An assessment of serum leptin levels in patients with chronic viral hepatitis: a prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The role of leptin in the course of liver disease due to chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) remains controversial. Our aims were to investigate the relationship between serum leptin concentrations and the severity of liver disease in a cohort of subjects with HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and C (CHC) and to analyze the effect of body composition, the leptin system and insulin resistance together with viral factors on virologic response to antiviral treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 50 (36 men) consecutive patients suffering from biopsy-proven CVH due to HBV (n = 25) or HCV (n = 25) infection. Thirty-two (17 men) healthy volunteers served as controls. Levels of serum leptin and insulin were determined by immunoassays at baseline and at the end of the treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant association between serum leptin levels and the stage of hepatic fibrosis was noted; patients with cirrhosis presented higher serum leptin levels compared to those with lower fibrosis stage [CHB patients (17436 pg/ml vs 6028.5 pg/ml, p = 0.03), CHC patients (18014 pg/ml vs 4385 pg/ml, p = 0.05]. An inverse correlation between lower leptin levels and response to lamivudine monotherapy was noted in patients with CHB; those with a virologic response presented lower serum leptin levels (5334 vs 13111.5 pg/ml; p-value = 0.003) than non-responders. In genotype 1 CHC patients, insulin resistance played a significant role in the response to antiviral therapy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data clearly suggest that cirrhosis due to CHB or CHC is associated with higher leptin levels. Increased serum leptin levels represent a negative prognostic factor for response to lamivudine monotherapy in patients with CHB. In CHC patients insulin resistance strongly influences the response to antiviral treatment in patients infected with genotype 1.</p

Synthesis of novel heteroleptic oxothiolate ni(Ii) complexes and evaluation of their catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution

Two heteroleptic nickel oxothiolate complexes, namely [Ni(bpy)(mp)] (1) and [Ni(dmbpy)-(mp)] (2), where mp = 2-hydroxythiophenol, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine and dmbpy = 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine were synthesized and characterized with various physical and spectroscopic methods. Complex 2 was further characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction data. The complex crystallizes in the monoclinic P 21/c system and in its neutral form. The catalytic properties of both complexes for proton reduction were evaluated with photochemical and electrochemical studies. Two different in their nature photosensitizers, namely fluorescein and CdTe-TGA-coated quantum dots, were tested under various conditions. The role of the electron donating character of the methyl substituents was revealed in the light of the studies. Thus, catalyst 2 performs better than 1, reaching 39.1 TONs vs. 4.63 TONs in 3 h, respectively, in electrochemical experiments. In contrast, complex 1 is more photocatalytically active than 2, achieving a TON of over 6700 in 120 h of irradiation. This observed reverse catalytic activity suggests that HER mechanism follows different pathways in electrocatalysis and photocatalysis. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Antioxidant properties of crocus Sativus L. and its constituents and relevance to neurodegenerative diseases; Focus on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease

Background: Reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species, which are collectively called reactive oxygen-nitrogen species, are the inevitable by-products of cellular metabolic redox reactions, such as oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, phagocytosis, reactions of biotransformation of exogenous and endogenous substrata in endoplasmic reticulum, eicosanoid synthesis, and redox reactions in the presence of metal with variable valence. Among medicinal plants, there is growing interest in Crocus Sativus L. It is a perennial, stemless herb, belonging to Iridaceae family, cultivated in various countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Israel, Morocco, Turkey, Iran, India, China, Egypt and Mexico. Objective: The present study aims to address the protective role of Crocus Sativus L. in neurodegeneration with an emphasis in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Materials and Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted by two of the authors from 1993 to August 2017. Original articles and systematic reviews (with or without meta-analysis), as well as case reports were selected. Titles and abstracts of papers were screened by a third reviewer to determine whether they met the eligibility criteria, and full texts of the selected articles were retrieved. Results: Hence, the authors focused on the literature concerning the role of Crocus Sativus L. on its anti-oxidant and neuroprotective properties. Conclusion: Literature findings represented in current review herald promising results for using Crocus Sativus L. and/or its active constituents as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective agents. © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers

