Immunophenotyping does not improve predictivity of the local lymph node assay in mice

The local lymph node assay (LLNA) is a regulatory accepted test for the identification of skin sensitizing substances by measuring radioactive thymidine incorporation into the lymph node. However, there is evidence that LLNA is overestimating the sensitization potential of certain substance classes in particular those exerting skin irritation. Some reports describe the additional use of flow cytometry‐based immunophenotyping to better discriminate irritants from sensitizing irritants in LLNA. In the present study, the 22 performance standards plus 8 surfactants were assessed using the radioactive LLNA method. In addition, lymph node cells were immunophenotyped to evaluate the specificity of the lymph node response using cell surface markers such as B220 or CD19, CD3, CD4, CD8, I‐A^κ and CD69 with the aim to allow a better discrimination above all between irritants and sensitizers, but also non‐irritating sensitizers and non‐sensitizers. However, the markers assessed in this study do not sufficiently differentiate between irritants and irritant sensitizers and therefore did not improve the predictive capacity of the LLNA. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Childhood Asthma and Environmental Exposures at Swimming Pools: State of the Science and Research Recommendations

Objectives

Recent studies have explored the potential for swimming pool disinfection by-products (DBPs), which are respiratory irritants, to cause asthma in young children. Here we describe the state of the science on methods for understanding children’s exposure to DBPs and biologics at swimming pools and associations with new-onset childhood asthma and recommend a research agenda to improve our understanding of this issue.

Data sources

A workshop was held in Leuven, Belgium, 21–23 August 2007, to evaluate the literature and to develop a research agenda to better understand children’s exposures in the swimming pool environment and their potential associations with new-onset asthma. Participants, including clinicians, epidemiologists, exposure scientists, pool operations experts, and chemists, reviewed the literature, prepared background summaries, and held extensive discussions on the relevant published studies, knowledge of asthma characterization and exposures at swimming pools, and epidemiologic study designs.

Synthesis

Childhood swimming and new-onset childhood asthma have clear implications for public health. If attendance at indoor pools increases risk of childhood asthma, then concerns are warranted and action is necessary. If there is no such relationship, these concerns could unnecessarily deter children from indoor swimming and/or compromise water disinfection.

Conclusions

Current evidence of an association between childhood swimming and new-onset asthma is suggestive but not conclusive. Important data gaps need to be filled, particularly in exposure assessment and characterization of asthma in the very young. Participants recommended that additional evaluations using a multidisciplinary approach are needed to determine whether a clear association exists.     

Antipyretic and Anticonvulsant Activity of Polygonatum verticillatum: Comparison of Rhizomes and Aerial Parts

The current study was undertaken to explore the antipyretic and anticonvulsant profile of the Polygonatum verticillatum in established pharmacological paradigms. The crude methanol extract of rhizomes (PR) and aerial parts (PA) of the plant were tested in Brewer's‐yeast‐induced pyrexia and pentylenetetrazole‐induced convulsion test. PR and PA both evoked prominent antipyretic activity (p < 0.01) in a dose‐dependent manner during all assessment times at the dose of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally. The protection elicited by PR (82.20%) at 200 mg/kg was comparable with aspirin (88.48%) as a standard drug at 100 mg/kg. However, PA was less potent, and maximum protection was 64% at 200 mg/kg. Both PR and PA were devoid of any anticonvulsant activity. Our results demonstrated prominent evidence of antipyretic activity of P. verticillatum that is consistent with the folk uses of the plant. In addition from a biodiversity point of view, PA of the plant can also be used as an alternate of PR. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring the Impact of Nutrition Education and Physical Activity on Older Adults Participating in Government Sponsored Programs

A longitudinal, four-year study (2004–2007) with a cohort of 139 older adults (majority women;71%) was conducted to examine the impact of community-based nutrition and physical activity programs on health outcome measures. Demographic and anthropometric data were collected and nutrition screening was performed. Blood pressure, serum cholesterol and glucose levels, and pulse rate were also measured. The blood pressure, both mean systolic and diastolic, 141(± 19.0)/79.3 ± 9.7 (2004) vs. 127.8 ± 10.9/73.8 ± 10.2 mm Hg (2007), were improved (p < 0.05) in women. There were also improvements (p < 0.05 in both men and women) in pulse rate between 2004 and 2007. There is no doubt that nutrition education and exercise programs together enhanced the overall health and well being of these older adults. However, our findings emphasize the need for further systematic study and for appropriate biometric assessments to evaluate the full impact of nutrition education and physical activity interventions in older adults.     

Poverty of Opportunity Forcing Women Into Prostitution—A Qualitative Study in Pakistan

Our aim for this study was to explore the factors influencing women to initiate and continue as sex workers and to explore their perceptions about human immuno deficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and health seeking behavior. We conducted a qualitative study based on interviews with 20 purposively selected women selling sex. Content analysis of data resulted in identification of one main theme: “Poverty of opportunity forcing women into prostitution.” The identified driving forces behind women resorting to sell sex were poverty, materialism, and the desire to move up in society. They continued to sell sex due to poverty of opportunity and influencing social factors.     

