scholarly journals Earthworm coelomocytes as a soil health assessment tool

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
F.V. Correia ◽  
S.F. Sales Junior ◽  
J.C. Moreira
Keyword(s):  
Cell Density ◽  
Food Restriction ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Chemical Substance ◽  
Chemical Toxicity ◽  
Contaminant Exposure ◽  
Dependent Effect ◽  
Granular Amoebocytes

Different pollutants can disrupt earthworm coelomocytes integrity and functions, and their responses can be applied as biomarkers of sublethal contaminant exposure. In this context, the aim of this study was to develop an in vitro protocol for coelomocyte extraction, maintenance and analysis with regard to soil health status and chemical toxicity profile assessments. The extrusion technique was first tested comparing previously depurated (purged stomach content) and non-depurated and resampled earthworms. After testing, earthworms were exposed to different 2,4D and chloroacetamide concentrations for methodology validation. The values of viability were not affected by food restriction since no statistical difference was observed between non-depurated (sample A) and depurated (sample B) organisms. Regarding to cell density, a significant (p<0;05) reduction of 22% was observed between non-depurated and depurated organisms, indicating that food restriction may affect cell density. However, the non-depurated resampling did not show a significant reduction, indicating that this assessment may not be affect by resampling of the same organism. For both chemical compounds, no change in cell viability was observed at all assessed concentrations and exposure times. However, for cell density, a mainly time-dependent effect was observed for organisms exposed to chloroacetamide, and concentration-dependent effect for organisms exposed to 2,4D. The proportion of immune system cells was altered, mainly after 24 h, with the increasing of granular amoebocytes proportion. The difference in the proportion of granular amoebocytes in earthworms exposed to 2,4D can be explained by the existence of recognition and elimination mechanisms for this chemical substance. Thus, assessments of pollutant responses with in vitro coelomocytes seem to be a powerful tool for ecotoxicological studies.

Investigating Non-Therapeutic Pharmaceutical Substances for Improving In-Vitro Efficacy of Clindamycin Phosphate Against MRSA and Staphylococcus Epidermidis

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Mohd Aftab Alam ◽  
Fahad I. Al-Jenoobi ◽  
Khaled A. Alzahrani ◽  
Mohammad H. Al-Agamy ◽  
Abdullah M. Al-Mohizea
Keyword(s):  
Fusidic Acid ◽  
Staphylococcus Epidermidis ◽  
Sorbic Acid ◽  
Tween 80 ◽  
Lauryl Sulfate ◽  
Individual Substance ◽  
Dependent Effect ◽  
Pharmaceutical Excipients ◽  
Active Substances

The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of pharmaceutical excipients and other active substances on antimicrobial efficacy of standard antibiotic against resistant and susceptible microorganisms. Pharmaceutical excipients (sodium lauryl sulfate [SLS], Tween-80, citric acid, NaOH, NaCl) and active substances (fusidic acid, sorbic acid) were investigated to check in-vitro efficacy and their effect on the efficacy of standard antibiotic. Clindamycin was selected as standard antibiotic. Clindamycin was found to be ineffective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Fusidic acid and SLS showed concentration dependent effect against MRSA. Other tested substances were also ineffective against MRSA, and also failed to improve the susceptibility of MRSA towards clindamycin. The clindamycin + fusidic acid (0.05 µg, 0.1 µg), and clindamycin + SLS (0.5 mg, 1 mg) showed concentration dependent effect on Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). Clindamycin combinations with fusidic acid or SLS showed better inhibition of S. epidermidis, than individual substance. At lower concentration of clindamycin (2 µg), the sorbic acid (25 µg) improves its effectiveness. SLS (0.5 mg, 1 mg) and clindamycin (4 µg, 10 µg) showed almost equal zone of inhibition against S. epidermidis, respectively. Present findings showed that certain pharmaceutical excipients (e.g. SLS) are effective against resistant and susceptible microbes, and suggested that more excipients should be screened for their antimicrobial potential and their ability to improve the efficacy of standard antibiotics.

scholarly journals The effect of dietary phytochemicals on nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activation: a systematic review of human intervention trials

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Clifford ◽  
Jarred P. Acton ◽  
Stuart P. Cocksedge ◽  
Kelly A. Bowden Davies ◽  
Stephen J. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Cochrane Collaboration ◽  
Risk Of Bias ◽  
Related Factor ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Nrf2 Activation ◽  
Dietary Phytochemicals ◽  
Intervention Trials

