The effect of aspirin nanoemulsion on TNFα and iNOS in gastric tissue in comparison with conventional aspirin

Fatma Abd Elhalim Mahmoud,1,2 Khalid S Hashem,3 Asmaa Mohammed M Hussein Elkelawy21Medical Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 2Clinical Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, 3Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, EgyptBackground: No dose of aspirin is free of bleeding risk. Even at a dose as low as 75 mg/day, the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is twice as high as among nonusers. Nanoemulsions (NEs) are emulsion systems with droplet size in nanometer scale in which oil or water droplets are finely dispersed in the opposite phase with the help of a suitable surfactant to stabilize the system.Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of aspirin NE in comparison to conventional aspirin.Materials and methods: A total of 24 male rats were used in the study and arbitrarily assigned to four groups. Group 1 was the control group, and was given saline. Group 2 was given blank NE 1.5 mL/kg orally. Group 3 was given aspirin 30 mg/kg body weight orally. Group 4 was given aspirin NE 30 mg/kg body weight orally. Rats were killed, and gastric tissue was quickly excised after dissection of the animals. The tissues were divided into three pieces. The first one was kept in formalin 10% for pathological investigation. The second piece was kept in liquid nitrogen for molecular investigation. The third piece was homogenized in ten volumes of ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7) using a Teflon homogenizer until a uniform suspension was obtained. The homogenate was centrifuged at 4,000 rpm for 30 minutes at 4°C to separate the supernatant from cellular debris. The supernatant was then used for the estimation of biochemical assays.Results: The present study shows that aspirin has a toxic effect on the stomach as a result of inducing marked oxidative damage and the release of reactive oxygen species. This was shown by the significant increase in TNFα, iNOS, prostaglandin E2, and malondialdehyde levels, and also a significant decrease in glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. In the aspirin-treated group compared to the control group, the NE had a protective effect on the stomach and caused less injury than aspirin, indicated by significant decreases in TNFα, iNOS, prostaglandin E2, and malondialdehyde levels, and also significant increases in glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. The biochemical results were confirmed by histopathological studies.Conclusion: Aspirin nanoemulsion has less toxic effect on the gastric mucosa compared to ordinary aspirin. This can be indicated by the increase of the antioxidant activity and the decrease of the inflammatory mediators in the gastric tissue.Keywords: aspirin, aspirin nanoemulsion, blank nanoemulsion, stomac

Phytochemical and Bioactivity Investigations of Macfadyena unguis-cati L. (Bignoniaceae)

GC/MS of the volatile components of the aerial part of Macfadyena unguis-cati L, Fam. Bignoniaceae revealed the presence of 74 compounds, 52 (75.97%) of them were identified. The major compound was n-decane (12.21%) followed by phytol (12.19%). The saponifiable fraction of the petroleum ether extract contained 21 fatty acids identified as methyl esters. In the unsaponifiable fraction, 37 compounds (representing 93.26%) were identified. β-amyrin, squalene, β-sitosterol and 3α,5-cyclo-ergosta-7,22-dien-6-one were identified in the USM. Determination of LD50 of different extracts showed that total ethanol extract was the safest (4.9 g/kg) followed by petroleum ether extract, (4.5 g/kg) and ethyl acetate extract having the least LD50 (3.1 g/kg). The total ethanol extract was found to be the most potent as antipyretic, followed by ethyl acetate extract. The ethanol extract, as well as the coumarin containing fraction exhibited significant analgesic activity.Key words: Macfadyena unguis-cati L., Bignoniaceae, fatty acids, analgesic activity, antipyretic activity, LD50

