Effects of 17β-oestradiol on rat detrusor smooth muscle contractility

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 17β-oestradiol (E2) on detrusor smooth muscle contractility and its possible neuroprotective role against ischaemic-like condition, which could arise during overactive bladder disease. The effect of E2 was investigated on rat detrusor muscle strips stimulated with carbachol, KCl and electrically, in the absence or presence of a selective oestrogen receptor antagonist (ICI 182,780) and, by using confocal Ca2+ imaging technique, measuring the amplitude (ΔF/F0) and the frequency of spontaneous whole cell Ca2+ flashes. Moreover, the effect of 1 and 2 h of anoxia–glucopenia and reperfusion (A-G/R), in the absence or presence of the hormone, was evaluated in rat detrusor strips perfused with Krebs solution which underwent electrical field stimulation to stimulate intrinsic nerves; the amplitude and the frequency of Ca2+ flashes were also measured. 17β-Oestradiol exhibited antispasmogenic activity assessed on detrusor strips depolarized with 60 mm KCl at two different Ca2+ concentrations. 17β-Oestradiol at the highest concentration tested (30 μm) significantly decreased detrusor contractions induced by all the stimuli applied. In addition, the amplitude and the frequency of spontaneous Ca2+ flashes were significantly decreased in the presence of E2 (10 and 30 μm) compared with control detrusor strips. In strips subjected to A-G/R, a significant increase in the amplitude of both spontaneous and evoked flashes was observed. 17β-Oestradiol was found to increase the recovery of detrusor strips subjected to A-G/R. The ability of E2 to suppress contraction in control conditions may explain its ability to aid recovery following A-G/R

Human tuberculosis II. m. tuberculosis mechanisms of genetic and phenotypic resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs

The great progress of knowledge of both M. tuberculosis physiology and how human host and bacilli interact has provided fertile ground for improving diagnosis and cure of TB infection. Once M. tuberculosis has infected humans, it elaborates strategies for evading the risk to killing by the cells of the host immune system and by the anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) agents employed to cure infection. These strategies give rise to a bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR) status. This stems firstly from genetic mutations targeting a constellation of drug-processing mechanisms that still need full identification, as drug efflux pumps and drug activating/inactivating enzymes (genetic resistance). Secondly, from the bacterial adaptation to stressful environmental conditions by adopting a temporary dormancy state lasting for decades and characterized by indifference to anti-TB drugs (phenotypic resistance or tolerance). The clarification of the strategies elaborated for surviving by M. tuberculosis has brought to the identification in the last few years of a number of mycobacterial molecular targets worth to exploitation for the development of novel and powerful anti-TB drugs. These targets include drug-efflux pump systems, considered partly responsible for genetic multi-drug resistance, and several enzymes and pump systems, as well, that sustain the metabolic adaptations of M. tuberculosis in the host and give rise to its phenotypic drug resistance

Human tuberculosis I. epidemiology, diagnosis and pathogenetic mechanisms

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), an almost genetically monomorphic pathogen is a human parasite, transmitted mostly by humans and causes tuberculosis (TB). TB is firmly associated to poverty, although lack of proper nutrition and lowered immune status are contributing factors for disease development. TB remains second only to HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of mortality worldwide due to a single infectious agent and is responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths annually. Some steps of the progress of our knowledge of M. tuberculosis physiology and its interactions with human beings, are reviewed here. This progress has provided fertile ground for improving diagnosis and cure of TB infection. For TB diagnostics laboratories in high-burden countries, primary isolation is the first step before performing drug susceptibility testing (DST) of M. tuberculosis. IGRA (interferon-release assay)-based tests for diagnosis of active TB are sufficiently fast, specific and sensitive to allow to contain infection and distinguish among latent TB infection and BCG vaccination individuals from those who have clinically resolved M. tuberculosis infection after anti-TB treatment

Gold nanoparticles potentiate CaVchannel currents in rat tail artery myocytes

3noreservedThis study was designed to unveil effects of 5-nm sized, polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on vascular CaV1.2 and CaV3.1 channels. Ba2+currents through both channels (IBa1.2and IBa3.1) were recorded in single myocytes isolated from the rat tail main artery by means of the whole-cell patch-clamp method. AuNPs increased IBa1.2and IBa3.1amplitude in a concentration- and Vh-dependent manner. Neither the voltage dependence of inactivation and activation curves nor inactivation and activation kinetics were affected by AuNPs. In conclusion, these findings warrant further investigation to clarify whether different types of NPs possess the same stimulatory activity and may represent a toxic hazard to humans.mixedFusi, Fabio; Sgaragli, Giampietro; Valoti, MassimoFusi, Fabio; Sgaragli, Giampietro; Valoti, Massim