AbstractWe conducted a systematic review of human trials examining the effects of dietary phytochemicals on Nrf2 activation. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, Medline, Embase and CAB abstracts were searched for articles from inception until March 2020. Studies in adult humans that measured Nrf2 activation (gene or protein expression changes) following ingestion of a phytochemical, either alone or in combination were included. The study was pre-registered on the Prospero database (Registration Number: CRD42020176121). Twenty-nine full-texts were retrieved and reviewed for analysis; of these, eighteen were included in the systematic review. Most of the included participants were healthy, obese or type 2 diabetics. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Assessment tool. Twelve different compounds were examined in the included studies: curcumin, resveratrol and sulforaphane were the most common (n = 3 each). Approximately half of the studies reported increases in Nrf2 activation (n = 10); however, many were of poor quality and had an unclear or high risk of bias. There is currently limited evidence that phytochemicals activate Nrf2 in humans. Well controlled human intervention trials are needed to corroborate the findings from in vitro and animal studies.

scholarly journals Methodology for comprehensive cell-level analysis of wound healing experiments using deep learning in MATLAB

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Oldenburg ◽  
Lisa Maletzki ◽  
Anne Strohbach ◽  
Paul Bellé ◽  
Stefan Siewert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wound Healing ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Cell Density ◽  
Relative Error ◽  
Medical Image Analysis ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Cell Velocity ◽  
Population Scale ◽  
Conventional Methods

Abstract Background Endothelial healing after deployment of cardiovascular devices is particularly important in the context of clinical outcome. It is therefore of great interest to develop tools for a precise prediction of endothelial growth after injury in the process of implant deployment. For experimental investigation of re-endothelialization in vitro cell migration assays are routinely used. However, semi-automatic analyses of live cell images are often based on gray value distributions and are as such limited by image quality and user dependence. The rise of deep learning algorithms offers promising opportunities for application in medical image analysis. Here, we present an intelligent cell detection (iCD) approach for comprehensive assay analysis to obtain essential characteristics on cell and population scale. Results In an in vitro wound healing assay, we compared conventional analysis methods with our iCD approach. Therefore we determined cell density and cell velocity on cell scale and the movement of the cell layer as well as the gap closure between two cell monolayers on population scale. Our data demonstrate that cell density analysis based on deep learning algorithms is superior to an adaptive threshold method regarding robustness against image distortion. In addition, results on cell scale obtained with iCD are in agreement with manually velocity detection, while conventional methods, such as Cell Image Velocimetry (CIV), underestimate cell velocity by a factor of 0.5. Further, we found that iCD analysis of the monolayer movement gave results just as well as manual freehand detection, while conventional methods again shows more frayed leading edge detection compared to manual detection. Analysis of monolayer edge protrusion by ICD also produced results, which are close to manual estimation with an relative error of 11.7%. In comparison, the conventional Canny method gave a relative error of 76.4%. Conclusion The results of our experiments indicate that deep learning algorithms such as our iCD have the ability to outperform conventional methods in the field of wound healing analysis. The combined analysis on cell and population scale using iCD is very well suited for timesaving and high quality wound healing analysis enabling the research community to gain detailed understanding of endothelial movement.

FGF3 from the Hypothalamus Regulates the Guidance of Thalamocortical Axons

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 208-216
Author(s):  
Kuan Liu ◽  
Zhongsheng Lv ◽  
Hong Huang ◽  
Shuyang Yu ◽  
Li Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Axonal Pathfinding ◽  
Fibroblast Growth ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Dependent Effect ◽  
Development Stages ◽  
Guidance Cues ◽  
Thalamocortical Axons ◽  
Ventral Diencephalon

Thalamus is an important sensory relay station: afferent sensory information, except olfactory signals, is transmitted by thalamocortical axons (TCAs) to the cerebral cortex. The pathway choice of TCAs depends on diverse diffusible or substrate-bound guidance cues in the environment. Not only classical guidance cues (ephrins, slits, semaphorins, and netrins), morphogens, which exerts patterning effects during early embryonic development, can also help axons navigate to their targets at later development stages. Here, expression analyses reveal that morphogen Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-3 is expressed in the chick ventral diencephalon, hypothalamus, during the pathfinding of TCAs. Then, using in vitro analyses in chick explants, we identify a concentration-dependent effect of FGF3 on thalamic axons: attractant 100 ng/mL FGF3 transforms to a repellent at high concentration 500 ng/mL. Moreover, inhibition of FGF3 guidance functions indicates that FGF3 signaling is necessary for the correct navigation of thalamic axons. Together, these studies demonstrate a direct effect for the member of FGF7 subfamily, FGF3, in the axonal pathfinding of TCAs.

