Effect of light emitted by diodes on growth and pigment content of black currant plantlets in vitro

The effects of cool white, natural white, and warm white lights, which have a continuous spectrum throughout the region of surfactant, and blue-red light spectrum on in vitro growth and development of black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) was studied. It was demonstrated that the spectral composition of light affected length and fresh mass of shoots and roots as well as concentrations of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. The plants grown under warm white light had the longest shoots (2.5 ± 0.2 cm) and fresh mass of shoots (166 ± 12 mg) and roots (80 ± 16 mg) relatively to оne’s grown under other light types. Under blue-red and warm white lights black currant leaves possessed the highest concentrations of chlorophyll a (2.66 ± 0.31 and 2.17 ± 0.14 µmol·gwm-1, respectively), chlorophyll b (1.15 ± 0.15 and 0.87± 0.05 µmol·gwm-1), carotenoids (0.89 ± 0.09 and 0.78 ± 0.05 µmol·gwm-1, respectively) and anthocyanins (1.37 ± 0.20 and 1.09 ± 0.05 µmol·gwm-1, respectively). Thus, blue-red (B:R = 1:4) and warm white lights may be used as an alternative light source for upland black currant culture systems

Vicious cycle of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in pathophysiology of chronic vascular encephalopathy

Chronic vascular encephalopathy (CVE) is a frequent cause of vascular mild cognitive impairment and dementia, which significantly worsens the quality of life, especially in the elderly population. CVE is a result of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, characterized by prolonged limited blood flow to the brain. This causes insufficient oxygenation of the brain leading to hypoxia. The latter can trigger a series of events associated with the development of oxidative/reductive stresses and neuroinflammation. Addressing the gap in knowledge regarding oxidative and reductive stresses in the development of vascular disorders and neuroinflammation can give a start to new directions of research in the context of CVE. In this review, we consider the hypoxia-induced molecular challenges involved in the pathophysiology of CVE, focusing on oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, which are combined in a vicious cycle of neurodegeneration. We also briefly describe therapeutic approaches to the treatment of CVE and outline the prospects for the use of sulforaphane, an isothiocyanate common in cruciferous plants, and vitamin D to break the vicious cycle and alleviate the cognitive impairments characteristic of patients with CVE

Protein content in the parental diet affects cold tolerance and antioxidant system state in the offspring Drosophila

Dietary nutrients are the key determinants of the lifespan and metabolic health. The content of specific dietary compounds in the parental diet can epigenetically affect the physiological state of the offspring. Here, we studied how variable dietary protein content in the diet of parental generation affects antioxidant capacity of Drosophila melanogaster adult offspring. The dry yeast concentration ranging from 0.25% to 15% in the parental diet was the only variable in the experiments, whereas subsequent generation was kept on a diet of the same composition. We found, that flies fed with yeast-restricted (0.25%) diet produced F1 male flies with a higher cold tolerance and higher activity of the second-line antioxidant enzymes whereas in F1 females no effect of parental diet composition on the cold tolerance, catalase, GST, G6PDH, IDH activity and low thiols content was detected. The results suggest that nutrient-dependent changes of genes expression in the flies of paternal generation differently affect the stress response of males and females of the first-generation offspring

Developmental diet defines metabolic traits in larvae and adult Drosophila

The influence of the developmental nutrition on adult metabolism and overall performance becomes a hot topic of modern evolutionary biology. We used fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model and experimental nutrition media composed of different sucrose content (S) and dry yeast content (Y): 0S:2Y, 20S:2Y or 0S:5Y, 20S:5Y to show that the developmental nutrition conditions define metabolism in larvae and adults. The level of glucose, glycogen, triglycerids and total lipids in the larvae and flies body were measured with the diagnostic assay kits. We found that individuals developed on either low-yeast or high-sugar diet showed delayed developmental rate. When kept on the diets with high sucrose content the larvae and adult flies had lower weight and higher amount of lipids as energy reserves. Restriction of dry yeast content in the diet of larvae led to a decrease in glycogen storage and protein levels in larvae and adult flies. The results obtained indicate that the metabolic traits revealed in adult flies are the result of nutrition during development and may be associated with mechanisms of organisms adaptation to the developmental nutritional conditions

Effects of alpha-ketoglutarate on lifespan and functional aging of Drosophila melanogaster flies