Progress and prospects in the management of bacterial infections and developments in Phytotherapeutic modalities

The advent of antibiotics revolutionized medical care resulting in significantly reduced mortality and morbidity caused by infectious diseases. However, excessive use of antibiotics has led to the development of antibiotic resistance and indeed, the incidence of multidrug-resistant pathogens is considered as a major disadvantage in medication strategy, which has led the scholar's attention towards innovative antibiotic sources in recent years. Medicinal plants contain a variety of secondary metabolites with a wide range of therapeutic potential against the resistant microbes. Therefore, the aim of this review is to explore the antibacterial potential of traditional herbal medicine against bacterial infections. More than 200 published research articles reporting the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants against drug-resistant microbial infections were searched using different databases such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), etc., with various keywords like medicinal plants having antibacterial activities, antimicrobial potentials, phytotherapy of bacterial infection, etc. Articles were selected related to the efficacious herbs easily available to local populations addressing common pathogens. Various plants such as Artocarpus communis, Rheum emodi, Gentiana lutea L., Cassia fistula L., Rosemarinus officinalis, Argemone maxicana L, Hydrastis canadensis, Citrus aurantifolia, Cymbopogon citrates, Carica papaya, Euphorbia hirta, etc, were found to have significant antibacterial activities. Although herbal preparations have promising potential in the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infection, still more research is required to isolate phytoconstituents, their mechanism of action as well as to find their impacts on the human body.     

Changes in micronutrient concentrations following anti-inflammatory treatment in patients with gastrointestinal cancer

Circulating concentrations of vitamin antioxidants (retinol, alpha-tocopherol, lutein, lycopene, alpha- and beta-carotene) and trace elements (zinc, copper, iron and selenium) plus carrier proteins (albumin, transferrin, caeruloplasmin) in gastrointestinal cancer patients (n = 12) with an inflammatory response (as demonstrated by an elevated C-reactive protein concentration) were compared with a control group (n = 12). Further, the effect of moderating the inflammatory response, using the anti-inflammatory agent ibuprofen, on these measurements was examined in the cancer group. The control and cancer groups were similar in terms of age, sex, and body mass index. However, the cancer group had significantly higher C-reactive protein concentrations (P < 0.001). Concentrations of vitamin antioxidants and trace elements (and carrier proteins) were significantly lower (P < 0.001), except copper (ceruloplasmin) which was significantly higher (P < 0.05). After anti-inflammatory treatment, there were small but significant increases in lutein, lycopene, and beta-carotene (P < 0.05) and in iron and selenium (P < 0.05), whereas ceruloplasmin decreased (P < 0. 05). The micronutrient concentrations in the cancer patients remained different from those in the control subjects. These results support the concept that the magnitude of inflammation plays an important role in the regulation of circulating concentrations of vitamin antioxidants and trace elements in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.     

FT-IR study of the polysaccharides isolated from the skin juice, gel juice, and flower of Aloe vera tissues affected by fertilizer treatment

Background

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different amounts of fertilizers on the polysaccharides of Aloe vera plant. There were four different treatments, viz. T₁?=?150%?N, T₂?=?150% P, T₃?=?150%?K, and T₄?=?150% NPK (50%?N?+?50% P?+?50%?K) soil. Crude water-soluble polysaccharides were isolated from the gel juice, skin juice, and flowers of A. vera planted in these soils.

Results

Result indicates that skin juice contained 2.4 times the level of polysaccharides in gel juice from one plant, suggesting the potential industrial application of A. vera skin rather than discarding it. After anion-exchange chromatography, neutral polysaccharides accounted for 58.1% and 78.5% of the total recovered neutral and acidic polysaccharide preparations from the gel juice and skin juice, respectively, whereas the crude flower polysaccharides were largely composed of weakly acidic polysaccharides (84.2%). Sugar analysis of the polysaccharides after gel permeation chromatography revealed that glucose and galactose were the most abundant monosaccharide in the neutral polysaccharides from the gel juice and skin juice, respectively. The acidic polysaccharides from the two juices consisted of glucuronic acid, galactose, glucose, mannose, and xylose with variable proportions.

Conclusions

Except glucuronic acid (15.4%) in flower acidic polysaccharide, the flower neutral and acidic polysaccharides contained galactose, glucose, and mannose as the main sugar components. Glucuronic acid was the major uronic acid in all acidic polysaccharides from different tissues.     

A novel pharmacophore model to identify leads for simultaneous inhibition of anti-coagulation and anti-inflammatory activities of snake venom phospholipase A(2)

In addition to catalytic action, snake venom phospholipase A(2) induces several pharmacological effects including neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity as well as anti-coagulant and anti-platelet aggregation effects. Therefore, strategy to identify dual inhibitor for this enzyme will be of much importance in medical research. In this paper, structure-based pharmacophore mapping, molecular docking, protein-ligand interaction fingerprints, binding energy calculations, and binding affinity predictions were employed in a virtual screening strategy to identify new hits for dual inhibition of anti-coagulation and inflammation of phospholipase A(2) . A structure-based pharmacophore map was modeled which comprised of important interactions as observed in co-crystal of phospholipase A(2) and its dual inhibitor indomethacin. The generated model was used to retrieve molecules from ChemBridge, a free database of commercially available compounds. A total of 381 molecules mapped on the developed pharmacophore model from ChemBridge database. The hits retrieved were further screened by molecular docking, protein-ligand interaction fingerprints, binding energy calculations, and binding affinity predictions using Genetic Optimization for Ligand Docking and moe. Based on these results, 32 chemo-types molecules were predicted as potential lead scaffolds for developing novel, potent and structurally diverse dual inhibitor of phospholipase A(2.).