Evidence-based management of epistaxis in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia

2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (5) ◽  
pp. 410-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Syed ◽  
V S Sunkaraneni
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Treatment Algorithm ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia ◽  
Questionnaire Studies ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Specific Management

AbstractBackground:There are currently no guidelines in the UK for the specific management of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia related epistaxis. The authors aimed to review the literature and provide an algorithm for the management of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia related epistaxis.Method:The Medline and Embase databases were interrogated on 15 November 2013 using the search items ‘hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia’ (title), ‘epistaxis’ (title) and ‘treatment’ (title and abstract), and limiting the search to articles published in English.Results:A total of 46 publications were identified, comprising 1 systematic review, 2 randomised, controlled trials, 27 case series, 9 case reports, 4 questionnaire studies and 3in vitrostudies.Conclusion:There is a lack of high-level evidence for the use of many of the available treatments for the specific management of epistaxis in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia. Current management should be based on a multidisciplinary team approach involving both a hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia physician and an ENT surgeon, especially when systemic therapy is being considered. The suggested treatment algorithm considers that the severity of epistaxis merits intervention at different levels of the treatment ladder. The patient should be assessed using a reproducible validated assessment tool, for example an epistaxis severity score, to guide treatment. More research is required, particularly in the investigation of topical agents targeting the development and fragility of telangiectasiae in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

scholarly journals A novel human donor cornea preservation cocktail incorporating a thermo-reversible gelation polymer (TGP), enhancing the corneal endothelial cell density maintenance and explant culture of corneal limbal cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhuvaneshwari Namitha ◽  
Munusamy Rajendran Chitra ◽  
Mathevan Bhavya ◽  
Periasamy Parikumar ◽  
Shojiro Katoh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cell ◽  
Cell Density ◽  
Corneal Thickness ◽  
Explant Culture ◽  
Endothelial Cell Density ◽  
P Value ◽  
Specular Microscopy ◽  
Human Donor ◽  
Corneal Preservation

Abstract Purpose McCarey-Kaufman’s (MK) medium and Optisol-GS medium are the most commonly employed media for human donor corneal preservation. In this study, we evaluated the preservation efficacy of discarded human donor corneas using a Thermo-reversible gelation polymer (TGP) added to these two media. Methods Thirteen human corneal buttons collected from deceased donors, which were otherwise discarded due to low endothelial cell density (ECD) were used. They were stored in four groups: MK medium, MK medium with TGP, Optisol-GS and Optisol-GS with TGP at 4 °C for 96 h. Slit lamp examination and specular microscopy were performed. Corneal limbal tissues from these corneas were then cultured using explant methodology one with and the other without TGP scaffold, for 21 days. Results MK + TGP and Optisol-GS + TGP preserved corneas better than without TGP, which was observed by maintenance of ECD which was significantly higher in Optisol-GS + TGP than MK + TGP (p-value = 0.000478) and corneal thickness remaining the same for 96 h. Viable corneal epithelial cells could be grown from the corneas stored only in MK + TGP and Optisol-GS + TGP. During culture, the TGP scaffold helped maintain the native epithelial phenotype and progenitor/stem cell growth was confirmed by RT-PCR characterization. Conclusion TGP reconstituted with MK and Optisol—GS media yields better preservation of human corneal buttons in terms of relatively higher ECD maintenance and better in vitro culture outcome of corneal limbal tissue. This method has the potential to become a standard donor corneal transportation-preservation methodology and it can also be extended to other tissue or organ transportation upon further validation.

scholarly journals In vitro genotoxicity evaluation and metabolic study of residual glutaraldehyde in animal-derived biomaterials

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 619-625
Author(s):  
Jianfeng Shi ◽  
Huan Lian ◽  
Yuanli Huang ◽  
Danmei Zhao ◽  
Han Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Activation ◽  
Chemical Toxicity ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Mouse Lymphoma Assay ◽  
Metabolic Mechanism ◽  
Mutagenic Effects ◽  
Mouse Lymphoma ◽  
General Balance ◽  
In Vitro Genotoxicity

