The effect of carvacrol on muscarinic receptors of guinea-pig tracheal chains.

The effects of three concentrations of carvacrol, the constituent of Zataria multiflora Boiss (a monoterpenoid phenol, C(10) H(14) O) and 10 nm atropine on muscarinic receptors were tested on: non-incubated (n = 7), incubated tracheal chains with propranolol and chlorpheniramine (n = 6) and incubated with propranolol (n = 5). The EC(50) of all three concentrations of carvacrol in incubated tissues with propranolol and chlorpheniramine was significantly greater than those of incubated tissues with propranolol and non-incubated trachea (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). The EC(50) of two higher concentrations of carvacrol (0.2 and 0.4 µg/mL) in incubated tissues with propranolol was also significantly greater than those of non-incubated trachea (p < 0.01 to p < 0.001). The maximum response in the presence of all concentrations of carvacrol in non-incubated and incubated tissues with propranolol and chlorpheniramine and those of its two higher concentrations (0.2 and 0.4 µg/mL) in incubated tissues with propranolol were lower than saline (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). There were parallel rightward shifts in the concentration-response curves in the presence of all concentrations of carvacrol in non-incubated and incubated tissues with propranolol and its lower concentration in incubated tissues with propranolol and chlorpheniramine. These results indicated an inhibitory effect of carvacrol on muscarinic receptors. A ß-adrenoceptor stimulatory effect was also suggested for carvacrol.

A wafer-scale fabrication method for three-dimensional plasmonic hollow nanopillars.

Access to nanofabrication strategies for crafting three-dimensional plasmonic structures is limited. In this work, a fabrication strategy to produce 3D plasmonic hollow nanopillars (HNPs) using Talbot lithography and I-line photolithography is introduced. This method is named subtractive hybrid lithography (SHL), and permits intermixed usage of nano-and-macroscale patterns. Sputter-redeposition of gold (Au) on the SHL resist pattern yields large areas of dense periodic Au-HNPs. These Au-HNPs are arranged in a square unit cell with a 250 nm pitch. The carefully controlled fabrication process resulted in Au-HNPs with nanoscale dimensions over the Au-HNP dimensions such as an 80 ± 2 nm thick solid base with a 133 ± 4 nm diameter, and a 170 ± 10 nm high nano-rim with a 14 ± 3 nm sidewall rim-thickness. The plasmonic optical response is assessed with FDTD-modeling and reveals that the highest field enhancement is at the top of the hollow nanopillar rim. The modeled field enhancement factor (EF) is compared to the experimental analytical field enhancement factor, which shows to pair up with ca. 103 < EF < 104 and ca. 103 < EF < 105 for excitation wavelengths of 633 and 785 nm. From a broader perspective, our results can stimulate the use of Au-HNPs in the fields of plasmonic sensors and spectroscopy.

Effects of zinc supplementation on markers of insulin resistance and lipid profiles in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of zinc supplementation on glucose homeostasis parameters and lipid concentrations in PCOS women. We are aware of no study evaluating the effects of zinc supplementation on metabolic profiles of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 52 women diagnosed with PCOS and aged 18-40 years old. Participants were randomly divided into 2 groups to receive 220 mg zinc sulfate (containing 50 mg zinc) supplements (n=26) or placebo (n=26) per day for 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 8 weeks' intervention to quantify glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of intervention, subjects who received zinc supplements had significantly increased serum zinc levels (+15.6±21.8 vs. -4.1±16.7 mg/dL, P=0.001) compared with placebo. In addition, zinc-supplemented patients had reduced fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (-4.3±9.6 vs. +0.5±6.0 mg/dL, P=0.03), serum insulin levels (-3.0±2.9 vs. +1.5±8.4 µIU/mL, P=0.01), homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (-0.8±0.8 vs. +0.3±1.9, P=0.006), homeostatic model assessment-Beta cell function (HOMA-B) (-10.6±9.5 vs. +4.9±32.1, P=0.02) and increased quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) (+0.02±0.02 vs. -0.004±0.05, P=0.03) compared with placebo. Additionally, a significant reduction in serum triglycerides (-15.6±40.3 vs. +14.5±25.3 mg/dL, P=0.002) and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations (-3.2±8.1 vs. +2.9±5.1 mg/dL, P=0.002) was observed following the administration of zinc supplements compared with placebo. CONCLUSION: Taken together, 220 mg zinc sulfate supplementation per day for 8 weeks among PCOS women had beneficial effects on metabolic profiles.

Effects of congenital blindness on the subcortical representation of speech cues.

Human modalities play a vital role in the way the brain produces mental representations of the world around us. Although congenital blindness limits the understanding of the environment in some aspects, blind individuals may have other superior capabilities from long-term experience and neural plasticity. This study investigated the effects of congenital blindness on temporal and spectral neural encoding of speech at the subcortical level. The study included 26 congenitally blind individuals and 24 normal-sighted individuals with normal hearing. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) was recorded with both click and speech synthetic 40-ms /da/ stimuli. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in wave latencies or amplitudes of click ABR. Latencies of speech ABR D (p=0.012) and O (p=0.014) waves were significantly shorter in blind individuals than in normal-sighted individuals. Amplitudes of the A (p<0.001) and E (p=0.001) speech ABR (sABR) waves were also significantly higher in blind subjects. Blind individuals had significantly better results for duration (p<0.001) amplitude (p=0.015) and slope of the V-A complex (p=0.004), signal-to-noise ratio (p<0.001), and amplitude of the stimulus fundamental frequency (F0) (p=0.009), first formant (F1) (p<0.001) and higher-frequency region (HF) (p<0.001) ranges. Results indicate that congenitally blind subjects have improved hearing function in response to the /da/ syllable in both source and filter classes of sABR. It is possible that these subjects have enhanced neural representation of vocal cord vibrations and improved neural synchronization in temporal encoding of the onset and offset parts of speech stimuli at the brainstem level. This may result from the compensatory mechanism of neural reorganization in blind subjects influenced from top-down corticofugal connections with the auditory cortex.