Comprehensive Analysis of Antioxidant Properties, GC-MS, and FTIR Profiles of Myrica esculenta Fruit Extracts from Western East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya.

This study investigates the phytoconstituents of Myrica esculenta fruit extracts using various solvents, including n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water. Qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of several phytochemicals, with the highest concentration found in the methanol extract. The total phenolic (94.5±0.96 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g) and flavonoid (74.27±0.29 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g) contents were also highest in the methanol extract. Antioxidant activity was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic) acid (ABTS), and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. The methanol extract exhibited superior antioxidant activity with DPPH and ABTS IC50 values of 22.27±0.98 µg/ml and 19.69±0.36 µg/ml, respectively, compared to ascorbic acid. FRAP activity was also highest in the methanol extract (87.125±0.33 mg Trolox equivalents (TE)/g). Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified antioxidant compounds hexanedioic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester, methyl 11,12-octadecadienoate, and pentadecanoic acid. while Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis detected functional groups such as alkenes, ketones, esters, alcohols and carboxylic acids. These findings suggest that the methanolic extract of M. esculenta fruits is a rich source of natural antioxidants, making it suitable for pharmaceutical, health, and nutritional supplements aimed at enhancing overall health.

Aquaporins (AQPs) as a marker in the physiology of inflammation and its interaction studies with garcinol.

Aquaporins like AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 are known to be involved in the pathophysiology of inflammation based on earlier reports. This study aimed to evaluate the involvement of Aquaporins as a potential target of inflammation. The study also investigates the efficacy of methanolic extract of Garcinia (GME) and its potent phytocompound (garcinol) against the Aquaporins involved in inflammation. siRNA silencing of AQP3 was carried out in RAW264.7 cells followed by LPS stimulation (1 µg/ml) and assessment of important markers of inflammation including NO, PGE2, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, CCL20, iNOS and COX-2. To assess the anti-inflammatory potential of Garcinia extract and garcinol, cells were stimulated with 1 µg/ml LPS in the absence and presence of increasing concentrations of GME and garcinol. During the experimental period, extract concentrations (115 µg/ml and 230 µg/ml for RAW264.7; 118 µg/ml and 236 µg/ml for THP-1) and garcinol concentrations (6 µM and 12 µM for RAW264.7; 3 µM and 6 µM for THP-1) were selected based on the IC50. The anti-inflammatory effects were assessed by measuring the levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, and CCL20 in LPS-stimulated cells. The AQP expression was studied at transcriptional and translational levels using qPCR and Western blot analysis respectively. AQP3 knockdown significantly decreased the NO, PGE2, TNF-α, IL-1ß levels along with iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression. LPS stimulation led to a significant increase in the mRNA and protein level expression AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 in RAW264.7 cells; and AQP1 and AQP3 in THP-1 cells indicating their role as markers of inflammation. GME and garcinol effectively suppressed the LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokine production in both cell lines. The results indicate that AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 could play a crucial role as markers of inflammation. Anti-inflammatory agents like Garcinia could potentially decrease the expression of such AQPs, thus inhibiting the inflammatory process.

An overview on the prevalence and potential impact of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance in the aquatic environment of India.

India at present is one of the leading countries in antimicrobial drug production and use, leading to increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and public health problems. Attention has mainly been focused on the human and food animals' contribution to AMR neglecting the potential contribution of the perceptibly degraded aquatic environment in India. The paper reviews the available published literature in India on the prevalence of antimicrobial residues and their dissemination pathways in wastewater of pharmaceutical industries, sewage treatment plants, hospitals, riverine, community pond water, and groundwater. The prevalence of antimicrobial residue concentration, pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB), their drug resistance levels, and their specific antimicrobial resistant genes (ARGs) occurring in various water matrices of India have been comprehensively depicted from existing literature. The concentration of some widely used antimicrobials recorded from the sewage treatment plants and hospital wastewater and rivers in India has been compared with other countries. The ecotoxicological risk posed by these antimicrobials in the various water matrices in India indicated high hazard quotient (HQ) values for pharmaceutical effluents, hospital effluents, and river water. The degraded aquatic environment exhibited the selection of a wide array of co-existent resistant genes for antibiotics and metals. The review revealed improper use of antibiotics and inadequate wastewater treatment as major drivers of AMR contaminating water bodies in India and suggestion for containing the challenges posed by AMR in India has been proposed.

