Potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action of Hypericum hookerianum extracts in a liposome system evaluated with zebrafish embryos.

The purpose of this study was to assess the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of liposomal formulations enriched with Hypericum hookerianum (Hyp) aqueous extracts. Cotyledon segments derived from protocorms of H. hookerianum were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with Kinetin (KN, 1 mgl-1) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 0.1 mgl-1) to induce hypericin-rich red shoots (HypR, 0.87 mg/G DW). Highly stable liposomes (-29.4 mV) were successfully developed which encapsulated 63 ± 0.8% Hyp extracts, respectively. MTT assay subsequently confirmed the biocompatibility of liposome compositions using fibroblast cell lines. This work also evaluated acute toxicity of L-HypR and L-HypG formulations using Danio rerio (Zebrafish) embryos for 96 hpf. The expression of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory genes were found to be upregulated for L-HypR than L-HypG (green shoots without hypericin) formulations. These properties of L-HypR may be extremely useful for incorporating lipophilic substances into the food or pharmaceutical industry.

Caspase cascade pathways of apoptosis in oral pemphigus: An immunohistochemical study.

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune blistering diseases characterized by loss of keratinocyte cell adhesion that leads to blister formation clinically. Induction of apoptosis or of proapoptotic proteins by pemphigus immunoglobulin G (IgG) may be part of the mechanism by which IgG induces acantholysis. Some of the current data suggest that activation of proapoptotic proteins such as bax and caspase cysteine proteinases may sensitize cells to the acantholytic effects of pemphigus IgG. Thus, a central role of apoptosis in the mechanisms of blister induction is well recognized. AIMS: This study aims (a) To find which pathway of apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of pemphigus and (b) to evaluate the expression of bax and caspase-8 and its key role in pemphigus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 21 samples of oral pemphigus. The presence of apoptosis was evaluated in the sections taken from histopathologically diagnosed oral pemphigus archival blocks using peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: The expression and staining intensity of pro-apoptotic marker bax and apoptotic marker caspase-8 were observed in the various areas with varying intensity in different samples. The result was subjected to statistical analysis. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the present study suggest that the process of apoptosis occurs in PV. Hence, inhibition of apoptosis in the patients could reduce the severity of the lesions, and they could also represent new specific targets for pemphigus treatment.

Crystal structure of 1-[(2S*,4R*)-6-fluoro-2-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-quinolin-4-yl]pyrrolidin-2-one.

In the title compound, C14H17FN2O, the 1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-pyridine ring of the quinoline moiety adopts a half-chair conformation, while the pyrrolidine ring has an envelope conformation with the central methyl-ene C atom as the flap. The pyrrolidine ring lies in the equatorial plane and its mean plane is normal to the mean plane of the quinoline ring system, with a dihedral angle value of 88.37 (9)°. The bridging N-C bond distance [1.349 (3) Å] is substanti-ally shorter than the sum of the covalent radii (d cov: C-N = 1.47 Šand C=N = 1.27 Å), which indicates partial double-bond character for this bond, resulting in a certain degree of charge delocalization. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming sheets lying parallel to (10-1). These two-dimensional networks are linked via C-H⋯F hydrogen bonds and C-H⋯π inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional structure.

Crystal structure of cis-1-(2-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-quinolin-4-yl)azepan-2-one.

In the title compound, C16H22N2O, the azepan-2-one ring adopts a chair conformation, while the 1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-pyridine ring adopts a half-chair conformation. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming supra-molecular chains propagated along [10-1], with weak C-H⋯O inter-actions occurring between the chains.