Impact of vitamin B12 on the reproductive health of women with sickle cell disease: a narrative review.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) poses an increased risk of infertility, pregnancy complications and maternal and perinatal mortality among women of reproductive age. This risk is particularly higher for women in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease burden is highest and access to comprehensive health care is limited, as well as in other countries with a high SCD prevalence due to migration. Disease modifying treatments for SCD could directly and indirectly harm the ovaries, potentially compromising quality and quantity of existing oocytes.

Microbial dysbiosis-induced obesity: role of gut microbiota in homoeostasis of energy metabolism.

The global obesity epidemic has necessitated the search for better intervention strategies including the exploitation of the health benefits of some gut microbiota and their metabolic products. Therefore, we examined the gut microbial composition and mechanisms of interaction with the host in relation to homoeostatic energy metabolism and pathophysiology of dysbiosis-induced metabolic inflammation and obesity. We also discussed the eubiotic, health-promoting effects of probiotics and prebiotics as well as epigenetic modifications associated with gut microbial dysbiosis and risk of obesity.

Access to essential cardiovascular medicines for children: a pilot study of availability, price and affordability in Nigeria.

Policies to improve access to medicines for children in low- and middle-income countries, such as Nigeria, should consider the growing threat of non-communicable diseases. The aim of this pilot study was to scope availability, price and affordability of essential cardiovascular medicines for children in selected states in Nigeria. The study was a descriptive longitudinal survey conducted in three phases.

Locomotor effects of a low-frequency fire alarm on C57BL/6 male mice: a preliminary study.

Maintaining appropriate acoustic conditions for animal welfare and data collection are crucial in biomedical research facilities. Negative impacts of disruptive sound are known and can include auditory damage, immune function changes, and behavioral alterations. One type of disruptive sound occurring in research facilities is that of fire alarms.

Exploiting cyanobacterial P450 pathways.

Cytochrome P450s are hemoprotein oxygenases involved in natural product synthetic pathways. Cyanobacteria are oxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms and are considered a rich source of natural products, and are now known to harbour P450s. A variety of cyanobacterial species have been found to contain multiple copies of P450s in their genomes, and over 100 have been predicted.

Spontaneous Renal Cell Carcinoma in a New Zealand White Rabbit.

The incidence of primary renal neoplasia in animals is quite low. Carcinomas are the most common primary renal tumors of dogs, cattle, and sheep. Among rabbit tumors, only uterine adenocarcinomas occur more frequently than do embryonal nephromas.

Identification of an endocrine disrupting agent from corn with mitogenic activity.

A mitogenic agent in corncob bedding and fresh corn products disrupts sexual behavior and estrous cyclicity in rats. The mitogenic activity resides in an isomeric mixture of linoleic acid derivatives with a tetrahydrofuran ring and two hydroxyl groups (THF-diols) that include 9, (12)-oxy-10,13-dihydroxystearic acid and 10, (13)-oxy-9,12-dihydroxystearic acid. Synthetic THF-diols stimulated breast cancer cell proliferation in vitro and disrupted the estrous cycle in female rats at oral doses of approximately 0.

A novel endocrine-disrupting agent in corn with mitogenic activity in human breast and prostatic cancer cells.

Housing adult rats on ground corncob bedding impedes male and female mating behavior and causes acyclicity in females. The suppressive effects on ovarian cyclicity are mimicked by a mitogenic agent purified from the ground corncob bedding material (corn mitogen; CM), which stimulates the proliferation of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (MCF-7 cells) and ER-negative (MDA-MD-231 cells) breast cancer cells. Purified CM does not compete for [(3)H]estradiol binding to ER or nuclear type II sites, and its effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cell proliferation are not blocked by the antiestrogen ICI-182,780.