Current State of Mugger Populations.

The mugger (Crocodylus palustris) is a medium-sized crocodilian inhabiting South Asia. As a result of intensive hunting, its range declined drastically up till the 1970s. Currently, the world mugger population is fragmented and threatened mainly by habitat loss and the consequences of human-crocodile conflict, being classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The goal of this paper is to comprehensively determine the mugger's current range, and assess risks in notable habitats of the species across its range. To determine the range and notable habitats, extensive literature covering surveys, monitoring, population studies and reports of human-crocodile conflict was examined. Habitat suitability and risk assessment were performed by evaluating selected habitats using eight factors: the legal status of the area, elevation, surface water availability, water quality, salinity, availability of nesting and basking sites, interaction with humans and interspecific competition. Based on our findings, the chances of the mugger's survival varies greatly across its range and the threats they face are complex and often site-specific. Defining these threats is the first step for determining suitable risk mitigation efforts, some of which are explored in this review.

Effect of polyphenols extracts from Brassica vegetables on erythrocyte membranes (in vitro study).

The aim of this work was to estimate the in vitro effects of polyphenol extracts from Brassica vegetables (Brussels sprouts and red cabbage) on erythrocyte membranes with normal and high concentration of cholesterol. To determine the effect of phenolic compounds we prospectively studied cholesterol concentration, lipid peroxidation, membrane fluidity and ATPase activity. Polyphenol extracts from Brassica vegetables resulted in statistically significant reductions in cholesterol concentrations in hypercholesterolemic erythrocytes. For control erythrocytes, no significant reduction of cholesterol levels was observed for both extracts. Decreases in lipid peroxidation intensity were observed after incubation of hypercholesterolemic erythrocytes with the extracts. No changes in membrane fluidity for both extracts were noted for normal and hypercholesterolemic erythrocytes. The activity of ATPase decreased after incubation of normal and hypercholesterolemic erythrocytes with extract from Brassica vegetables. Our results indicate that polyphenols from red cabbage and Brussels sprout may directly influence erythrocyte membrane properties.

Studies of biological properties of Uncaria tomentosa extracts on human blood mononuclear cells.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC is a lignified climbing plant from South and Central America, which (under the name of "vilcacora" or "cat's claw") has become highly popular in many countries due to its proven immunostimmulatory and anti-inflammatory activities and also with respect to its anticancer and antioxidative effects. There are insufficient data on the mechanism of U. tomentosa action on normal blood mononuclear cells. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of ethanol and aqueous extracts from bark and leaves of Uncaria tomentosa on the structure and function of human mononuclear cells and to find out whether the kind of extractant used modulates biological activity of the extracts studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plant material consisted of four different extracts: (1) ethanol extract from leaves, (2) aqueous extract from leaves, (3) ethanol extract from bark and (4) aqueous extract from bark. The effect of these extracts on protein damage as well as on free-radical formation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was analyzed. Moreover, changes in viability, size, and granularity as well as apoptotic alterations in human blood mononuclear cells exposed to U. tomentosa extracts were investigated. RESULTS: The oxidative changes were observed in mononuclear blood cells exposed to both ethanol and aqueous extracts obtained from bark and leaves. Moreover, in the cells studied the extracts from U. tomentosa induced apoptosis and a decrease in viability of mononuclear blood cells, with the exception of aqueous extract from leaves. Additionally, no statistically significant changes in the cell size were observed both for aqueous extracts from leaves and bark. Changes in the blood mononuclear cell granularity were observed at 250 µg/mL for all extracts examined. The strongest changes were observed for the ethanol extract of the bark, which increased cell granularity at 50 µg/mL and changed cell size at 100 µg/mL. CONCLUSION: The conducted research showed differences in biological activity between aqueous and ethanol extracts. It was observed that ethanol extracts exhibited stronger negative effects on mononuclear blood cells. The kind of extractant used had a significant influence of the chemical composition of the tested extracts. The ethanol extract from bark containing a high amount of polyphenols and alkaloids revealed the highest pro-apoptotic effect.