Spatial accessibility modeling to healthcare facilities in the case of health shocks of Midnapore municipality, India.

This research aims to identify the accessibility of the entire population, especially the slum population to existing healthcare facilities (HCF) as well as the slum neighborhoods having low geographic accessibility, and finally, to provide an analytical model for the people living in areas that are outside the coverage range of existing healthcare facilities (HCF) across the study area. Spatial data has been collected and used based on the road network, elevation, location of HCF, municipal boundary, slum point, and satellite images from various sources. Also, non-spatial data such as socioeconomic variables are collected from questionnaires survey within a particular period. The spatial analysis tool like as near, network analysis, and predictive analysis in the ArcGIS platform was used to examine geographic accessibility. The results of the spatial analysis show that the distribution of public healthcare facility centers in the study area has not been uniformly distributed. Across 84% of areas in the study area have sound spatial accessibility with traveling time coverage is about 12 min. However, 16% of areas have a traveling time of 12 to 30 min under low accessibility with existing slum neighborhoods. Therefore, the low spatial accessibility areas are demanding new healthcare facilities in the study area. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to find the most optimal and efficient locational suitability for building new healthcare facility centers. The finding of AHP analysis for site suitability of healthcare facilities revealed five major classes as most suitable (2%), suitable (5%), moderate (35%), poor (54%), and very poor (4%) in the study area. Moreover, the realistic framework of this study helps to measure geographic accessibility and suitability in any geographical area.

Differential expression of aquaporin genes and the influence of environmental hypertonicity on their expression in juveniles of air-breathing stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis).

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a superfamily of transmembrane channel proteins that are responsible for the transport of water and some other molecules to and from the cell, mainly for osmoregulation under anisotonicity. We investigated here the expression patterns of different AQP isoforms and also during exposure to hypertonicity (300 mOsmol/L) for 48 h in juvenile stages of air-breathing stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis). A total of 8 mRNA transcripts for different isoforms of AQPs and their translated proteins could be detected in the anterior and posterior regions of S1, S2, and S3 stages of juveniles of stinging catfish at variable levels. In general, more expression of mRNAs for different aqp genes was seen in the S2 and S3 juveniles than in the S1 juveniles. Most interestingly, exposure to hypertonicity of S2 juveniles for a period of 48 h led to increased expression of most of the aqp genes both at transcriptional and translational levels, except for aqp3 in the anterior and posterior regions and aqp1 in the anterior region, showing maximum expression at later stages of hypertonic exposure. Thus, it is evident that AQPs play crucial roles in maintaining the water and ionic balances under anisotonic conditions even at the early developmental stages of stinging catfish as a biochemical adaptational strategy to survive and grow in anisotonic environment.

Sensory evaluation of microwave-ultrasound treated bottle gourd juice using hybrid features of fuzzy logic and proportional odd modelling approach.

In the present investigation, sensory evaluation of bottle gourd juice (BGJ) samples, obtained from microwave-ultrasound based combined treatment was performed. The raw (sample-1) and conventionally treated (sample-2) alongside microwave-ultrasound treated (sample-3) were considered for the assessment of sensory evaluation. An innovative approach of hybrid fuzzy logic and proportional odd modelling (FL-POM) was implemented for the analysis of the sensory scores. The similarity values for the juice samples and their quality attributes were resolved from the results obtained by fuzzy logic. These values were considered as input for hybridization with the POM approach. The assessed coefficients obtained from the results of POM were considered for the ranking of the samples and quality traits. The ranking of the BGJ samples was observed in the order of sample-1 > sample-3 > sample-2, and their related quality attributes ranked in the order color > taste > aroma > mouth feel. The microwave-ultrasound treated BGJ evinced as the best sample in comparison to the raw one.

