Combined inhalation and oral supplementation of Vitamin A and Vitamin D: A possible prevention and therapy for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is continuing as a problem of mankind. With evolution, MDR and XDR forms of tuberculosis have emerged from drug sensitive strain. MDR and XDR strains are resistant to most of the antibiotics, making the management more difficult. BCG vaccine is not providing complete protection against tuberculosis. Therefore new infections are spreading at a tremendous rate. At the present moment there is experimental evidence to believe that Vitamin A and Vitamin D has anti-mycobacterial property. It is in this context, we have hypothesized a host based approach using the above vitamins that can cause possible prevention and cure of tuberculosis with minimal chance of resistance or toxicity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interlaboratory comparison of magnesium isotopic compositions of 12 felsic to ultramafic igneous rock standards analyzed by MC-ICPMS

To evaluate the interlaboratory mass bias for high-precision stable Mg isotopic analysis of natural materials, a suite of silicate standards ranging in composition from felsic to ultramafic were analyzed in five laboratories by using three types of multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICPMS). Magnesium isotopic compositions from all labs are in agreement for most rocks within quoted uncertainties but are significantly (up to 0.3 parts per thousand in Mg-26/Mg-24, > 4 times of uncertainties) different for some mafic samples. The interlaboratory mass bias does not correlate with matrix element/Mg ratios, and the mechanism for producing it is uncertain but very likely arises from column chemistry. Our results suggest that standards with different matrices are needed to calibrate the efficiency of column chemistry and caution should be taken when dealing with samples with complicated matrices. Well-calibrated standards with matrix elements matching samples should be used to reduce the interlaboratory mass bias.

Endoplasmic reticulum targeting tumour selective photocytotoxic oxovanadium(IV) complexes having vitamin-B6 and acridinyl moieties

Oxovanadium(IV) complexes of vitamin-B6 Schiff base, viz., VO(HL1/L-2/L-3)(B)] Cl (1-4), where B is 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy in 1 and 2), 11-(9-acridinyl)dipyrido3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (acdppz in 3 and 4), H2L1 center dot HCl is 3-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-4-(((2-hydroxyphenyl)imino)methyl)-2-methylp yridin-1-ium chloride (in 1 and 4), HL2 is 2-(((2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethyl) imino)methyl) phenol (in 2) and HL3 is 4-(((2-(1H-imidazol-4- yl)ethyl)imino)methyl)-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpyridin-3-ol (in 3) were synthesized, characterized and their cellular uptake, photo-activated cytotoxicity and intracellular localization were studied. Complexes 1a, as the perchlorate salt of 1, and 2a, as the hexafluorophosphate salt of 2, were structurally characterized. Vitamin-B6 transporting membrane carrier (VTC) mediated entry into tumour cells in preference to the normal ones seems to be responsible for the higher cellular uptake of the complexes into HeLa and MCF-7 cells over MCF-10A cells. Complexes 3 and 4 having acdppz as the photosensitizer exhibit remarkable photocytotoxicity in these cancer cells giving IC50 of < 0.9 mu M. The complexes remain non-toxic in the dark. The complexes show photo-induced apoptotic cell death via singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) generation. Fluorescence microscopy reveals specific localization of complex 4 to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and generation of O-1(2) possibly leads to apoptotic cell death by triggering ER stress response (ERSR).

Endoplasmic reticulum targeting tumour selective photocytotoxic oxovanadium(IV) complexes having vitamin-B6 and acridinyl moieties

Oxovanadium(IV) complexes of vitamin-B6 Schiff base, viz., VO(HL1/L-2/L-3)(B)] Cl (1-4), where B is 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy in 1 and 2), 11-(9-acridinyl)dipyrido3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (acdppz in 3 and 4), H2L1 center dot HCl is 3-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-4-(((2-hydroxyphenyl)imino)methyl)-2-methylp yridin-1-ium chloride (in 1 and 4), HL2 is 2-(((2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethyl) imino)methyl) phenol (in 2) and HL3 is 4-(((2-(1H-imidazol-4- yl)ethyl)imino)methyl)-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpyridin-3-ol (in 3) were synthesized, characterized and their cellular uptake, photo-activated cytotoxicity and intracellular localization were studied. Complexes 1a, as the perchlorate salt of 1, and 2a, as the hexafluorophosphate salt of 2, were structurally characterized. Vitamin-B6 transporting membrane carrier (VTC) mediated entry into tumour cells in preference to the normal ones seems to be responsible for the higher cellular uptake of the complexes into HeLa and MCF-7 cells over MCF-10A cells. Complexes 3 and 4 having acdppz as the photosensitizer exhibit remarkable photocytotoxicity in these cancer cells giving IC50 of < 0.9 mu M. The complexes remain non-toxic in the dark. The complexes show photo-induced apoptotic cell death via singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) generation. Fluorescence microscopy reveals specific localization of complex 4 to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and generation of O-1(2) possibly leads to apoptotic cell death by triggering ER stress response (ERSR).