Effects of Lipoic Acid and Dihydrolipoic Acid on Total Erythrocytic Thiols under Conditions of Restricted Glucose in vitro

The effects of lipoic acid and dihydrolipoic acid were explored on total thiol maintenance in diabetic and non-diabetic human erythrocytes in vitro over 22 hr in a 37 degrees C incubation system with no added glucose. Over 18-22.5 hr after treatment in both non-diabetic and diabetic cells, lipoic acid (1 mM) was associated with greater loss of cellular thiols than dihydrolipoic acid (1 mM), compared to respective control values. At 0.1 mM, in non-diabetic cells, although lipoic acid-treated cells' thiol levels were significantly lower than control, there was no significant difference between dihydrolipoic acid-treated cells and control cells regarding thiol levels. In addition, at 0.1 mM, dihydrolipoic acid-treated diabetic cells showed a reduction in thiol levels compared to control. At 0.01 mM, lipoic acid-treated cells had significantly lower measured thiol levels compared with diabetic cells exposed to dihydrolipoic acid, whereas in non-diabetic cells, dihydrolipoic acid-treated erythrocytic thiol levels were significantly greater than those treated with lipoic acid, although there were no other significant differences between the groups. At 22.5 hr, control values of methaemoglobin rose to 6.4 +/- 1.1% in diabetic cells and 3.6 +/- 2.1% in non-diabetic cells. Lipoic acid (1 mM) showed greater methaemoglobin formation in diabetic rather than non-diabetic cells (13.6 +/- 1.5% versus 11.6 +/- 1.5%), whereas dihydrolipoic acid-treated diabetic and non-diabetic cells were less potent in methaemoglobin generation (8.5 +/- 2.4% and 8.4 +/- 1.4%, respectively). These studies suggest that in certain circumstances such as hypoglycaemia, lipoic acid administration may actually be detrimental to cellular oxidant protection status

Women and Retirement Incomes in Australia: A Review

More than 60 per cent of age pensioners in Australia are women. Althoughpublic policy encourages private saving for retirement throughcompulsory superannuation, projections of women's superannuation accumulationspredict that women will continue to rely heavily on governmentand private transfers in retirement. This review synthesises the outcomesfrom existing research to show that expectations about the level and sourceof women's retirement incomes are clearly linked with low earnings. Thisoccurs in combination with both attitudinal and institutional barriers toactive retirement planning

Possible Atmospheric Diversity of Low Mass Exoplanets – Some Central Aspects

Exoplanetary science continues to excite and surprise with its rich diversity. We discuss here some key aspects potentially influencing the range of exoplanetary terrestrial-type atmospheres which could exist in nature. We are motivated by newly emerging observations, refined approaches to address data degeneracies, improved theories for key processes affecting atmospheric evolution and a new generation of atmospheric models which couple physical processes from the deep interior through to the exosphere and consider the planetary-star system as a whole. Using the Solar System as our guide we first summarize the main processes which sculpt atmospheric evolution then discuss their potential interactions in the context of exoplanetary environments. We summarize key uncertainties and consider a diverse range of atmospheric compositions discussing their potential occurrence in an exoplanetary context