Background/aim: To compare the protective efficacy of erdosteine and vitamins C and E against renal injury caused by hind limb ischemia-reperfusion (I/R).Materials and methods: Rats were split into 4 groups: group I as the control, group II as I/R, group III as I/R + erdosteine, and group IV as I/R + vitamins C and E. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) tissue levels were determined.Results: MDA levels were found comparable with the control group in groups II and III. However, they were considerably decreased in group IV when compared to group II (P < 0.01). Additionally, SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activities were considerably (P < 0.05) decreased in group II. While CAT and GSH-Px activities were restored (P < 0.01) by vitamin E and C treatment, SOD activity was not significantly affected. While GSH-Px activities were higher (P < 0.05) with erdosteine administration, SOD and CAT activities were unchanged. Conclusion:The protective effect of vitamins C and E is higher than that of erdosteine treatment in reducing the oxidative stress after renal ischemia in this animal model.

Abnormalities in the production and/or release of relaxing factors from the endothelium have been implicated in the development of hypertension in several animal models. Endothelium-dependent relaxation has been reported to be impaired in thoracic aorta in experimentally induced and genetically hypertensive rats. Present study has extented these observations to thoracic aorta of cadmium-hypertensive rats. The possible role of alterations in oxidant status was also studied. Hypertension was induced by the intraperitoneal administration of 1 mg/kg/day cadmium for 15 days. Mechanical responses produced by acetylcholine (ACh, 10(-9)-10(-4) M) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 10(-10)-10(-5) M) were studied on phenylephrine-precontracted thoracic aorta rings from control and cadmium-hypertensive rats. Serum nitric oxide (NO) and aortic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured. ACh-induced relaxation was attenuated in aorta from cadmium-hypertensive rats, whereas relaxation responses to SNP did not differ significantly between the groups. Exposure of aortic rings to N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10(-4) M) resulted in a significantly greater inhibition of relaxation response to ACh in aortic rings of cadmium-hypertensive rats as compared with control rats. Incubation with L-arginine (L-Arg, 10(-3) M) caused a similar reversal of the inhibition of ACh-induced relaxation by L-NAME in both groups. Serum NO levels were decreased and aortic MDA levels were increased in cadmium-treated rats as compared with control rats. However, the differences between the groups did not reach a statistical significance. These findings suggested that the reduction in endothelium-dependent relaxation may play a role in cadmium-induced hypertension as it was in many other hypertension models.

No abstract

An electrochemical DNA biosensor was developed by avidin-biotin interaction of a biotinylated probe and avidin-attached, poly(L-glutamic) acid coated pencil graphite electrode (PGA/PGE) for detection of specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA sequence. The discrimination of fully complementary hybridization and mismatch hybridization was carried out by electrochemical reduction current of Meldola's Blue (MDB) in square wave voltammetry (SWV). The calibration graph of the DNA biosensor was linear between 1.5-12.5 nM and the detection limit was calculated as 1.3 nM. The proposed biosensor successfully discriminated short and long oligonucleotides related to DNA sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in optimal condition.

An electrochemical nucleic acid biosensor based on label-free DNA detection method was prepared for the first time by using electropolymerized poly(L-glutamic acid)-modified pencil graphite electrode (PGA/PGE) for detection of hepatitis C virus genotype 1a (HCV1a). Inosine-substituted 20-mer probes related to the HCV1a were immobilized onto PGA/PGE surface by covalent linking with the formation of amide bonds. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) was used to monitor the oxidation signal of guanine in the hybridization events, which gave an oxidation peak at +1.05 V. An increase in the oxidation signal of guanine was showed by hybridization of the probe with the complementary DNA. Noncomplementary oligonucleotides were also used to investigate the selectivity of the biosensor. The proposed nucleic acid biosensor was linear in the range of 50 nM to 1.0 μM, exhibiting a limit of detection of 40.6 nM. Finally, single-stranded synthetic PCR product analogues of HCV1a were performed in optimal condition. This PGA-modified nucleic acid sensor is cost-effective and disposable, and besides, it has superior electrocatalytic effect on the oxidation of guanine.

In the present study, a novel biosensor that is sensitive to glucose was prepared using the microspheres modified with (4-formyl-3-methoxyphenoxymethyl)polystyrene (FMPS) with l-glycine. Polymeric microspheres having Schiff bases were prepared from FMPS using the glycine condensation method. Glucose oxidase enzyme was immobilized onto modified carbon paste electrode by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. Oxidation of enzymatically produced H O (+0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl) was used for determination of glucose. Optimal temperature and pH were found as 50 °C and 8.0, respectively. The glucose biosensor showed a linear working range from 5.0 × 10 to 1.0 × 10 M, R = 0.999. Storage and operational stability of the biosensor were also investigated. The biosensor gave perfect reproducible results after 20 measurements with 3.3% relative standard deviation. It also had good storage stability.

Salmonella Enteritidis is the major cause of foodborne salmonellosis affecting human health. The light emitting diodes (LEDs) is a novel approach to inactivate of the foodborne pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the antibacterial effect of 405 nm LEDs illumination on S. Enteritidis and S. Enteritidis PT4. The irradiance of the 405 nm LEDs was 27.7 mW/cm 2 . Bacterial cultures suspended in tryptic soy broth were illuminated by 10-watt LEDs at a distance of 4.5 cm for 24 hours at 4 °C, 25 °C and 37 °C. Approximately 7-log reduction in colony forming unit (CFU) counts of both S. Enteritidis and S. Enteritidis PT4 at each temperature were observed following exposure after 7.5 hours to the LEDs, concluding that temperature did not affect the inactivation of the bacteria. The decimal reduction times (D-values) for the serotypes ranged from 55.78 to 67.88 min at 4, 25 and 37 °C after 405 nm LEDs illumination. No significant difference in D-values was observed among both the serotypes and temperatures, except for S. Enteritidis which had lower D-value at 4 °C. The LEDs technology has shown antibacterial efficacy and can be implemented in the food processing for reducing S. Enteritidis.

Salmonella Enteritidis is amongst the most common causes of foodborne salmonellosis. Multi-drug resistant Salmonella strains has been associated with treatment failures. Plant-derived phytochemicals may be an alternative to antibiotics in combating these bacteria. The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibacterial activity of curcumin, carvacrol and styrax liquidus on S. Enteritidis and S. Enteritidis PT4.Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of these substances were detected at 1.5, 3, 7.5 and 24 h by broth microdilution method to evaluate their time-dependent antibacterial activities. The findings of the present study showed that MIC values of carvacrol, curcumin and styrax liquids for both S. Enteritidis and S. Enteritidis PT4 were 125.0 µg/mL, 132.5 µg/mL, 31.3 mg/mL for 24 h, respectively. Also, a time-dependent change was observed in the MIC values of curcumin. Carvacrol, curcumin and styrax liquidus can be used to provide antimicrobial effect on S. Enteritidis and S. Enteritidis PT4 in food applications, taking into account the MIC values and contact times.