Search results for "Toxicity"

Use of Early Life-Stages of Zebrafish to Assess Toxicity of Sediments Contaminated by Organotin Compounds

2016

ABSTRACTThis study examined the response of early life-stages (ELS) of zebrafish to organotin-contaminated sediment from Lake Huruslahti (HL) in Central Finland. A dilution series (0, 10, 33, and 100%) of the native (HL) and the sediment spiked with tributyltin (TBT) determined a dose-response of zebrafish ELS to organotin-contaminated sediment. Sediment elutriates were assessed by bacterial bioluminescence assay and microscopical pathologies of 1–3 days post-fertilization zebrafish (1–3dpfZF). Brain aromatase (cyp19a1b) and tissue vitellogenin (vtg1) were assayed from early-juvenile zebrafish (20dpfZF) exposed to intact sediment. In vivo modulation of cyp19a1b and vtg1 transcripts in 20dpf…

Citrus sinensis and Vitis vinifera Protect Cardiomyocytes from Doxorubicin-Induced Oxidative Stress: Evaluation of Onconutraceutical Potential of Veg…

2020

Abstract: The interest towards nutraceuticals able to counteract drug side effects is continuously growing in current chemotherapeutic protocols. In the present study, we demonstrated that smoothies containing mixtures of Citrus sinensis and Vitis vinifera L. cv. Aglianico N, two typical fruits of the Mediterranean diet, possess bioactive polyphenols that protect cardiomyocytes against doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress. The polyphenolic extracts isolated from Citrus sinensis- and Vitis vinifera-based functional smoothies were deeply characterized by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry methods. Subsequently, the functional smoothies and relative mixtures were tested to verify their ab…

Tryptophan-Containing Dual Neuroprotective Peptides: Prolyl Endopeptidase Inhibition and Caenorhabditis elegans Protection from β-Amyloid Peptide Tox…

2018

Neuroprotective peptides represent an attractive pharmacological strategy for the prevention or treatment of age-related diseases, for which there are currently few effective therapies. Lactoferrin (LF)-derived peptides (PKHs) and a set of six rationally-designed tryptophan (W)-containing heptapeptides (PACEIs) were characterized as prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) inhibitors, and their effect on β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was evaluated. Two LF-derived sequences, PKH8 and PKH11, sharing a W at the C-terminal end, and the six PACEI heptapeptides (PACEI48L to PACEI53L) exhibited significant in vitro PEP inhibition. The inhibitory pe…

In Vivo Cardiotoxicity Induced by Sodium Aescinate in Zebrafish Larvae

2016

Sodium aescinate (SA) is a widely-applied triterpene saponin product derived from horse chestnut seeds, possessing vasoactive and organ-protective activities with oral or injection administration in the clinic. To date, no toxicity or adverse events in SA have been reported, by using routine models (in vivo or in vitro), which are insufficient to predict all aspects of its pharmacological and toxicological actions. In this study, taking advantage of transparent zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio), we evaluated cardiovascular toxicity of SA at doses of 1/10 MNLC, 1/3 MNLC, MNLC and LC10 by yolk sac microinjection. The qualitative and quantitative cardiotoxicity in zebrafish was assessed at 48 h p…

Modulating disease-relevant tau oligomeric strains by small molecules

2020

The pathological aggregation of tau plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease and many other related neurodegenerative diseases, collectively referred to as tauopathies. Recent evidence has demonstrated that tau oligomers, small and soluble prefibrillar aggregates, are highly toxic due to their strong ability to seed tau misfolding and propagate the pathology seen across different neurodegenerative diseases. We previously showed that novel curcumin derivatives affect preformed tau oligomer aggregation pathways by promoting the formation of more aggregated and nontoxic tau aggregates. To further investigate their therapeutic potential, we have extended our studies o disease-relevant bra…

Evaluation of the protein and bioactive compound bioaccessibility/bioavailability and cytotoxicity of the extracts obtained from aquaculture and fish…

2020

Bioavailability, bioaccessibility, bioactivity and cytotoxicity define if a bioactive compound obtained from aquaculture and associated by-products can be assimilated and used for the body in a safe and efficient way. Four models are used to evaluate the bioavailability: in vitro (simulated gastrointestinal digestion using intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cell cultures); ex vivo (gastrointestinal organs or organoids in laboratory conditions); in situ (intestinal perfusion in animals) and in vivo (animal studies and human studies). In vitro models are very effective, predicting in vivo actions since they evaluate multiple conditions regardless physiological effects. However, in vivo systems are …

2020

Nature is an indispensable source of new drugs, providing unique bioactive lead structures for drug discovery. In the present study, secalonic acid F (SAF), a naturally occurring ergochrome pigment, was studied for its cytotoxicity against various leukemia and multiple myeloma cells by the resazurin assay. SAF exhibited cytotoxic activity on both leukemia and multiple myeloma cells. Generally, multiple myeloma cells were more sensitive to SAF than leukemia cells. NCI-H929 cells were the most affected cells among the tested panel of multiple myeloma cell lines and were taken for further studies to assess the mode of action of SAF on those cells. Cell cycle analysis revealed that SAF induced …

Involvement of cyclin-dependent kinase-5 in the kainic acid-mediated degeneration of glutamatergic synapses in the rat hippocampus

2011

Increased levels of glutamate causing excitotoxic damage accompany neurological disorders such as ischemia/stroke, epilepsy and some neurodegenerative diseases. Cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (Cdk5) is important for synaptic plasticity and is deregulated in neurodegenerative diseases. However, the mechanisms by which kainic acid (KA)-induced excitotoxic damage involves Cdk5 in neuronal injury are not fully understood. In this work, we have thus studied involvement of Cdk5 in the KA-mediated degeneration of glutamatergic synapses in the rat hippocampus. KA induced degeneration of mossy fiber synapses and decreased glutamate receptor (GluR)6/7 and post-synaptic density protein 95 (PSD95) levels in…

Detecting Protein Aggregation on Cells Surface: Concanavalin A Oligomers Formation

2009

A number of neurodegenerative diseases involve protein aggregation and amyloid formation. Recently evidence has emerged indicating small-transient prefibrillar oligomers as the primary pathogenic agents. Noteworthy, strict analogies exist between the behaviour of cells in culture treated with misfolded non-pathogenic proteins and in pathologic conditions, this instance together with the observation that the oligomers and fibrils are characterised by common structural features suggest that common mechanisms for cytotoxicity could exists and have to be perused in common interactions involved in aggregation.We here report an experimental study on ConcanavalinA (ConA) aggregation and its effect…

Modelling the inhibitory effect of copper sulfate on the growth of Penicillium expansum and Botrytis cinerea

2011

Aims:  This study aimed to investigate the effect of copper sulfate (from 0 to 8 mmol kg−1) on radial growth rate and lag time of two moulds responsible for vine grapes spoilage: Penicillium expansum strain 25·03 and Botrytis cinerea, strains BC1 and BC2. Methods and results:  A new model was developed to describe tailing and shoulders in the inhibition curves. Because of tailing, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), was not defined as the concentration at which no growth was observed, but as the concentration at which the lag time was infinite. The concentrations at which μ = μopt/2, (Cu50), were in the range of 2·2–2·6 mmol kg−1. Radial growth rate of P. expansum and the reciprocal…