There are few reports that demonstrate the antigenotoxic potential of cranberries. Although the types of berry fruits consumed worldwide are many, this paper focuses on cranberries that are commonly ...consumed in Mexico (Vaccinium macrocarpon species). The purpose of the present study is to determine whether cranberry ethanolic extract (CEE) can prevent the DNA damage produced by benzoapyrene (BaP) using an in vivo mouse peripheral blood micronucleus assay. The experimental groups were organized as follows: a negative control group (without treatment), a positive group treated with BaP (200 mg/kg), a group administered with 800 mg/kg of CEE, and three groups treated with BaP and CEE (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg) respectively. The CEE and benzoapyrene were administered orally for a week, on a daily basis. During this period the body weight, the feed intake, and the determination of antigenotoxic potential were quantified. At the end of this period, we continued with the same determinations for one week more (recovery period) but anymore administration of the substances. The animals treated with BaP showed a weight increase after the first week of administration. The same phenomenon was observed in the lots combined with BaP and CEE (low and medium doses). The dose of 800 mg/kg of CEE showed similar values to the control group at the end of the treatment period. In the second part of the assay, when the substances were not administered, these experimental groups regained their normal weight. The dose of CEE (800 mg/kg) was not genotoxic nor cytotoxic. On the contrary, the BaP increases the frequency of micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes (MNNE) and reduces the rate of polychromatic erythrocytes (PE) at the end of the treatment period. With respect to the combined lots, a significant decrease in the MN rate was observed from the sixth to the eighth day of treatment with the two high doses applied; the highest protection (60%) was obtained with 800 mg/kg of CEE. The same dose showed an anticytotoxic effect which corresponded to an improvement of 62.5% in relation to the animals administered with the BaP. In the second period, all groups reached values that have been seen in the control group animals. Our results suggest that the inhibition of clastogenicity of the cranberry ethanolic extract against BaP is related to the antioxidant capacity of the combination of phytochemicals present in its chemical composition.
Recent studies have shown that handcrafted glass-clay containers are a health risk because they can be contaminated by heavy metals, which can be transferred to food, thus reaching the human body to ...potentially cause illness. Therefore, in the present work, we evaluate the leaching of lead, cadmium, and cobalt from glass-clay containers into two types of food: tomato sauce (salsa), and chickpea puree. The containers were obtained from four regions in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. Repetitive extractions from the containers were carried out to quantify the leaching of the heavy metals into the salsa, the chickpea puree, and acetic acid using the technique proposed by the USFDA. The results show that greater use of the containers leads to more leaching of heavy metals into both types of food and into the acetic acid, with the greatest metal extraction recorded for the Ixmiquilpan vessels. These results indicate that the metals present in the glass-clay containers leach into the food and that increased reuse increases the risk to the people who use them in food preparation.
The present work shows the characterization of Phaseolus acutifolius variety latifolius, on which little research has been published, and provides detailed information on the corresponding lectin. ...This protein was purified from a semi-domesticated line of white tepary beans from Sonora, Mexico, by precipitation of the aqueous extract with ammonium sulfate, followed by affinity chromatography on an immobilized fetuin matrix. MALDI TOF analysis of Phaseolus acutifolius agglutinin (PAA) showed that this lectin is composed of monomers with molecular weights ranging between 28 and 31 kDa. At high salt concentrations, PAA forms a dimer of 63 kDa, but at low salt concentrations, the subunits form a tetramer. Analysis of PAA on 2D-PAGE showed that there are mainly three types of subunits with isoelectric points of 4.2, 4.4, and 4.5. The partial sequence obtained by LC/MS/MS of tryptic fragments from the PAA subunits showed 90-100% identity with subunits from genus Phaseolus lectins in previous reports. The tepary bean lectin showed lower hemagglutination activity than Phaseolus vulgaris hemagglutinin (PHA-E) toward trypsinized human A and O type erythrocytes. The hemagglutination activity was inhibited by N-glycans from glycoproteins. Affinity chromatography with the immobilized PAA showed a high affinity to glycopeptides from thyroglobulin, which also has N-glycans with a high content of N-acetylglucosamine. PAA showed less mitogenic activity toward human lymphocytes than PHA-L and Con A. The cytotoxicity of PAA was determined by employing three clones of the 3T3 cell line, demonstrating variability among the clones as follows: T4 (DI₅₀ 51.5 µg/mL); J20 (DI₅₀ 275 µg/mL), and N5 (DI₅₀ 72.5 µg/mL).
Plants belonging to the genus Opuntia spp. are the most abundant of the Cactaceae family, grown throughout America and the Mediterranean central area. Its fruit, known as cactus pear or prickly pear, ...is an oval berry grouped in different colors. Some studies have shown its antioxidant activities which may help in preventing chronic pathologies such as diabetes. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of three varieties of prickly pear juice (red-purple, white-green and yellow-orange) in five different concentrations (100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mg/mL) by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical) colorimetric method, selecting the best variety to determine its anticlastogenic potential against methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). The results indicate that the highest antioxidant was found in the juice of the prickly pear red-purple variety (PPRP), in all concentrations. Its anticlastogenic potential was therefore evaluated with a micronucleus assay. The experiment was run over two weeks. A negative control was included along with a positive control with MMS (40 mg/kg), a group of mice treated with PPRP (25 mL/kg), and three groups with PPRP (in doses of 25, 16.5 and 8.3 mL/kg) plus the mutagen. The PPRP was administered daily by oral gavage and the MMS was injected intraperitoneally five days prior to the end of the experiment. Blood samples were obtained at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h in order to determine the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPE). The results indicated that PPRP is not a genotoxic agent, on the contrary, it may reduce the number of MNPE. In this regard, the PPRP showed an anticlastogenic effect directly proportional to its concentrations. Thus, the highest protection was obtained with a concentration of 25 mL/kg after 48 h of treatment.
