Treatment with Green Tea Prevents Intracerebroventricular Streptozotocin Induced Cognitive Impairment and Oxidative Stress in Mice

Green tea polyphenols have demonstrated significant antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic and antidiabetic in numerous human, animal and in vitro studies. Hence present study was design to evaluate the influence of green tea in streptozotocin induced oxidative stress in mice.Morris water maze, Elevated plus maze and passive avoidance apparatus was used for the evaluation of learning and memory. Brain thiobarbituric acid reactive substance was also estimated.Intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin reduces the learning and memory and increase the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance in mice. Green tea significantly improves the learning and memory and reverses the increase thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentration in mice.The result of present study indicates that green tea improve the learning and memory. It also reduces the streptozotocin induced oxidative stress.Keyword: Hippocampus, degenerative disease, green te

Treatment with Green Tea Prevents Intracerebroventricular Streptozotocin Induced Cognitive Impairment and Oxidative Stress in Mice

Green tea polyphenols have demonstrated significant antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic and antidiabetic in numerous human, animal and in vitro studies. Hence present study was design to evaluate the influence of green tea in streptozotocin induced oxidative stress in mice.Morris water maze, Elevated plus maze and passive avoidance apparatus was used for the evaluation of learning and memory. Brain thiobarbituric acid reactive substance was also estimated.Intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin reduces the learning and memory and increase the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance in mice. Green tea significantly improves the learning and memory and reverses the increase thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentration in mice.The result of present study indicates that green tea improve the learning and memory. It also reduces the streptozotocin induced oxidative stress.Keyword: Hippocampus, degenerative disease, green te

In Vitro Antiproliferative Efficacy, Antioxidant Activity and LC MS Based Metabolite Profiling of Premna Barbata Stem Bark

Premna barbata Wall. ex Schauer is used traditionally as folkloric medicines for the treatment of differentpathological conditions. The first reported constituent from the bark of the plant was an iridoid glycoside premnosidic acid having antioxidant activity. Other species of this genus i.e., Premna latifolia, Premna tomentosa has shown to have antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Despite the ethnomedicinal uses, no scientific evidence in support of antitumor activity on the stem bark of Premna barbata is reported so far. Hence, the current work aims to assess anticancer potentiality of different extracts of P. barbata on various cancer cell lines. Different extracts i.e., Petroleum ether extract (PBPE), Chloroform extract (PBCE), Ethyl acetate extract (PBEE) and Alcoholic extract (PBAE) were prepared and on each extract in-vitro antiproliferative activity was performed by using SRB assay. The most potent extract i.e., PBEE was then evaluated for antioxidant activity. Qualitative phytochemical investigation of different extracts indicates the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, steroids/triterpenoids, alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, and phenolic constituents. Ethyl acetate extract of Premna barbata gives potent cytotoxic activity in all cancer cell lines but more selectively to human colon cancer cell line (COLO-205) with GI 50 44.6 μg/ml. The phenolic and flavonoid content in ethyl acetate extract was 3.43±0.09 mg GE/g and 4.28±0.18mg QE/g respectively. Nineteen compounds were observed in positive (+) ESI mode chromatograms when LC-MS analysis was carried out. The LC-MS analysis by positive ionization mode, the predicted compounds such as Geniposidic acid (synonym: Premnosidic acid) and Rutin were detected. The cytotoxicity observed on cancerous cell lines in our study may be due to the presence of observed compounds. So, it can be concluded that Premna barbata stembark has remarkable cytotoxic activity against different tumor cell lines but the effect is more on colon cell lines as compared to others

The Effect of Fasting on Haematology Serum Biochemistry Parameters on STZ Induced CD1 Mice and Diabetic db/db Mice