Exploring the role of Aquaporins (AQPs) in LPS induced systemic inflammation and the ameliorative effect of Garcinia in male Wistar rat.

The Aquaporins (AQPs) could prove to be striking targets of inflammation. The aim of this study was to study the involvement of AQPs and explore the anti-inflammatory activity of Garcinia extract in LPS induced acute systemic inflammation in Wistar rats. Adult male Wistar rats (n = 6) were pretreated with Garcinia orally twice for 7 days, followed by a single intraperitoneal dose (5.5 mg/kgbw) of LPS. Serum ALT, AST, ALP, Creatinine, Urea and BUN, nitric oxide, prostaglandin, cytokine and chemokine levels were measured. LC-MS analysis of Garcinia was performed to identify the phytoconstituents present. The iNOS and COX enzyme activity were determined in the target tissues. qPCR analysis of inos, cox-2 and aqps was performed. Relative protein expression of AQPs was studied by Western blot analysis. Molecular docking studies were performed to study the interaction of garcinol and hydroxycitric acid, the two important phytoconstituents of Garcinia with AQP. The qPCR analysis showed tissue-specific up-regulation of aqp1, aqp3, aqp4 and aqp8 in LPS induced rats. Garcinia extract treatment effectively lowered the mRNA expression of these AQPs. Garcinia extract significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO, prostaglandin, cytokine and chemokine production in serum and also decreased tissue-specific transcript level of inos and cox-2, thus suggesting the anti-inflammatory role of Garcinia. Also, docking studies revealed interactions of garcinol and hydroxycitric acid with AQP1, 3, 4 and 8. Therefore, the present study suggests the possible involvement of AQP1, 3, 4 and 8 in inflammation and the efficacy of Garcinia extract as an anti-inflammatory agent. Therefore, AQPs can act as prognostic markers of inflammation and can be targeted with Garcinia extract.

Synergistic Action of Copper Catalysts and Lewis Acids in Carbon-Carbon Bond Forming Reactions.

Combining Lewis acids with copper catalysis and highly reactive Grignard reagents allows fine tuning of the reactivity and selectivity of both inherently unreactive and highly reactive electrophilic substrates in asymmetric C-C bond forming reactions. In this review we will discuss various examples where the application of this strategy provides access to efficient catalytic processes for the synthesis of chiral molecules such as alcohols, amides and heteroarenes.

Highly Selective Addition of a Broad Spectrum of Trimethylsilane Pro-nucleophiles to N-tert-Butanesulfinyl Imines.

Addition of organotrimethylsilane reagents to chiral N-tert-butanesulfinyl imines can be achieved in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities by employing TMSO(-)/Bu4N(+) as a Lewis base activator in THF. A variety of aliphatic, aromatic, heteroaromatic and organometallic chiral imines were utilised as electrophiles for the synthesis of enantioenriched N-tert-butanesulfinyl amides. Remarkably, the same sets of reaction conditions could be used with a highly diverse range of bench-stable organotrimethylsilane reagents, which highlights the generality and robustness of this methodology.

Stereoselective Peterson olefinations from bench-stable reagents and N-phenyl imines.

The synthesis of bench-stable α,α-bis(trimethylsilyl)toluenes and tris(trimethylsilyl)methane is described and their use in stereoselective Peterson olefinations has been achieved with a wide substrate scope. Product stereoselectivity was poor with carbonyl electrophiles (E/Z ∼1:1 to 4:1) though this was significantly improved by employing the corresponding substituted N-benzylideneaniline (up to 99:1) as an alternative electrophile. The olefination byproduct was identified as N,N-bis(trimethylsilyl)aniline and could be easily separated from product by aqueous acid extraction. Evidence for an autocatalytic cycle has been obtained.

Bu4N+ alkoxide-initiated/autocatalytic addition reactions with organotrimethylsilanes.

