Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activity of essential oils from resin of Commiphora species

ABSTRACT. Essential oils (EOs) were prepared by the hydro-distillation technique from the resins of four Commiphora species and analyzed by GC-MS. Major constituents of EOs were a-copaene (22.71%), β-caryophyllene (28.03%) and β-caryophyllene oxide (13.89%) for C. sphaerocarpa; a-pinene (29.1%) for C. africana; hexadecane (14.1%) for C. habessinica and δ-cadinene (31.5%) for C. schimperi. We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of EOs in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages by measuring nitric oxide (NO). The effect in mRNA or protein level after EO treatment were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. Among four Commiphora species, C. sphaerocarpa EO demonstrated a significant inhibition of LPS by 27.2±3.6% at 10 μg/mL and 62.3±5.2% at 20 μg/mL. C. sphaerocarpa EO inhibited LPS mediated iNOS over expression in both protein and mRNA level with dose dependent manner. It inhibited phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, ATF2. The enhanced anti-inflammatory activity of the EO of the plant was due to HO-1 expression by ROS dependent Nrf2 activation in RAW264.7 cells. These findings indicate C. sphaerocarpa EO inhibits the pro-inflammatory responses by inhibiting MAPK/ATF2, and triggering ROS/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling. Therefore, C. sphaerocarpa EO could have potential for useful therapeutic candidate preventing and treating inflammatory diseases.   KEY WORDS: GC-MS, Anti-inflammatory, C. africana, C. habessinica, C. sphaerocarpa, C. schimperi   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2022, 36(2), 399-415.                                                               DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i2.13                                                     &nbsp

Incidence and Risk Factors Associated with Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome following Surgical Correction of Scoliosis

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: To more accurately determine the incidence and clarify risk factors. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is one of the possible complications following correctional operation for scoliosis. However, when preliminary symptoms are vague, the diagnosis of superior mesenteric artery syndrome may be easily missed. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using clinical data from 118 patients (43 men and 75 women) who underwent correctional operations for scoliosis between September 2001 and August 2007. The mean patient age was 15.9 years (range 9~24 years). The risk factors under scrutiny were the patient body mass index (BMI), change in Cobb's angle, and trunk length. RESULTS: The incidence of subjects confirmed to have obstruction was 2.5%. However, the rate increased to 7.6% with the inclusion of the 6 subjects who only showed clinical symptoms of obstruction without confirmative study. The BMI for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 18.4+/-3.4 and 14.6+/-3, respectively. The change in Cobb's angle for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 24.8+/-13.6 degrees and 23.4+/-9.1 degrees , respectively. The change in trunk length for the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were 2.3+/-2.1 cm and 4.5+/-4.8 cm, respectively. Differences in Cobb's angle and the change in trunk length between the two groups did not reach statistical significance, although there was a greater increase in trunk length for the symptomatic group than for the asymptomatic group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the incidence of superior mesenteric artery syndrome may be greater than the previously accepted rate of 4.7%. Therefore, in the face of any early signs or symptoms of superior mesenteric artery syndrome, prompt recognition and treatment are necessaryope

Cold shock domain proteins and glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana can promote the cold adaptation process in Escherichia coli

Despite the fact that cold shock domain proteins (CSDPs) and glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GRPs) have been implicated to play a role during the cold adaptation process, their importance and function in eukaryotes, including plants, are largely unknown. To understand the functional role of plant CSDPs and GRPs in the cold response, two CSDPs (CSDP1 and CSDP2) and three GRPs (GRP2, GRP4 and GRP7) from Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated. Heterologous expression of CSDP1 or GRP7 complemented the cold sensitivity of BX04 mutant Escherichia coli that lack four cold shock proteins (CSPs) and is highly sensitive to cold stress, and resulted in better survival rate than control cells during incubation at low temperature. In contrast, CSDP2 and GRP4 had very little ability. Selective evolution of ligand by exponential enrichment (SELEX) revealed that GRP7 does not recognize specific RNAs but binds preferentially to G-rich RNA sequences. CSDP1 and GRP7 had DNA melting activity, and enhanced RNase activity. In contrast, CSDP2 and GRP4 had no DNA melting activity and did not enhance RNAase activity. Together, these results indicate that CSDPs and GRPs help E.coli grow and survive better during cold shock, and strongly imply that CSDP1 and GRP7 exhibit RNA chaperone activity during the cold adaptation process