Modest information is available on how fasting affects clinical pathology variables in (Streptozocin) STZ induced diabetes mice and db/db mice. This study was carried out to evaluate the influence of fasting on clinical pathology variables in diabetic mouse models. Seven male STZ induced diabetic CD1 mice and db/db mice were fasted for 18 hours and change in body weight (BW), hematologic and biochemical variables were evaluated. Fasting provoked significant variation in body weight, haematology and biochemical variables in diabetic animal models. The results suggested that clinical pathology variables will vary after fasting. The decision to feed or fast before blood collection for analyzing the results should be made based on fasting in animal models for diabetic research

Chronometry and formation pathways of gypsum using Electron Spin Resonance and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Gypsum is an authigenic precipitate that forms under periods of accentuated aridity and occurs widely in arid zones. However its use in quantitative paleoclimatology has been limited due to the absence of a method to determine the timing of its formation. We present here the results of a feasibility study that demonstrates that the timing of the formation event of gypsum can be estimated using Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) analysis. We used well documented samples from White Sands in New Mexico, USA, the Thar Desert, India and lakes in the Simpson Desert and Mallee Region, Australia and found that ESR ages could be obtained using radiation sensitive SO4-, SO3- radicals and a photobleachable signal O3-. ESR signals were consistent with control ages based on contextual information. These suggest that the dating signals (SO4-, SO3-) are stable over time scales >100 ka. We propose that this stability of the SO4- signals over geological time scales arises due to hydrogen bonding between the water proton and the SO4- radical and that the suitability of these radiation-induced radicals comes from their being a part of the host matrix. Further, ESR along with Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy methods additionally inform on the geochemical pathways for gypsum formation and help elucidate complex formation processes even in samples that appeared unambiguous gypsum precipitates. Thus, the presence of Hannebachite (CaSO3.1/2H2O) and Mn2+ in Thar and Australian samples suggested a reducing environment such that low valence sulfur reacted with CaCO3 to form hannebachite and eventually gypsum. The presence of sulfur, partially as sulfite in Thar gypsum samples suggested that redox cycles were mediated by microbial activity. Absence of these features in White Sands samples suggested oxic conditions during gypsum precipitation

NOD2-C2 - a novel NOD2 isoform activating NF-κB in a muramyl dipeptide-independent manner

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The innate immune system employs several receptor families that form the basis of sensing pathogen-associated molecular patterns. NOD (nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain) like receptors (NLRs) comprise a group of cytosolic proteins that trigger protective responses upon recognition of intracellular danger signals. NOD2 displays a tandem caspase recruitment domain (CARD) architecture, which is unique within the NLR family.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Here, we report a novel alternative transcript of the <it>NOD2 </it>gene, which codes for a truncated tandem CARD only protein, called NOD2-C2. The transcript isoform is highest expressed in leucocytes, a natural barrier against pathogen invasion, and is strictly linked to promoter usage as well as predominantly to one allele of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs2067085. Contrary to a previously identified truncated single CARD NOD2 isoform, NOD2-S, NOD2-C2 is able to activate NF-κB in a dose dependent manner independently of muramyl dipeptide (MDP). On the other hand NOD2-C2 competes with MDPs ability to activate the NOD2-driven NF-κB signaling cascade.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>NOD2 transcripts having included an alternative exon downstream of exon 3 (exon 3a) are the endogenous equivalents of a previously described <it>in vitro </it>construct with the putative protein composed of only the two N-terminal CARDs. This protein form (NOD2-C2) activates NF-κB independent of an MDP stimulus and is a potential regulator of NOD2 signaling.</p

Transethnic analysis of the human leukocyte antigen region for ulcerative colitis reveals not only shared but also ethnicity-specific disease associations