The use of Me3SiO(-)/Bu4N(+) as a general activator of organotrimethylsilanes for addition reactions has been established. The broad scope of the method offers trimethylsilanes (including acetate, allyl, propargyl, benzyl, dithiane, heteroaryl, and aryl derivatives) as bench-stable organometallics that can be readily utilized as carbanion equivalents for synthesis. Reactions are achieved at rt without the requirement of specialized precautions that are commonplace for other organometallics.

Seasonal variation in expression patterns of anti-microbial peptides and activity of anti-oxidant defence enzymes in muga silkworm larvae, Antheraea assamensis Helfer.

Muga is a semi-domesticated multi-voltine silkworm cultivated in different seasons of the year. Crops are reared in specific months and are traditionally named Jarua (spring), Chotua, Bohogua, Jethua, Aherua, Saonia, Bhodia, Ahinia, Katia (autumn) and Aghonia. Seasonal variation forces silkworm larvae to face harsh environmental conditions manifested by generation of oxidative stress and occurrence of microbial diseases. Anti-oxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) along with anti-microbial peptides like cecropin, gloverin, and defensin in lepidopterans play a significant role in fighting against free radicals as well as disease-causing microbes, and hence this study has focussed on the expression of anti-oxidant enzyme activity and different anti-microbial peptides in three distinct crops, namely, Jarua and Aherua (seed crops) and Katia (commercial crop) collected from the same site, Khanapara (26°09'34.62″N; 91°41'27.23″E) in Assam, India. The results of biochemical enzyme assays revealed the Jarua crop to possess the highest enzyme activity with respect to SOD and GST in particular, followed by the Katia and Aherua crops. Malondialdehyde lipid peroxidase and reduced glutathione were also expressed notably in the Jarua crop. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) study involving analysis of anti-microbial peptide (AMP) expression revealed the Jarua crop to possess the highest expression of three AMPs, viz., gloverin, moricin 1 and gallerimycin pro, followed by Katia with the highest expression of attacin and defensin. Total haemocyte count revealed Jarua to induce the least haemocyte count, Katia to induce moderate, and Aherua to induce the highest count. Thus, our findings indicate that although the Jarua crop is considered a seed crop, it can be reconsidered as a commercial crop due to its high concentration of anti-oxidant enzymes and higher expression of AMPs. This study was carried out to focus on the immunological response of the muga silkworm with varying seasons. Their innate immunity helps them fight against diseases that emerge under different environmental conditions in which anti-microbial peptides play a crucial role. Muga larvae are reared for silk and are used commercially to produce various commodities for which the best silk thread should always be identified to obtain a higher market value.

Surface Enhancement of Additively Manufactured Bone Plate Through Hybrid-Electrochemical Magnetorheological Finishing Process.

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing provides the benefits of individualizing the implant per patient requirements. However, the poor surface quality of additively manufactured biomaterial is a major limitation. Hence, hybrid-electrochemical magnetorheological (H-ECMR) polishing is developed to improve the surface quality of fabricated parts. H-ECMR finishing is an advanced surface polishing operation that avails the synergic action of mechanical abrasion and the electrochemical reaction to enhance the surface quality of the workpiece without hampering its surface topography. Furthermore, the developed H-ECMR finishing process reduces the finishing time and produces a uniform surface quality compared with the conventional magnetorheological (MR) finishing process. However, the surface finishing of the parts having a hole-of-pocket feature through the H-ECMR finishing process is a major challenge as MR fluid gets trapped inside those holes or pockets. A feature-based hybrid H-ECMR finishing process is developed to resolve the issue. In this case, paraffin wax is applied to the holes and pockets before the H-ECMR process occurs. In the present work, bone plates are fabricated through selective laser melting, and their surface quality is further enhanced through the H-ECMR finishing process. Bone plates are necessary to provide mechanical stability during bone fracture healing by adapting to the chemical environment. The final Ra value of 21.37 nm is attained from 9.36 µm through H-ECMR finishing. Pin-on-disk study is carried out on the biomaterial to analyze its wear resistance. The surface topography of the workpiece is analyzed through scanning electron microscopy before and after finishing, and it was observed that a uniform surface is achieved after polishing. Apart from the average surface roughness (Ra ), other roughness parameters such as skewness (R sk) and kurtosis (R ku) are analyzed to study the attribute of the surface irregularities.

