Collaborative active learning: bioimpedance and anthropometry in higher education.

Research in the health sciences devotes much attention to overweight and obesity and, consequently, to body composition. In recent years, traditional body measures have been questioned as efficient variables in health sciences due to the fact that they cannot give information about body fat mass. Our aim is to teach how to analyze body composition through anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis to our "Physiology of Vegetative and Reproductive Functions" students, who are studying for their degree in Biology. We proposed project-oriented-learning to promote collaborative interactions among students. Fifty-two students voluntarily formed five groups; they worked with the concepts of basal metabolic rate and body composition from a theoretical point of view and later transformed these concepts into a practical perspective by preparing a manuscript in groups with objectives proposed by our teaching team. In this research, we show a collaborative educational scenario for university students in which students are tutored from a constructivist perspective to promote social interactions, resulting in new knowledge acquisition.

Effects of astaxanthin on antioxidant parameters in ARPE-19 cells on oxidative stress model.

AIM: To observe the protective effect of astaxanthin (AST) against hydroquinone (HQ) mediated cell death in the apoptotic cascade and evaluate intracellular Ca2+ release, caspase-3, and -9 activation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in ARPE-19 cells. METHODS: We cultured ARPE-19 cells in special mediums and performed MTT tests to determine protective effect of AST, before exposing the cells to HQ in an incubator. We analyzed intracellular Ca2+ release experiments, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and ROS experiments, and apoptosis assay. RESULTS: ROS production ranges depend on the amount of cell death. We computed the correlation between ROS ranges and cell death by 20,70-dichlorofluorescein fluorescence, and Ca2+ levels by Fura-2-AM. HQ-induced cell death found out to rise ranges of caspase-3 and -9, and mitochondrial depolarization. These three steps were delayed by AST management. CONCLUSION: ARPE-19 cells are avoided from HQ-induced ROS production and caspase-3 and -9 activation by AST. AST may limit the range of caspase synthesis, Ca2+ release and excess production of ROS with antiapoptotic effect. This study proposes a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.