Extracts of edible, medicinal Thai plants inhibit the human breast cancer cells

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of ten edible, medicinal Thai plant extracts on MCF-7 cell viability and cell migration, as well as their mechanism(s) of action. Methods: Ethanolic plant extracts of ten edible, medicinal plants were tested for their cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells using sulforhodamine B (SRB). To investigate the cytotoxic mechanism(s) of action of these extracts, the study was examined gene expression and protein expression by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. Cell migration was studied by wound healing assay. Results: Four of the ten test extracts were potently cytotoxic, Careya sphaerica (CS), Azadirachta indica (AI), Piper nigrum (PN) and Oroxylum indicum (OI) with half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) less than 100 μg/mL. All four extracts stimulated ROS overgeneration, increased caspase 3 activity and decreased growth-related gene expression including cdk2, cdk4, cdk6, cyclin D1 and cyclin E. Furthermore, the extracts significantly enhanced cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKI) p21 levels and activated cancer cell death. The four extracts, CS, AI, PN and OI, also significantly reduced cancer cell migration, with PN being the most potent. Conclusion: Extract of the edible plants CS, AI, PN and OI have in vitro anticancer activity and are promising starting points for the development of breast cancer drugs. Keywords: Careya sphaerica (CS), Azadirachta indica (AI), Piper nigrum (PN), Oroxylum indicum (OI), Breast cancer, Cell deat

Historia de la Educación para el Desarrollo en Navarra (1976-2011)

El descubrimiento del gran potencial que la Educación para el Desarrollo (ED) tiene a la hora de solucionar los graves problemas de nuestro tiempo y la toma de conciencia de las posibilidades que ofrece en el ámbito educativo como motor de transformación social se encuentran en la motivación de realizar esta investigación. El objetivo principal del estudio es acercarnos a la historia de la ED en Navarra contribuyendo a dar luz a un ámbito que ha pasado casi desapercibido dentro del sistema de enseñanza. Partiendo de los principales acontecimientos fundacionales que han dado lugar a la construcción del sistema internacional de cooperación al desarrollo y al origen de la ED se aborda la evolución de este concepto -desde la etapa asistencial-caritativa hasta la actual de la ciudadanía global de quinta generación-, permitiendo entender los cambios de mentalidad y prácticas que sobre el desarrollo se han ido formulando desde su surgimiento hasta nuestros días. A su vez, se analizan las movilizaciones sociales que a favor de la cooperación se han producido y que han posibilitado la creación del marco institucional y normativo del sistema de cooperación navarro. Se analiza, además, la normativa que a nivel internacional, estatal y local fundamenta y legitima la implementación de la ED en el sistema educativo actual. También se realiza un rastreo de las partes del currículo donde queda recogida la ED dando legitimidad a la práctica educativa que desde este enfoque se realiza en el aula. Se trata, por tanto, del primer estudio que aglutina el ámbito de la cooperación y el de la educación, y que dota de protagonismo al profesorado señalándolo como uno de los agentes más significativos de la ED

Effects of gamma irradiation on tropomyosin allergen, proximate composition and mineral elements in giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)

Effects of food irradiation on allergen and nutritional composition of giant freshwater prawn are not well documented. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of gamma irradiation on tropomyosin allergen, proximate composition, and mineral elements in Macrobrachium rosenbergii. In this study, prawn was peeled, cut into small pieces, vacuum packaged and gamma irradiated at 0, 5, 7, 10 and 15 kGy with a dose rate of 0.5 kGy/h using cobalt-60 as the source, subsequently determined the level of tropomyosin, proximate composition and mineral elements respectively. The results showed that band density of tropomyosin irradiated at 10 and 15 kGy is markedly decreased. Proximate analysis revealed that moisture, protein, and carbohydrate content were significantly different as compared with non-irradiated prawn. Meanwhile, gamma irradiated M. rosenbergii at 15 kGy was observed to be significantly higher in nickel and zinc than the non-irradiated prawn. The findings provide a new information that food irradiation may affect the tropomyosin allergen, proximate composition and mineral elements of the prawn

Pharmacokinetics and chemopreventive potential of phenethyl isothiocyanate

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Pharmacokinetics and Chemopreventive Potential of Phenethyl Isothiocyanate.

An LC-MS method was set up and validated for determining low concentrations of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) in rat plasma. Following administration of dietary doses to rats, PEITC was rapidly absorbed, reaching peak plasma levels within an hour, and achieved high bioavailability, which increased substantially after repeated administration. However, PEITC displayed dose-dependent pharmacokinetic behaviour with bioavailability decreasing with increasing dose. Dietary doses of PEITC administered to rats enhanced hepatic CYP2B activity and expression whereas a modest inhibition of CYP2E1 was observed. Increase in hepatic CYP1A1 and 1A2 apoprotein levels was not accompanied by similar rises in activity. Further studies revealed that PEITC inhibited CYP1A1 activity in a mechanism-based fashion. In the lung, CYP2B activity was competitively inhibited. A marked rise in glutathione S-transferase (GST) and NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) activities in liver was noted after the same treatment, while in kidney only NQO1 was elevated, and in the lung no change was evident. Incubation of rat liver slices with PEITC decreased CYP1A2 activity and suppressed apoprotein levels, whereas a moderate rise in GST and, to a greater extent, in NQO1 activity was observed. When human liver slices were similarly incubated with PEITC, CYP1A2 activity was impaired as in rat. PEITC was a mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP1A1 in hepatic microsomes. When GST and NQO1 were monitored in the four donors, interindividual variability was observed. Long-term exposure of PEITC to rats prior to a single dose of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) suppressed urinary excretion of indirect-acting mutagens indicating an increase in the overall metabolism of IQ, which was not related to changes in CYP1A2 and GST activities implying that other enzymes are modulated. Finally, PEITC antagonised the benzo(a)pyrene-mediated induction of CYP1A1 in rat liver slices, whereas inconsistent results were obtained in liver slices from four human donors

Biological Control of Fruit Rot and Anthracnose of Postharvest Mango by Antagonistic Yeasts from Economic Crops Leaves

To select antagonistic yeasts for the control of fruit rot caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae and anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in postharvest mango fruit, 307 yeast strains isolated from plant leaves were evaluated for their antagonistic activities against these two fungal pathogens in vitro. Torulaspora indica DMKU-RP31, T. indica DMKU-RP35 and Pseudozyma hubeiensis YE-21 were found to inhibit the growth of L. theobromae whereas only Papiliotrema aspenensis DMKU-SP67 inhibited the growth of C. gloeosporioides. Antagonistic mechanisms of these four antagonistic yeasts in vitro consisted of the production of antifungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs), biofilm formation and siderophore production. T. indica DMKU-RP35 was the most effective strain in controlling fruit rot on postharvest mango fruits. Its action was comparable to that of the fungicide, benomyl, reducing the disease severity by 82.4%, whereas benomyl revealed 87.5% reduction. P. aspenensis DMKU-SP67 reduced anthracnose severity by 94.1%, which was comparable to that of using benomyl (93.9%). The antifungal VOCs produced by these yeast strains also reduced the severity of these diseases on postharvest mango fruits but at lower rates than using yeast cells. Therefore, these antagonistic yeasts have the potential for use as biological control agents for the control of fruit rot and anthracnose diseases