Phytosterol Extract Decreases the Oxidative Damage in the Brains of Diabetic db/db Mice.

Introduction: Hypercaloric diets induce oxidative stress, and consequently induce hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Thus, oxidative stress is significantly increased in T2DM, leading to oxidative damage to brain, which might contribute to cognitive deficits and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, reducing the oxidative stress is important to preserving cognitive functions, and it has been suggested that phytosterols may reduce the oxidative stress. Objective: The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of phytosterols derived from corn on oxidative damage in the cerebellum, frontal cortex, and hippocampus of diabetic db/db mice. Materials and Methods: A phytosterol extract was isolated from yellow corn (Zea mays L.) and 100 mg/kg of the extract was administrated daily to diabetic mice for 8 weeks. At the end of the treatment period, tissues were isolated to determine the levels of oxidized lipid and protein. Results: The phytosterol treatment increased body weight in diabetic db/db mice, but this treatment did not have any effects on body weight in wild-type mice. Moreover, the phytosterol treatment decreased levels of oxidized lipids in the cerebellum, frontal cortex, and hippocampus, and also decreased the levels of oxidized proteins in the cerebellum and frontal cortex in diabetic db/db mice. Conclusion: These important results show that phytosterol treatment can reduce oxidative damage in the brains of diabetic mice.

Monitoring of chemotherapy leukemia treatment using Raman spectroscopy and principal component analysis.

In this research, we used the Raman spectroscopy to distinguish between normal and leukemia blood serum and identify the different types of leukemia based on serum biochemistry. In addition, monitoring of patients under chemotherapy leukemia treatment (CHLT) was studied. Blood samples were obtained from seven patients who were clinically diagnosed with three leukemia types and 21 healthy volunteers. In addition, other five leukemia patients were monitored during the CHLT, two patients were declared healthy, one patient suspended it; the health of the other two patients worsened, and no improvement was observed along CHLT. The serum samples were put under an Olympus microscope integrated to the Raman system, and several points were chosen for the Raman measurement. The Horiba Jobin Yvon LabRAM HR800 Raman system is equipped with a liquid nitrogen-cooled detector and a laser of 830 nm with a power irradiation of 17 mW. It is shown that the serum samples from patient with leukemia and from the control group can be discriminated when multivariate statistical methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) are applied to their Raman spectra obtaining two large clusters corresponding to the control and leukemia serum samples and three clusters inside the leukemia group associated with the three leukemia types. The major differences between leukemia and control spectra were at 1,338 (Trp, α-helix, phospholipids), 1,447 (lipids), 1,523 (ß-carotene), 1,556 (Trp), 1,587 (protein, Tyr), 1,603 (Tyr, Phe), and 1,654 (proteins, amide I, α-helix, phospholipids) cm(-1), where these peaks were less intense in the leukemia spectrum. Minor differences occurred at 661 (glutathione), 890 (glutathione), 973 (glucosamine), 1,126 (protein, phospholipid C-C str), 1,160 (ß-carotene), 1,174 (Trp, Phe), 1,208 (Trp), 1,246 (amide III), 1,380 (glucosamine), and 1,404 (glutathione) cm(-1). Leukemia spectrum showed a peak at 917 cm(-1) associated with glutathione, but it was absent in the control spectrum. The results suggest that the Raman spectroscopy and PCA could be a technique with a strong potential of support for current techniques to detect and identify the different leukemia types by using a serum sample. Nevertheless, with the construction of a data library integrated with a large number of leukemia and control Raman spectra obtained from a wide range of healthy and leukemic population, the Raman-PCA technique could be converted into a new technique for minimally invasive real-time diagnosis of leukemia from serum samples. In addition, complementary results suggest that using these techniques is possible to monitor CHLT.