Abstract Glutaraldehyde (GA) is an important additive that is mainly used in animal-derived biomaterials to improve their mechanical and antimicrobial capacities. However, GA chemical toxicity and the metabolic mechanism remain relatively unknown. Therefore, residual GA has always been a major health risk consideration for animal-derived medical devices. In this study, extracts of three bio-patches were tested via the GA determination test and mouse lymphoma assay (MLA). The results showed that dissolved GA was a potential mutagen, which could induce significant cytotoxic and mutagenic effects in mouse lymphoma cells. These toxic reactions were relieved by the S9 metabolic activation (MA) system. Furthermore, we confirmed that GA concentration decreased and glutaric acid was generated during the catalytic process. We revealed GA could be oxidized via cytochrome P450 which was the main metabolic factor of S9. We found that even though GA was possibly responsible for positive reactions of animal-derived biomaterials’ biocompatibility evaluation, it may not represent the real situation occurring in human bodies, owing to the presence of various detoxification mechanisms including the S9 system. Overall, in order to achieve a general balance between risk management and practical application, rational decisions based on comprehensive analyses must be considered.

scholarly journals HiPSC-Derived Hepatocyte-like Cells Can Be Used as a Model for Transcriptomics-Based Study of Chemical Toxicity

Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sreya Ghosh ◽  
Jonathan De Smedt ◽  
Tine Tricot ◽  
Susana Proença ◽  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Chemical Toxicity ◽  
Hepatocellular Injury ◽  
Unfolded Protein ◽  
Toxicity Studies ◽  
Toxicity Risk ◽  
Transcriptomics Data ◽  
Induced Pluripotent ◽  
Protein Response

Traditional toxicity risk assessment approaches have until recently focussed mainly on histochemical readouts for cell death. Modern toxicology methods attempt to deduce a mechanistic understanding of pathways involved in the development of toxicity, by using transcriptomics and other big data-driven methods such as high-content screening. Here, we used a recently described optimised method to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs), to assess their potential to classify hepatotoxic and non-hepatotoxic chemicals and their use in mechanistic toxicity studies. The iPSC-HLCs could accurately classify chemicals causing acute hepatocellular injury, and the transcriptomics data on treated HLCs obtained by TempO-Seq technology linked the cytotoxicity to cellular stress pathways, including oxidative stress and unfolded protein response (UPR). Induction of these stress pathways in response to amiodarone, diclofenac, and ibuprofen, was demonstrated to be concentration and time dependent. The transcriptomics data on diclofenac-treated HLCs were found to be more sensitive in detecting differentially expressed genes in response to treatment, as compared to existing datasets of other diclofenac-treated in vitro hepatocyte models. Hence iPSC-HLCs generated by transcription factor overexpression and in metabolically optimised medium appear suitable for chemical toxicity detection as well as mechanistic toxicity studies.

scholarly journals Evaluation of spermicidal activity of saponosides from Saponaria officinalis / Caryophyllaceae, Glycyrrhizia glabra / Fabaceae and Herniaria glabra / Caryophyllaceae

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Réda Sefrioui ◽  
Ibrahim Sbai El Othmani ◽  
Halima Filali ◽  
Sanae Derfoufi ◽  
Soufiane Derraji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Dependent Effect ◽  
Time Dependent Effect ◽  
Sperm Mobility ◽  
In Vitro Effects ◽  
Saponaria Officinalis

Background and objective. Chemical spermicides currently marketed and widely used are known to have many side effects. Thereby, and in order to look for more tolerated natural spermicidal agents, the aim of this work was to evaluate the spermicidal potential of saponin extracts from the roots of Saponaria officinalis / Caryophyllaceae, Glycyrrhizia glabra / Fabaceae, and Herniaria glabra / Caryophyllaceae by studying their in vitro effects on sperm mobility and vitality. Methods. Methanolic saponin extracts from the plants roots were performed. Sperm suspensions were prepared by centrifugation on a PureSperm® density gradient (70 and 45%) and incubated with various concentrations of saponin extracts (50, 250, 500 and 750 mg/mL) at 37°C. The spermicidal activity was evaluated by studying the mobility and vitality of spermatozoa at different time intervals ranging from 10 to 240 minutes. Results. A dose and time dependent effect on sperm mobility and vitality was observed for our extracts. Extracts from Saponaria officinalis roots induced an irreversible immobilization and a total non-viability of sperm within 10 minutes at a concentration of 750 mg/mL. A similar effect was observed within 30 minutes at 750 mg/mL for Herniaria glabra extract and within 90 minutes at 500 mg/ml for Glycyrrhizia glabra extract. Conclusion. The results of our study showed that the saponin extracts of our plants roots possess potent in vitro dose and time dependant spermicidal effect. These natural products could therefore represent a safer and better tolerated alternative to chemical spermicides.

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