Effects of Azadirachta indica seed kernel extracts on early erythrocytic schizogony of Plasmodium berghei and pro-inflammatory response in inbred mice.

Background: Medicinal plant research may contribute to develop new pharmacological control tools for vector borne diseases, such as malaria.

Methods: The effects of methanol extracts (ME) obtained from seed kernel of ripe and unripe Azadirachta indica fruits were studied on erythrocytic proliferation of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei strain ANKA and on mice pro-inflammatory response, as evaluated by measuring the matrix-metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) plasma levels, in two mouse strains (C57BL/6 and BALB/c) which are considered as prototypical of Th1 and Th2 immune response, respectively.

Results: ME obtained from seed kernel of unripe Azadirachta indica fruits decreased by about 30% the proportion of erythrocytes infected with the malaria parasite in C57BL/6 mice in the 4 days suppressive test.

Glutathione transferase omega 1-1 (GSTO1-1) plays an anti-apoptotic role in cell resistance to cisplatin toxicity.

Several lines of evidence correlate the overexpression of glutathione S-transferase omega 1-1 (GSTO1-1) with the onset of drug resistance of cancer cells; however, no direct evidence is yet available. In order to investigate the mechanisms involved, stable transfection with GSTO1-1 complementary DNA was performed in HeLa cells, which spontaneously express very low levels of GSTO1-1. When transfected cells were seeded at low density, a sharp increase in GSTO1-1 expression was observed as compared with controls, along with an increased resistance against cisplatin cytotoxicity.

Nuclear translocation of glutathione transferase omega is a progression marker in Barrett's esophagus.

Barrett's esophagus (BE) represents a major risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (AC). For this reason, patients with BE are subjected to a systematic endoscopic surveillance to detect initial evolution towards non-invasive neoplasia (NiN) and cancer, that eventually occurs only in a small fraction of BE patients. This study was aimed to investigate the possible role of glutathione-S-transferase-omega 1 (GSTO1), a recently discovered member of the glutathione-S-transferase family, as a progression marker in the Barrett's disease in order to improve the diagnosis of NiN in BE and to understand the mechanisms of the progression from BE to AC.

Protective role of dehydroascorbate in rat liver ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Background: Oxidative stress plays an important role in liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Thus, enhancing the liver antioxidant capacity could be a promising therapeutic strategy. Ascorbate (AA) is considered the perfect antioxidant, but its therapeutic efficacy is greatly limited by its slow achievement of high intracellular levels.

Up-regulation of the 31 kDa dehydroascorbate reductase in the modified skeletal muscle cell (nurse cell) during Trichinella spp. infection.

Ascorbic acid (AA) is an important factor of defence against oxidative stress. AA is maintained in the reduced functional form by glutathione (GSH)-dependent dehydroascorbate (DHA) reducing enzymes, including the cytosolic glutaredoxin, the microsomal protein disulphide isomerase, and a DHA reductase of 31 kDa, hereafter referred to as DHAR, purified from rat liver cytosol and human red cells. As these mechanisms have rarely been studied in parasites, we looked for the possible presence of this 31 kDa protein in Trichinella spiralis L(1) larvae.

Discordant effect of IFN-beta1a therapy on anti-IFN antibodies and thyroid disease development in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Interferon-beta1b (IFN-beta1b) therapy is associated with a relatively high risk of developing thyroid disease. IFN-beta1a is regarded as less immunogenic than IFN-beta1b because of its structural homology to natural IFN-beta. We assessed the effect of 1 year of IFN-beta1a treatment on thyroid function and autoimmunity in 14 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.