Glycation-Associated Diabetic Nephropathy and the Role of Long Noncoding RNAs.

The glycation of various biomolecules is the root cause of many pathological conditions associated with diabetic nephropathy and end-stage kidney disease. Glycation imbalances metabolism and increases renal cell injury. Numerous therapeutic measures have narrowed down the adverse effects of endogenous glycation, but efficient and potent measures are miles away. Recent advances in the identification and characterization of noncoding RNAs, especially the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), have opened a mammon of new biology to explore the mitigations for glycation-associated diabetic nephropathy. Furthermore, tissue-specific distribution and condition-specific expression make lncRNA a promising key for second-generation therapeutic interventions. Though the techniques to identify and exemplify noncoding RNAs are rapidly evolving, the lncRNA study encounters multiple methodological constraints. This review will discuss lncRNAs and their possible involvement in glycation and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) signaling pathways. We further highlight the possible approaches for lncRNA-based therapeutics and their working mechanism for perturbing glycation and conclude our review with lncRNAs biology-related future opportunities.

Acetone and methanol fruit extracts of Terminalia paniculata inhibit HIV-1 infection in vitro.

In this study, we report the in vitro anti-HIV1 activity of acetone and methanol extracts of fruit of Terminalia paniculata. Cytotoxicity tests were conducted on TZM-bl cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), the CC50 values of both the extracts were ≥260 µg/mL. Using TZM-bl cells, the extracts were tested for their ability to inhibit replication of two primary isolates HIV-1 (X4, Subtype D) and HIV-1 (R5, Subtype C). The activity against HIV-1 primary isolate (R5, Subtype C) was confirmed using activated PBMC and by quantification of HIV-1 p24 antigen. Both the extracts showed anti-HIV1 activity in a dose-dependent manner. The EC50 values of the acetone and methanol extracts of T. paniculata were ≤10.3 µg/mL. The enzymatic assays were performed to determine the mechanism of action which indicated that the anti-HIV1 activity might be due to inhibition of reverse transcriptase (≥77.7% inhibition) and protease (≥69.9% inhibition) enzymes.

A new butenolide cinnamate and other biological active chemical constituents from Polygonum glabrum.

Phytochemical investigation of the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Polygonum glabrum afforded one new natural product (-)-2-methoxy-2-butenolide-3-cinnamate (1) along with six known compounds, ß-hydroxyfriedalanol (2), 3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene (3), (-) pinocembrin (4), sitosterol-(6'-O-palmitoyl)-3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (5), (-) pinocembrin-5-methyl ether (6) and sitosterol-3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (7). Compound 1 showed promising in vitro anti-HIV-1 activity against primary isolates HIV-1(UG070) (X4, subtype D) and HIV-1(VB59) (R5, subtype C) assayed using TZM-bl cell line with IC50 in the range of 15.68-22.43 µg/mL. The extract showed TI in the range of 19.19-27.37 with IC50 in the range of 10.90-15.55 µg/mL. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 exhibited in vitro anti-mycobacterium activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra with IC50 values of 1.43, 3.33 and 1.11 µg/mL in dormant phase and 2.27, 3.33 and 1.21 µg/mL in active phase, respectively. Compound 4 was found to be the most active antiproliferative with IC50 values of 1.88-11.00 µg/mL against THP-1, A549, Panc-1, HeLa and MCF7 cell lines.