Lectins comprise a heterogeneous class of proteins that recognize the carbohydrate moieties of glycoconjugates with high specificity. Numerous studies have shown that lectins are capable of ...recognizing specific carbohydrate moieties displayed by malignant cells or tissues. The present work was performed to investigate the effects of tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) lectins on proliferation, colony formation, and alteration of DNA synthesis of human malignant cells. Tepary bean lectin showed dose dependent effects on the inhibition of viability as well as on colony formation in two human malignant cells lines (C33-A, Sw480); By contrast, tepary bean lectin only showed significant effects on DNA synthesis on Sw480 cells. Our results provide evidence of the anti- proliferative and cytotoxic effects of the tepary bean lectins on C33-A and Sw480 cells lines.
For many years, several studies have been employing lectin from vegetables in order to prove its toxic effect on various cell lines. In this work, we analyzed the cytotoxic, antiproliferative, and ...post-incubatory effect of pure tepary bean lectins on four lines of malignant cells: C33-A; MCF-7; SKNSH, and SW480. The tests were carried out employing MTT and 3H-thymidine assays. The results showed that after 24 h of lectin exposure, the cells lines showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect, the effect being higher on MCF-7, while C33-A showed the highest resistance. Cell proliferation studies showed that the toxic effect induced by lectins is higher even when lectins are removed, and in fact, the inhibition of proliferation continues after 48 h. Due to the use of two techniques to analyze the cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect, differences were observed in the results, which can be explained by the fact that one technique is based on metabolic reactions, while the other is based on the 3H-thymidine incorporated in DNA by cells under division. These results allow concluding that lectins exert a cytotoxic effect after 24 h of exposure, exhibiting a dose-dependent effect. In some cases, the cytotoxic effect is higher even when the lectins are eliminated, however, in other cases, the cells showed a proliferative effect.
Context: Heliopsis longipes (A. Gray) Blake (Asteraceae), a plant native to Mexico, is used in traditional medicine as analgesic and microbicide. The main component in the H. longipes ethanolic ...extract (HLEE) is affinin, as determined by HPLC/UV-visible and NMR measurement. To date, there is no documented evidence on the spermicidal activity of this extract.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess in vitro the effectiveness of HLEE as spermicide.
Materials and methods: The spermicidal activity of HLEE was evaluated by the Sander-Cramer assay. Spermatozoa were incubated for 20 s with HLEE in concentrations ranging from 75 to 2000 µg/mL to determine the minimum effective concentration (MEC) value. The 50% effective concentration (EC
50
) of HLEE was estimated by assaying serial dilutions from the MEC. Additionally, sperms were incubated with 125, 250, or 500 µg/mL of HLEE to evaluate the viability and the integrity of sperm membrane. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay.
Results: HLEE caused an inhibition of 100% in spermatozoa motility at a MEC value of 2000 µg/mL; the EC
50
value was 125 µg/mL. Additionally, exposure to HLEE at 125, 250, or 500 µg/mL for 30 min decreased sperm viability to 27%, 8%, and 2% of the control value, respectively, and significantly increased the percentage of sperms with structurally disorganized membrane. HLEE also increased significantly the level of lipid peroxidation in sperms with respect to controls.
Discussion and conclusion: The results demonstrate the spermicidal activity of HLEE in vitro and suggest that this action is caused by oxidative damage and alterations in the spermatozoal membrane.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract only
84
Background: The use of medicinal plants has been very common since ancient times, used for the treatment of several diseases such as cancer. In many towns in Mexico are used extracts ...from plants such as Solanum rastratum Dunal (buffalo bur, spiny nightshade, Colorado bur, Kansas thistle, Mexican thistle, and Texas thistle), which has shown to be effective in improving symptoms of some diseases conditions, there are reports indicating its use in the treatment of some types of cancer, such as the breast and cervical cancer. For this reason, in this work the aim was to evaluate the anticarcinogenic effect of extracts of Solanum rastratum Dunal on human breast cancer cells MDA. Methods: The plant was collected, cleaned, separate the different sections, were dried in darkness in special panels at room temperature; subsequently the extracts were prepared from the leaf, stem and flower-fruit using solvents of different polarity (methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane). Extracts were analyzed in cultured MDA cells line and the cytotoxic effect was evaluated by MTT technique. Results: The results showed that the stem and leaf extracts were those which showed higher inhibitory effect on cell viability, with those obtained with ethyl acetate which showed better anti-carcinogenic effect, while the hexane extract of the flower and fruit mixture which was showed higher inhibitory effect on this part of the plant; however generally the ethyl acetate extract obtained from the leaf was the one with greater cytotoxic effect in this cell line. Conclusions: The results of this work lead to the conclusion that is greater cytotoxic effect of ethyl acetate extract of the leaf than the other extracts tested. These results are contrasting with the traditional use of the extract of this plant, since traditionally people employ the aqueous extract of this plant, which would be equivalent to methanolic extract used in this study, which was who presented the lower cytotoxic effect of three solvents studied.
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