Bacillus subtilis- and Pseudomonas fluorescens-Mediated Systemic Resistance in Tomato Against Sclerotium rolfsii and Study of Physio-Chemical Alterations.

The present study is a comparative study between Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) signaling and antioxidative enzymatic signaling and deals with induced systemic resistance (ISR) in enhancing the disease resistance in typical tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L.) infected by the collar rot fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii (Teleomorph: Athelia rolfsii) by priming with Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and their microbial consortia by a single strain of Bacillus subtilis, and P. fluorescens as well as by developed microbial consortium with both bacteria. Leaf samples were collected after different durations of pathogen inoculation, i.e., 1, 2, 3, and 4 days, and the systemic level of oxidative stress parameters, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), photosynthetic apparatus, superoxide radicals, and enzymatic antioxidants, were studied. Plant mortality under various treatments in two different seasons was calculated. The highest H2O2 was scavenged by the microbial consortium-treated plants (B1P1) and the lowest in pathogen-challenged plants (PC) compared to the untreated control. Cellular damage and reduction in the chlorophyll pigments were the highest at 48 h, and the photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) was evaluated from 24 to 96 h; the lowest values were observed for pathogen-challenged plants and the highest for B1P1. Enzymatic antioxidants showed the maximum value for B1P1 and the minimum for PC compared to the unchallenged control. Furthermore, an analysis of variance and principal component analysis (PCA) were conducted to examine the effect of the evaluation time (ET) and inoculation conditions (ICs) alone and in combination (ET × IC) on the physiological and biochemical parameters; accordingly, the score and the loading plots were constructed. Tomato root sections inoculated with different treatments were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to validate the potentiality of primed biocontrol agents in controlling the invasion of the pathogen. Further studies on the potential of this isolate to enhance the plant growth at the field level would strengthen the possibility of using the isolate as an alternative for organic fertilizers and pesticides.

Trichoderma erinaceum Bio-Priming Modulates the WRKYs Defense Programming in Tomato Against the Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) Challenged Condition.

The beneficial association and interaction of rhizocompetent microorganisms are widely used for plant biofertilization and amelioration of stress-induced damage in plants. To explore the regulatory mechanism involved in plant defense while associating with beneficial microbial species, and their interplay when co-inoculated with pathogens, we evaluated the response of tomato defense-related WRKY gene transcripts. The present study was carried out to examine the qRT-PCR-based relative quantification of differentially expressed defense-related genes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.; variety S-22) primed with Trichoderma erinaceum against the vascular wilt pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici). The tissue-specific and time-bound expression profile changes under the four different treatments "(unprimed, Fol challenged, T. erinaceum primed and Fol+ T. erinaceum)" revealed that the highest upregulation was observed in the transcript profile of SlWRKY31 (root) and SlWRKY37 (leaf) in T. erinaceum bioprimed treated plants at 24 h with 16.51- and 14.07-fold increase, respectively. In contrast, SlWRKY4 showed downregulation with the highest repression in T. erinaceum bioprimed root (24 h) and leaf (48 h) tissue samples with 0.03 and 0.08 fold decrease, respectively. Qualitative expression of PR proteins (chitinases and glucanases) was found elicited in T. erinaceum primed plants. However, the antioxidative activity of tomato superoxide dismutase and catalase increased with the highest upregulation of SOD and SlGPX1 in Fol + T. erinaceum treatments. We observed that these expression changes were accompanied by 32.06% lesser H2O2 production in T. erinaceum bioprimed samples. The aggravated defense response in all the treated conditions was also reflected by an increased lignified stem tissues. Overall, we conclude that T. erinaceum bio-priming modulated the defense transcriptome of tomato after the Fol challenged conditions, and were accompanied by enhanced accumulation of defense-related WRKY transcripts, increased antioxidative enzyme activities, and the reinforcements through a higher number of lignified cell layers.

PR Toxin - Biosynthesis, Genetic Regulation, Toxicological Potential, Prevention and Control Measures: Overview and Challenges.

