Modulatory mechanisms of copperII-albumin complex toward N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced neurotoxicity in mice via regulating oxidative damage, inflammatory, and apoptotic signaling pathways.

N-nitrosodiethylamine (ND) is an extremely toxic unavoidable environmental contaminant. CopperII-albumin (CuAB) complex, a newly developed Cu complex, showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential. Hereby, we explored the plausible neuroprotective role of CuAB complex toward ND-evoked neurotoxicity in mice. Twenty-four male mice were sorted into 4 groups (6 mice each). Control group, mice were administered oral distilled water; and CuAB group, mice received CuAB complex at a dose of 817 µg/kg orally, three times weekly. In ND group, ND was given intraperitoneally (50 mg/kg body weight, once weekly for 6 w). CuAB+ND group, mice were administered a combination of CuAB and ND. The brain was quickly extracted upon completion of the experimental protocol for the evaluation of the oxidative/antioxidative markers, inflammatory cytokines, and histopathological examination. Oxidative stress was induced after ND exposure indicated by a reduction in GSH and SOD1 level, with increased MDA level. In addition, decreased expression of SOD1 proteins, Nrf2, and 5-HT mRNA expression levels were noticed. An apoptotic cascade has also been elicited, evidenced by overexpression of Cyt c, Cl. Casp 3. In addition, increased regulation of proinflammatory genes (TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, Casp1, and NF-κB (p65/p50); besides, increment of protein expression of P-IKBα and reduced expression of IKBα. Pretreatment with CuAB complex significantly ameliorated ND neuronal damage. Our results recommend CuAB complex supplementation because it exerts neuroprotective effects against ND-induced toxicity.

Assessing the learning environment at Jazan Medical School of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Student's perceptions of educational environment significantly impacts their academic progress and sense of well-being. In the backdrop of changing medical education trends in Saudi-Arabia, with a shift from traditional to innovative curricula and federal emphasis on women in higher education; we wished to objectively assess whether the learning environment of a newly established 'all female' medical section was of acceptable standards according to perceptions of students. AIM: To assess pedagogical environment using DREEM's inventory in order to elucidate program strengths/weaknesses and promote conductive learning. RESULTS: Our Mean DREEM score (96.57/200) was lower than scores of most medical institutions in Saudi-Arabia as well as other countries. Seniors were more stressed than juniors, with poor social support systems. Teachers were generally viewed as knowledgeable but authoritarian. Significant differences (p < 0.05) existed in teaching and social domains among 2nd and 3rd level students. CONCLUSION: Undeniably, educational lapses exist in our female medical section. Reflective analysis of significant DREEM sub-domains can provide insights into problem areas for understanding behaviors and designing remedial strategies. Poor scores despite excellent physical infrastructure and facilities hint that we need to focus on our human resources and policy models if we hope to achieve quality in environments and uniformity in standards.

Geraniol reverses obesity by improving conversion of WAT to BAT in high fat diet induced obese rats by inhibiting HMGCoA reductase.

OBJECTIVES: Present report evaluates the protective effect of geraniol on high fat diet (HFD) induced obesity in rats and also determines the molecular mechanism of it. METHODS: Rats were induced with obesity with administration of HFD for four weeks and geraniol 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o. was administered for the next four week in the respective groups. Blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), lipid profile was estimated in the geraniol treated HFD induced obesity in rats. Moreover, docking study was performed to determine the specific mechanism of geraniol by targeting HMG-CoE A reductase (in silico). RESULTS: There was significant increase in body weight and amelioration in altered serum glucose and lipid profile were observed in the geraniol treated group than negative control group. Weight of organs and adipose tissue isolated from different regions of the body was reduced in geraniol treated group than negative control. Moreover, geraniol interact with HMG-CoA reductase having binding energy -5.13. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, data of the report reveals that geraniol reduces obesity by promoting the conversion of white adipose tissue (WAT) to brown adipose tissue (BAT), as it interacts with HMG-CoA reductase in HFD induced obesity in rats.

