Toxic Effects of Glyphosate on Environment and Human Health

Globally, massive amounts of pesticides are manufactured and used both in agriculture and households to get rid of various pests, some of which reach soils and aquatic systems through various pathways. Glyphosate-based herbicides (GlyBH), including Roundup, are the most widely used pesticides worldwide. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide that is effective against all types of weeds and has been used for many years. Their uses have increased exponentially since their introduction into the market. Residue levels in food or water, as well as human exposures, are escalating including in the environmental segments. It can, therefore, be found as a contaminant in water, and procedures are required for its removal. This work investigates the toxic effects associated with the use of Glyphosate on environmental and human health. © 2020 Author(s).Dr. BGR is highly thankful to UGC for the award of Post Doctoral Fellowship, File No. F./PDFSS-2014-15-SCAND-7541

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Synthesis of some new physiologically active polyheterocycles derived from benzocyclohepten-5-ones

88-93A class of (4,5-substituted–thiazol-2-yl) hydrazone derivatives (3-6<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">) has been synthesized in good yield (80-90%) and characterized by IR, NMR and mass spectral analysis. The compounds have been assayed for their potential anticancer activity on human cancer cell lines. Twelve new thiazolyl hydrazone derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer activity using MTT assay. Among the synthesized compounds, 5-[3-methyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro]benzocycloheptylidene-2-[4-(5-methyl-4-chlorophenyl)thiazole-2-yl] hydrazine is found to be the most effective anticancer compound in cervical cancer cell line ME 180 with IC 50 value of 5.4±1.16 µg/mL when compared with fluconazole (MIC = 2 μg/mL). Additionally, the synthesized compounds have been evaluated for their cytotoxic effects on the lung cancer cells (A 549). As a result, 5-[3-methyl – 6,7,8,9 – tetrahydro] benzocycloheptylidene-2-[4-(5-methyl-4-chlorophenyl) thiazole-2-yl] hydrazine has been identified as the most promising anticancer compound against lung cancer (A 549) cells due to its inhibitory effects (IC50 = 125 μg/mL) and relatively low toxicity towards the NIH/3T3 cell line (IC50 > 500 μg/mL). </span

Trastuzumab-grafted PAMAM dendrimers for the selective delivery of anticancer drugs to HER2-positive breast cancer

Approximately 20% of breast cancer cases are human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive. This type of breast cancer is more aggressive and tends to reoccur more often than HER2-negative breast cancer. In this study, we synthesized trastuzumab (TZ)-grafted dendrimers to improve delivery of docetaxel (DTX) to HER2-positive breast cancer cells. Bioconjugation of TZ on the surface of dendrimers was performed using a heterocrosslinker, MAL-PEG-NHS. For imaging of cancer cells, dendrimers were also conjugated to fluorescein isothiocyanate. Comparative in vitro studies revealed that these targeted dendrimers were more selective, and had higher antiproliferation activity, towards HER2-positive MDA-MB-453 human breast cancer cells than HER2-negative MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. When compared with unconjugated dendrimers, TZ-conjugated dendrimers also displayed higher cellular internalization and induction of apoptosis against MDA-MB-453 cells. Binding of TZ to the dendrimer surface could help site-specific delivery of DTX and reduce systemic toxicity resulting from its lack of specificity. In addition, in vivo studies revealed that the pharmacokinetic profile of DTX was significantly improved by the conjugated nanosystem

Metabolic alterations and molecular mechanism in silkworm larvae during viral infection: A review

Silkworm larvae, Bombyx mori (L), is an important economic insect and also a tool to convert leaf protein into silk. The industrial and commercial use of silk, the historical and economic importance ofproduction and its application in all over the world finely contributed to the silkworm promotion as a powerful laboratory model for the basic research in biology. The development and economic productionof sericulture largely and greatly depends on the metabolic modulations and molecular mechanism of silkworm, besides its genetic composition and immunological resistance. One of the main reasons fordecreased cocoon production is the loss due to diseases which account for about 30%. The collection of information on investigations related to disease prevalence in Silkworm in different parts of the country and (or) different seasons is highly helpful to monitor, prevent and control them. However, such collection of data on various diseases of silkworm in general and viral infection in particular in world wide is very limited. Pathological status of the diseased animal can be evaluated in terms of symptoms resulting from the interactions between host and pathogen which in turn depends on the degree of attack, progress of diseases, metabolic modulations, physiological adjustments, molecularmechanisms, and the defence immune system of the silkworm. Such symptoms are manifested in terms of morphological, physiological and biochemical variations in the host body. Hence, there is a dire needto suggest alternative remedial measures for the restoration of sericulture output even during grasserie infection, in order to safe guard the interest of the Seri culturists involved in sericulture practices. Anattempt has been made in the present study to provide the relevant information related to the intricate mechanisms involved in metabolic alterations in silkworm larvae on grasserie infection