Structural modifications on nickel dithiolene complexes lead to increased metal participation in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution mechanism

In this work we present the electrocatalytic activity of alkylated nickel bis-dithiolene complexes toward hydrogen evolution from protons (TFA) in organic media (DMF). The hydrogen evolving mechanism is discussed and the complexes are compared to their non-alkylated analogs using DFT calculations. The findings support increased metal participation in the hydrogen evolving mechanism due to the structural and electronic modifications imposed by the alkyl-bridge on the sulfur atoms. Typically for this class of compounds, the coordinated sulfur atoms act as internal proton relays that facilitate transfer of protons to the metal ion during the catalytic cycle, highlighting the importance of modifying the coordination sphere of metal ions in the design of homogeneous hydrogen evolving catalysts. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &amp; Francis Group

Tumor-suppressing properties of crocus sativus L.: Nature as an anti-cancer agent

Cancer is a growing problem because it is a chronic disease that affects, not only patient health, but also its daily living. Concurrent cancer therapies have ameliorated cancer prevalence, but the severity and frequency of toxicity and side effects during therapy have led the scientific community to rediscover the possible therapeutic effectiveness of herbs and spices. Crocus sativus L., commonly known as saffron, has been used in folk medicine for centuries. Today, data from numerous in vivo and in vitro studies support its anti-cancer activity, making it a promising anti-cancer agent for study. In the present review, we focus on the anti-cancer activity of C. sativus and its derivates. Medications that are currently used as chemotherapeutic or anti-cancer agents are associated with side effects whether used at effective doses or at levels that exceed the therapeutic dose. Therefore, many cancer survivors suffer from serious and even life-threatening long-or short-term sequelae, so the development of alternative/coadjutant drugs is imperative. © 2017 by Begell House, Inc

Study of the inclusion of the (R)- and (S)-camphor enantiomers in a-cyclodextrin by X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics.

The inclusion of (R)- and (S)-camphor compounds in alpha-cyclodextrin has been studied by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structures of the complexes reveal that one guest molecule is accommodated inside the cavity formed by a head-to-head cyclodextrin dimer. In the crystal lattice, the dimers form layers which are successively shifted by half a dimer. In both (R)- and (S)-cases, the camphor molecule exhibits disorder and occupies three major sites with orientations that can be described as either 'polar' or 'equatorial'. Molecular dynamics simulations performed for the observed complexes indicate that although the carbonyl oxygen of both (R)- and (S)-camphor switches between different hydrogen bonding partners, it maintains the observed mode of 'polar' or 'equatorial' alignment

Crocins: The active constituents of crocus sativus l. stigmas, exert significant cytotoxicity on tumor cells in vitro

Background: Tumors of the childhood are considered to be grave and devastating pa-thologies, with high mortality rates. Current therapeutic options like cytotoxic drugs and radiotherapy target both healthy and malignant cells, thus resulting in long-term neurological and intellectual sequelae and endocrinological disorders. Objectives: In this study, we focused on the anticancer potency of crocins, the main constituents of Crocus sativus L, stigmas. Crocins were first extracted using organic solvents from the dried stigmas and then were identified using the HPLC analysis. Materials and Methods: TE-671 cells were treated with the extract of crocins using a range of concentrations between 0.25-mg/ mL and 16 mg/mL. Viability of the cells was measured at 24h, 48h, 72h and 96h. In addition, we have examined the expression levels of the p53 gene using Real-Time Reverse Transcription PCR. Results: Results showed that crocins exerted significant cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects in a concentration and time-dependent-manner on TE-671 cells. Furthermore, p53 manifested similar expression pattern as the anti-proliferative effect of crocin. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that crocins could be a novel promising agent for the improvement of tumor treatment. © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers