"Bioadsorption of silver ions by calcareous chitin, chitin and chitosan"

"Context: Calcareous chitin, chitin, chitosan, and their modifications are used as bioadsorbents of metals and dyes that cause environmental pollution, endocrine disruption, and human diseases. Aims: To evaluate the selective bioadsorption of silver ions (Ag+ ) by calcareous chitin, chitin, and chitosan. Methods: Experimental and prospective study. The presence of functional groups of the bioadsorbents was identified by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), 1H-NMR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Elovich models were applied to describe the adsorption capacity of bioadsorbents according to granule size (20-40, 40-60, 60-80 meshes) and temperature (10, 20, and 30°C). Results: The FT-IR spectrum of calcareous chitin indicates the presence of carbonate (CO3 = 1420 cm-1 ), amide III (1313 cm-1 ), –OH groups (3441.90 cm-1 ), and pyranose structure (952.83 cm-1 ); chitin has –OH groups (3441.90 cm-1 ), NH (3268 cm-1 ), amide I (1654 cm-1 ) and II (1559 cm-1 ); chitosan has –OH groups (3419.90 cm-1 ), –NH (3200 cm-1 ), amide I (1712.18 cm-1 ), –NH2 (1654.46 cm-1 ), amide III (1317.11 cm-1 ) and pyranose structure (1070.12 cm-1 and 1031 cm-1 ). The Langmuir model indicates greater bioadsorption of Ag+ ions at smaller particle sizes (60-80 = 0.25-0.18 mm) and at a temperature of 20-30°C. Conclusions: The bioadsorption of silver ions (Ag+ ) by chitosan is greater with respect to calcareous chitin and chitin; the Langmuir model fits for the Ag+ isotherm and suggests that the process is controlled by physisorption.

In vitro antioxidant and in vivo hypoglycemic activity of biophenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids from Vitis vinifera L. muscat and quebranta seeds from the Valley of Ica-Peru

Currently, there is a greater interest in using natural products in various chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. However, these investigations have not considered the components of grape seeds. In this context, the current study explored the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo hypoglycemic activity of biophenols and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from Vitis vinifera L. muscat and quebranta seeds from the Ica Valley, Peru. The total polyphenol content (TPC) of muscat (1.57±0.015 mg GAE/g) and quebranta (1.43±0.015 mg GAE/g) seeds was estimated by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. In vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH• free radical assay for muscat and quebranta (IC50: 38.60±0.624 µg/mL and 42.83±0.306 µg/mL, respectively) and by FRAP 0.79±0.030 μg TEAC/g for muscat and 0.61±0.038 μg TEAC/g for quebranta. After inducing experimental hyperglycemia with alloxane in Rattus norvegicus strain Holtzman, treatment was carried out for 7 days and glucose levels were measured at 1, 2 and 4 hours. At a dose of 500 mg/kg, orally, of biophenols/PUFA from muscat and quebranta seeds, a hypoglycemic effect was observed; whose results were verified with the Shapiro-Wilk test (p-value > α = 0.05), Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (p-value 0.0001 α = 0.05 for 2 and 4 hours on day 7, indicates a small probability of difference; in ANOVA results the mean difference is significant (p-value 0.0001 < α 0.05). The Pearson analysis found a strong correlation [0.50 ≤ (0.9530–0.9827) < 1.0] between glibenclamide/biophenols-PUFA glucose levels. Current data show an in vitro antioxidant effect and hypoglycemic activity of the seeds of grapes of the muscat and quebranta varieties. Graphical abstrac

In vitro antioxidant and in vivo hypoglycemic activity of biophenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids from Vitis vinifera L. muscat and quebranta seeds from the Valley of Ica-Peru

Currently, there is a greater interest in using natural products in various chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. However, these investigations have not considered the components of grape seeds. In this context, the current study explored the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo hypoglycemic activity of biophenols and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from Vitis vinifera L. muscat and quebranta seeds from the Ica Valley, Peru. The total polyphenol content (TPC) of muscat (1.57±0.015 mg GAE/g) and quebranta (1.43±0.015 mg GAE/g) seeds was estimated by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. In vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH• free radical assay for muscat and quebranta (IC50: 38.60±0.624 µg/mL and 42.83±0.306 µg/mL, respectively) and by FRAP 0.79±0.030 μg TEAC/g for muscat and 0.61±0.038 μg TEAC/g for quebranta. After inducing experimental hyperglycemia with alloxane in Rattus norvegicus strain Holtzman, treatment was carried out for 7 days and glucose levels were measured at 1, 2 and 4 hours. At a dose of 500 mg/kg, orally, of biophenols/PUFA from muscat and quebranta seeds, a hypoglycemic effect was observed; whose results were verified with the Shapiro-Wilk test (p-value > α = 0.05), Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (p-value 0.0001 α = 0.05 for 2 and 4 hours on day 7, indicates a small probability of difference; in ANOVA results the mean difference is significant (p-value 0.0001 < α 0.05). The Pearson analysis found a strong correlation [0.50 ≤ (0.9530–0.9827) < 1.0] between glibenclamide/biophenols-PUFA glucose levels. Current data show an in vitro antioxidant effect and hypoglycemic activity of the seeds of grapes of the muscat and quebranta varieties. Graphical abstrac

