Cytotoxicity of Sambucus ebulus on cancer cell lines and protective effects of vitamins C and E against its cytotoxicity on normal cell lines

Isolation and identification of potent anti-tumor compounds from medicinal plants, has motivated researchers to screen plant species for anti-tumor effects. Regarding the traditional utilization of Sambucus ebulus, Iranian native botany and its active ingredients (e.g. ebulitin and ebulin 1), cytotoxicity of ethyl acetate extract from S. ebulus (SEE) on HepG2 and CT26 cancer cell lines was investigated. Also, protective effects of vitamins C and E against SEE-induced cytotoxicity on normal cell lines were studied. Cytotoxicity of SEE on cancer (HepG2 and CT26) and normal (CHO and rat fibroblast) cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay. IC50 of SEE on the cell lines was assessed. Furthermore, IC50 of SEE on normal cell lines with exposure to vitamins C, E and C+E was studied. SEE possessed lower IC50 in cancer cell lines compared with normal cell lines. It manifested high cytotoxicity that can act as anticancer compound. Also, cytotoxicity of SEE on normal cell lines in presence of vitamins C+E, E and C decreased. The results demonstrate that SEE is an effective cytotoxic agent on liver and colon cancer cells and suggest that vitamins C and E may protect normal cells, when SEE were used in cancer therapy in future.Keywords: Sambucus ebulus, cytotoxicity, IC50, MTT assay, cell line, vitamins C and E.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(21), pp. 3360-336

DEVELOPMENT OF A VOXEL BASED LOCAL PLANE FITTING FOR MULTI-SCALE REGISTRATION OF SEQUENTIAL MLS POINT CLOUDS

The Mobile Laser Scanner (MLS) system is one of the most accurate and fastest data acquisition systems for indoor and outdoor environments mapping. Today, to use this system in an indoor environment where it is impossible to capture GNSS data, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is used. Most SLAM research has used probabilistic approaches to determine the sensor position and create a map, which leads to drift error in the final result due to their uncertainty. In addition, most SLAM methods give less importance to geometry and mapping concepts. This research aims to solve the SLAM problem by considering the adjustment concepts in mapping and geometrical principles of the environment and proposing an algorithm for reducing drift. For this purpose, a model-based registration is suggested. Correspondence points fall in the same voxel by voxelization, and the registration process is done using a plane model. In this research, two pyramid and simple registration methods are proposed. The results show that the simple registration algorithm is more efficient than the pyramid when the distance between sequential scans is not large otherwise, the pyramid registration is used. In the evaluation, by using simulated data in both pyramid and simple methods, 96.9% and 97.6% accuracy were obtained, respectively. The final test compares the proposed method with a SLAM method and ICP algorithm, which are described further

Pattern of Deliberate Self-Poisoning in Gorgan, North of Iran

Background: Suicide is a global public health problem. Deliberate Self-Poisoning (DSP) is one of the most common methods of suicide in many countries. This study was designed to identify the trends and characteristics of DSP in Gorgan.Methods: The study was carried out retrospectively in 5 Azar Hospital. It included 549 patients who were hospitalized in the hospital due to DSP from March 2008 to March 2015. Data were obtained from medical records. Stata software and Pearson's chi-squared test were used for data analysis.Results: Of 549 patients, 51% were females and 50.27% were aged 20–29 years. The majority of patients (76.68%) lived in urban areas. Poisoning occurred mostly in summer and the peak was observed in August. Most of the poisoning agents were pharmaceuticals (80.51%). Among the pharmaceuticals, benzodiazepines were involved most often. Overall, 21 patients (3.83%) died. The highest number of deaths was due to aluminum phosphide poisoning (76.19%). In addition, family quarrel was the main cause of DSP (43.17%). There were significant differences between the causes of DSP and demographics. Characteristics including gender, age groups, marital status, employment status and educational status.Conclusion: Deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) with drugs has recently been a serious social problem, especially in the younger generation in Gorgan and there is an urgent need for a prevention plan

Concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Zn, and Pb) in muscle and liver tissues of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L., 1758) from coastal waters of Golestan Province

Concentrations of four heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Zn, and Pb) in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were assessed in winter, spring and summer seasons of the years 2008. Four coastal areas in the west and east, Gomishan Marsh and Gorgan Bay including 11 sites were sampled. After biometrical measurements of the fish, specimens of muscle (104) and liver (36) tissues were immediately frozen and transferred to laboratory for assessment of heavy metal concentration. Dry ash method and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) of Perkin Almer (400 model, German) were used to assess metals concentration. In the process, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-test were implemented. Heavy metals concentration in kidney tissue was higher than muscle tissue. In carp muscle tissue, level of zinc was highest and the next categories were those of lead, cadmium and chromium, respectively. A significant difference was observed between chromium concentrations in muscle tissue of Cyprinus carpio with sex (P<0.05). The concentrations of heavy metals in liver tissues were higher than those of the muscle tissues and in all cases; they were lower than mean allowable concentrations of international standards (WHO, UK, MAFF and NHMRC)

Does pesticides pollution affect rice plants in the southern coastline of the Caspian Sea?

Considering the increasing rice consumption in the world and also the excessive application of pesticides to increase production, an experiment was conducted to determine the pesticide residues and their effects on nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus content of Hashemi, Khazar and Gohar (SA13) rice cultivars, in a factorial design at randomized complete block design with three replications. In this study, rice plants were treated with three pesticides including insecticide Diazinon, herbicide Butachlor and fungicide Tricyclazole which are commonly used in the paddy fields of the southern coastline of the Caspian Sea, with standard concentrations recommended for these pesticides. The results indicated that the impacts of different pesticides on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents in rice grains of Hashemi and Khazar cultivars were not significantly different. However, the nitrogen content reduced significantly in Gohar cultivar treated by Butachlor and Tricyclazole in comparison with control (p≤0.01). Determination of pesticides residues showed that Diazinon residue in white grains of Hashemi, Khazar and Gohar cultivars was lower than recommended limit determined by Codex (0.1 ppm), and also Tricyclazole amount was below the limit of detection. Therefore, using pesticides in permissible limits is strongly recommended. However, it cannot be concluded that using pesticides; even in permissible limits, does not have dangerous impacts over time on living organisms of the Caspian ecosystem

Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles: Advances in Biodistribution, Toxicity, and Preclinical Exploration

Antioxidant nanoparticles have recently gained tremendous attention for their enormous potential in biomedicine. However, discrepant reports of either medical benefits or toxicity, and lack of reproducibility of many studies, generate uncertainties delaying their effective implementation. Herein, the case of cerium oxide is considered, a well‐known catalyst in the petrochemistry industry and one of the first antioxidant nanoparticles proposed for medicine. Like other nanoparticles, it is now described as a promising therapeutic alternative, now as threatening to health. Sources of these discrepancies and how this analysis helps to overcome contradictions found for other nanoparticles are summarized and discussed. For the context of this analysis, what has been reported in the liver is reviewed, where many diseases are related to oxidative stress. Since well‐dispersed nanoparticles passively accumulate in liver, it represents a major testing field for the study of new nanomedicines and their clinical translation. Even more, many contradictory works have reported in liver either cerium‐oxide‐associated toxicity or protection against oxidative stress and inflammation. Based on this, finally, the intention is to propose solutions to design improved nanoparticles that will work more precisely in medicine and safely in society

Transcriptome characterization and high throughput SSRs and SNPs discovery in Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae)