Out of the various mycotoxigenic food and feed contaminant, the fungal species belonging to Penicillium genera, particularly Penicillium roqueforti is of great economic importance, and well known for its crucial role in the manufacturing of Roquefort and Gorgonzola cheese. The mycotoxicosis effect of this mold is due to secretion of several metabolites, of which PR toxin is of considerable importance, with regard to food quality and safety challenges issues. The food products and silages enriched with PR toxin could lead into damage to vital internal organs, gastrointestinal perturbations, carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, necrosis, and enzyme inhibition. Moreover, it also has the significant mutagenic potential to disrupt/alter the crucial processes like DNA replication, transcription, and translation at the molecular level. The high genetic diversities in between the various strains of P. roqueforti persuaded their nominations with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), accordingly to the cheese type, they have been employed. Recently, the biosynthetic mechanism and toxicogenetic studies unraveled the role of ari1 and prx gene clusters that cross-talk with the synthesis of other metabolites or involve other cross-regulatory pathways to negatively regulate/inhibit the other biosynthetic route targeted for production of a strain-specific metabolites. Interestingly, the chemical conversion that imparts toxic properties to PR toxin is the substitution/oxidation of functional hydroxyl group (-OH) to aldehyde group (-CHO). The rapid conversion of PR toxin to the other derivatives such as PR imine, PR amide, and PR acid, based on conditions available reflects their unstability and degradative aspects. Since the PR toxin-induced toxicity could not be eliminated safely, the assessment of dose-response and other pharmacological aspects for its safe consumption is indispensable. The present review describes the natural occurrences, diversity, biosynthesis, genetics, toxicological aspects, control and prevention strategies, and other management aspects of PR toxin with paying special attention on economic impacts with intended legislations for avoiding PR toxin contamination with respect to food security and other biosafety purposes.

Alternaria Toxins: Potential Virulence Factors and Genes Related to Pathogenesis.

Alternaria is an important fungus to study due to their different life style from saprophytes to endophytes and a very successful fungal pathogen that causes diseases to a number of economically important crops. Alternaria species have been well-characterized for the production of different host-specific toxins (HSTs) and non-host specific toxins (nHSTs) which depend upon their physiological and morphological stages. The pathogenicity of Alternaria species depends on host susceptibility or resistance as well as quantitative production of HSTs and nHSTs. These toxins are chemically low molecular weight secondary metabolites (SMs). The effects of toxins are mainly on different parts of cells like mitochondria, chloroplast, plasma membrane, Golgi complex, nucleus, etc. Alternaria species produce several nHSTs such as brefeldin A, tenuazonic acid, tentoxin, and zinniol. HSTs that act in very low concentrations affect only certain plant varieties or genotype and play a role in determining the host range of specificity of plant pathogens. The commonly known HSTs are AAL-, AK-, AM-, AF-, ACR-, and ACT-toxins which are named by their host specificity and these toxins are classified into different family groups. The HSTs are differentiated on the basis of bio-statistical and other molecular analyses. All these toxins have different mode of action, biochemical reactions and signaling mechanisms to cause diseases. Different species of Alternaria produced toxins which reveal its biochemical and genetic effects on itself as well as on its host cells tissues. The genes responsible for the production of HSTs are found on the conditionally dispensable chromosomes (CDCs) which have been well characterized. Different bio-statistical methods like basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) data analysis used for the annotation of gene prediction, pathogenicity-related genes may provide surprising knowledge in present and future.

Structural and Functional Insights into WRKY3 and WRKY4 Transcription Factors to Unravel the WRKY-DNA (W-Box) Complex Interaction in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). A Computational Approach.

