Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids enriched polyunsaturated fatty acids from the coastal marine fish of Bay of Bengal and their therapeutic value.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)/docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) enriched polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) significantly present in marine fish oil emerge as preventive agents for combating many health problems specially in chronic or metabolic disorders. The fish in the coastal area of Bay of Bengal has remained unexplored with respect to EPA/DHA enriched PUFA content in its oils, although it may be a potential source in harnessing the health benefit. In this study, seven varieties of the coastal fish were analysed for the content of EPA/DHA. The one locally known as lotte, (Harpadon nehereus) though has low content of total lipids, was found to have high EPA/DHA in its oil. The phospholipids rich fraction was extracted from the total fish oil. The EPA/DHA enriched PUFA was isolated to investigate the potential use for health benefits. EPA/DHA is found to act as protective agent against mercury poisoning studied in cell culture as well as in animal mode. It is found to be highly preventive in diabetes. The lotte is available in the coastal area of Bay of Bengal adjoining West Bengal, India in large scale and it is the first report showing EPA/DHA enriched PUFA in these fish oil that can be availed to harness in important health benefits.

Characterization of arylsulphatase A in a 70 kDa protein isolated from goat spermatozoa having Na+, K+-ATPase inhibitory activity.

A protein having inhibitory effect on Na+, K+-ATPase as well as showing arylsulphatase A activity (ASA) was isolated from the cytosolic fraction of goat spermatozoa and characterized biochemically. The molecular mass of the protein was found to be 70 kDa (P70) on 10% SDS-PAGE after 35% ammonium sulphate precipitation, followed by hydroxyapatite column chromatographic separation. The isoelectric point (pI) of the protein was found to be 4.9. The sequencing results of first ten N-terminal amino acid residues of protein showed 100%, 90%, and 80% homology with N-terminal 18-27 amino acid residues of mice, pig and human testicular ASA, respectively. The optimum pH, temperature and incubation time for maximum ASA activity of the protein was 5.5, 37°C and 30 min respectively. The ASA activity of protein and AS from a commercial source was studied with respect to the sensitivity to different metal ions, vanadate, carbonyl compounds and ascorbate. Inhibition of AS activity of P70 by silver nitrate suggested that it was related to ASA. Comparable effects of different polyunsaturated fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids) and purified anti P70-antibody on P70 and AS from commercial source were observed. The findings suggested that protein was novel in nature, having both regulatory and catalytic functions and showed similarities with the ASA reported from different sources.