The neuroprotective potential of turmeric rhizome and bitter melon on aspartame-induced spatial memory impairment in rats.

Aspartame is widely used artificial sweetener. However, chronic exposure to aspartame led to spatial memory impairment and elevated oxidative stress in the brain. Extract of turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) (TUR) and extract of bitter melon (Momordica charantia) (BM) is known to have antioxidant activity. The present study was aimed to examine the neuroprotective potential of TUR and BM extracts, either as single or as combination, against the effects of aspartame in the brain. Here, Sprague-Dawley rats fed with aspartame (40 mg/kg BW) for 28 days were compared with rats fed with extract and aspartame. To assess neuroprotective potential, rats were given extract 7 days before and during aspartame treatment. Spatial memory was assessed with Morris water maze test followed with H&E staining of hippocampal region. Brain lipid peroxidation and enzymatic activity of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were measured to probe status of oxidative stress in the brain. Aspartame-treated rats demonstrated spatial memory impairment and reduced number of hippocampal cells and elevated levels of MDA, downregulated activity of GPx and elevated activity of AChE. In contrast, animals received both aspartame and extract demonstrated better spatial memory function, higher number of hippocampal areas, increased GPX activity, reduced MDA levels, and decreased AChE activity were observed in the brain of extract-treated rats. Taken together, our results suggest that extract of TUR rhizome and BM fruit exhibit antioxidant activity which may contribute to the neuroprotective effects against aspartame-induced memory impairment in rats.

Renal tubular function and morphology revealed in kidney without labeling using three-dimensional dynamic optical coherence tomography.

Renal tubule has distinct metabolic features and functional activity that may be altered during kidney disease. In this paper, we present label-free functional activity imaging of renal tubule in normal and obstructed mouse kidney models using three-dimensional (3D) dynamic optical coherence tomography (OCT) ex vivo. To create an obstructed kidney model, we ligated the ureter of the left kidney for either 7 or 14 days. Two different dynamic OCT (DOCT) methods were implemented to access the slow and fast activity of the renal tubules: a logarithmic intensity variance (LIV) method and a complex-correlation-based method. Three-dimensional DOCT data were acquired with a 1.3 [Formula: see text]m swept-source OCT system and repeating raster scan protocols. In the normal kidney, the renal tubule appeared as a convoluted pipe-like structure in the DOCT projection image. Such pipe-like structures were not observed in the kidneys subjected to obstruction of the ureter for several days. Instead of any anatomical structures, a superficial high dynamics appearance was observed in the perirenal cortex region of the obstructed kidneys. These findings suggest that volumetric LIV can be used as a tool to investigate kidney function during kidney diseases.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic consumption: A systematic review comparing 2019 and 2020 data.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has influenced antibiotic consumption over a long period, with variability in trends among studies. We conducted this systematic review to explore and compare the effect of the pandemic on overall and individual antibiotic consumption in 2020 with that in 2019. Methods: This systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. Data on antibiotic consumption in Japan was sourced from the Japan Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption. Results: A total of 1,442 articles and reports were screened, and 16 eligible articles were reviewed. The included studies were conducted in Jordan, Australia, Canada, UK, Japan, Brazil, India, China, and the EU. There was no study from African and Southeast Asian Countries. Overall, antibiotic consumption in the community consistently reduced in 2020. Studies from Australia, Canada, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Japan, and the European Union reported both decreases in overall and selected individual antibiotics consumption. In contrast, hospital-based studies reported both increases and decreases. Hospital-based studies in Lebanon, Spain, Italy, India, and the UK reported an increase in antibiotic consumption in 2020. Studies reporting an interruption of antibiotic stewardship programs during the pandemic also reported increases in antibiotic consumption for hospitalized patients in 2020 compared with that in 2019. Conclusion: Our results showed a different trend between communities and hospitals in antibiotic consumption during 2020 compared to 2019. The continuity of the antibiotic stewardship program might have influenced the antibiotic consumption trend variability among hospitals in 2020. Alongside this, the lack of information on antibiotic consumption from low-income countries and limited reports from middle-income countries revealed gaps that need to be urgently filled.

Label-free metabolic imaging of non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease (NAFLD) liver by volumetric dynamic optical coherence tomography.

Label-free metabolic imaging of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) mouse liver is demonstrated ex vivo by dynamic optical coherence tomography (OCT). The NAFLD mouse is a methionine choline-deficient (MCD)-diet model, and two mice fed the MCD diet for 1 and 2 weeks are involved in addition to a normal-diet mouse. The dynamic OCT is based on repeating raster scan and logarithmic intensity variance (LIV) analysis that enables volumetric metabolic imaging with a standard-speed (50,000 A-lines/s) OCT system. Metabolic domains associated with lipid droplet accumulation and inflammation are clearly visualized three-dimensionally. Particularly, the normal-diet liver exhibits highly metabolic vessel-like structures of peri-vascular hepatic zones. The 1-week MCD-diet liver shows ring-shaped highly metabolic structures formed with lipid droplets. The 2-week MCD-diet liver exhibits fragmented vessel-like structures associated with inflammation. These results imply that volumetric LIV imaging is useful for visualizing and assessing NAFLD abnormalities.

Label-free functional and structural imaging of liver microvascular complex in mice by Jones matrix optical coherence tomography.

We demonstrate label-free imaging of the functional and structural properties of microvascular complex in mice liver. The imaging was performed by a custom-built Jones-matrix based polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT), which is capable of measuring tissue's attenuation coefficient, birefringence, and tiny tissue dynamics. Two longitudinal studies comprising a healthy liver and an early fibrotic liver model were performed. In the healthy liver, we observed distinctive high dynamics beneath the vessel at the initial time point (0 h) and reappearance of high dynamics at 32-h time point. In the early fibrotic liver model, we observed high dynamics signal that reveals a clear network vascular structure by volume rendering. Longitudinal time-course imaging showed that these high dynamics signals faded and decreased over time.

Dynamic Changes of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cells Under In Vitro Prolonged Culture and Hypoxic Conditions.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been utilized as an excellent model for the study of neural development. However, the dynamic changes of ES cell-derived neural stem cells (ES-NSCs), under the effects of prolonged cell culture and hypoxic conditions, are still obscured. In the present study, using the combination of serum-free culture of embryoid body-like aggregates (SFEB) culture and cell sorting by Sox-1, the ES-NSCs were easily isolated and showed in vitro temporal neural specification, which resulted in distinct cell fates after neural differentiation. Early passaged ES-NSCs gave rise to neurons, whereas late-passaged ES-NSCs gave rise to glial cells, similar to the in vivo dynamic changes during the neural development. Remarkably, hypoxia treatment induced the neural differentiation of ES-NSCs but did not affect the cell fate. Under hypoxic conditions, early passaged ES-NSCs showed the upregulation of neuronal markers, whereas late-passaged ES-NSCs showed the upregulation of a glial marker. In addition, the knockdown of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α expression impaired the neuronal differentiation of early passaged ES-NSCs under hypoxic conditions. These data demonstrated the distinct effects of prolonged culture and hypoxic stimuli on the neural differentiation of ES-NSCs; prolonged culture was involved in the cell fate after neural differentiation, while hypoxia treatment efficiently promoted neural differentiation.