The WRKY transcription factors (TFs), play crucial role in plant defense response against various abiotic and biotic stresses. The role of WRKY3 and WRKY4 genes in plant defense response against necrotrophic pathogens is well-reported. However, their functional annotation in tomato is largely unknown. In the present work, we have characterized the structural and functional attributes of the two identified tomato WRKY transcription factors, WRKY3 (SlWRKY3), and WRKY4 (SlWRKY4) using computational approaches. Arabidopsis WRKY3 (AtWRKY3: NP_178433) and WRKY4 (AtWRKY4: NP_172849) protein sequences were retrieved from TAIR database and protein BLAST was done for finding their sequential homologs in tomato. Sequence alignment, phylogenetic classification, and motif composition analysis revealed the remarkable sequential variation between, these two WRKYs. The tomato WRKY3 and WRKY4 clusters with Solanum pennellii showing the monophyletic origin and evolution from their wild homolog. The functional domain region responsible for sequence specific DNA-binding occupied in both proteins were modeled [using AtWRKY4 (PDB ID:1WJ2) and AtWRKY1 (PDBID:2AYD) as template protein structures] through homology modeling using Discovery Studio 3.0. The generated models were further evaluated for their accuracy and reliability based on qualitative and quantitative parameters. The modeled proteins were found to satisfy all the crucial energy parameters and showed acceptable Ramachandran statistics when compared to the experimentally resolved NMR solution structures and/or X-Ray diffracted crystal structures (templates). The superimposition of the functional WRKY domains from SlWRKY3 and SlWRKY4 revealed remarkable structural similarity. The sequence specific DNA binding for two WRKYs was explored through DNA-protein interaction using Hex Docking server. The interaction studies found that SlWRKY4 binds with the W-box DNA through WRKYGQK with Tyr408, Arg409, and Lys419 with the initial flanking sequences also get involved in binding. In contrast, the SlWRKY3 made interaction with RKYGQK along with the residues from zinc finger motifs. Protein-protein interactions studies were done using STRING version 10.0 to explore all the possible protein partners involved in associative functional interaction networks. The Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed the functional dimension and characterized the identified WRKYs based on their functional annotation.

Improvement Strategies, Cost Effective Production, and Potential Applications of Fungal Glucose Oxidase (GOD): Current Updates.

Fungal glucose oxidase (GOD) is widely employed in the different sectors of food industries for use in baking products, dry egg powder, beverages, and gluconic acid production. GOD also has several other novel applications in chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, and other biotechnological industries. The electrochemical suitability of GOD catalyzed reactions has enabled its successful use in bioelectronic devices, particularly biofuel cells, and biosensors. Other crucial aspects of GOD such as improved feeding efficiency in response to GOD supplemental diet, roles in antimicrobial activities, and enhancing pathogen defense response, thereby providing induced resistance in plants have also been reported. Moreover, the medical science, another emerging branch where GOD was recently reported to induce several apoptosis characteristics as well as cellular senescence by downregulating Klotho gene expression. These widespread applications of GOD have led to increased demand for more extensive research to improve its production, characterization, and enhanced stability to enable long term usages. Currently, GOD is mainly produced and purified from Aspergillus niger and Penicillium species, but the yield is relatively low and the purification process is troublesome. It is practical to build an excellent GOD-producing strain. Therefore, the present review describes innovative methods of enhancing fungal GOD production by using genetic and non-genetic approaches in-depth along with purification techniques. The review also highlights current research progress in the cost effective production of GOD, including key advances, potential applications and limitations. Therefore, there is an extensive need to commercialize these processes by developing and optimizing novel strategies for cost effective GOD production.

Trichoderma asperellum (T42) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (OKC)-Enhances Resistance of Pea against Erysiphe pisi through Enhanced ROS Generation and Lignifications.

Plant signaling mechanisms are not completely understood in plant-fungal biotrophic pathogen interactions. Further how such interactions are influenced by compatible rhizosphere microbes are also not well-studied. Therefore, we explored the pea-Erysiphe pisi (obligate biotroph) system to understand the interaction and applied compatible rhizospheric bio-agents Trichoderma asperellum (T42) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (OKC) singly or in combination to assess their influence on the host while under the pathogen challenge. Transcript accumulation pattern of some vital genes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway in pea under E. pisi challenge indicated enhanced activation of the pathway. Interestingly, transcript accumulations were even higher in the bio-agent treated plants compared to untreated plants after pathogen inoculation particularly in co-inoculated treatments. Further, down regulation of the lignifications-associated ABC transporter gene in the pathogen challenged plants possibly is an indication of passive diffusion of monolignols across the membrane from symplast. Additionally, up regulation of NADPH oxidase gene revealed ROS generation in the challenged plants which was confirmed through spectrophotometric estimation of H2O2. Up regulation of laccase and peroxidase along with higher H2O2 generation points out their involvement in lignifications which was further confirmed through cross section analysis of pea stems that showed increased lignifications in pathogen challenged plants co-inoculated with the bioagents. Interestingly, pathogen responsive MAPK homologs MAPK3/MAPK6 and the enzyme serine threonine kinase that activates MAPKs were down regulated and the results possibly indicate non-participation of the MAPK cascade in this interaction. Therefore, it can be concluded that the microbial treatments enhanced pea resistance to E. pisi by generation of ROS and lignifications.

