Study of effects of donepezil and aspirin on working memory in rats using electroconvulsive shock model

Background: Memory is the most common cognitive ability lost with dementia commonly seen in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Donepezil was the first cholinesterase inhibitor to be licensed in UK for AD. There is preliminary evidence that aspirin decreases the risk and delays the onset of AD. Low dose aspirin users had numerically lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia and had better cognitive function than non-users.Methods: Retention of conditioned avoidance response (CAR) was assessed by using repeated electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) in rats. Rats were divided into five groups: control (pretreated with distilled water), ECS (150 V, 50 Hz, with intensity of 210 mA for 0.5 sec) pretreated, combined aspirin (6.75 mg/kg) and pretreated ECS, combined donepezil (0.32 mg/kg) and pretreated ECS, combined aspirin, donepezil and pretreated ECS groups. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and ANOVA.Results: Findings show that administration of ECS daily for 8 days results in transient amnesia and disruption of retention of CAR. Aspirin and donepezil administration significantly increased the retention of CAR in comparison to ECS. However, aspirin failed to show an increase in the retention of CAR as compared to donepezil. The combination of the two drugs showed statistically significant increase in the retention of CAR than either of these drugs given alone.Conclusion: Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorder like AD. Combination of aspirin with donepezil increased the nootropic and neuroprotective effect of aspirin and thus may hold great clinical significance in such disorders

Boundaries can steer active Janus spheres

The advent of autonomous self-propulsion has instigated research towards making colloidal machines that can deliver mechanical work in the form of transport, and other functions such as sensing and cleaning. While much progress has been made in the last 10 years on various mechanisms to generate self-propulsion, the ability to steer self-propelled colloidal devices has so far been much more limited. A critical barrier in increasing the impact of such motors is in directing their motion against the Brownian rotation, which randomizes particle orientations. In this context, here we report directed motion of a specific class of catalytic motors when moving in close proximity to solid surfaces. This is achieved through active quenching of their Brownian rotation by constraining it in a rotational well, caused not by equilibrium, but by hydrodynamic effects. We demonstrate how combining these geometric constraints can be utilized to steer these active colloids along arbitrary trajectories

Diselenide-based probe for the selective imaging of hypochlorite in living cancer cells

A non-traditional and robust probe skeleton was derivatized for chemosensing applications to investigate a potential novel mode of hypochlorite detection. The BDPP-DSe probe gave a ∼180-fold turn-on response to hypochlorite. Confocal fluorescence imaging demonstrated detection of hypochlorite in living cells and cell membrane permeability. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 20167

Solvent-controlled novel Cu+ and Cu+/2+ fluorescent turn-ON probing

Anovel Schiff base probe, carbamoyl salicylimine benzothiazole hydrazine, was prepared and measured for its probing ability. High sensitivity was shown for Cu+and Cu2+. When solvent polarity was regulated through a combination of H2O and acetonitrile, selective sensing ofCu+or the total amount of Cu+andCu2+ was possible. In addition, a linear hypsochromic fluorescent shift of about 30 nm was shown. A binding stoichiometry of 1:1 exists at low concentration. Time-dependent emission measurement showed an exponential decay curve (τ1 = 2.99 × 103s, 10 equiv of Cu+) and a linear decay line (slope = -0.0216, 5 equiv of Cu+). Interference experiments in 50% acetonitrile inH2Oshowed that the emission produced by Cu+and Cu2+ was not disturbed by other metal ions or by acidity or basicity. Peroxynitrite changed the emission trends; Cu+emission decreased (78%) and Cu2+ fluorescence increased (28-fold). Biothiols, L-cysteine, DL-homocysteine, reduced glutathione, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine affected the complete reversibility of Cu+-induced emission in 50% (v/v) acetonitrile in H2O, relative to partial reversibility of Cu2+ emission. Thus, by regulating the ratio between acetonitrile and H2O, Cu+and Cu+/2+ can be probed selectively. © 2015 Korean Chemical Society, Seoul & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim1111sciescopuskc