Organic osmolyte betaine mitigates the deleterious effects of Diclofenac in vivo in wistar albino rats

Abstract Diclofenac sodium (DF) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that possesses antipyretic, analgesic, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities. Like other NSAIDs, DF is known to be associated with renal, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal complications. The present study was carried out to evaluate the adverse effects of DF in vivo in wistar albino rats and to assess if oral administration of the organic osmolyte betaine mitigates the adverse effect of DF. Eighteen male Wistar rats were divided into three groups, one group of animals was fed orally with 20 mg/kg of DF once/day, and the other group received a combination of 20 mg/kg of DF and 30 mg/kg of betaine, once/day. Apart from the hematological and biochemical parameters, histopathological changes in the liver, lungs, brain, heart and kidney were also investigated. Histopathological alterations that were found in the liver, kidney, and lungs of DF-treated animals were found to be minimal or absent in DF + betaine-treated animals, as compared to untreated control. The results showed that betaine mitigates the adverse effects associated with DF treatment.

Leaf Amino Acids and Anatomical Traits of Drought Tolerant vs Sensitive Genotypes of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) under Elevated Levels of Water Stress

Many plants accumulate compatible osmolytes at high levels in plant cells such as amino acids and/or develop special epidermal cell bladders which may serve as external water reservoirs and having small and thick-walled cells in response to water deficit. The objectives of the present investigation were: (i) to study effects of water stress on the anatomical traits and accumulation of free amino acids in quinoa leaves and (ii) to describe differences among drought tolerant and sensitive genotypes in such traits following the imposition of water deficit. A field experiment was carried out in the growing season 2015/2016, using a split plot design with five replications. Main plots were allotted to three irrigation regimes, i.e. well watering (WW) [95% field capacity (FC)], moderate water stress (WS) [65% FC] and severe water stress (SWS) [35% FC] and sub plots to five genotypes. Mean squares due to genotypes, irrigation regimes and their interaction were significant (p≤0.01) for studied leaf free amino acids and anatomical traits. Water stress caused a significant decrease in leaf thickness under WS and SWS, upper and lower epidermis under WS, palisade and spongy layers under SWS, but caused a significant increase in palisade and spongy layers under WS and upper and lower epidermis under SWS. The genotype CICA-17 (tolerant) had the thickest leaf and upper epidermis and second thickest lower epidermis, palisade and spongy layers. Contents of each amino acid were significantly increased due to water stress, except Leucine. Increases in amino acid content increased by increasing severity of water stress. Maximum increase (109.6%) was shown by Threonine under SWS, but minimum (8.08%) was by Arginine under WS. Under SWS, the tolerant genotype CICA-17 showed the highest mean increase percentage (47.9%) in total amount of amino acids relative to WW; it showed the highest increase in all amino acids, especially Proline, Methionine and Phenylalanine.

Purification and characterization of an extreme halothermophilic protease from a halophilic bacterium Chromohalobacter sp. TVSP101

An extreme halophilic bacterium was isolated from solar saltern samples and identified based on biochemical tests and 16S r RNA sequencing as Chromohalobacter sp. strain TVSP101. The halophilic protease was purified using ultrafiltration, ethanol precipitation, hydrophobic interaction column chromatography and gel permeation chromatography to 180 fold with 22% yield. The molecular mass of the protease determined by SDS PAGE was 66 kDa. The purified enzyme was salt dependent for its activity and stability with an optimum of 4.5 M NaCl. The optimum temperature for maximum protease activity was 75ºC. The protease was optimally active at pH 8 and retained more than 80% of its activity in the range of pH 7-10. Sucrose and glycine at 10% (w/v) were the most effective osmolytes, retained 100% activity in the absence of NaCl. The activity was completely inhibited by ZnCl2 (2 mM), 0.1% SDS and PMSF (1mM). The enzyme was not inhibited by 1mM of pepstatin, EDTA and PCMB. The protease was active and retained 100% it activity in 10% (v/v) DMSO, DMF, ethanol and acetone.

Definition of physical integrity of synaptosomes and myelosomes by enzyme osmometry.

Isotonic requirements for synaptosomes were shown to vary with the concentration of sucrose or mannitol in the isolation medium, as well as with their differential permeability to polyols and ions. The technique of enzyme osmometry, which permits quantitation of the osmotic integrity in a heterogeneous population, was used to defined the osmotic requirements for synaptosomes and myelosomes in a variety of ionic and nonelectrolyte media. Important differences, observed in the rank order of permeability of synaptosomal and myelosomal membranes to electrolyte media, were consistent with the known channel density/electrical activity of the corresponding plasma membranes.