Comparative Evaluation of Biochemical Changes in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Infected by Alternaria alternata and Its Toxic Metabolites (TeA, AOH, and AME).

In the present study, we have evaluated the comparative biochemical defense response generated against Alternaria alternata and its purified toxins viz. alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), and tenuazonic acid (TeA). The necrotic lesions developed due to treatment with toxins were almost similar as those produced by the pathogen, indicating the crucial role of these toxins in plant pathogenesis. An oxidative burst reaction characterized by the rapid and transient production of a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) occurs following the pathogen infection/toxin exposure. The maximum concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced was reported in the pathogen infected samples (22.2-fold) at 24 h post inoculation followed by TeA (18.2-fold), AOH (15.9-fold), and AME (14.1-fold) in treated tissues. 3,3'- Diaminobenzidine staining predicted the possible sites of H2O2 accumulation while the extent of cell death was measured by Evans blue dye. The extent of lipid peroxidation and malondialdehyde (MDA) content was higher (15.8-fold) at 48 h in the sample of inoculated leaves of the pathogen when compared to control. The cellular damages were observed as increased MDA content and reduced chlorophyll. The activities of antioxidative defense enzymes increased in both the pathogen infected as well as toxin treated samples. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was 5.9-fold higher at 24 h post inoculation in leaves followed by TeA (5.0-fold), AOH (4.1-fold) and AME (2.3-fold) treated leaves than control. Catalase (CAT) activity was found to be increased upto 48 h post inoculation and maximum in the pathogen challenged samples followed by other toxins. The native PAGE results showed the variations in the intensities of isozyme (SOD and CAT) bands in the pathogen infected and toxin treated samples. Ascorbate peroxidase (APx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities followed the similar trend to scavenge the excess H2O2. The reduction in CAT activities after 48 h post inoculation demonstrate that the biochemical defense programming shown by the host against the pathogen is not well efficient resulting in the compatible host-pathogen interaction. The elicitor (toxins) induced biochemical changes depends on the potential toxic effects (extent of ROS accumulation, amount of H2O2 produced). Thus, a fine tuning occurs for the defense related antioxidative enzymes against detoxification of key ROS molecules and effectively regulated in tomato plant against the pathogen infected/toxin treated oxidative stress. The study well demonstrates the acute pathological effects of A. alternata in tomato over its phytotoxic metabolites.

Q-PCR Based Culture-Independent Enumeration and Detection of Enterobacter: An Emerging Environmental Human Pathogen in Riverine Systems and Potable Water.

The availability of safe and pristine water is a global challenge when large numbers of natural and anthropogenic water resources are being depleted with faster rate. The remaining water resources are severely contaminated with various kinds of contaminants including microorganisms. Enterobacter is one of the fecal coliform bacteria of family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacter was earlier used as an indicator bacterium along with other fecal Coliforms namely Escherichia coli, Citrobacter, and Klebsiella, but it is now known to cause various diseases in human beings. In this study, we have collected 55 samples from potable water and riverine system and proved their presence using their conserved sequences of 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA genes with the help of SYBR green real-time PCR, which showed very high specificity for the detection of Enterobacter. The Enterobacter counts in potable water were found to 1290 ± 32.89 to 1460 ± 39.42 cfu/100 ml. The Enterobacter levels in surface water were 1.76 × 10(4) ± 492, 1.33 × 10(4) ± 334, 1.15 × 10(4) ± 308, 2.56 × 10(4) ± 802, 2.89 × 10(4) ± 962, 8.16 × 10(4) ± 3443 cfu/100 ml; the levels of Enterobacter contamination associated with hydrophytes were 4.80 × 10(4) ± 1804, 3.48 × 10(4) ± 856, 8.50 × 10(4) ± 2074, 8.09 × 10(4) ± 1724, 6.30 × 10(4) ± 1738, 3.68 × 10(4) ± 949 cfu/10 g and the Enterobacter counts in sediments of the river, were 2.36 × 10(4) ± 703, 1.98 × 10(4) ± 530, 9.92 × 10(4) ± 3839, 6.80 × 10(4) ± 2230, 8.76 × 10(4) ± 3066 and 2.34 × 10(4) ± 732 cfu/10 g at the sampling Site #1, Site #2, Site #3, Site #4, Site #5, and Site #6, respectively. The assay could be used for the regular monitoring of potable water and other water reservoirs to check waterborne outbreaks.

