Curcumin Modulates Muscle Damage but not Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Defense Following Eccentric Exercise in Rats.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of curcumin on eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage and oxidative stress in rats. METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: Control (C; no curcumin, no exercise; n=6), Curcumin (Cur; n=8), Exercise (E; n=8) and Exercise Plus Curcumin (ECur; n=8). Curcumin was given for 20 days via oral gavage at doses of 200 mg/kg(-1) of body weight per day, dissolved in corn oil. On the 21st day eccentric exercise was provided via a treadmill run and the rats were sacrificed immediately after. RESULTS: Eccentric exercise resulted in significant (p<0.05) increases in all injury markers such as creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin, but curcumin supplementation tended to decrease CK activity (p>0.05) and significantly decreased myoglobin levels (p<0.05). In blood and muscle samples, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were not affected by either curcumin or exercise (p>0.05). MDA levels in liver tissue decreased in the ECur group, compared to the control (p<0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and glutathione (GSH) levels were affected by neither curcumin nor exercise (p>0.05), in blood, muscle and liver tissues. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that curcumin has a protective effect on eccentric exercise induced muscle damage, and that this effect might be independent of oxidative stress and antioxidant systems.

Square-wave stripping voltammetric determination of caffeic acid on electrochemically reduced graphene oxide-Nafion composite film.

An electrochemical sensor composed of Nafion-graphene nanocomposite film for the voltammetric determination of caffeic acid (CA) was studied. A Nafion graphene oxide-modified glassy carbon electrode was fabricated by a simple drop-casting method and then graphene oxide was electrochemically reduced over the glassy carbon electrode. The electrochemical analysis method was based on the adsorption of caffeic acid on Nafion/ER-GO/GCE and then the oxidation of CA during the stripping step. The resulting electrode showed an excellent electrocatalytical response to the oxidation of caffeic acid (CA). The electrochemistry of caffeic acid on Nafion/ER-GO modified glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) were studied by cyclic voltammetry and square-wave adsorption stripping voltammetry (SW-AdSV). At optimized test conditions, the calibration curve for CA showed two linear segments: the first linear segment increased from 0.1 to 1.5 and second linear segment increased up to 10 µM. The detection limit was determined as 9.1×10(-8) mol L(-1) using SW-AdSV. Finally, the proposed method was successfully used to determine CA in white wine samples.

Spectral characterization and antimicrobial activity of 2-(5-chloro/nitro-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromo/nitro-phenols and their zinc(II) complexes.

2-(5-Chloro/nitro-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromo/nitro-phenols (HL(x); x=1-4) and their complexes with zinc(II)nitrate have been synthesized and characterized. In the tetrahedral mononuclear complexes, the ligands are bidentate, via the imine nitrogen and the phenolate oxygen atoms. The structures of the complexes were confirmed on the basis of elemental analysis, molar conductivity, TGA, FT-IR, NMR, mass and UV-vis spectroscopy. The optimized geometry of the complexes was derived from theoretical calculation in DGauss/DFT level on CACHE program. From theoretical calculations it was found that bromo derivatives of the ligands (HL(1) and HL(3)) have higher stability than the other ligands and similarly, their Zn(II) complexes have higher stability than the other complexes. The antimicrobial activities of the compounds were evaluated using the disk diffusion method against six bacteria and Candida albicans. All of the complexes exhibited selective antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus epidermidis. HL(3) and [Zn(L(1))(2)].H(2)O are more active than Ciprofloxazin and, [Zn(L(2))(2)] has antibacterial activity as potent as Ciprofloxazin against S. epidermidis.

Synthesis and characterization of nanosized Cu/ZnO catalyst by polyol method.

Nanosized catalysts composed of metallic copper supported on zinc oxide have been synthesized by the polyol process. Average crystallite size of copper was between 10 and 45 nm. Cu/ZnO catalyst particles were characterized by various techniques, such as X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED), and dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS).

Catalytic hydrodechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol on Pd/Rh/C catalysts.

Catalytic hydrodechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol was studied over 0.97% Pd/C, 0.98% Rh/C and 0.8% Pd-0.19% Rh/C catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of support and characterized by BET surface area, temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The 0.97% Pd/C catalyst, which had the largest crystallite size, was the most active and selective towards the formation of 2- and 4-chlorophenols among three catalysts in liquid phase. Hydrodechlorination activity of carbon-supported catalysts were in the order of Pd/C>Pd/Rh/C>Rh/C. The kinetic equation explained experimental data well and kinetic parameters of three catalysts were provided and discussed.