Journal of Applied Biomedicine, 2008 (vol. 6), issue 4
Original Research Article
Antioxidant efficacy of flavonoid-rich fraction from Spermacoce hispida in hyperlipidemic rats
Kuppusamy Kaviarasan, Panneerselvam Kalaiarasi, Viswanathan Pugalendi
J Appl Biomed 6:165-176, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.020 
Phytochemicals in fruits, vegetables, spices and traditional herbal medicinal plants have been found to play a protective role against many human chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. These diseases are associated with oxidative stress caused by excess of free radicals and other reactive oxygen species. Fractions rich in flavonoids obtained from S. hispida seeds were orally administered at three different doses of 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg BW to HFD fed rats. The antioxidant activity of a flavonoid-rich fraction was measured both in vitro and in vivo. The flavonoid-rich fraction effectively scavenged DPPH*...
The effect of tryptophan administration on the circadian rhythms of melatonin in plasma and the pineal gland of rats
Soledad Sánchez, Cristina Lucia Sánchez, Sergio Damian Paredes, Ana Beatriz Rodriguez, Carmen Barriga
J Appl Biomed 6:177-186, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.021
The most physiological processes that take place in the body have a circadian rhythm which is controlled by an internal biological clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The indole melatonin synthesized in the pineal gland, acts to synchronize these biological rhythms, and also it is synthesized and released following a circadian rhythm. The present study analyzed the levels of melatonin over a 24-hour period in Wistar rats in both basal and control conditions and after the oral administration of 125 mg/kg tryptophan, the amino acid that is the precursor of this indole, for 7 days. The levels of melatonin in the plasma and the pineal gland were...
Effect of chronic administration of quinine on the myocardium of mice
David Adesanya Ofusori, Sunday Joel Josiah, Abiodun Oladele Ayoka, Emmanuel Oluwole Omotoso, Samson Ayodeji Odukoya
J Appl Biomed 6:187-193, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.022
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of chronic administration of quinine on the myocardium of Swiss albino mice. 20 or 30 mg quinine/kg b.w. were administered for 30 consecutive days, while the control mice received equal amounts of normal saline. The mice were sacrificed 24 hours after the last administration. Some of the hearts were excised and processed for light microscopic study while some were assayed for malondialdehyde (MDA) and catalase activities. The histological findings indicated that the treated sections of the heart were at variance with the control. The myocardium in the control section presents well organized myofibrils...
Changes in selected parameters of the antioxidant system in radiation damage to the organism
Leo¹ Navrátil, Jaroslav Racek, Renata Havránková, Ladislav Beránek, Zuzana Freitinger Skalická, Hana Siffnerová, Eva Kantorová
J Appl Biomed 6:195-201, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.023
The target of the present work was a study of the oxidation-reduction system of the organism damaged with ionizing radiation. The parameters chosen for examination were: the superoxide dismutase activity in erythrocytes, the concentration of reduced glutathione in erythrocytes, the activity of glutathione peroxidase in the total blood, the concentration of malondialdehyde in the blood plasma, and the antioxidant capacity of blood plasma. These parameters were monitored in four groups (patients after radiotherapy, volunteers whose blood was submitted to in vitro irradiation, employees of a nuclear power plant, and a group of healthy persons)....
The effect of L-arginine on serum lipids and nitrite levels, and the number of apoptotic cells, iNOS and eNOS expressions of aorta after the formation of fatty streaks in rabbit
Mehdi Nematbakhsh, Shaghayegh Haghjooyjavanmard, Farzaneh Mahmoodi, Ali Reza Monajemi
J Appl Biomed 6:203-210, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.024
The L-arginine is the substrate of nitric oxide production which is involved in the regulation of apoptosis and inflammatory processes. The effect of L-arginine after fatty streaks formation has not been fully understood in hypercholesterolemic model; therefore the main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of L-arginine after fatty streaks were developed in rabbit's aorta. Eighteen male rabbits were fed 1% cholesterol diet for four weeks. One third of the animals were sacrificed randomly to verify fatty streaks formation in the aorta (phase I). Then the high cholesterol diet was replaced with normal diet, and the remaining animals...
Role of intracellular calcium on hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in rat pancreatic acinar AR42J cells
Sara Morgado, María P. Granados, Ignacio Bejarano, José J. López, Ginés M. Salido, Antonio González, José A. Pariente
J Appl Biomed 6:211-224, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.025
The authors investigated whether cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]c) plays a role in hydrogen peroxide-induced pancreatic acinar AR42J cells apoptosis. We analysed mitochondrial depolarization, [Ca2+]c determination and caspase-3 activity by fluorimetric methods, and cytochrome c release by subcellular fractionation and western blotting. The data shown that hydrogen peroxide, which causes a sustained [Ca2+]c increase, induces mitochondrial depolarization and cytochrome c release, and activation of caspase-3. Dimethyl-BAPTA loading did not affect hydrogen peroxide-evoked mitochondrial apoptosis, suggesting...