Human Tuberculosis. III. Current and Prospective Approaches in Anti-Tubercular Therapy

Ineffectively treated tuberculosis (TB) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Cure of TB patients is hampered by the development of multidrug resistance in M. tuberculosis and the need of long-term treatment. The diarylquinoline derivative bedaquiline was approved in December 2012 under the accelerated-approval regulations of FDA as part of a combination therapy for treating adults with pulmonary MDR-TB for whom effective cures are not otherwise available. The bicyclic nitroimidazoles delamanid and its companion pretomanid inhibit mycolic acid synthesis via an unknown mechanism. In November 2013, delamanid received conditional approval by the European Medicines Agency for MDR-TB treatment. Use of both drugs, however, is limited owing to toxicity issues. If the aim to reduce treatment duration is pursued in order to limit costs and improve patient adherence, it is mandatory to demonstrate their noninferiority with fewer months of therapy. In three phase III clinical trials the efficacy of the most recent fluoroquinolones, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin, has been investigated in a four-month treatment regimen of drug-susceptible TB. In all three studies, after two months the culture conversion rates of observed sputum indicated that fluoroquinolone-based therapies were likely to be superior. However, this feature did not reliably predict sterilizing activity or a risk of relapse. In other words, the shortened treatments were not noninferior to standard treatments. To counteract mycobacterial survival strategies and reduce the timelength of treatment with anti-TB drugs, other novel and powerful agents, as well as tuberculosis vaccines, are under intense clinical investigation for safety and efficacy assessment

Red wine alcohol promotes quercetin absorption and directs its metabolism towards isorhamnetin and tamarixetin in rat intestine in vitro

1. Moderate consumption of red wine has been associated with beneficial effects on human health, and this has been attributed to the flavonoid content. Factors that influence the bioavailability of this group of polyphenolic compounds are therefore important. 2. Using the rat cannulated everted jejunal sac technique, we have investigated the effect of alcohol on the intestinal absorption of quercetin and its 3-O-glucoside from red wine. Tissue preparations were incubated in whole or dealcoholised red wine, diluted 1 : 1 with Krebs buffer for 20 min at 37°C, after which the mucosa was removed and processed for HPLC analysis. Tissues exposed to red wine had significantly higher amounts of both quercetin (× 3; P<0.001) and quercetin-3-O-glucoside (× 1.5; P<0.01) associated with them, compared with sacs incubated in the dealcoholised equivalent. In addition, both tamarixetin (T) and isorhamnetin (I), in the mucosal tissue from sacs exposed to the whole wine, were significantly elevated approximately two fold (P<0.05; P<0.01, respectively). 3. Similar results were obtained when sacs were incubated in Krebs buffer containing a mixture of pure quercetin and quercetin-3-O-glucoside with or without alcohol, and, although effects on the apparent absorption of Q and Q-3-G were not so marked, concentrations of the metabolites quercetin-3-O-glucuronide and I were significantly increased by the presence of alcohol (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively). 4. It is therefore plausible that the moderate alcohol content of red wine contributes to its beneficial health effects in humans by both increasing the absorption of quercetin and quercetin-3-O-glucoside and by channelling their metabolism towards O-methylation to yield compounds (T and I), which have potential protective effects against cancer and cardiovascular diseases

The surge of flavonoids as novel, fine regulators of cardiovascular Cav channels

Ion channels underlie a wide variety of physiological processes that involve rapid changes in cell dynamics, such as cardiac and vascular smooth muscle contraction. Overexpression or dysfunction of these membrane proteins are the basis of many cardiovascular diseases that represent the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for human beings. In the last few years, flavonoids, widely distributed in the plant kingdom, have attracted the interest of many laboratories as an emerging class of fine ion, in particular Cav, channels modulators. Pieces of in vitro evidence for direct as well as indirect effects exerted by various flavonoids on ion channel currents are now accumulating in the scientific literature. This activity may be responsible, at least in part, for the beneficial and protective effects of dietary flavonoids toward cardiovascular diseases highlighted in several epidemiological studies. Here we examine numerous studies aimed at analysing this feature of flavonoids, focusing on the mechanisms that promote their sometimes controversial activities at cardiovascular Cav channels. New methodological approaches, such as molecular modelling and docking to Cav1.2 channel α1c subunit, used to elucidate flavonoids intrinsic mechanism of action, are introduced. Moreover, flavonoid-membrane interaction, bioavailability, and antioxidant activity are taken into account and discussed