Effects of sub-lethal concentrations of Euphorbia turcomanica extract on some liver biochemical parameters of Zebra Aphanius (Aphanius dispar)

In the present study, effects of sub-lethal concentrations of Euphorbia turcomanica extract with ranging from 0.00, 0.0055 (5% of LC50), 0.011 (10% of LC50) and 0.022 (20% of LC50) g/lit were investigated over 30 days on biochemical parameters of Zebra Aphanius (Aphanius dispar). The average (±SE) 24, 48, 72 and 96 LC50 rates of E. turcomanica on fish were 0.28±0.14, 0.19±0.06, 0.14±0.03 and 0.11±0.02 g/lit, respectively. The biochemical parameters including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine phosphokinase (CK), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in the liver tissue were measured after 15 and 30 days. Significant changes in AST, ALT, ALP, LDH and CK activities were observed in fish exposed to different concentrations of E. turcomanica extract when compared with control group. The significant increase was determined in AST, LDH and ALP while in ALT and CK, significant decrease was revealed. Also in liver total protein, a significant descending trend related to exposure time was demonstrated. In conclusion, the findings from this study provide basic information about toxicity of E. turcomanica extract on Zabra Aphanius, as well as developing guidelines for evaluating the effects of administration of E. turcomanica derivatives in water

Evaluation of the toxicity of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticle aqueous suspensions on bio-indices of sea water (barnacle) and fresh water (rotifer)

Due to the inevitable achievement of nanoparticles to aquatic ecosystems, the limitation of existing reports, and the inadequate understanding of their possible biological reactions with aquatic organisms, this study in the pioneering step was aimed to toxicity assessment of aqueous suspension of chemical magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) in zooplanktonic species such as barnacle larvae Amphibalanus amphitrite (sea water index) and rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis (fresh water index). For this purpose, serial concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100, 200, 500 mg / l) of magnetite nanoparticles were prepared in 24 well plates with 5 replicates. After that, the zooplanktons (50 barnacle nauplii and 20 neonate rotifer to each well) were introduced to plates and the sensitivity of the samples were evaluated for the toxicity of nanoparticles at a time interval of 12-48 hours. The results of this study showed that the toxicity effects of chemical magnetite nanoparticles on barnacle nauplii larvae and neonate rotifer were increased with increasing time and concentration of magnetite nanoparticles. Differences between control and treatment groups were significant (P1000 mg/l). Regardless of species variation in barnacles and rotifers, according to the results, magnetite nanoparticles are in the group of non-toxic contaminants for these zooplanktonic organisms

Preparation of Biopolymer Based on Agar Extracted from Persian Gulf Red Algae Acanthophora and Evaluation of Its Properties

Introduction  Consumer demand for healthy food free of chemical preservatives and environmental concerns with plastic packaging environments are analyzed, which can be replaced by aquatic environments that can be contaminated, for the development of bio-based packaging materials. Natural polymers have the ability to be biodegradable due to the presence of oxygen or nitrogen atoms in their main polymer chain compared to the dominant carbon-carbon bonds in fossil-based polymers. Among the various biopolymers used to prepare multilayer films, polysaccharides are considered as the main components of the film due to their abundance and non-toxicity. These films generally have good mechanical strength, moderate physical properties, and most importantly, are edible and easily degradable. However, they are very brittle and hydrophilic, and these properties are undesirable in food packaging applications. Among polysaccharides, agar, commercially extracted from seaweed, is one of the most common and widely studied base materials. Agar is insoluble in cold water, but soluble in water at 90-100°C. When making an agar film, the solution and casting surface must be kept above the agarose gel setting temperature to avoid premature gelation. Compared to other biopolymers, agar is more stable at low pH and high temperature. This thermoplastic and biocompatible polysaccharide creates films with high mechanical strength, transparency and moderate barrier properties to carbon dioxide and oxygen, and most importantly, it is edible and easily biodegradable. Mixing agar with other polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene improves the mechanical, thermal and biodegradability properties of bio composites. The main goal of this study is to make biofilms for use in packaging industries with agar polymer extracted from macroalgae species Acanthophora sp. Agar was extracted by sodium hydroxide/heating method and the film was prepared in combination with industrial polymer PVA and glycerol.   Materials and Methods  To make biofilms based on agar polymer, firstly, optimization of agar polymer extraction from macroalgae species Acanthophora sp. was done by sodium hydroxide/heating method, and in the next step, total phenolic compounds and the amount of soluble protein in extracted agar were measured. In the next step, glycerol with 30% by weight was used as a softener and PVA polymer with a weight ratio of 25% to the dry weight of agar powder was used to make bio composite by solvent casting method, in order to strengthen the mechanical and physical properties of bio composites. Characterization tests of the prepared composites included: XRD, FTIR and Tensile test. Laboratory tests include; The percentage of solubility in water and degree of swelling for all bio-composites were evaluated to determine the optimal physical properties of bio-films.   Results and Discussion: he results showed that; 15% extraction efficiency was obtained for sodium hydroxide/heating pretreatment method. The results of measuring the amount of total phenolic compounds in agar solution extracted by sodium hydroxide/heating method showed that the number of phenolic compounds in agar solution was 0.077 ± 0.004 in terms of mg of gallic acid/g of agar. The results of measuring the amount of protein in extracted agar determined by Bradford method showed that the agar solution contains 0.040 ± 0.019 mg/ml of protein. A decrease in the swelling rate and an increase in the water solubility of the agar bio composite occurred with the addition of glycerol and PVA polymer. The results of the tensile test showed that the addition of glycerol, a small hydrophilic molecule, to the agar bio composite leads to a decrease in the elastic modulus and an increase in flexibility. Adding PVA to agar/glycerol biofilm caused a decrease in the amount of elastic modulus and percentage of flexibility, which is the main factor of this phenomenon, the low values of elastic modulus and flexibility of PVA. Finally, the results confirm the use of these coatings for packing fruits and vegetables in tropical regions by increasing their shelf life for at least 5 days at 25°C