WCDMA Multiservice Uplink Capacity of Highways Cigar-Shaped Microcells

The multiservice uplink capacity and the interference (intracellular and intercellular) statistics (mean and variance) of the sectors of cigar-shaped wideband code-division multiple access (WCDMA) microcell are studied using a model of 5 highway microcells in rural zone. The two-slope propagation loss model with lognormal shadowing is used in the analysis. The capacity and the interference statistics of the microcell are studied for different sector ranges, antenna side lobe levels, standard deviation of the power control error, breakpoint distance, and different intersites correlation coefficient. It is shown that reducing the antenna side lobe level increases the sector capacity. Also, it is shown that the sector range that gives the quasi the maximum sector capacity is in the order of 800 to 1200 m

Risk factors associated with the prevalence of Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli in manured soils on certified organic farms in four regions of the USA

Introduction: Biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO), including untreated amendments are often used to improve soil fertility and are particularly important in organic agriculture. However, application of untreated manure on cropland can potentially introduce foodborne pathogens into the soil and onto produce. Certified organic farms follow the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards that stipulate a 90- or 120-day interval between application of untreated manure and crop harvest, depending on whether the edible portion of the crop directly contacts the soil. This time-interval metric is based on environmental factors and does not consider a multitude of factors that might affect the survival of the main pathogens of concern. The objective of this study was to assess predictors for the prevalence of Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (non-O157 STEC) in soils amended with untreated manure on USDA-NOP certified farms. Methods: A longitudinal, multi-regional study was conducted on 19 farms in four USA regions for two growing seasons (2017–2018). Untreated manure (cattle, horse, and poultry), soil, and irrigation water samples were collected and enrichment cultured for non-O157 STEC. Mixed effects logistic regression models were used to analyze the predictors of non-O157 STEC in the soil up to 180 days post-manure application. Results and discussion: Results show that farm management practices (previous use with livestock, presence of animal feces on the field, season of manure application) and soil characteristics (presence of generic E. coli in the soil, soil moisture, sodium) increased the odds of STEC-positive soil samples. Manure application method and snowfall decreased the odds of detecting STEC in the soil. Time-variant predictors (year and sampling day) affected the presence of STEC. This study shows that a single metric, such as the time interval between application of untreated manure and crop harvest, may not be sufficient to reduce the food safety risks from untreated manure, and additional environmental and farm-management practices should also be considered. These findings are of particular importance because they provide multi-regional baseline data relating to current NOP wait-time standards. They can therefore contribute to the development of strategies to reduce pathogen persistence that may contribute to contamination of fresh produce typically eaten raw from NOP-certified farms using untreated manure

Neuronal deficiency of ARV1 causes an autosomal recessive epileptic encephalopathy

We report an individual who presented with severe neurodevelopmental delay and an intractable infantile-onset seizure disorder. Exome sequencing identified a homozygous single nucleotide change that abolishes a splice donor site in the ARV1 gene (c.294+1G > A homozygous). This variant completely prevented splicing in minigene assays, and resulted in exon skipping and an in-frame deletion of 40 amino acids in primary human fibroblasts (NP_073623.1: p.(Lys59_Asn98del). The p.(Lys59_Asn98del) and previously reported p.(Gly189Arg) ARV1 variants were evaluated for protein expression and function. The p.(Gly189Arg) variant partially rescued the temperature-dependent growth defect in arv1Δ yeast, while p.(Lys59- Asn98del) completely failed to rescue at restrictive temperature. In contrast to wild type human ARV1, neither variant expressed detectable levels of protein in mammalian cells. Mice with a neuronal deletion of Arv1 recapitulated the human phenotype, exhibiting seizures and a severe survival defect in adulthood. Our data support ARV1 deficiency as a cause of autosomal recessive epileptic encephalopathy

Erratum: De Novo Variants Disrupting the HX Repeat Motif of ATN1 Cause a Recognizable Non-progressive Neurocognitive Syndrome (The American Journal of Human Genetics (2019) 104(3) (542–552), (S0002929719300138), (10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.01.013))

(The American Journal of Human Genetics 104, 542–552; March 7, 2019) In the original version of this article published on March 7, 2019, Łukasz Jaremko's name was unfortunately misspelled as Łukas Jaremko. It appears correctly here and online. The Journal and the authors apologize for this error