This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of three forms of vitamin E supplements following nicotine treatment on bone histomorphometric parameters in an adult male rat model. Rats were divided into seven groups: baseline (B, killed without treatment), control (C, normal saline for 4 months), nicotine (N, nicotine for 2 months), nicotine cessation (NC), tocotrienol-enhanced fraction (TEF), gamma-tocotrienol (GTT), and alpha-tocopherol (ATF). Treatments for the NC, TEF, GTT, and ATF groups were performed in two phases. For the first 2 months they were given nicotine (7 mg/kg), and for the following 2 months nicotine administration was stopped and treatments with respective vitamin E preparations (60 mg/kg) were commenced except for the NC group, which was allowed to recover without treatment. Rats in the N and NC groups had lower trabecular bone volume, mineral appositional rate (MAR), and bone formation rate (BFR/BS) and higher single labeled surface and osteoclast surface compared to the C group. Vitamin E treatment reversed these nicotine effects. Both the TEF and GTT groups, but not the ATF group, had a significantly higher trabecular thickness but lower eroded surface (ES/BS) than the C group. The tocotrienol-treated groups had lower ES/BS than the ATF group. The GTT group showed a significantly higher MAR and BFR/BS than the TEF and ATF groups. In conclusion, nicotine induced significant bone loss, while vitamin E supplements not only reversed the effects but also stimulated bone formation significantly above baseline values. Tocotrienol was shown to be slightly superior compared to tocopherol. Thus, vitamin E, especially GTT, may have therapeutic potential to repair bone damage caused by chronic smoking.

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Maximizing bone mineral accrual to attain an optimal peak bone mass (PBM), particularly during adolescence, appears to be an effective protective strategy in the prevention of osteoporosis. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of physical activity (PA), fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), body mass index (BMI), calcium, or combination of vitamin D supplement intake, smoking and alcohol drinking status on bone health assessed by calcaneus quantitative ultrasound (QUS) in a healthy adolescent population. The participants comprised of 920 male and female secondary school adolescents aged 15–17 years old. Quantitative ultrasound measurements of the left heel were performed using Lunar Achilles EX II, which included results of broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), speed of sound (SOS), and a calculated stiffness index (SI). Multivariable linear regression analyses revealed that—PA was positively associated with all three QUS indices in both genders; BMI was positively associated with SI and SOS in females; LM was positively associated with BUA in both genders; and FM was negatively associated with SI in females. These variables accounted for 32.1%, 21.2% and 29.4% of females’ SOS, BUA and SI variances (p<0.001), respectively and 23.6%, 15.4% and 17.2% of males’ SOS, BUA and SI variances (p<0.001), respectively. Promoting health benefits from physical activity could influence bone status and consequently improve PBM, which is a potent protective determinant against osteoporosis in adulthood.

Panic disorder (PD) being one of the most intensively investigated anxiety disorders is considered a heterogeneous psychiatric disease which has difficulties with early diagnosis. The disorder is recurrent and usually associated with low remission rates and high rates of relapse which may exacerbated social and quality of life, causes unnecessary cost and increased risk for complication and suicide. Current pharmacotherapy for PD are available but these drugs have slow therapeutic onset, several side effects and most patients do not fully respond to these standard pharmacological treatments. Ongoing investigations indicate the need for new and promising agents for the treatment of PD. This article will cover the importance of immediate and proper treatment, the gap in the current management of PD with special emphasis on pharmacotherapy, and evidence regarding the novel anti-panic drugs including the drugs in developments such as metabotropic glutamate (mGlu 2/3) agonist and levetiracetam. Preliminary results suggest the anti-panic properties and the efficacy of duloxetine, reboxetine, mirtazapine, nefazodone, risperidone and inositol as a monotherapy drug. Apart for their effectiveness, the aforementioned compounds were generally well tolerated compared to the standard available pharmacotherapy drugs, indicating their potential therapeutic usefulness for ambivalent and hypervigilance patient. Further strong clinical trials will provide an ample support to these novel compounds as an alternative monotherapy for PD treatment-resistant patient.

The proinflammatory cytokines, metalloproteinases family (MMPs), inflammatory mediators PGE2, COX-2 and NO are the most important group of compounds responsible for the loss of metabolic homeostasis of articular cartilage by promoting catabolic and destructive processes in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). Stichopus chloronotus, a marine sea cucumber which is rich in n-3 PUFAs and phenolic compound, may exert a favorable influence on the course of the disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the regeneration and anti-inflammatory potential of S. chloronotus aqueous extract (SCAE) on human OA articular chondrocytes (HOC). Methods: The HOC isolated from knee joint cartilage removed during surgery were cultured with SCAE for 7 days. The effect of SCAE on anabolic and catabolic gene expression was verified by real-time PCR. Monolayer chondrocytes were stained with toluidine blue whereas sGAG, NO and PGE2 production in medium were analyzed by ELISA. Results: The HOC cultured in various SCAE have polygonal morphology maintaining their chondrocytes characteristic. SAE supplementation tested was found to be effective prochondrogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative agents, as evidenced by upregulation of cartilage specific markers collagen type II, aggrecan core protein and sox-9 expression and downregulation of collagen type 1, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-13, COX-2, iNOS and PAR-2 expression. The presence of SCAE in the culture was able to increase sGAG and reduce NO and PGE2 production significantly. Conclusions: These results suggested that SCAE demonstrated chondroprotective ability by suppressing catabolic activities, oxidative damage and effectively promoting chondrocytes growth.