Essential Oils from Artemisia herba alba Asso., Maticaria Recutita L., and Dittrichia Viscosa L. (Asteraceae): A Promising Source of Eco-Friendly Agents to Control Callosobruchus maculatus Fab. Warehouse Pest

Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) (C. maculatus) is one of the major pests of legume seeds in storage causing significant damage, leading to food insecurity and low income for farmers. This work was planned to develop eco-friendly agents from essential oils of Artemisia herba alba Asso. (AEO), Maticaria Recutita L. (MEO), and Dittrichia Viscosa L. (DEO) to control C. maculatus. To achieve this goal, essential oils (EOs) were extracted by hydro-distillation using Clevenger apparatus before being characterized by GC-MS. EOs were used for testing purposes using three different tests, namely, inhalation toxicity, contact toxicity, and repellency tests. GC-MS analysis of EOs showed the presence of 16 potentially active compounds in AEO and 38 in MEO, whilst 15 compounds were identified in DEO. AEO was higher in thujone (57.6%) and chrysanthenone (11.8%). Santolina alcohol (40.7%) and germacrene D (8.9%) were the major compounds identified in MEO, whereas isocostic acid (72.3%) was the chief compound of DEO. The obtained findings showed that the studied EOs showed considerable insecticidal activity against C. maculatus with a lethal dose (LC50) of 3.78, 8.86, and 14.34 μL/1 liter of air by AEO, MEO, and DEO, respectively. At 1 μL/1 liter of air, the oviposition reduction rate was 90.02%, 70.65%, and 48.23% by AEO, MEO, and DEO, respectively, whereas the emergence reduction rate was 87.32%, 60.08%, and 32.24% by AEO, MEO, and DEO, respectively. With increasing doses up to 20 μL/L, the reduction of individual emergence reached 98.8% by AEO of 24 h after treatment. AEO, MEO, and DEO showed significant repellent effects against adults of C. maculatus with repulsion percentages of 60.83%, 50.83%, and 72.5%, respectively. The outcome of this work suggests that the essential oils of the studied plants, particularly Artemisia herba alba Asso. oils, can constitute a natural and environmentally friendly alternative to develop new bioinsecticides for the control of C. maculatus.</jats:p

Cerebrolysin protects against rotenone-induced oxidative stress and neurodegeneration

Omar ME Abdel-Salam,1 Nadia A Mohammed,2 Eman R Youness,2 Yasser A Khadrawy,3 Enayat A Omara,4 Amany A Sleem51Department of Toxicology and Narcotics, 2Department of Medical Biochemistry, 3Department of Physiology, 4Department of Pathology, 5Department of Pharmacology, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, EgyptAbstract: We investigated the effect of cerebrolysin, a peptide mixture used for promoting memory and recovery from cerebral stroke, on the development of oxidative stress and nigrostriatal cell injury induced by rotenone administration in rats. Rotenone 1.5 mg/kg was given subcutaneously three times weekly either alone or in combination with cerebrolysin at 21.5, 43, or 86 mg/kg. Rats were euthanized 14 days after starting the rotenone injection. Lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (nitrite) concentrations, paraoxonase 1 (PON1), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities &ndash; as well as the monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 &ndash; were measured in the brain. Histopathology, tyrosine hydroxylase, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-&alpha; (TNF-&alpha;), and cleaved caspase-3 immunohistochemistry were also performed. Rotenone caused a significantly elevated oxidative stress and proinflammatory response in the different brain regions. Malondialdehyde and nitric oxide concentrations were significantly increased, while GSH markedly decreased in the cerebral cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and in the rest of the brain. PON1 and AChE activities significantly decreased with respect to the control levels after rotenone application. Striatal Bcl-2 was significantly decreased while MCP-1 increased following rotenone injection. Rotenone caused prominent iNOS, TNF-&alpha;, and caspase-3 immunostaining in the striatum and resulted in markedly decreased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra and striatum. Cerebrolysin coadministered with rotenone decreased lipid peroxidation, increased GSH, and inhibited the elevation of nitric oxide induced by rotenone. Cerebrolysin also decreased the rotenone-induced decline in the PON1 and AChE activities and the rotenone-mediated changes in the striatal Bcl-2 and MCP-1 levels. The drug reduced iNOs, TNF-&alpha;, and caspase 3 expressions and increased the tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the striatum. Cerebrolysin markedly prevented the development of neuronal damage in the cortex and striatum. These data suggest that cerebrolysin may have potential therapeutic effect in Parkinson&rsquo;s disease.Keywords: brain oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, apoptosis, nigrostriatal damag