The effects of an alpha-ketoglutarate-supplemented diet on lifespan and functional senescence were evaluated in the Canton S strain of Drosophila melanogaster. The results suggest that effects of dietary alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) are dose- and gender-dependent. In males, diets containing 1-10 mM AKG did not affect mean and maximum lifespans, except that an increased maximum lifespan observed at 10 mM AKG. Diet with 20 mM AKG shortened median lifespan and had no effect on maximum lifespan of males. In females, diets with low concentrations of AKG (1 and 5 mM) did not affect lifespan, whereas diets supplemented with 10 and 20 mM AKG increased both median and maximum lifespans. At a lifespan-prolonging concentration (10 mM), AKG decreased fecundity, increased cold resistance and had no effect on climbing activity or resistance to oxi­dative stress in flies of either gender at middle (24 days) and old (40 days) ages. Moreover, middle-aged AKG-fed females but not males were more resistant to heat stress that was accompanied by higher levels of HSP90 protein as compared with controls. Middle-aged flies on AKG-supplemented diets showed elevated oxidative stress and had higher total protein and triacylglycerol levels as compared with controls. Hence, anti-aging effects of AKG do not seem to be related to preventing oxidative stress development but involve metabolic rearrangement and synthesis of specific protective proteins, which aid to resist destructive processes with age

Pesticide toxicity

Pesticides are known for their high persistence and pervasiveness in the environment, and along with products of their biotransformation, they may remain in and interact with the environment and living organisms in multiple ways, according to their nature and chemical structure, dose and targets. In this review, the classifications of pesticides based on their nature, use, physical state, pathophysiological effects, and sources are discussed. The effects of these xenobiotics on the environment, their biotransformation in terms of bioaccumulation are highlighted with special focus on the molecular mechanisms deciphered to date. Basing on targeted organisms, most pesticides are classified as herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Herbicides are known as growth regulators, seedling growth inhibitors, photosynthesis inhibitors, inhibitors of amino acid and lipid biosynthesis, cell membrane disrupters, and pigment biosynthesis inhibitors, whereas fungicides include inhibitors of ergosterol biosynthesis, protein biosynthesis, and mitochondrial respiration. Insecticides mainly affect nerves and muscle, growth and development, and energy production. Studying the impact of pesticides and other related chemicals is of great interest to animal and human health risk assessment processes since potentially everyone can be exposed to these compounds which may cause many diseases, including metabolic syndrome, malnutrition, atherosclerosis, inflammation, pathogen invasion, nerve injury, and susceptibility to infectious diseases. Future studies should be directed to investigate influence of long term effects of low pesticide doses and to minimize or eliminate influence of pesticides on non-target living organisms, produce more specific pesticides and using modern technologies to decrease contamination of food and other goods by pesticides

Intermittent fasting causes metabolic stress and leucopenia in young mice

Overweight and obesity became the worldwide epidemic resulting from overeating especially when a so-called Western diet rich in carbohydrates and fats is used. It is widely accepted that limitation of food consumption could help to withstand such state of adult organism, but information about younger groups is contradictory. The present study was undertaken to characterize the effects of intermittent fasting, using an every other day (EOD) fasting/feeding protocol, on hematological parameters and biochemical blood plasma indices in young mice from one to two months old. It was shown that intermittently fasted mice were characterized by a reduced body weight, reduced total number of blood leucocytes, lower glucose and lactate levels and higher activity of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in blood plasma as compared with the age-matched control mice. To gain the same mass EOD animals needed to eat more food than ad libitum fed animals. These differences may probably be explained by a need to expend certain resources to combat stress induced by intermittent fasting. Our data showed that EOD feeding at a young age may negatively influence young mammals

Comparison of Yarrowia lipolytica and Pichia pastoris cellular response to different agents of oxidative stress

Yeast cells exposed to adverse conditions employ a number of defense mechanisms in order to respond effectively to the stress effects of reactive oxygen species. In this work, the cellular response of Yarrowia lipolytica and Pichia pastoris to the exposure to the ROSinducing agents’ paraquat, hydrogen peroxide, and increased air pressure was analyzed. Yeast cells at exponential phase were exposed for 3 h to 1 mM paraquat, to 50 mM H2O2, or to increased air pressure of 3 or 5 bar. For both strains, the cellular viability loss and lipid peroxidation was lower for the cells exposed to increased air pressure than for those exposed to chemical oxidants. The glutathione induction occurred only in Y. lipolytica strain and reached the highest level as a response to PQ exposure. In general, antioxidant enzymes were more expressed in Y. lipolytica than in P. pastoris. The enzyme superoxide dismutase was induced in both strains under all the oxidant conditions but was dependent on the cellular growth phase, being undetectable in non-growing cells, whereas glutathione reductase was more induced in those conditions. Hydrogen peroxide was the most efficient inducer of catalase. Both yeast cultures underwent no cellular growth inhibition with increased air pressure, indicating that these yeast species were able to adapt to the oxidative stressful environment.The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by "Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia" (Grant SFRH/BD/47371/2008)