Sesquiterpene nootkatone counteracted the melamine-induced neurotoxicity via repressing of oxidative stress, inflammatory, and apoptotic trajectories.

Melamine (ML), a chemical substance of high nitrogen content, is used as a food adulterant. Former evidences implied that ML could induce a variety of toxic effects including neurotoxicity and cognitive impairment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to delineate the protective effect of the nootkatone (NK) against ML-induced neural adverse effects. Rats were orally pretreated with NK (5 and 10 mg/kg) prior to the oral administration of ML (700 mg/kg) for a period of 28 days. Our findings unveiled remarkable alleviating effect of NK on MK-induced neurobehavioral disturbance in open field test. Furthermore, NK lessened ML-caused increases in the acetylcholine esterase level in the brain tissue of exposed rats. NK also decreased the neural oxidative stress as represented by elevated levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH along with decreased MDA and NO levels. Upregulated mRNA expression levels of neural NRF-2 and HO-1 were noticed after NK administration. Remarkable anti-inflammatory impact was prominent by decreased neural IL-1ß, and TNF-α along with downregulated NF-κB and TLR-4 gene expression levels in NK-treated rats. Noteworthily, pre-treatment with NK decreased the immune reaction of RAGE and HMGB-1 induced by oral ML exposure. Brain histological examination validated the obtained biochemical and molecular results. To sum up, these outcomes reveal that NK successfully alleviated the neural damage induced by ML via blocking of oxidative stress, and inflammatory signaling pathways. Consequently, our study may suggest NK as a new effective therapeutic supplement for treatment of ML-mediated neurotoxicity in rats via inhibition of HMGB-1-RAGE/TLR-4/NF-κB.

Macro, Micro, and Nano-Inspired Bioactive Polymeric Biomaterials in Therapeutic, and Regenerative Orofacial Applications.

Introducing dental polymers has accelerated biotechnological research, advancing tissue engineering, biomaterials development, and drug delivery. Polymers have been utilized effectively in dentistry to build dentures and orthodontic equipment and are key components in the composition of numerous restorative materials. Furthermore, dental polymers have the potential to be employed for medication administration and tissue regeneration. To analyze the influence of polymer-based investigations on practical medical trials, it is required to evaluate the research undertaken in this sector. The present review aims to gather evidence on polymer applications in dental, oral, and maxillofacial reconstruction.

Bilateral caroticoclinoid and absent mental foramen: rare variations of cranial base and lower jaw.

The human skull is a complex structure, which at birth is made up of 44 separate bony elements. Gross skull morphology and variations occurring in its important foramina (anomalous presence, absence, agenesis or multiplication) represent an interesting field of research, in order to achieve better comprehension of the embryological development of cranio-facial skeleton and the fate of its neuro-vascular content. Such anomalies may be asymptomatic in some cases while in others, they may carry important medical implications such as occurrence of atypical motor syndromes and influence the outcomes of modern neurosurgery. This case reports of an adult Asian female's dry skull that presented with two extremely rare foramen variations; the 'presence of bilateral caroticoclinoid foramen' and the 'bilateral absence of mental foramen'. To the best of author's knowledge, no similar case with co-existence of both variants in the same skull has been cited before in medical literature. This merits it's reporting as ostial variations of the cranial base and lower jaw hold diagnostic, surgical and developmental relevance for practicing clinicians, biological anthropologists and embryologists.

Is dissection humane?

Dissection is being jeopardized in the modern medical education. It has unrelentingly faced the lashes of time and has been the scapegoat for numerous convenient curricula reforms and subjective biases. The cadaver is unparallel in establishing core knowledge among the medical community and it needs to be appreciated in a new light in the "cyber anatomy" realm of today. This article elucidates the medical and ethical validity of continuing human body dissection in medicine which outweighs all the prejudices associated with it.