Transcriptome analysis of gills reveals novel insights into the molecular response of stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis) to environmental hypertonicity.

The stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis is a champion survivor under hypertonic stress and is suggested to be a profitable candidate for culture in slightly saline water in coastal regions. Fish gills are an essential site of osmoregulation and other physiological processes. To investigate the stress responses and mechanisms of salinity tolerance in stinging catfish, we sampled gills tissues from control and hypertonicity (100 mM NaCl solution) treated adult catfish and assessed for transcriptomic profiling by high throughput sequencing. The raw data generated was filtered and assembled for de novo transcriptome assembly. The final contig assembly produced a total of 1,71,478 unigene transcripts with an average transcript length of 898 bp and a GC content of 45%. A total of 22,231 transcripts matched with Chordata with BLAST search and were functionally annotated, out of which 21,814 were best-hit transcripts aligned with the UniProt database. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed that a total of 1951 genes were differentially expressed in the gills of NaCl-treated fish compared to the control. Functional and enrichment analysis of the Differentially expressed genes demonstrated that several GO pathway terms were significantly over-represented, such as 'catalytic activity', 'hydrolase activity' in molecular function category, 'membrane', 'integral component of membrane' in cellular component category and 'metabolic process', 'regulation of transcription' in biological process category. The functional analysis study of DEGs demonstrated that tolerance to hypertonic stress by stinging catfish is associated with a few pathways related to stress response, immune response, biosynthesis, metabolism, molecular transport, cytoskeleton remodeling, apoptosis, cell signaling, transcriptional regulation, etc. The present study provides a novel insight into the molecular responses of the air-breathing stinging catfish against salinity stress, which could elucidate the underlying mechanisms of adaptation of this stenohaline species under various environmental constraints.

Post processing of low cost Aligners fabricated by additive manufacturing process to enhance the surface quality and functionality.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes have ample advantages compared to traditional manufacturing processes, including mass customization, material efficiency, bioprinting, and fabrication of complex geometries with reduced lead time. Despite such benefits, it suffers most from staircase effects that deteriorate the fabricated part's surface quality. Nowadays, additively manufactured aligners are suitable for treating malocclusion and temporomandibular defects of teeth. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is one of the best substitutes for clear aligners production to reduce per-unit cost. Glycol-modified Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETG) is opted as the material to fabricate the clear aligners due to its biocompatibility and non-toxicity. However, the poor surface quality of the additively manufactured is a major challenge in developing clear aligners with the FDM. A novel experimental setup is designed and developed to enable Chemical Vapor Smoothing (CVS) to enhance the surface quality of the clear aligners. Furthermore, based on the Surface roughness, the comparison is made between the surface quality polished with various chemicals (namely methylethylketone (also known as 2-butanone), toluene and, cyclohexanone). Moreover, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is used to analyze the impact of different process parameters (i.e., the chemical volume, exposure time, and workpiece orientation) on the surface quality of the clear aligners. Moreover, RSM shows that the impact of the clear aligners orientation on %ΔRa during the CVS is higher than other process parameters. Results demonstrate that cyclohexanone produces more uniform surface quality with a 92.73% reduction in surface roughness compared to methylethylketone and toluene on PETG, i.e., 89.66% and 88.63%, respectively. The developed surface finishing method is capable of producing uniform, smooth surfaces over the FDM-fabricated PETG clear aligners.