Pharmacogenetic variants of CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 associated with adverse reactions induced by antiepileptic drugs used in Peru

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder with a worldwide incidence of 20% and a treatment failure rate of 25–30%. The fluctuation in serum levels, efficacy and safety of antiepileptic drugs can be attributed to single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes encoding their respective proteins involved in drug metabolism. The present study attempted to evaluate the pharmacogenetic variants of CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 associated with adverse reactions induced by antiepileptic drugs used in Peru. Few studies were found to significantly associate the CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3, CYP2C19*2, and CYP2C19*3 single nucleotide polymorphisms with elevated serum levels of valproic acid and carbamazepine, and valproic acid induction of hyperammonemia, and adverse reactions cutaneous for carbamazepine. There is further evidence of a significant association of CYP2C9*2/CYP2C9*3 with severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and epidermal necrolysis (TEN) phenytoin-induced. CYP2C9*3 may be a pharmacogenetic biomarker for such a drug. It is proposed to reduce the dose of drugs for intermediate and poor metabolizers. No pharmacogenetic studies were found in patients with epilepsy in Peruvian populations. It is concluded that this review could help physicians in the prediction and prevention of adverse reactions induced by antiepileptic drugs, as well as to improve their pharmacotherapeutic results. It could also be used as scientific evidence to carry out pharmacogenetic and precision medicine studies in Peruvian patients with epilepsy, due to their tricontinental and Latin American ancestry

Clinical manifestations of intermediate allele carriers in Huntington disease

Objective: There is controversy about the clinical consequences of intermediate alleles (IAs) in Huntington disease (HD). The main objective of this study was to establish the clinical manifestations of IA carriers for a prospective, international, European HD registry. Methods: We assessed a cohort of participants at risk with <36 CAG repeats of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Outcome measures were the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor, cognitive, and behavior domains, Total Functional Capacity (TFC), and quality of life (Short Form-36 [SF-36]). This cohort was subdivided into IA carriers (27-35 CAG) and controls (<27 CAG) and younger vs older participants. IA carriers and controls were compared for sociodemographic, environmental, and outcome measures. We used regression analysis to estimate the association of age and CAG repeats on the UHDRS scores. Results: Of 12,190 participants, 657 (5.38%) with <36 CAG repeats were identified: 76 IA carriers (11.56%) and 581 controls (88.44%). After correcting for multiple comparisons, at baseline, we found no significant differences between IA carriers and controls for total UHDRS motor, SF-36, behavioral, cognitive, or TFC scores. However, older participants with IAs had higher chorea scores compared to controls (p 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that aging was the most contributing factor to increased UHDRS motor scores (p 0.002). On the other hand, 1-year follow-up data analysis showed IA carriers had greater cognitive decline compared to controls (p 0.002). Conclusions: Although aging worsened the UHDRS scores independently of the genetic status, IAs might confer a late-onset abnormal motor and cognitive phenotype. These results might have important implications for genetic counseling. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01590589

Reduced Cancer Incidence in Huntington's Disease: Analysis in the Registry Study

Background: People with Huntington's disease (HD) have been observed to have lower rates of cancers. Objective: To investigate the relationship between age of onset of HD, CAG repeat length, and cancer diagnosis. Methods: Data were obtained from the European Huntington's disease network REGISTRY study for 6540 subjects. Population cancer incidence was ascertained from the GLOBOCAN database to obtain standardised incidence ratios of cancers in the REGISTRY subjects. Results: 173/6528 HD REGISTRY subjects had had a cancer diagnosis. The age-standardised incidence rate of all cancers in the REGISTRY HD population was 0.26 (CI 0.22-0.30). Individual cancers showed a lower age-standardised incidence rate compared with the control population with prostate and colorectal cancers showing the lowest rates. There was no effect of CAG length on the likelihood of cancer, but a cancer diagnosis within the last year was associated with a greatly increased rate of HD onset (Hazard Ratio 18.94, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer is less common than expected in the HD population, confirming previous reports. However, this does not appear to be related to CAG length in HTT. A recent diagnosis of cancer increases the risk of HD onset at any age, likely due to increased investigation following a cancer diagnosis

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (&gt;59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30–50 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of ≤35 or a UHDRS motor score of ≤5 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P &lt;.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P &lt;.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, −0.58; SE 0.16; P &lt;.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P &lt;.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P &lt;.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients