Paraoxonase (PON)-1: a brief overview on genetics, structure, polymorphisms and clinical relevance

Nelusha Shunmoogam,1 Poobalan Naidoo,1 Robert Chilton2 1Sanofi, Midrand, South Africa; 2Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonia, San Antonia, TX, USA Abstract: Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a high-density lipoprotein-associated esterase and is speculated to play a role in several human diseases including diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. Low PON1 activity has been associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events, therefore a variety of studies have been conducted to establish the cardioprotective properties and clinical relevance of PON1. The major aim of this review was to highlight the important studies and to subsequently assess if PON1 has clinical relevance. A review of the literature showed that there is currently insufficient data to suggest that PON1 has clinical relevance. It is our opinion that robust studies are required to clarify the clinical relevance of PON1. Keywords: antioxidant, inflammation, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseas

Cytotoxicity of lapachol, β-lapachone and related synthetic 1, 4-naphthoquinones against oesophageal cancer cells:

Naphthoquinones have been found to have a wide range of biological activities, including cytotoxicity to cancer cells. The secondary metabolites lapachol, α- and β-lapachone and a series of 25 related synthetic 1,4-naphthoquinones were screened against the oesophageal cancer cell line (WHCO1). Most of the compounds exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity (IC50 1.6–11.7 μM) compared to the current drug of choice cisplatin (IC50 = 16.5 μM)