Background: Cucurbita pepo belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. The "Zucchini" types rank among the highest-valued vegetables worldwide, and other C. pepo and related Cucurbita spp., are food staples and rich sources of fat and vitamins. A broad range of genomic tools are today available for other cucurbits that have become models for the study of different metabolic processes. However, these tools are still lacking in the Cucurbita genus, thus limiting gene discovery and the process of breeding.Results: We report the generation of a total of 512,751 C. pepo EST sequences, using 454 GS FLX Titanium technology. ESTs were obtained from normalized cDNA libraries (root, leaves, and flower tissue) prepared using two varieties with contrasting phenotypes for plant, flowering and fruit traits, representing the two C. pepo subspecies: subsp. pepo cv. Zucchini and subsp. ovifera cv Scallop. De novo assembling was performed to generate a collection of 49,610 Cucurbita unigenes (average length of 626 bp) that represent the first transcriptome of the species. Over 60% of the unigenes were functionally annotated and assigned to one or more Gene Ontology terms. The distributions of Cucurbita unigenes followed similar tendencies than that reported for Arabidopsis or melon, suggesting that the dataset may represent the whole Cucurbita transcriptome. About 34% unigenes were detected to have known orthologs of Arabidopsis or melon, including genes potentially involved in disease resistance, flowering and fruit quality. Furthermore, a set of 1,882 unigenes with SSR motifs and 9,043 high confidence SNPs between Zucchini and Scallop were identified, of which 3,538 SNPs met criteria for use with high throughput genotyping platforms, and 144 could be detected as CAPS. A set of markers were validated, being 80% of them polymorphic in a set of variable C. pepo and C. moschata accessions.Conclusion: We present the first broad survey of gene sequences and allelic variation in C. pepo, where limited prior genomic information existed. The transcriptome provides an invaluable new tool for biological research. The developed molecular markers are the basis for future genetic linkage and quantitative trait loci analysis, and will be essential to speed up the process of breeding new and better adapted squash varieties. © 2011 Blanca et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Blanca Postigo, JM.; Cañizares Sales, J.; Roig Montaner, MC.; Ziarsolo Areitioaurtena, P.; Nuez Viñals, F.; Picó Sirvent, MB. (2011). Transcriptome characterization and high throughput SSRs and SNPs discovery in Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae). BMC Genomics. 12:104-117. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-12-104S1041171

Evaluation of Antibacterial Properties and Cytotoxicity of Ethanolic Extract of Alhagi Maurorum

Background and Objective: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world. The most important issue in cancer treatment is the destruction of cancer cells in the presence of normal cells. For this reason, it is necessary to use natural resources such as plants to treat cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antibacterial effects of the ethanolic extract of Alhagi maurorum on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and cytotoxicity on HeLa cervical cancer cell line. Methods: In this experimental study, first the ethanolic extract of Alhagi maurorum was prepared, and then the two standard strains of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC: 25923) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC: 27853) were lyophilized by culturing in nutrient medium. In order to confirm the standard strains, biochemical tests were performed. Microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration and after obtaining the minimum inhibitory concentration, the minimum bactericidal concentration was evaluated. Furthermore, the effects of the cytotoxicity of the extract at concentrations of 0.1, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 μg/ml was evaluated on the HeLa cell line in a period of 48 hours using the MTT method and comparing its toxicity with the cisplatin group (positive control group). Findings: Ethanol extract of Alhagi maurorum at a concentration of 50 μg/ml reduced the growth of cancer cells, and in the statistical comparison, 50, 500 and 1000 μg concentrations revealed significant differences (p<0.05). According to minimum inhibitory concentration results, the minimum growth inhibitory concentration of the extract on the standard strain of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was reported to be 4000 and 16000 μg/ml, respectively, and according to minimum bactericidal concentration results, the minimum bactericidal concentration of the extract was found 4 times the minimum inhibitory concentration (16000 μg/ml) in Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC: 25923), but it was not lethal in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC: 27853). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the ethanolic extract of Alhagi maurorum affected HeLa cells through antioxidant activity and inhibited their growth, and according to minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration results, it was also shown that the most inhibitory effect was on the standard strain of Staphylococcus aureus while it showed no effects on the strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa