Flavonoids and aromatic compounds from the rhizomes of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zingiber zerumbet</Emphasis>

Repeated column chromatography of the CHCl3-soluble fraction of Zingiber zerumbet led to the isolation and identification of two aromatic compounds, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1) and vanillin (2), and six kaempferol derivatives, kaempferol-3,4',7-O-trimethylether (3), kaempferol-3-O-methylether (4), kaempferol-3,4'-O-dimethylether (5), 4'-O-acetylafzelin (6), kaempferol-3-O-(4-O-acetyl-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside)], 2',4'-O-diacetylafzelin (7), kaempferol-3-O-(2,4-O-diacetyl-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside)], and 3',4'-O-diacetylafzelin (8), kaempferol-3-O-(3,4-O-diacetyl-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside)]. The structures of 1-8 were identified by analysis of spectroscopic data as well as by comparison with published values. This is the first report on the isolation of compounds 1-3 from this plant.     

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of antioxidants in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by the degeneration and progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. It has been suggested that oxidative stress plays a role in the etiology and progression of PD. For instance, low levels of endogenous antioxidants, increased reactive species, augmented dopamine oxidation, and high iron levels have been found in brains from PD patients. In vitro and in vivo studies of Parkinson models evaluating natural and endogenous antioxidants such as polyphenols, coenzyme Q10, and vitamins A, C, and E have shown protective effects against oxidative-induced neuronal death. In this paper, we will review the mechanisms by which polyphenols and endogenous antioxidants can produce protection. Some of the mechanisms reviewed include: scavenging nitrogen and oxygen reactive species, regulation of signaling pathways associated with cell survival and inflammation, and inhibition of synphilin-1 and alpha-synuclein aggregation.     

Real-time evaluation of nitric oxide (NO) levels in cortical and hippocampal areas with a nanopore-based electrochemical NO sensor

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important biomolecule for regulating various brain functions, such as the control of neurovascular tone. NO, however, cannot be stored inside cells where NO is produced and immediately diffuses through the cellular membrane and decays rapidly, which makes the detection of NO extremely hard in an in vivo setting. We constructed an amperometric NO nanosensor and utilized it to directly measure NO release in the living brain. The NO nanosensor uses nanopores (pores with an opening radii <500 nm) in which NO is oxidized at the porous platinum surface. The nanopore-based sensor was inserted vertically into the brains of anesthetized mice up to the end of the hippocampal CA 3 region, or to a depth of about 3 mm. The sensor was slowly advanced in the brain in 0.5 μm increments and in 0.05 s temporal steps. Different levels of NO release were monitored by the nanopore NO sensor during the course of the penetration. The hippocampal CA3 region had the highest level of NO release, which was followed by CA2 and CA1 of the hippocampus and the cortex. The levels of NO release were not uniformly distributed within the cortical and hippocampal areas of living brain. In sum, the nanopore-based NO sensor was able to grossly measure NO contents within living brain in real time and with high sensitivity. This study may provide good insights about the relationship between the distributions of NOS-immunoreactive neurons and the directly measured levels of NO release in brain.     

The effect of safflower seed extract on periodontal healing of 1-wall intrabony defects in beagle dogs

BACKGROUND: Recent interest in naturally based products has increased. Various herbal extracts are known to have a variety of medicinal properties. Among the various natural medicines, safflower seeds have beneficial effects on various bone diseases such as bone fracture, osteoporosis, and osteodysplasia. In addition, they are known to have anti-inflammatory effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a safflower seed extract (SSE) on the regeneration of periodontal tissue in a preclinical 1-wall model in dogs. METHODS: Preclinical 1-wall periodontal defects were surgically created in the mesial aspect of the maxillary third and mandibular fourth premolar and in the distal aspect of the maxillary first and mandibular second premolar, and were randomly assigned to receive SSE/collagen (SSE/Col), phosphate-buffered saline/collagen (buffer control), or root planing only (surgical control). The created 1-wall defect configuration was 4 mm in depth by 4 mm in width. We selected the segment showing the best activity to the osteoblast cells that was sensitive to the formation of calcified nodules among the SSE fractions extracted from various organic solvents. The animals were euthanized at 8 weeks postsurgery, and block sections of the defects were collected for histologic and histometric analysis. RESULTS: The junctional epithelium migration did not show any statistically significant differences among the treatments. In connective tissue adhesion, the SSE/Col group and the buffer control group showed significant differences compared to the surgical control group. New cementum averaged 3.84 +/- 0.57 mm, 3.75 +/- 0.24 mm, and 1.53 +/- 1.22 mm for the SSE/Col group, the buffer control group, and the surgical control group, respectively, with the SSE/Col and buffer control groups significantly different from the surgical control group (P < 0.05). The amount of intrabony cementum in the SSE/Col group was significantly different (P < 0.01) from the surgical control group, but the amount of suprabony cementum did not demonstrate any statistical difference between the different treatments. The amount of new alveolar bone averaged 2.93 +/- 0.70 mm, 2.10 +/- 0.63 mm, and 1.20 +/- 0.65 mm for the SSE/Col group, the buffer control group, and the surgical control group, respectively. The difference in alveolar bone regeneration between the SSE/Col group and the surgical control group was significantly different (P < 0.01). Root resorption was often observed, but no ankylosis was present. CONCLUSION: Wound conditioning with safflower seed extracts may contribute to bone formation but appears to have unpredictable potential for stimulating periodontal regeneration including new cementum.     