Exploring the anti-inflammatory potential of Colocasia esculenta root extract in in-vitro and in-vivo models of inflammation.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Colocasia esculenta (CE) (L.) Schott is an annual herbaceous tropical plant from the family of Araceae which has been traditionally used for the healing of various ailments such as asthma, arthritis, internal hemorrhage, diarrhea, and neurological disorders. The plant is reported to have potential anti-microbial, anti-fungal, antimetastatic, anti-hepatotoxic, and anti-lipid peroxidative activities. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study is designed to explore the potential anti-inflammatory property of Colocasia esculenta methanolic root extract (CEMRE) on carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW264.7 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model was used to investigate the in vivo anti-inflammatory action of CEMRE. Adult male Wistar rats (180-220 g; n = 6) were pre-treated with CEMRE (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW) orally before 1 h of injection of 1% carrageenan. Indomethacin (10 mg/kg BW) was given orally as the standard drug. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandinE2 (PGE2), and cytokines levels were measured. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was done to identify the phytoconstituents present in CEMRE. The inhibitory activity of CEMRE was investigated against cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in in vitro assessment of LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The RAW 264.7 cells were pre-treated with Indomethacin (5 µM and 10 µM) and CEMRE (17 µg/ml and 34 µg/ml) followed by induction of LPS (1 µg/ml) for 24 h. Docking analyses were also performed to explore the interaction of important phytoconstituents (Sinapic acid, Acetylsalicylic acid, L-fucose, Salicylic acid, Quinic acid, Zingerone, and Gingerol) of CEMRE with COX-2 and iNOS. RESULTS: Pre-treatment with CEMRE (400 mg/kg) could inhibit the paw inflammation significantly which was elevated due to carrageenan induction. The inhibition is comparable to that of the standard drug Indomethacin. The concentration of serum AST, ALT, ALP, NO, PGE2 and cytokines were also considerably lowered in the CEMRE-treated group as compared to the carrageenan-induced group. CEMRE (34 µg/ml) inhibited the LPS-stimulated relative expression of mRNA of COX-2 and iNOS and significantly reduced the expression of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2. Docking analyses revealed promising interaction with low binding energies between Sinapic acid with both the target proteins COX-2 and iNOS. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our results suggested that CEMRE exhibited effective anti-inflammatory actions on carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells by reducing the in vivo paw edema inhibition, inhibiting the serum NO, PGE2, cytokines and also reduced the in vitro production of NO, PGE2 along with expressions of mRNA COX-2 and iNOS. Molecular docking demonstrated good binding affinities among the target proteins and ligand Sinapic acid. Thus the bioactive compound from CE need to be isolated and purified.

Deciphering the role of aquaporin 1 in the adaptation of the stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis to environmental hypertonicity by molecular dynamics simulation studies.

A thorough investigation of the water permeability of H. fossilis aquaporin 1 (hfAQP1) in a hypertonic environment can provide a useful insight into the understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism of its high tolerance to salinity. Here, we constructed a 3 D homology model of hfAQP1 by taking Bos taurus AQP1, AQP0, and human AQP2 as templates using I-TASSER. The model obtained has similar structural organizations with mammalian AQP1s in all aspects. We investigated the water permeability of the modeled hfAQP1 in a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membrane under neutral and 100 mM hypersalinity by subjecting each system to a 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation. Our results show that hypersalinity hinders water permeation across the membrane through the hfAQP1 channel. A change in the intermolecular distance between key residues of the ar/R selectivity filter along with charge redistribution resulted in the accommodation of only 2-6 water molecules inside the channel at once under hypersaline conditions. We investigated the mRNA expression pattern of hfaqp1 in osmoregulatory organs of H. fossilis in response to 100 mM hypertonicity by using qPCR analysis. The transcript was downregulated in kidney and GI tract, but upregulated in the Gills. Thus, the catfish survive in a hypertonic environment by reducing the transport of water in its cellular systems and downregulating the expression of the hfaqp1 gene. The results observed in our study can shed more light on the functionality of AQP1 in catfishes under salinity stress and aid in future researches on solving more gating mechanisms involved in its regulation.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Deciphering the role of aquaporins in metabolic diseases: A mini review.

