Structural elucidation and biological studies of a novel exopolysaccaride from Klebsiella pneumoniae PB12.

An exopolysaccharide (KNPS) of an average molecular weight ∼1.8×10(5) Da was isolated from the culture medium of Klebsiella pneumoniae PB12. Structural characterization of KNPS was carried out using sugar and methylation analysis, Smith degradation and 1D/2D NMR experiments. Sugar analysis showed that the KNPS composed of arabinose, galactose, 3-O-methyl-galctose and glucose in a molar ratio of nearly 4:3:1:1. The proposed repeating unit of the KNPS has a backbone chain consisting of two (1→6)-galactopyranosyl residues, two (1→5)-arabinofuranosyl residues, one (1→6)-glucopyranosyl residue and one (1→3)-arabinopyranosyl residue, out of which one (1→6)-galactopyranosyl residue was branched at O-2 position with a (1→2)-linked-galactopyranosyl residue terminated with non reducing arabinofuranosyl residue and one (1→5)-arabinofuranosyl residue branched at O-3 position with non reducing end 3-O-Me-galactopyranosyl residue. KNPS was found non-toxic toward human lymphocyte up to the dosage of 100 µg/ml. KNPS enhanced malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and have the potential to alter the ratio of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in the cellular system.

Neonatal iron supplementation potentiates oxidative stress, energetic dysfunction and neurodegeneration in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion that encodes a polyglutamine tract in huntingtin (htt) protein. Dysregulation of brain iron homeostasis, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration are consistent features of the HD phenotype. Therefore, environmental factors that exacerbate oxidative stress and iron dysregulation may potentiate HD. Iron supplementation in the human population is common during infant and adult-life stages. In this study, iron supplementation in neonatal HD mice resulted in deterioration of spontaneous motor running activity, elevated levels of brain lactate and oxidized glutathione consistent with increased energetic dysfunction and oxidative stress, and increased striatal and motor cortical neuronal atrophy, collectively demonstrating potentiation of the disease phenotype. Oxidative stress, energetic, and anatomic markers of degeneration were not affected in wild-type littermate iron-supplemented mice. Further, there was no effect of elevated iron intake on disease outcomes in adult HD mice. We have demonstrated an interaction between the mutant huntingtin gene and iron supplementation in neonatal HD mice. Findings indicate that elevated neonatal iron intake potentiates mouse HD and promotes oxidative stress and energetic dysfunction in brain. Neonatal-infant dietary iron intake level may be an environmental modifier of human HD.

Differences in basal airway antioxidant concentrations are not predictive of individual responsiveness to ozone: a comparison of healthy and mild asthmatic subjects.

The air pollutant ozone induces both airway inflammation and restrictions in lung function. These responses have been proposed to arise as a consequence of the oxidizing nature of ozone, depleting endogenous antioxidant defenses with ensuing tissue injury. In this study we examined the impact of an environmentally relevant ozone challenge on the antioxidant defenses present at the surface of the lung in two groups known to have profound differences in their antioxidant defense network: healthy control (HC) and mild asthmatic (MA) subjects. We hypothesized that baseline differences in antioxidant concentrations within the respiratory tract lining fluid (RTLF), as well as induced responses, would predict the magnitude of individual responsiveness. We observed a significant loss of ascorbate (ASC) from proximal (-45.1%, p <.01) and distal RTLFs (-11.7%, p <.05) in healthy subjects 6 h after the end of the ozone challenge. This was associated (Rs, -0.71, p <.01) with increased glutathione disulphide (GSSG) in these compartments (p =.01 and p <.05). Corresponding responses were not seen in asthmatics, where basal ASC concentrations were significantly lower (p <.01) and associated with elevated concentrations of GSSG (p <.05). In neither group was any evidence of lipid oxidation seen following ozone. Despite differences in antioxidant levels and response, the magnitude of ozone-induced neutrophilia (+20.6%, p <.01 [HC] vs. +15.2%, p =.01 [MA]) and decrements in FEV(1) (-8.0%, p <.01 [HC] vs. -3.2%, p <.05 [MA]) did not differ between the two groups. These data demonstrate significant differences between the interaction of ozone with RTLF antioxidants in MA and HC subjects. These responses and variations in basal antioxidant defense were not, however, useful predictive markers of group or individual responsiveness to ozone.