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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A current review of assessment, risk factors and prevention

2018-11-29T07:12:46Z

Title: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A current review of assessment, risk factors and prevention Authors: Balaji, G; Sinha, Sukesh Narayan Abstract: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are extremely heritable neurodevelopmental disorders observed in 1-2% of children, usually seen before they reach 3 years of age. ASD is characterized by impaired social behavior, poor communication, stereotypic behavior, abnormal sensitivity to sensory stimuli and self-injurious behavior. The exact causes of ASD are unclear but increased oxidative stress; hyperserotonemia and loss of purkinje cell integrity in the cerebellum are some pathological findings in ASD. This article reviews trends in assessment of this neurodevelopmental disorder, autism risk factors, and preventions for autism. Screening tools for ASD, such as checklist for autism in toddlers (CHAT), modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT), autism behavior checklist (ABC) and the autism spectrum screening questionnaire (ASSQ), social communication questionnaire (SCQ), australian scale for asperger syndrome (ASAS), are available for use by general pediatricians. Pregnant ladies exposure to some toxic chemicals and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may increase the risk of ASDs. Mother and child cohort study (MoBa) found prenatal folic acid supplements reduce the risk of autism spectrum disorders in children, but these findings cannot determine whether they protect against other neurodevelopmental disorders. Page(s): 375-383

Probing the mechanism of the anti-diabetic potential of a terpenoid from Elephantopus scaber L., an Indian ethnomedicinal plant in STZ diabetic rats- In vivo and in silico analysis

2018-11-29T07:10:35Z

Title: Probing the mechanism of the anti-diabetic potential of a terpenoid from Elephantopus scaber L., an Indian ethnomedicinal plant in STZ diabetic rats- In vivo and in silico analysis Authors: Jasmine, R; Kumar, Ganesh A; Rajaram, R Abstract: Plants have always been an exemplary source of drugs and many of the currently available drugs have been derived directly or indirectly from them. Since ancient times, traditional medicines all over the world have advocated the use of plants to treat diabetes. Elephantopus scaber L. assumes significance because it has shown by us to possess high hypoglycemic effect and justifies the traditional claims of being anti-diabetic drug candidate. The terpenoid isolated from Elephantopus scaber L. demonstrated promising antihyperglycemic property with an increase in insulin levels but the mode of action had not been investigated. Since increased insulin levels are associated with β-cells of the pancreas, histological studies were undertaken to evaluate the effect of the compound on β-cells protection in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Streptozotocin is known to cause damage to β-cells and hence the protective and curative role of terpenoid was evaluated on the restoration of β-cells. The regeneration of damaged β-cells on the administration of the terpenoid is evident from histological and ultra-structural investigations. In histological observations, islets of extract-treated diabetic rats are seen to have numerous cells with normal histoarchitecture. Ultrastructural studies revealed β-cells of compound-treated diabetic rats to contain granulated secretory vesicles. The plant may act independently or synergistically to regenerate the damaged endocrine pancreas and thereby stimulation of insulin secretion in β-cells as revealed by LM and TEM. To further confirm the mode of action of the compound, in silico docking with target proteins like PPARγ, which plays a role in protecting β-cells from damage was undertaken. The docking analysis in the active sites of 2PRG was performed by Schrodinger program. The docking results showed good binding interactions of the ligand with the target at the very low energy level. In our in silico analysis, terpenoid isolated from E. scaber clearly demonstrated that it could improve the diabetic condition by increasing insulin secretion from remnant or regenerated pancreatic β-cells and could promote insulin sensitization and glucose uptake activities, which was a supporting evidence to the histological studies. Thus the terpenoid from E. scaber can be considered for developing into a potent antidiabetic drug. Page(s): 384-388

FSH receptor binding inhibitor restrains ovarian cancer through down-regulating expression levels of FSHR and ERβ in mice

2018-11-29T06:54:25Z

Title: FSH receptor binding inhibitor restrains ovarian cancer through down-regulating expression levels of FSHR and ERβ in mice Authors: Gong, Zhuandi; Wei, Suocheng; Liang, Haoqin; Lai, Luju; Deng, Yingying; Yang, Juan; Shen, Xiaoyun Abstract: Follicle stimulating hormone receptor is used as an imaging biomarker for the detection of ovarian cancer (OC). Inhibiton of FSHR may attenuate the carcinogenesis particularly epithelial ovarian cancer. Here we investigated FSH receptor binding inhibitor (FRBI) effects on the follicular development, to explore their impact on expressions of FSH receptor (FSHR) and estrogen receptor b (ERβ) proteins in the ovaries. 150 female mice were assigned to FRBI+FSH (COM) group, FSH group, and control group (CG). Mice in COM-1, COM-2, and COM-3 groups were intramuscularly injected with 500, 750 and 1000 μg FRBI combined with 10 IU FSH for five consecutive days. The results showed that the numbers of secondary follicles (SF) in FSH group were increased. SF numbers of three COM groups were gradually declined as the FRBI doses rose. SF numbers of COM-2 and COM-3 groups were less than the FSH group on day 20 (P <0.05). Ovarian cortex thicknesses (OCT) of COM-3 group was less than that FSH group (P <0.05). Maximum longitudinal diameter (MLD) and transverse diameter (MTD) of SFs in three COM groups were dose-dependently decreased. FSHR protein levels of COM groups were significantly decreased as compared to FSH group (P <0.05). ERβ protein levels of COM-1 and COM-2 were less than the FSH group (P <0.05). Summarily, FRBI could reduce OCT and follicle numbers, suppress follicular development, decrease expression of ovarian ERβ and FSHR protein. Page(s): 389-397

Electrochemical features of the interaction between (R)-/(S)-methyl-2- (5-fluorouracil-1-acetamide)-3-phenylpropionate and DNAs

2018-11-29T05:45:54Z

Title: Electrochemical features of the interaction between (R)-/(S)-methyl-2- (5-fluorouracil-1-acetamide)-3-phenylpropionate and DNAs Authors: Liu, Aili; Dong, Xiaomei; Jin, Huile; Wang, Shun; Jiang, Weizhong Abstract: Cyclic voltammetry was exploited to understand the interaction between chiral methyl-2-(5- fluorouracil-1-acetamide)-3-phenylpropionate molecules (denoted as (R)- or (S)-5FUPPM) and double-stranded (ds) or G-quadruplex (G4) DNAs. Using Fe(CN)₆^3-as the redox mark, experiments illustrate that the anodic peak of Fe(CN)₆^3-oxidation decreases as the concentration of 5FUPPM in the solution is increased. Calculation with the Langmuir equation yields the binding equilibrium constant of 9.1 × 10³for the dsDNA and (S)-5FUPPM and of 3.3 × 10³ for dsDNA and (R)-5FUPPM, suggesting that (S)-5FUPPM has more favorable interaction with dsDNA. On the other hand, the calculated binding constant between G4-DNA and (S)-5FUPPM is 1.6 × 10⁴, as opposed to 3.2 × 10⁴ between G4-DNA and (R)-5FUPPM. The results suggest that the binding selectivity of (R)-5FUPPM with DNAs, defined with (K_G4-DNA/K_dsDNA), is about 5 times larger than that of (S)-5FUPPM and DNAs, which is consistent with their inhibition rate on tumor cell. The information achieved here suggests that electrochemical characterization can provide useful information for the screening of new drug candidates. Page(s): 398-403