Tryptophan administration in rats enhances phagocytic function and reduces oxidative metabolism.

Objectives: Since the tryptophan-derived metabolites serotonin and melatonin have been shown to possess reinforcing and/or antioxidant properties in the immune system, this investigation was aimed at determining the possible effect of a 7-day administration of tryptophan (125 mg/kg b.w.), the precursor of both the neurotransmitter and the indole, on the phagocytosis and free radical scavenging of peritoneal macrophages from adult male Wistar rats.

Phytomelatonin: a review.

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has been detected in a number of plant species. Indeed, there exists evidence that this classically-considered animal indole is actually both synthesized in and taken up by plants. Among the actions that melatonin may carry out in plant tissues, its role as an antioxidant or growth promoter is most strongly supported by the experimental evidence.

Melatonin reduces oxidative/nitrosative stress due to drugs, toxins, metals, and herbicides.

The purpose of this brief review is to introduce the reader to the vast amount of published literature related to the free radical scavenging and antioxidative activity of melatonin. However, this review summarizes only a few of the many conditions in which melatonin has been found to be protective against oxidative/nitrosative damage. Melatonin ameliorates the extensive free radical-mediated damage that ensues following exposure to a wide variety of environmental insults.

The use of melatonin to combat mustard toxicity. REVIEW.

Among the most readily available chemical warfare agents, sulfur mustard (SM) has been the most widely used chemical weapon. The toxicity of SM as an incapacitating agent is of much greater importance than its ability to cause lethality. Oxidative stress is the first and key event in the pathogenesis of SM toxicity.

Melatonin in relation to the "strong" and "weak" versions of the free radical theory of aging.

That free radicals and the damage they inflict are related to deteriorative cellular and organismal changes associated with aging and also with the development of a variety of age-related diseases is widely debated. There seems to be little doubt that free radical mutilation of essential molecules contributes to these conditions. Numerous investigators, on the basis of their experimental results, have drawn this conclusion.

Biogenic amines in the reduction of oxidative stress: melatonin and its metabolites.

N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine (melatonin) is an endogenous indoleamine produced by all vertebrate organisms. Its production in the pineal gland has been extensively investigated but other organs also synthesize this important amine. Melatonin's functions in organisms are diverse.

Melatonin combats molecular terrorism at the mitochondrial level.

The intracellular environmental is a hostile one. Free radicals and related oxygen and nitrogen-based oxidizing agents persistently pulverize and damage molecules in the vicinity of where they are formed. The mitochondria especially are subjected to frequent and abundant oxidative abuse.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha -1031 T/C polymorphism is associated with smaller and more proatherogenic low density lipoprotein particles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To study, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the association between the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha -1031 T/C polymorphism and quantitative and qualitative low density lipoprotein (LDL) characteristics.

Methods: From a sample of 100 patients with RA and 100 controls, we used the strategy of "recruit by genotype" to select 30 patients with RA: 15 carriers of the rare allele (C) and 15 homozygous for the more frequent allele (T). These were matched with 30 controls.

Circadian variations of serotonin in plasma and different brain regions of rats.

Most of the physiological processes that take place in the organism follow a circadian rhythm. Serotonin is one of the most important neurotransmitters in our nervous system, and has been strongly implicated in the regulation on the mammalian circadian clock, located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). The present study analysed the levels of serotonin over a period of 24 h in the plasma and in different brain regions.

Caspase 3 activation in human spermatozoa in response to hydrogen peroxide and progesterone.

Objective: To determine the role of calcium signaling on apoptosis evoked by the reactive oxygen species H2O2 and by the physiological agonist P in human ejaculated spermatozoa.

Design: Laboratory study.

Setting: Center for assisted human reproduction in a hospital in Spain.

Melatonin and tryptophan as therapeutic agents against the impairment of the sleep-wake cycle and immunosenescence due to aging in Streptopelia risoria.

All organisms present circadian rhythm in most of their physiological functions, and among them there stand out sleep, motor activity, immune function, the secretion of melatonin, and the production and release of numerous neurotransmitters, in particular of serotonin because of its relationship with the aforementioned factors. Aging changes these rhythms, altering sleep quality and contributing to immunosenescence. Treatment with exogenously administered melatonin or tryptophan may restore these impaired functions due to aging.

[Serum liver tests in patients treated with methotrexate. A retrospective analysis].

Background: Methotrexate is one of the best systemic treatments for psoriasis. However it has significant adverse effects such as myelotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.

Aim: To evaluate serum liver test in psoriatic patients treated with methotrexate.

Altered circadian rhythms of corticosterone, melatonin, and phagocytic activity in response to stress in rats.

Corticosterone is thought to be the main glucocorticoid secreted in response to stressful exercise, while melatonin buffers the adverse immunological effects of stress. The present work was aimed to evaluate whether swimming-exercise-induced stress leads to changes in the chronobiology parameters of the circadian rhythms of melatonin and corticosterone, and in the number and phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophages in 3-month-old male Wistar rats. The animals were subjected to a physical activity trial consisting of 2 h of free swimming.

Tryptophan modulates cell viability, phagocytosis and oxidative metabolism in old ringdoves.

