In recent years, individuals are rampantly exposed to vapours of benzene, through paint, plastic, petroleum industries, fuel exhaust, and tobacco smoke. Hence the present investigation was directed towards determining the effect of benzene metabolites, namely, phenol-hydroquinone and catechol, on the motility, viability, and nuclear integrity of the human spermatozoa. From the results obtained it was clear that exposure to phenol-hydroquinone caused a significant decline in both, sperm motility and viability. Exposure to a phenol-hydroquinone (Phase I) microenvironment may therefore inhibit metabolically active enzymes, thus impeding ATP production, and in turn lowers sperm motility and viability. In addition, the present study also revealed that both metabolites of benzene caused significant denaturation of sperm nuclear DNA. Hence, exposure to phenol-hydroquinone in vitro could have resulted in generation of free radicals and altered membrane function, which is reflected by a decline in the motility, viability, and loss of sperm nuclear DNA integrity. In Phase II, the exposure of human sperm in vitro to varied concentrations of catechol caused only insignificant changes in sperm motility and viability as compared to those observed on exposure to phenol-hydroquinone. Hence, exposure to catechol appeared to have less toxic effects than those of phenol-hydroquinone.

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The emergence of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum tremendously affected the chemotherapy worldwide while the intense distribution of chloroquine-resistant strains in most of the endemic areas added more complications in the treatment of malaria. The situation has even worsened by the lack of molecular mechanism to understand the resistance conferred by Plasmodia species. Recent studies have suggested the association of antimalarial resistance with P. falciparum multidrug resistance protein 1 (PfMDR1), an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter and a homologue of human P-glycoprotein 1 (P-gp1). The present study deals about the development of PfMDR1 computational model and the model of substrate transport across PfMDR1 with insights derived from conformations relative to inward- and outward-facing topologies that switch on/off the transportation system. Comparison of ATP docked positions and its structural motif binding properties were found to be similar among other ATPases, and thereby contributes to NBD domains dimerization, a unique structural agreement noticed in Mus musculus Pgp and Escherichia coli MDR transporter homolog (MsbA). The interaction of leading antimalarials and phytochemicals within the active pocket of both wild-type and mutant-type PfMDR1 demonstrated the mode of binding and provided insights of less binding affinity thereby contributing to parasite's resistance mechanism.

There is always a constant need to develop alternative or synergistic anticancer drugs with minimal side effects. One important strategy to develop effective anticancer agents is to investigate potent derived compounds from natural sources. The present study was designed to determine antiproliferative activity of Kaempferol using in silico as well as in vitro study. Docking was performed using human GCN5 (hGCN5) protein involved with cell cycle, apoptosis, and glucose metabolism. Cell viability and cytotoxicity on Daudi cells were evaluated by trypan blue and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays in a dose and time dependent manner, respectively. The compound inhibited the proliferation and growth of the Daudi cells, through induced cell death. The pure compound proved lead inhibitors of cell proliferation, thus manifesting significant antiproliferative activity. The docking results revealed that Kaempferol exhibited binding interaction to hGCN5 protein. Further, molecular dynamics using the dock pose of hGCN5-Kaempferol complex were performed to understand the basic structural unit which lead to inefficiency in binding and, therefore, pronounced instability and its possible consequences of reduced binding affinity. The data obtained in this study indicates that Kaempferol is a promising compound leading to inhibition of Daudi cell growth and proliferation.

India is one of the endemic areas where control of malaria has become a formidable task. Artesunate is the current antimalarial drug used to treat malaria, especially chloroquine resistant. The objective of the present study was to investigate the dose-dependent effect of oral administration of artesunate on the oxidative parameters in testes of adult male Swiss albino mice and ameliorative efficacy of curcumin, a widely used antioxidant. An oral dose of 150 mg/kg body weight (bwt; low dose) and 300 mg/kg bwt (high dose) of artesunate was administered for a period of 45 days to male mice, and ameliorative efficacy of curcumin was also assessed. The results revealed that artesunate caused significant alteration in oxidative parameters in dose-dependent manner. Administration of artesunate brought about significant decrease in activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, whereas lipid peroxidation and glutathione-S-transferase activity were found to be significantly increased. The results obtained show that oxidative insult is incurred upon the intracellular antioxidant system of testis tissue by artesunate treatment. Further, administration of curcumin at the dose level of 80 mg/kg bwt along with both doses of artesunate attenuated adverse effects in male mice.

The present study was conducted to screen the efficacy of curcumin against chloroquine phosphate (CQ)-induced reproductive toxicity in adult male Swiss albino mice. Animals were given oral doses of 100, 200, 300 mg/kg body weight (b.w.), and high dose of CQ (300 mg/kg b.w.) + curcumin (80 mg/kg b.w.) for 45 days. Animals of the withdrawal group were given high dose of CQ (300 mg/kg b.w.) for 45 days and, at day 46, were kept for another 45 days. Effects were observed on some key enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase, which was found to be decreased, whereas acid phosphatase was increased and succinate dehydrogenase and adenosine triphosphatase were decreased. Oxidative parameters, such as superoxide dismutase declined, whereas thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances were found to be elevated. Protein level was also decreased. Gravimetric indices were also recorded. Results obtained indicated adverse effects of CQ in a dose-dependent manner. The presence of curcumin with CQ alleviated its toxic effects. Hence, it can be concluded that curcumin has beneficial influences and appears able to ameliorate CQ toxicity.

BACKGROUND:Infertility being a burning issue, the male itself contributes about 40% as a cause, as evident by statistical data. However, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has emerged as a powerful tool in the management of infertility. Sperm preparation techniques govern the selection procedure to separate functional spermatozoa which can then be used in IUI, IVF, and ART and for cryopreservation.AIM:The present study was aimed at evaluation of sperm preparation techniques for reliability, performance and to determine the most effective, feasible and economical technique.MATERIALS AND METHODS:The subjects under study includes males with normal proven fertility (n=40) and the males with unexplained infertility (n=40). Four sperm separation techniques, viz., Swim-up, Swim-down, Sucrose and Ficoll-400 density gradient techniques were evaluated for their efficacy in separation of good quality fraction of spermatozoa. Sperm viability, morphology and maturation status of spermatozoa were taken as evaluation parameters following the standard methods (WHO 2010).STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:Data was analyzed using student's t-test and the four selected techniques were compared with the normal semen samples for scoring the efficiency of the techniques.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:Out of the several techniques used, Ficoll-400 was found to be more efficient method for separation of spermatozoa. The percentage of change in each parameter was calculated and taken as the index for recovery of potent sperm from the original sperm. Ficoll-400 density gradient yielded higher percentage of live, mature, morphologically normal spermatozoa in an isolated fraction as compared to other three techniques.CONCLUSION:It was observed that a combination of Ficoll-400 gradient separation with Swim-up technique could give quality spermatozoa which in-turn would directly have an impact on the success of IVF and other ART techniques.