Baicalin administration attenuates hyperglycemia-induced malformation of cardiovascular system

In this study, the effects of Baicalin on the hyperglycemia-induced cardiovascular malformation during embryo development were investigated. Using early chick embryos, an optimal concentration of Baicalin (6 μM), was identified which could prevent hyperglycemia-induced cardiovascular malformation of embryos. Hyperglycemia-enhanced cell apoptosis was reduced in embryos and HUVECs in the presence of Baicalin. Hyperglycemia-induced excessive ROS production was inhibited when Baicalin was administered. Analyses of SOD, GSH-Px, MAQE and GABAA suggested Baicalin plays an antioxidant role in chick embryos possibly through suppression of outwardly rectifying Cl(-) in the high-glucose microenvironment. In addition, hyperglycemia-enhanced autophagy fell in the presence of Baicalin, through affecting the ubiquitin of p62 and accelerating autophagy flux. Both Baicalin and Vitamin C could decrease apoptosis, but CQ did not, suggesting autophagy to be a protective function on the cell survival. In mice, Baicalin reduced the elevated blood glucose level caused by streptozotocin (STZ). Taken together, these data suggest that hyperglycemia-induced embryonic cardiovascular malformation can be attenuated by Baicalin administration through suppressing the excessive production of ROS and autophagy. Baicalin could be a potential candidate drug for women suffering from gestational diabetes mellitus

Antiviral drugs against Ebola: A structure based virtual screening approach

176-184Repression of highly lethal Ebola virus outbreaks poses a serious public health challenge. Ebola haemorrhagic fever is a highly lethal disease for which there are no effective therapeutic or preventative treatments. Hence, there is a necessity to discover new candidate drugs that could have the capability to contain Ebola. Structure based virtual screening method is a method that could accelerate the drug discovery process. In this study, various known antiviral drugs were used as ligands to screen for their binding ability to Ebola proteins by using protein ligand docking. As the crystal structure of the Ebola proteins were not available, these structures were predicted using PS2 or RABTOR X and the predicted structures were validated using Ramachandran plot. Six of the existing drugs exhibited a better binding affinity to various Ebola proteins; they could be used as lead compounds in developing a better drug for controlling Ebola