Melatonin improves methanol intoxication-induced oxidative liver injury in rats

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of melatonin on methanol-induced liver injury. We evaluated the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonylation (PC), myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities and to assess lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, neutrophil accumulation and nitrite which is a stable end product of nitric oxide respectively. We also studied superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities of liver tissue to evaluate the changes in the antioxidant status. Histopathological alterations were also determined. The experiment was performed on Wistar rats, which received intragastric 3 g/kg methanol as a 50% solution in isotonic saline once. After 6 and 24 hr all the drug received and intoxicated rats were killed under anesthesia. Pretreatment with melatonin (10 mg/kg) decreased the MDA levels significantly, restored the PC levels to the control, prevented the increase of nitrite level and MPO activity significantly and reversed to the control levels, prevented the reduction in all of the antioxidant enzyme activities. Additionally in melatonin treated group piecemeal necrosis, lobular lytic necrosis, and portal inflammation returned to normal histologic appearances when compared with methanol administration. In conclusion, melatonin has protective effects against methanol-induced hepatic injury.     

Comparative Study of the Quantitative Resolution of Paracetamol and Methocarbamol Mixture by Spectrophotometry with Wavelet Transform and UPLC Techniques

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - The aim of this study was to develop a new simple and cost-effective spectrophotometric method to be used as an alternative to chromatography for the analysis of...     

Conscious and unconscious brain responses to food and cocaine cues

Brain Imaging and Behavior - Visual presentation of appetitive and negative cues triggers fast responses in the human brain. Here we assessed functional MRI (fMRI) responses to food, cocaine, and...     

Home visits in phenylketonuria: a 12-month longitudinal study

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary education given to the caregivers of children with phenylketonuria (PKU) in their home environment on children's blood phenylalanine (Phe) levels. Thirty-six children with PKU, aged 2-12 years, were recruited. Each caregiver was visited on three separate occasions and given a detailed dietary education. Fasting morning skin puncture blood samples were collected on Newborn Screening Blood Test filter paper for Phe analysis at baseline and 1, 4, 12, 24, and 48 weeks after the home visits. The mean baseline blood Phe level (365 +/- 232 micromol/L) significantly decreased with home visits at the 1st week (314 +/- 226 micromol/L) (p < 0.05). Four weeks after the home visits, the median blood Phe level was still lower than baseline, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The mean blood Phe levels significantly increased at the end of the 12th, 24th and 48th weeks (329 +/- 230 micromol/L; 447 +/- 189 micromol/L and 486 +/- 261 micromol/L, respectively) (p < 0.05). A well-controlled blood Phe level can be achieved with intense, regular and continuing education programs, which include regular home visits.     

Advanced glycation end products in diabetic and non-diabetic human subjects suffering from cataract

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play a pivotal role in loss of lens transparency, i.e., cataract. AGEs formation occurs as a result of sequential glycation and oxidation reaction between reducing sugars and protein. AGEs production takes place throughout the normal aging process but its accumulation is found to be more rapid in diabetic patients. In this study, we quantified AGEs and N-(carboxyethyl) lysine (CEL) in human cataractous lenses from non-diabetic (n = 50) and diabetic patients (n = 50) using ELISA. We observed significantly higher (p < 0.001) levels of lens AGEs and CEL in diabetic patients with cataract as compared with their respective controls. The presence of AGEs and CEL was also determined by western blotting and immuno-histochemical analysis. Furthermore, isolated β-crystallin from cataractous lenses of non-diabetic and diabetic patients was incubated with different sugars to evaluate the extent of glycation in a time dependent manner. Our data indicated more pronounced glycation in patients suffering from diabetes as compared to non-diabetics subjects demonstrating the need to focus on developing normoglycemic approaches. Such studies may provide an insight in developing therapeutic strategies and may have clinical implications.