group, and 25.68%±1.82 in the 1.5 mM copper sulfate group), the time spent to find the platform (23.93±2.87 in the control group, 25.54±3.47 in the 1 mM copper sulfate group, and 25.33±1.92 in the 1.5 mM copper sulfate group), or the swimming speed. The comparison of female groups showed that 1 and 1.5 mM concentrations of copper sulfate could not cause any significant impairments in learning of rats. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the addition of copper sulfate to drinking water have no detrimental impacts on the memory or learning of male and female rats