Association between enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense with Alzheimer disease

The etiopathogenesis of dementia in Alzheimer's disease [AD] is still unclear. However, long-term oxidative stress is believed to be one of the major contributing factors in progression of neuronal degeneration and decline of cognitive function in AD. In order to assess the presence of oxidative stress in AD, we examined the enzymatic activities of the erythrocyte Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase [Cu-Zn SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GSH-Px], catalase [CAT], and plasma level of total antioxidant status [TAS] in AD and control groups [age and sex-matched]. The results showed that the Cu-Zn SOD activity was significantly higher and the level of GSH-Px and TAS activities were significantly lower in AD subjects than that in the control group [2111 +/- 324 U/grHb, 43.7 +/- 11.6 U/grHb, and 1.17 +/- 0.23 mmol/L compared with 1371 +/- 211 U/gHb; t= -2.17, p=0.036, 56.3 +/- 9.5 U/gHb; t=3.8, p=0.014, and 1.54 +/- 0.2 mmol/L; t=11.18, P<0.001, respectively]. While, the erythrocyte CAT activity was lower in AD subjects compared to the control group, the difference was not statistically significant [t=1.3, P=0.15]. These findings support the idea that the oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis underlying AD neurodegeneration. In addition, the enzymatic activity of the erythrocyte Cu-Zn SOD and GSH-Px and the plasma level of TAS can be used as a measure of the oxidative stress and a marker for pathological changes in the brain of patients with AD

Synthesis and evaluation of new derivatives of 2,4 diaminopyrimidines with male contraceptive activity

The discovery of the antifertility activity of gossypol led scientists and researchers to the development of compounds with antifertility activity that can be used as male contraceptives. These studies resulted in discovery of the antifertility activity of several classes of compounds which have been reported in the literature. This article deals with the synthesis of four new analogues of pyrimethamine, the derivatives of 2, 4-diamino-5 [3,4-dichlorophenyl]-6-alkyloxymethyl pyrimidine [methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl], and the results of experimental antifertility evaluation of these compounds on male rats, which revealed a significant decrease in motility, viability, ESR and DSP indices in treated animals

Comparison of serum GT, ASAT, ALAT, and ALP levels in hepatic diseases

The purpose of this study was to determine a simple and sensitive test for clinical diagnosis of various hepatic diseases. Therefore y-glutamyltranspeptidase [y-GT], aspartate aminotransferase [ASAT], alanine aminotransferase [ALAT] and alkaline phosphatase [ALP] levels were measured in 29 healthy adults and 88 sera with various liver diseases. Table I represents the results, according to which y-GT activity increases in all of studied patients, especially in alcoholic liver disease and hepatobiliary dysfunction [13, 5, 3,10, 4]. The data suggest that in liver disease it is better to estimate y-GT level in serum prior to other related enzymes