The decrease of melatonin with age contributes to immunosenescence. Its restoration via tryptophan may have immuno-enhancing effects. Therefore, we determined the effect of tryptophan administration on circulating serotonin, melatonin, cell viability, phagocytic function and levels of free radical generation of blood heterophils from old ringdoves (Streptopelia risoria), aged 11-13 years.

Effect of exogenous melatonin on viability, ingestion capacity, and free-radical scavenging in heterophils from young and old ringdoves (Streptopelia risoria).

The decrease of melatonin production with aging contributes to the decline in immune function as organisms age. Treatment with the exogenously administered indoleamine restores the reduced immunological functions. Therefore, we investigated the effect of melatonin on viability, phagocyte ingestion capacity, and free radical generation levels of heterophils from young and old ringdove (Streptopelia risoria) aged 3-4 and 11-13 years, respectively.

[The Color Analog Scale: a valid instrument for measuring pain intensity in Catalan-speaking children?].

Objective: To evaluate the validity of the Color Analog Scale (CAS) for assessing pain intensity in a Catalan-speaking pediatric population.

Patients And Methods: We compared children's CAS pain intensity ratings with their scores on the Catalan version of the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R). We also compared the CAS to ratings of affective experience of pain evaluated with the Facial Affective Scale (FAS).

Orally administered melatonin improves nocturnal rest in young and old ringdoves (Streptopelia risoria).

Melatonin possesses chronobiotic properties, which affects sleep/wake rhythms. We investigated a 7-day administration of melatonin (0.25, 2.

Tryptophan increases nocturnal rest and affects melatonin and serotonin serum levels in old ringdove.

The sleep promoting functions of melatonin have gained wide scientific attention due to the ability of this indole to provide relief from sleep inefficiency and the temporal relationship between its nocturnal rise in the blood and the "opening of the sleep gate" at night. However, little is known about the effects exerted by its precursor, the amino acid tryptophan. We studied the effect of a 7-day administration of two concentrations of tryptophan (125 and 300 kg b.

Hydrogen peroxide increases the phagocytic function of human neutrophils by calcium mobilisation.

We have studied the effect of exogenous administration of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) on phagocytic activity of human neutrophils. The treatment of cells with increasing concentrations of H(2)O(2) evoke a significant elevation of phagocytic function assayed as phagocytic index, percentage and efficiency; and was similar to that induced by the calcium mobilising agonist formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). This stimulatory effect was reduced by pre-treatment of neutrophils with catalase and abolished in neutrophils loaded with the intracellular calcium quelator dimethyl BAPTA.

Comparative study of the activity/rest rhythms in young and old ringdove (Streptopelia risoria): correlation with serum levels of melatonin and serotonin.

Aging is characterized by changes in the circadian rhythms of melatonin, serotonin, and sleep/wakefulness, alterations that affect sleep quality. The authors studied the circadian rhythms of serotonin and melatonin in young and old ringdoves (Streptopelia risoria) (2-3 and 10-12 yrs old, respectively), animals that are characterized by being monophasic and active by day, like humans. The aim was to correlate the indole rhythms with the animals' activity/rest periods.

Pain in older adults: a prevalence study in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia.

Although information is available about the prevalence of pain in older adults in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries, very little is known about older adults in other parts of the world. This study reports the prevalence of pain in a randomly selected sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia. Besides studying the existence of pain at the time of interview, the authors investigated several characteristics of the participants' pain experience: pain onset, number and location of pain sites, intensity of pain, number of days in pain, severity of pain, the extent to which pain interfered with daily life, and expressed needs in relation to pain.

Evaluation of reliability, validity, and preference for a pain intensity scale for use with the elderly.

Unlabelled: The main objective of this research was to determine the initial psychometric properties of the Spanish Version of the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) as a measure of pain intensity for use with the elderly. To assess the scaling properties, validity, and reliability of the FPS-R, a total sample of 177 subjects aged 65 years or older participated in this study. Ranking procedures, placement tasks, and test-retest methods were used.

Melatonin, lipid peroxidation, and age in heterophils from the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria).

Numerous recent studies have shown the ability of physiological as well as all pharmacological concentrations of melatonin to prevent oxidative stress. We have found that incubating avian heterophils from young birds with a pharmacological concentration of 100 microM (23x10(6) pg/ml) melatonin reduced superoxide anion levels by modulating the activity of superoxide dismutase while also enhancing phagocytosis. There was also a decline in lipid peroxidation levels with both physiological and pharmacological concentrations of this indolamine.

Social audit of provincial health services: building the community voice into planning in South Africa.

Social audits of health services in three South African provinces (Limpopo 2001, Gauteng 2003 and Eastern Cape 2001) demonstrated a fusion of participatory research, qualitative data collection, epidemiological surveys and analysis, and socialising of evidence for action. The social audit in each province involved the community in covering eight principles of service delivery. In the particular case of Gauteng province, householders answered a questionnaire on public perceptions of government health services.

Oral administration of melatonin to old ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) increases plasma levels of melatonin and heterophil phagocytic activity.

We analyzed the effect of oral melatonin (23 microg/0.1 ml/animal/d; 1 h before dark on 12 consecutive days) in old birds, in natural photoperiods, on the hormone's plasma levels, and phagocytosis. Blood collections were performed daily at 2:00 am and 4:00 pm until 5 days after the treatment.