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gut. Genetic association studies have identified the highly variable human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region as the strongest susceptibility locus for IBD, and specifically DRB1*01:03 as a determining factor for ulcerative colitis (UC). However, for most of the association signal such a delineation could not be made due to tight structures of linkage disequilibrium within the HLA. The aim of this study was therefore to further characterize the HLA signal using a trans-ethnic approach. We performed a comprehensive fine mapping of single HLA alleles in UC in a cohort of 9,272 individuals with African American, East Asian, Puerto Rican, Indian and Iranian descent and 40,691 previously analyzed Caucasians, additionally analyzing whole HLA haplotypes. We computationally characterized the binding of associated HLA alleles to human self-peptides and analysed the physico-chemical properties of the HLA proteins and predicted self-peptidomes. Highlighting alleles of the HLA-DRB1*15 group and their correlated HLA-DQ-DR haplotypes, we identified consistent associations across different ethnicities but also identified population-specific signals. We observed that DRB1*01:03 is mostly present in individuals of Western European descent and hardly present in non-Caucasian individuals. We found peptides predicted to bind to risk HLA alleles to be rich in positively charged amino acids such. We conclude that the HLA plays an important role for UC susceptibility across different ethnicities. This research further implicates specific features of peptides that are predicted to bind risk and protective HLA proteins

A survey of canine tick-borne diseases in India

Background: There are few published reports on canine Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Hepatozoon and haemotropic Mycoplasma infections in India and most describe clinical disease in individual dogs, diagnosed by morphological observation of the microorganisms in stained blood smears. This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of canine tick-borne disease (TBD) pathogens using a combination of conventional and molecular diagnostic techniques in four cities in India. Results: On microscopy examination, only Hepatozoon gamonts were observed in twelve out of 525 (2.3%; 95% CI: 1.2, 4) blood smears. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a total of 261 from 525 dogs (49.7%; 95% CI: 45.4, 54.1) in this study were infected with one or more canine tick-borne pathogen. Hepatozoon canis (30%; 95% CI: 26.0, 34.0) was the most common TBD pathogen found infecting dogs in India followed by Ehrlichia canis (20.6%; 95% CI: 17.2, 24.3), Mycoplasma haemocanis (12.2%; 95% CI: 9.5, 15.3), Anaplasma platys (6.5%; 95% CI: 4.5, 8.9), Babesia vogeli (5.5%, 95% CI: 3.7, 7.8) and Babesia gibsoni (0.2%, 95% CI: 0.01, 1.06). Concurrent infection with more than one TBD pathogen occurred in 39% of cases. Potential tick vectors, Rhipicephalus (most commonly) and/or Haemaphysalis ticks were found on 278 (53%) of dogs examined. Conclusions: At least 6 species of canine tick-borne pathogens are present in India. Hepatozoon canis was the most common pathogen and ticks belonging to the genus Rhipicephalus were encountered most frequently. Polymerase chain reaction was more sensitive in detecting circulating pathogens compared with peripheral blood smear examination. As co-infections with canine TBD pathogens were common, Indian veterinary practitioners should be cognisant that the discovery of one such pathogen raises the potential for multiple infections which may warrant different clinical management strategies

Genome-wide association studies of autoimmune vitiligo identify 23 new risk loci and highlight key pathways and regulatory variants

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which depigmented skin results from the destruction of melanocytes1, with epidemiological association with other autoimmune diseases2. In previous linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWAS1 and GWAS2), we identified 27 vitiligo susceptibility loci in patients of European ancestry. We carried out a third GWAS (GWAS3) in European-ancestry subjects, with augmented GWAS1 and GWAS2 controls, genome-wide imputation, and meta-analysis of all three GWAS, followed by an independent replication. The combined analyses, with 4,680 cases and 39,586 controls, identified 23 new significantly associated loci and 7 suggestive loci. Most encode immune and apoptotic regulators, with some also associated with other autoimmune diseases, as well as several melanocyte regulators. Bioinformatic analyses indicate a predominance of causal regulatory variation, some of which corresponds to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) at these loci. Together, the identified genes provide a framework for the genetic architecture and pathobiology of vitiligo, highlight relationships with other autoimmune diseases and melanoma, and offer potential targets for treatment