Toxicological hazard induced by sucralose to environmentally relevant concentrations in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Esta investigación se realizó con la intención de identificar el daño ecotoxicológico que producen en la biota acuática algunos productos edulcorantes aparentemente inocuos al ambiente. En este estudio se identificó el potencial inducido de estrés oxidativo sobre la Cyprinus carpio, una especie de interés comercial. Las carpas fueron expuestas a dos diferentes concentraciones de importancia ambiental. Los resultados mostraron un incremento en los biomarcadores de daño oxidativo especialmente en la actividad de enzimas antioxidantes en las branquias y músculo, evidenciando el impacto ambiental de estos agentes sobre especies acuáticas.Sucralose (SUC) is an artificial sweetener that is now widely used in North American and Europe; it has been detected in a wide variety of aquatic environments. It is considered safe for human consumption but its effects in the ecosystem have not yet been studied in depth, since limited ecotoxicological data are available in the peer-reviewed literature. This study aimed to evaluate potential SUC-induced toxicological hazard in the blood, brain, gill, liver and muscle of Cyprinus carpio using oxidative stress biomarkers. Carps were exposed to two different environmentally relevant concentrations (0.05 and 155μgL-1) for different exposure times (12, 24, 48, 72 and 96h). The following biomarkers were evaluated: lipid peroxidation (LPX), hydroperoxide content (HPC) and protein carbonyl content (PCC), as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). SUC was determined by high pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry techniques (HPLC)-MS/MS. Results show a statically significant increase in LPX, HPC, PCC (P<0.05) especially in gill, brain and muscle, as well as significant changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes in gill and muscle. Furthermore, the biomarkers employed in this study are useful in the assessment of the environmental impact of this agent on aquatic species

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Peptides Derived from Food Proteins

Artículo científicoRecently, the demand for food proteins in the market has increased due to a rise in degen‐ erative illnesses that are associated with the excessive production of free radicals and the unwanted side effects of various drugs, for which researchers have suggested diets rich in bioactive com‐ pounds. Some of the functional compounds present in foods are antioxidant and antimicrobial pep‐ tides, which are used to produce foods that promote health and to reduce the consumption of anti‐ biotics. These peptides have been obtained from various sources of proteins, such as foods and agri‐ food by‐products, via enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. Peptides with antioxidant properties exert effective metal ion (Fe2+/Cu2+) chelating activity and lipid peroxidation inhibition, which may lead to notably beneficial effects in promoting human health and food processing. An‐ timicrobial peptides are small oligo‐peptides generally containing from 10 to 100 amino acids, with a net positive charge and an amphipathic structure; they are the most important components of the antibacterial defense of organisms at almost all levels of life—bacteria, fungi, plants, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals—and have been suggested as natural compounds that neutralize the toxicity of reactive oxygen species generated by antibiotics and the stress generated by various ex‐ ogenous sources. This review discusses what antioxidant and antimicrobial peptides are, their source, production, some bioinformatics tools used for their obtainment, emerging technologies, and health benefits.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

Actividad inhibitoria sobre a-glucosidasa y a-amilasa de extractos acuosos de algunas especias utilizados en la cocina mexicana

La diabetes es una de las principales causasde morbilidad y mortalidad en el mundo.Muchos estudios están dirigidos haciala búsqueda de componentes dietariosque sean benéficos para su tratamiento yprevención. El objetivo del presente estudiofue examinar el efecto antioxidante einhibitorio de a-glucosidasa y a-amilasa deextractos acuosos de canela(Cinnamomumzeylanicum),comino(Cuminum cyminum),orégano(Origanum vulgare),pimienta negra(Pipar nigrum)yclavo(Eugenia caryophyllus),que son especias utilizadas comúnmente enla cocina mexicana. Se prepararon extractosacuosos (50 °C durante 3 h) y se determinóel contenido de compuestos fenólicos totales,actividad antioxidante y potencial inhibitorioin vitro de a-glucosidasa y a-amilasa. Elcontenido de compuestos fenólicos totalesvarió de 3.12 a 104.4 mg/g de muestra. Todos losextractos mostraron actividad antioxidanteque fue expresada como porcentaje deinhibición del radical DPPH- (30 % a 80 %)y capacidad inhibitoria de a-glucosidasa de22 % a 70 %. La inhibición de la actividada-amilasa se encontró de O % a 50 %. Losextractos acuosos de canela presentaronmayor capacidad inhibitoria contra la acciónde la a-glucosidasa y actividad contra el radicalDPPH-, los extractos acuosos de oréganomostraron menor inhibición de la actividad a-glucosidasa y no presentaron inhibicióncontra la actividad a-amilasa. La efectividadinhibitoria de las enzimas y el contenido decompuestos fenólicos totales no presentócorrelación. Sin embargo, se encontró unacorrelación entre la actividad antioxidantey el contenido de compuestos fenólicostotales (r2= 0.94, P < 0.05). La inhibiciónde a-glucosidasa y a-amilasa es una delas formas terapéuticas para retardar ladigestión y absorción de los carbohidratosy en consecuencia, la reducción de glucosapostprandial en sangre. El uso de especiasculinarias consumidas en los platillosmexicanos podría representar un usopotencial durante los estados tempranos dehiperglicemia

Photodegradation of pharmaceutical drugs using Sn-modified TiO2 powders under visible ligth irradiation

Sn-modified TiO2 powders with different amounts of tin (0, 2.4, 5.1 and 7.2 at.%) were obtained by the surfactant-assisted technique using Pluronic P123 as template. The synthesis procedure favors the formation of a mixture anatase/rutile at annealing temperatures as low as 350 C. The incorporation and further increase of the tin content promotes the transformation of anatase to rutile phase allowing to vary the anatase to rutile ratio in a controlled way, reaching the rutile phase the 96% of the mixture at a Sn content of 7.2 at.%. The synthesized materials were tested in the photocatalytic degradation of the NSAIDs, diclofenac, ibuprofen and paracetamol present in real wastewaters to evaluate their catalytic performance under visible light. The obtained results seem to indicate a certain kind of selectivity or affinity for degradation of each specific drug with a catalyst.The authors thank UAEM for the financial support through the project 3458 CHT. Thanks also to the staff of the SIEA-UAEM for their help and technical support. This work was partially supported by CONACYT, under the project CB-168827

Farmacología de la nicotina y sus efectos en el sistema nervioso central.

capitulo del libroLos niveles más altos de nicotina en sangre se alcanzan al terminar de fumar un cigarrillo y declinan rápidamente en los siguientes 20 minutos por la amplia distribución en los tejidos corporales. El volumen de distri- bución en humanos es 2.6 veces el peso corporal (Rose et al., 1999). La nicotina es metabolizada por el hígado y se han identificado al menos seis metabolitos primarios, siendo cuantitativamente el más importante la cotinina. Otros metabolitos primarios son la nicotina-N-óxido y el glu- curónido de nicotina. Los metabolitos de cotinina son los siguientes: glu- curónido de cotinina, trans-3-hidroxicotinina y glucurónido trans-3-hi- droxicotininaconacy