Lesions Confined to the Sphenoid Ridge: Differential Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment

Tumors confined to the sphenoid ridge with little or no extradiploic extension are very rare; we describe here five patients with these lesions. Three were females and two males, with an average age of 33.4 years; the clinical presentation included proptosis and facial deformity. The diagnoses were three meningiomas (one “en plaque,” one globous, and one intraosseous) and two fibrous dysplasias (compact form). Although the radiological findings were similar, we could find some details to establish the differential diagnosis before the surgical procedure. All the lesions were totally removed without complications. In a follow-up period of 15 to 36 months none of the lesions has shown clinical or radiological evidence of recurrence. We discuss the pathophysiology of each case, and propose the pterional orbito-zygomatic approach as the best way to resect lesions in this location.     

An improved iteration method for the calculation of surface tension using the significant structure theory of liquids

A specific antibody against proinsulin has been obtained by adsorbing the original anti-proinsulin guinea pig serum with a solid immunosorbent of Sephadex-insulin. The specificity of the antibody against antigenic determinants of proinsulin was established by radioimmunoassay and by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) tests. The presence of proinsulin in calf serum has been demonstrated by (a) gel filtration of an acid alcohol extract of the serum followed by immunoassays of the fractions using anti-insulin or the specific anti-proinsulin serum, and (b) direct assay of calf serum with the specific anti-proinsulin serum.     

Antibody and lectin target podoplanin to inhibit oral squamous carcinoma cell migration and viability by distinct mechanisms

Podoplanin (PDPN) is a unique transmembrane receptor that promotes tumor cell motility. Indeed, PDPN may serve as a chemotherapeutic target for primary and metastatic cancer cells, particularly oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells that cause most oral cancers. Here, we studied how a monoclonal antibody (NZ-1) and lectin (MASL) that target PDPN affect human OSCC cell motility and viability. Both reagents inhibited the migration of PDPN expressing OSCC cells at nanomolar concentrations before inhibiting cell viability at micromolar concentrations. In addition, both reagents induced mitochondrial membrane permeability transition to kill OSCC cells that express PDPN by caspase independent nonapoptotic necrosis. Furthermore, MASL displayed a surprisingly robust ability to target PDPN on OSCC cells within minutes of exposure, and significantly inhibited human OSCC dissemination in zebrafish embryos. Moreover, we report that human OSCC cells formed tumors that expressed PDPN in mice, and induced PDPN expression in infiltrating host murine cancer associated fibroblasts. Taken together, these data suggest that antibodies and lectins may be utilized to combat OSCC and other cancers that express PDPN.     

Determination of TTT Diagrams of Ni-Al Binary Using Neural Networks

The heat treatment of a metal is a set of heating and cooling cycles that a metal undergoes to change its microstructure and, therefore, its properties. Temperature–time–transformation (TTT) diagrams are an essential tool for interpreting the resulting microstructures after heat treatments. The present work describes a novel proposal to predict TTT diagrams of the γ′ phase for the Ni-Al alloy using artificial neural networks (ANNs). The proposed methodology is composed of five stages: (1) database creation, (2) experimental design, (3) ANNs training, (4) ANNs validation, and (5) proposed models analysis. Two approaches were addressed, the first to predict only the nose point of the TTT diagrams and the second to predict the complete curve. Finally, the best models for each approach were merged to compose a more accurate hybrid model. The results show that the multilayer perceptron architecture is the most efficient and accurate compared to the simulated TTT diagrams. The prediction of the nose point and the complete curve showed an accuracy of 98.07% and 86.41%, respectively. The proposed final hybrid model achieves an accuracy of 96.59%.