Uncaria tomentosa extracts protect human erythrocyte catalase against damage induced by 2,4-D-Na and its metabolites.

The effect of ethanolic and aqueous extracts from leaves and bark of Uncaria tomentosa was studied, with particular attention to catalase activity (CAT - EC. 1.11.1.6). We observed that all tested extracts, at a concentration of 250 µg/mL were not toxic to erythrocyte catalase because they did not decreased its activity. Additionally, we investigated the protective effect of extracts on changes in CAT activity in the erythrocytes incubated with sodium salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D-Na) and its metabolites i.e., 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and catechol. Previous investigations showed that these chemicals decreased activity of erythrocyte catalase (Bukowska et al., 2000; Bukowska and Kowalska, 2004). The erythrocytes were divided into two portions. The first portion was incubated for 1 and 5h at 37°C with 2,4-D-Na, 2,4-DCP and catechol, and second portion was preincubated with extracts for 10 min and then incubated with xenobiotics for 1 and 5h. CAT activity was measured in the first and second portion of the erythrocytes. We found a protective effect of the extracts from U. tomentosa on the activity of catalase incubated with xenobiotics studied. Probably, phenolic compounds contained in U. tomentosa scavenged free radicals, and therefore protected active center (containing -SH groups) of catalase.

Evaluation of the effect of Uncaria tomentosa extracts on the size and shape of human erythrocytes (in vitro).

In this study, we continued our investigations concerning the interaction of Uncaria tomentosa extracts with the human erythrocytes. The analysis of the size and shape of the erythrocytes by means of flow cytometry and phase contrast microscopy was performed. We executed our experiments using ethanolic and aqueous extracts from the leaves and bark of U. tomentosa. Disturbances were observed in the size and shape of the erythrocytes incubated with ethanolic and aqueous extracts at the concentrations of 100 µg/mL and 250 µg/mL, respectively. The observed changes were probably related to the entry of polyphenolic compounds contained in U. tomentosa extracts into erythrocyte membrane. Externalization of phosphatidylserine on the erythrocytic surfaces was also noticed during incubation with extracts at concentration of 250 µg/mL. We concluded that all of the extracts examined induced changes in the erythrocyte membrane properties, whereas ethanolic extracts from bark induced the most significant changes. The possible binding of polyphenols to the erythrocyte surface may have accounted for the protective properties of extracts against haemolysis of RBCs, which was observed in our previous study (Bors et al., 2011), but considerable incorporation of polyphenols into cell membranes can result in disturbance of phosphatidylserine transport and changes in erythrocyte shape. Nevertheless the results of the investigations showed that considerable morphological changes appear only as a result of erythrocyte exposure to high concentrations (50 ppm and 100 ppm) of the extracts studied, thus they should not lead to clinical erythrocytic damage if recommended doses of U. tomentosa preparations are administrated.

Protective activity of the Uncaria tomentosa extracts on human erythrocytes in oxidative stress induced by 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and catechol.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Uncaria tomentosa on human erythrocytes and additionally the assessment of protective effect of these extracts on hemolysis induction, hemoglobin oxidation, and changes in the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation, which were provoked by selected xenobiotics, i.e. 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and catechol. All tested extracts, even at a very high concentration of 500 µg/ml were not toxic to the erythrocytes because they did not cause lipid peroxidation, increase methemoglobin and ROS levels nor provoked hemolysis. The results of this study also revealed protective effect of extracts of U. tomentosa. The extracts studied depleted the extent of hemoglobin oxidation and lipid peroxidation as well as decreased the level of ROS and hemolysis, which was provoked by 2,4-DCP. No protective activity of the extracts against catechol action, which is a precursor of semiquinones in cell was found. A difference in the effect of the extracts studied was observed. Ethanol-based extracts revealed more pronounced ability to inhibit oxidation processes in human erythrocytes.