Friends or foes? Emerging insights from fungal interactions with plants.

Fungi interact with plants in various ways, with each interaction giving rise to different alterations in both partners. While fungal pathogens have detrimental effects on plant physiology, mutualistic fungi augment host defence responses to pathogens and/or improve plant nutrient uptake. Tropic growth towards plant roots or stomata, mediated by chemical and topographical signals, has been described for several fungi, with evidence of species-specific signals and sensing mechanisms. Fungal partners secrete bioactive molecules such as small peptide effectors, enzymes and secondary metabolites which facilitate colonization and contribute to both symbiotic and pathogenic relationships. There has been tremendous advancement in fungal molecular biology, omics sciences and microscopy in recent years, opening up new possibilities for the identification of key molecular mechanisms in plant-fungal interactions, the power of which is often borne out in their combination. Our fragmentary knowledge on the interactions between plants and fungi must be made whole to understand the potential of fungi in preventing plant diseases, improving plant productivity and understanding ecosystem stability. Here, we review innovative methods and the associated new insights into plant-fungal interactions.

Mannitol metabolism during pathogenic fungal-host interactions under stressed conditions.

Numerous plants and fungi produce mannitol, which may serve as an osmolyte or metabolic store; furthermore, mannitol also acts as a powerful quencher of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Some phytopathogenic fungi use mannitol to stifle ROS-mediated plant resistance. Mannitol is essential in pathogenesis to balance cell reinforcements produced by both plants and animals. Mannitol likewise serves as a source of reducing power, managing coenzymes, and controlling cytoplasmic pH by going about as a sink or hotspot for protons. The metabolic pathways for mannitol biosynthesis and catabolism have been characterized in filamentous fungi by direct diminishment of fructose-6-phosphate into mannitol-1-phosphate including a mannitol-1-phosphate phosphatase catalyst. In plants mannitol is integrated from mannose-6-phosphate to mannitol-1-phosphate, which then dephosphorylates to mannitol. The enzyme mannitol dehydrogenase plays a key role in host-pathogen interactions and must be co-localized with pathogen-secreted mannitol to resist the infection.

Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma asperellum Enhance Expression of Gα Subunits of the Pea Heterotrimeric G-protein during Erysiphe pisi Infection.

We investigated the transcript accumulation patterns of all three subunits of heterotrimeric G-proteins (Gα1 and 2, Gß, and Gγ) in pea under stimulation of two soil-inhabiting rhizosphere microbes Pseudomonas fluorescens OKC and Trichoderma asperellum T42. The microbes were either applied individually or co-inoculated and the transcript accumulation patterns were also investigated after challenging the same plants with a fungal biotrophic pathogen Erysiphe pisi. We observed that mostly the transcripts of Gα 1 and 2 subunits were accumulated when the plants were treated with the microbes (OKC and T42) either individually or co-inoculated. However, transcript accumulations of Gα subunits were highest in the T42 treatment particularly under the challenge of the biotroph. Transcript accumulations of the other two subunits Gß and Gγ were either basal or even lower than the basal level. There was an indication for involvement of JA-mediated pathway in the same situations as activation of LOX1 and COI1 were relatively enhanced in the microbe co-inoculated treatments. Non-increment of SA content as well as transcripts of SA-dependent PR1 suggested non-activation of the SA-mediated signal transduction in the interaction of pea with E. pisi under the stimuli of OKC and T42. Gα1 and 2 transcript accumulations were further correlated with peroxidases activities, H2O2 generation and accumulation in ABA in pea leaves under OKC and T42 stimulations and all these activities were positively correlated with stomata closure at early stage of the biotroph challenge. The microbe-induced physiological responses in pea leaves finally led to reduced E. pisi development particularly in OKC and T42 co-inoculated plants. We conclude that OKC and T42 pretreatment stimulate transcript accumulations of the Gα1 and Gα2 subunits of the heterotrimeric G protein, peroxidases activities and phenol accumulation in pea during infection by E. pisi. The signal transduction was possibly mediated through JA in pea under the stimulus of the microbes and the cumulative effect of the co-inoculated microbes had a suppressive effect on E. pisi conidial development on pea leaves.