The expression of various isoforms of aquaporins (AQPs) in different tissues and organs of the body makes it a viable candidate for being responsible for maintaining cell stability and integrity as their involvement has been well documented in a number of pathophysiological conditions of the human body. Any alteration in the cellular environment brought about by these AQPs creates severe downstream effects like changes in cellular osmolality, volume, ionic composition, signaling pathways and even in the levels of intracellular second messengers and, as such, facilitates the occurrence of diseases like cancer. The altered equilibrium of water, extracellular ions and amino acid neurotransmitters caused by neuronal destruction and oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases proposed the role of these AQPs in these diseased conditions as well. The association of AQPs in a variety of inflammatory processes like lung injury, brain edema, neuromyelitis optica, and colitis as manifested through their dysregulation both in animal and human diseases is truly an eye opener for their role in protection and reaction to various noxious stimuli including bacterial infection. Renal diseases like nephrogenic diabetes inspidus, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and acute kidney injury are some of the pathophysiological conditions related to malfunctioning of aquaporins. Besides, the malfunctioning of aquaglyceroporins like AQP7 and AQP9 makes them responsible for disorders like obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In this review article, we present our current understanding of the role of AQPs in the causation of these metabolic disorders and how targeting them holds promising therapeutic potential for most of these diseases like cancer, renal diseases and even cardiovascular disorders.

Spatial analysis and modelling for primary healthcare site selection in Midnapore town, West Bengal.

Unprecedented and chaotic growth of cities results in reducing open spaces and water bodies, worsening infrastructure facilities and changes in ecological morphology. This unregulated growth of the urban population led to uneven distribution of urban amenities, facilities and healthcare services. Considering this, the study aimed to draw attention to the existing spatial pattern of healthcare facility centres as well as to find out the possible sites for the provision of healthcare facility centres in the municipal ward (micro-scale) of Midnapore town. This prototype study was conducted using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) evaluation model based on various criteria through Arc GIS environment. The findings indicate that the spatial distribution patterns of existing public healthcare centres were significantly dispersed. Weights based on a set of criteria were calculated by AHP and OLS algorithm and generated suitability evaluation maps classified from 1 (poor suitable) to 4 (most suitable). According to the employed criteria in this study unveil those existing hospitals and primary healthcare centres have not been located in the appropriate locations. The model is found to be valid for the given study area and there is no significant difference between AHP and OLS results. Further, it can be used for preparing the suitability map for the other areas with similar geo-environmental conditions for the proviso of healthcare services as well as will be most effective in preventing disease progression and reducing healthcare inequality on a large scale. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10708-021-10528-w.

Ameliorative Potential of Rosuvastatin on Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity by Modulating Oxidative Damage in Rats

Objectives: The study aimed to explore the in vivo protective potential of rosuvastatin (ROSS), an oral antihyperlipidemic drug against doxorubicin (DOXO) induced cardio toxicity in rats. Materials and Methods: Cardiac toxicity was induced by DOXO injection (10 mg/kg, i.p.), once on the 20th day of the experiment. Except for the control rats, all were received DOXO and the study was continued for up to 21 days. The influence of ROSS on acute treatment was analyzed by quantification of cardiac marker enzymes such as creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and liver marker enzymes like aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) along with the measurement of in vivo antioxidants like superoxide dismutase and catalase. To observe histological changes of myocardial tissue hematoxylin and eosin staining were used. Results: Acute administration of DOXO resulted in a marked rise of cardiac marker enzymes that confirms the myocardial damage compared to control animals whereas administration of ROSS (10 mg/kg, p.o.) resulted in the significant reduction of CK-MB, LDH levels (p<0.05) and AST, ALT levels to a remarkable extent. Moreover, ROSS administration significantly increased the activities of various in vivo antioxidant levels. Conclusion: From the results, the acute administration of ROSS showed significant cardioprotective property, which was evidenced by a significant reduction of cardiac and liver marker enzymes along with significant improvement of in vivo antioxidant activities. Furthermore the results were supported with histopathological observations. Hence, it can be concluded that cardioprotective potential of ROSS may be through attenuation of oxidative stress by modulating oxidative damage in rats.