Endometriosis Susceptibility to Dapsone-Hydroxylamine-Induced Alterations Can Be Prevented by Licorice Intake: In Vivo and In Vitro Study

Endometriosis, an estrogen-dependent chronic gynecological disease, is characterized by a systemic inflammation that affects circulating red blood cells (RBC), by reducing anti-oxidant defenses. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential beneficial effects of licorice intake to protect RBCs from dapsone hydroxylamine (DDS-NHOH), a harmful metabolite of dapsone, commonly used in the treatment of many diseases. A control group (CG, n = 12) and a patient group (PG, n = 18) were treated with licorice extract (25 mg/day), for a week. Blood samples before (T0) and after (T1) treatment were analyzed for: i) band 3 tyrosine phosphorylation and high molecular weight aggregates; and ii) glutathionylation and carbonic anhydrase activity, in the presence or absence of adjunctive oxidative stress induced by DDS-NHOH. Results were correlated with plasma glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) concentrations, measured by HPLC–MS. Results showed that licorice intake decreased the level of DDS-NHOH-related oxidative alterations in RBCs, and the reduction was directly correlated with plasma GA concentration. In conclusion, in PG, the inability to counteract oxidative stress is a serious concern in the evaluation of therapeutic approaches. GA, by protecting RBC from oxidative assault, as in dapsone therapy, might be considered as a new potential tool for preventing further switching into severe endometriosis.

Fractionation of clumped isotopes of CO2 during photosynthesis

<p>Stable isotope (δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>18</sup>O) and mole fraction measurements of CO<sub>2</sub> are used to constrain the carbon cycle. However, the gross fluxes of the carbon cycle, especially photosynthesis and respiration, remain uncertain due to the challenging task of distinguishing individual flux terms from each other. The clumped isotope composition (Δ<sub>47</sub>) of CO<sub>2</sub> has been suggested as an additional tracer for gross CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes since it depends mainly on temperature but not on the bulk isotopic composition of leaf, soil and surface water, unlike δ<sup>18</sup>O of CO<sub>2</sub>.</p><p>In this study, we quantify the effect of photosynthetic gas exchange on Δ<sub>47</sub> of CO<sub>2</sub> using leaf cuvette experiments with two C<sub>3</sub> and one C<sub>4</sub> plants and discuss challenges and possible applications of clumped isotope measurements. The experimental results are supported by calculations with a leaf cuvette model. Our results demonstrate how the effect of gas exchange on Δ<sub>47</sub> is controlled by CO<sub>2</sub>-H<sub>2</sub>O isotope exchange (using plants with different carbonic anhydrase activity), and kinetic fractionation as CO<sub>2</sub> diffuses into and out of the leaf (using plants with different stomatal and mesophyll conductance). We experimentally confirm the previously suggested dependence of Δ<sub>47</sub>­­ on the stomatal conductance and back-diffusion flux.</p>

Effect of different sources of zinc on the activities of plant and soil enzymes

The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of zinc fertilization on major biomeric characteristics, yield and post-harvest soil nutrient status. The experiment was carried out at college of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2017 - 2019. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with eight treatments and three replications. The treatments were Absolute control (T1), N, P, K as per POP- 75:45:25 kg ha-1 (T2), N, P, K+ Soil application of Zn as ZnSO4- 10 kg ha-1 (T3), N, P, K+ Foliar application of Zn as 0.5 per cent ZnSO4 (T4), N, P, K+ Zn as Zn EDTA-18 kg ha-1 (T5), N, P, K+ Zn solubilizer -5 per cent (T6), N, P, K+ Zn Humate- 44 kg ha-1 (T7), N, P, K+ K solubilizer 5 per cent (T8). From the study, it was observed that the treatment T7 with the application of N, P, K+ Zn Humate (44 kg ha-1) recorded the highest for enzymes such as carbonic anhydrase, peroxidase and catalase viz., 910 EU g-1, 48.17 activity min-1 g-1 and 27.06x103 units ml-1, respectively. An incubation study was carried out to assess the trend os activity of the enzymes and the results revealed peroxidase and carbonic anhydrase showed an increasing trend in activitfy while peroxidase registered a decreasing trend. Treatment T4 with the application of Soil + Zn as 1.5 ppm ZnSO4 registered the highest value for peroxidase (11.98 activity min-1 g-1) and carbonic anhydrase activity (385 EU g-1) in the incubation study.

TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF METAL IONS AND SOME PESTICIDES ON CARBONIC ANHYDRASE ACTIVITY PURIFIED FROM BIGHEAD CARP (HYPOPHTHALMICHTHYS NOBILIS) GILL TISSUE

In this work, the total carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzymes were obtained from bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) gill tissue with a purification fold of 239.62, specific activity of 26128.18 EU mg-1 and a yield of 44.04 % using Sepharose affinity column chromatography. For recording the CA purity, gel electrophoresis was performed in this part. The molecular weight (MW) of total CA enzyme was found 31 kDa. Additionally, the inhibitory effects of diverse pesticide compounds (carbaryl, carbofuran, permethrin, dimethoate, cypermethrin and λ-cyhalothrin) and heavy metals (Cu2+, Fe2+, Pb2+, Co2+) on CA bighead carp gill tissue CA enzyme activities were investigated and also the results calculated, and then plotted. The some pesticide compounds had IC50 amounts in the range of 0.36 - 253.35 μM. Also, the metal ions used had IC50 values ranging from 7.84 to 95.28 mm. As a result of these studies, a stable pH is set as pH: 8.0. CA inhibitors are target molecules in drug design studies.