Anti-nociceptive and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Visnagin in Different Nociceptive and Inflammatory Mice Models.

Pain management has been a severe public health issue throughout the world. Acute pain if not treated at the appropriate time can lead to chronic pain that can cause psychological and social distress. Nothing can be more rewarding than treating pain successfully for a physician. However, the use of chemical NSAIDs and opiate drugs has taken a toll on the patients with their unavoidable side effects. This study intends to explore the potential to treat pain by inhibiting nociception and inflammation with a safer, non-addictive, effective, and low-cost alternative agent from a natural source, visnagin. In vivo studies have been conducted using male Swiss albino mice as models for this research. Nociception was induced using different chemical and thermal stimuli such as acetic acid, glutamate, capsaicin, and formalin. To check for the anti-inflammatory properties, carrageenan was used to induce inflammation and the activity was assayed using peritoneal cavity leukocyte infiltration analysis and pro-inflammatory cytokine level comparison with the supplementation of visnagin at three different dosages. The findings of this study revealed that the visnagin treatment effectively attenuated the acetic acid-induced writhing response, glutamate-induced paw licking numbers, capsaicin-induced pain response, and formalin-induced biphasic licking incidences in the experimental mice models. Furthermore, the visnagin treatment remarkably suppressed the carrageenan-induced inflammation in mice, which is evident from the decreased leukocytes, mononuclear, and polymorphonuclear cell numbers in the mice. The levels of cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6 were effectively reduced by the visnagin treatment in the experimental mice. The results of open field test proved that the visnagin showed a better locomotor movement in the experimental mice. These results provided evidence for the potential activity of the visnagin against inflammatory and nociceptive responses in the mice.

[Accumulation and Pollution Risks of Heavy Metals in Soils and Agricultural Products from a Typical Black Shale Region with High Geological Background].

Soil polluted by heavy metals (HMs) is an important environmental issue in China, and regional geological background is a vital factor that influences the enrichment of HMs in soils. Previous studies have shown that soils derived from black shales are commonly enriched in HMs and present high potential eco-environmental risks. However, few studies have investigated the HMs in different agricultural products, which inhibit the safe use of land and safe production of food crops in black shale regions. This study investigated the concentrations, pollution risks, and speciation of HMs in soils and agricultural products from a typical black shale region in Chongqing. The results showed that the study soils were enriched in Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Se but not in Pb. Approximately 98.7% of total soils exceeded the risk screening values, and 47.3% of total soils exceeded the risk intervention values. Cd had the highest pollution level and potential ecological risks and was the primary pollutant in soils of the study area. Most of the Cd resided in ion-exchangeable fractions (40.6%), followed by residual fractions (19.1%) and weak organic matter combined fractions (16.6%), whereas Cr, Cu, Pb, Se, and Zn were dominated by residual fractions. Additionally, organic combined fractions contributed to Se and Cu, and Fe-Mn oxide combined fractions contributed to Pb. These results indicated that Cd had higher mobility and availability than those of other metals. The agricultural products presented a weak ability to accumulate HMs. Approximately 18.7% of the collected samples with Cd exceeded the safety limit, but the enrichment factor was relatively low, indicating low pollution risks of the heavy metals. The findings of this study could provide guidelines for safe use of land and safe production of food crops in black shale regions with high geological background.

The role of propofol on mouse oocyte meiotic maturation and early embryo development.

SummaryPropofol is a intravenous anaesthetic most commonly used in ultrasound oocyte retrieval. We studied if the use of propofol had an effect on mouse oocyte maturation, pregnancy, childbirth and progeny and investigated the correlation between propofol side effects and reproductive performance in mice. There was no statistical difference in mating, pregnancy, childbirth, litter size, the number of stillbirths and survival between each group (P>0.05). Propofol also had no effect on polar body extrusion in oocyte maturation as well as on pronucleus formation and, subsequently, early embryo development (P>0.05). An increased concentration of propofol had no effect on this result, although propofol at more than 0.01 mg/ml reduced polar body extrusion. Different concentrations of propofol had no effect on oocyte culture in vitro, pronucleus formation and early embryo development.