Cytotoxic furanosesquiterpenoids and steroids from Ircinia mutans sponges

CONTEXT: Ircinia mutans Wilson (Irciniidae) is a sponge with antimicrobial and cytotoxic constituents. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to characterise the cytotoxic constituents of two seasonal collections of I. mutans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sponges were extracted in methanol-dichloromethane and their constituents were purified and characterised using column chromatography, GC-MS, 1 D and 2 D NMR. Anti-proliferative activities of the compounds, were evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay (0.25–100 μg/mL, 72 h) against leukaemia (MOLT-4), breast (MCF-7) and colon cancer (HT-29) human cells. RESULTS: Three furanosesquiterpoids; furodysin (1), ent-furodysinin (2) and furoircin (3) and ten sterols were characterised in I. mutans, for the first time. Cholesterol (4), cholesta-5, 7-dien-3β-ol (5) and ergosterol (6) were determined in the sponge from the winter collections, while cholesta-5, 22-dien-3β-ol (7), 24-methyldesmosterol (8), campesterol (9), stigmasterol (10), γ-ergostenol (11), chondrillasterol (12) and γ-sitosterol (13) were detected in the summer samples. The steroids from the winter collection exhibited cytotoxic activity with IC(50) values of 13.0 ± 0.9, 11.1 ± 1.7 and 1.1 ± 0.4 µg/mL, against the mentioned cancer cell lines, respectively, while those from the summer sample, showed greater activity, IC(50) = 1.1 ± 0.2 μg/mL against MOLT-4. The purified steroids showed potent MOLT-4 cytotoxic activity, IC(50) values = 2.3–7.8 µg/mL. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that I. mutans is a rich source of cytotoxic steroids, and introduces 3 as new natural product. Considering the high cytotoxic activity of the steroids, these structures could be candidates for anticancer drug development in future research

Specialized Plant Metabolism Characteristics and Impact on Target Molecule Biotechnological Production.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkPlant secondary metabolism evolved in the context of highly organized and differentiated cells and tissues, featuring massive chemical complexity operating under tight environmental, developmental and genetic control. Biotechnological demand for natural products has been continuously increasing because of their significant value and new applications, mainly as pharmaceuticals. Aseptic production systems of plant secondary metabolites have improved considerably, constituting an attractive tool for increased, stable and large-scale supply of valuable molecules. Surprisingly, to date, only a few examples including taxol, shikonin, berberine and artemisinin have emerged as success cases of commercial production using this strategy. The present review focuses on the main characteristics of plant specialized metabolism and their implications for current strategies used to produce secondary compounds in axenic cultivation systems. The search for consonance between plant secondary metabolism unique features and various in vitro culture systems, including cell, tissue, organ, and engineered cultures, as well as heterologous expression in microbial platforms, is discussed. Data to date strongly suggest that attaining full potential of these biotechnology production strategies requires being able to take advantage of plant specialized metabolism singularities for improved target molecule yields and for bypassing inherent difficulties in its rational manipulation