Rhizosphere competent microbial consortium mediates rapid changes in phenolic profiles in chickpea during Sclerotium rolfsii infection.

The present study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness and potentiality of three compatible rhizosphere microbes, viz., fluorescent Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PHU094), Trichoderma harzianum (THU0816) and Mesorhizobium sp. (RL091), in promoting plant growth and mobilizing phenolic acid biosynthesis in chickpea under challenge of Sclerotium rolfsii. The microbes were applied as seed coating in different combinations in two experimental sets and the pathogen was inoculated after 25 days of sowing in one set. Results revealed that microbe application led to higher growth in chickpea particularly in the triple microbe combination compared to their individual treatments and control. Similarly, pathogen challenged plants accumulated higher amount of phenolic compounds both at the site of attack of the pathogen i.e. collar region as well as leaves compared to unchallenged plants. All the bioagents were found to trigger the level of phenolic compounds at collar region in varying degrees as compared to the healthy control (A). However, the most effective treatment was D7 (combined application of PHU094, THU0816 and RL091 with pathogen challenge) among all the treatments. Shikimic acid was maximally induced amongst all the phenolic compounds. In leaves also, the most effective treatment was D7 where shikimic acid, t-chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, myricetin, quercetin and syringic acid were produced in higher amounts as compared to treatment B where the plants were challenged only with the pathogen.

Oxidative stress in children with neurocysticercosis.

BACKGROUND: Free radicals can cause neuronal injury and play an important role in pathogenesis of neurocysticercosis. This study was done to evaluate oxidative stress (antioxidants and oxidants) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with neurocysticercosis and to observe their correlation with the type of seizure and outcome. METHODS: Forty consecutive confirmed cases of neurocysticercosis were evaluated for their markers of reactive oxygen species, that is, oxidants (malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl and nitrite) and antioxidant (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, ceruloplasmin, ascorbic acid, copper and zinc) concentrations in CSF. An equal number of children, age and sex matched with an idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic seizure, were studied as controls. RESULTS: Generalized tonic-clonic seizure (65%) was the most common presentation, and a single ring-enhancing lesion in the parietal lobe was the most common finding in cranial imaging. Oxidants such as malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl and nitrite in CSF were significantly elevated (P < 0.001), whereas antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, ceruloplasmin, ascorbic acid, copper and zinc levels were significantly lower (P < 0.001) in children with neurocysticercosis than in controls. There were insignificant differences in oxidant and antioxidant value in CSF in relation to the type of seizure, number and location of lesion in cerebral cortex and antiepileptic therapy. CONCLUSION: The significantly elevated malondialdehyde, nitrite and protein carbonyl values reflect increased oxidative stress, whereas decreased concentrations of glutathione peroxidase, ascorbic acid, zinc, copper, ceruloplasmin and superoxide dismutase point toward utilization of the antioxidants in neurocysticercosis. The observed changes in oxidants and antioxidants suggest the production of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxides and hydroxyl radicals and their possible role in pathogenesis of neurocysticercosis.

Antioxidant status of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

The production of free radicals can cause renal injury and play an important role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Markers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated in 48 patients with active nephrotic syndrome (ANS) and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy children. Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl, nitrite, copper, zinc, selenium, ascorbic acid, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were estimated in patients with ANS and controls. Measurements were repeated in 39 cases after achievement of remission, and in 10 other children who were in remission of >6 months' duration. Plasma MDA and nitrite levels were significantly higher and selenium was lower in ANS patients compared with controls. Plasma protein carbonyl, copper ascorbic acid, zinc, and superoxide dismutase levels were comparable in ANS patients and controls. Plasma copper level was significantly higher in active cases than in the remission and long-term remission groups. Selenium value showed a rise and then normalized in long-term remission. Among different sub-groups of ANS, no significant differences were found in the levels of various parameters, except plasma selenium, which was significantly lower in first-attack nephrotic syndrome (FANS) in comparison to infrequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (IRNS) and frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS) patients. Thus, we observed evidence of oxidative stress and impaired antioxidant defense during acute nephrotic syndrome. Antioxidant status recovered completely only during long-term remission.