Oral glutamate intake reduces acute and chronic effects of ethanol in rodents

Purpose: To assess the effects of oral glutamate intake on acute motor effects and chronic intake of ethanol in rodents. Methods: The acute effects of ethanol on motor function were studied in ICR mice by giving 2 or 6 g/kg of ethanol 2 h after distilled water or 2.5 g/kg glutamate per os. Thirty minutes after ethanol treatment, behavioral assays, including rotarod tests and foot print analysis were monitored. In chronic ethanol treatment, male Wistar rats were trained to consume ethanol-sucrose solution during a 2-h period daily, starting with 2 % ethanol/10 % sucrose and gradually increasing to 10 % ethanol/5 % sucrose solution over 56 days. After training session, the drug treatment phase was done for 10 days. The animals were force-fed 50 mg/kg/day topiramate or 2.5 g/kg/day glutamate 2 h before ethanol treatment sessions. Each day, ethanol intake, water intake, food intake and body weight were recorded. Results: Mice that received 2 or 6 g/kg of ethanol orally, showed a significant reduction in time on the rod in the rotarod test and a significant increase in both forelimb and hindlimb stride lengths when compared to control. Oral treatment with 2.5 g/kg of glutamate reversed the acute motor effects of ethanol. In chronic ethanol treatment, the intake of 10 % ethanol/5 % sucrose, accessible for 2 h, was significantly decreased in rats treated with either topiramate or glutamate. Conclusion: These results provide evidence that oral glutamate administration help to reduce the acute motor effects of ethanol in mice and ethanol intake in the chronic ethanol drinking rats.

Effects of Environmental Factors on the Growth, Optical Density and Biomass of the Green Algae Chlorella Vulgaris in Outdoor Conditions

Effect of environmental factors on the growth of the Chlorella vulgaris was studied. C. vulgaris was cultivated in sterilized natural seawater enriched with F/2-Si medium. Then grow in bucket, tub and photobioreactor (PBR) in outdoor condition. The daily routine work consisted of culture checkups of optical density, biomass gains, atmosphere lux, culture lux, atmosphere temperature and culture temperature were recorded. The highest biomass yields were (3.0 μg/ml-1) in December and (2.01 μg/ml-1) in November in PBR. The highest deviation was in atmosphere lux in time 8:30 (± 117.7) and lowest deviation was in atmosphere temperature in time 15:00 (± 1.0499). Optical density (OD) indicated that the best growth of C. vulgaris in outdoor condition was obtained in 650 lux and also it increased with increasing amount of lux. Tub report of C. vulgaris showed different growing behaviors at the various concentration of light and at the different temperatures. Algal production in outdoor PBR is relatively inexpensive, but is only suitable for a few, fast-growing specie. Finally, this fact is noteworthy that in outdoor conditions, temperature and light have important role in growth of C. vulgaris in present study.

Side Effects of Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists in Asthmatic Children

Background: Leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) are drugs which have been widely used more than ten years. As the use of LTRAs increases, our knowledge with respect to their side effects increases as well. Objectives: The objective of our study was to evaluat the observed side effects of LTRAs used in patients with astma. Patients and Methods: 1024 patients treated only with LTRAs owing to asthma or early wheezing were included in the study for a five-year period. The observed side effects of LTRAs in these patients were retrospectively investigated. The side effects were divided into two parts as psychiatric and non-psychiatric. Results: Among the 1024 cases included in the study, 67.5% of the patients out of 41 with side effects were male, 32.5% were female and the average age was 6.5 years. The rate of patients with asthma was 63.41% and 36.58% of the patients had early wheezing. It was determined that sex, age and diagnosis (early wheezing or asthma) of the patients were ineffective in the emergence of side effects. The average period for the emergence of side effects was the first month. It was observed that hyperactivity was the most frequently observed psychiatric side effect and that abdominal pain was the non-psychiatric side effect. Conclusions: The side effects of LTRAs were common in children. Therefore, patients must be informed at the beginning of the treatment and they must be evaluated at certain intervals.

Anticonvulsant and sedative effect of Fufang Changniu pills and probable mechanism of action in mice

Purpose: To investigate the anticonvulsant and sedative effects of Fufang Changniu Pills (FCP) and its probable mechanism of action in mice. Methods: The water decoction of FCP was prepared and the main constituents were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The anticonvulsant activities of FCP were evaluated by maximal electroshock (MES) and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures in mice. Pentobarbital sodium-induced sleeping time and locomotor activity measurements were performed to evaluate the sedative effects of FCP in mice. Finally, PTZ-induced chronic seizures were established, and expressions of gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor (GABA-A) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) in the brains of the mice were assayed by western blot in order to explore the probable mechanisms of action of the drug. Results: Gallic acid, liquiritin, cinnamyl alcohol, cinnamic acid and glycyrrhizic acid were detected in FCP decoction. FCP (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) showed significant anticonvulsant and sedative effects on epileptic mice induced by MES (p < 0.05) and PTZ (p < 0.05). Moreover, pentobarbital sodium-induced sleeping time and locomotor activity tests showed that FCP possesses sedative effect (p < 0.05). Western blot data indicate that FCP significantly up-regulated GABA-A and GAD 65 in the brains of chronic epileptic rats (p < 0.05). Conclusion: FCP has significant anticonvulsant and sedative effects, and the mechanism of its action may be related to the up-regulation of GABA-A and GAD 65 in mice brain.

Effects of acute exercise on salivary free insulin-like growth factor 1 and interleukin 10 in sportsmen.

Background: Saliva analysis is rapidly developing as a tool for the assessment of biomarkers of sports training. It remains poorly understood whether a short bout of sport training can alter some salivary immune biomarkers. Aim: To investigate the effect of acute exercise using football training session on salivary flow rate, salivary free Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and Interleukin 10 (IL-10). Methods: Saliva samples were collected before and immediately after a football session. Salivary flow rates, salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 (using ELISA) were determined. Data was analyzed and compared using Related Samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (non-parametric test). Relationships between salivary flow rate and levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 were determined using Spearman correlation test. Results: There were 22 male footballers with a mean age of 20.46 years. Salivary flow rate reduced significantly (p = 0.01) after the training session while salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 did not show any significant change. Also, there were no correlations between salivary flow rates and salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 before and after exercise. Conclusion: These findings suggest that acute exercise caused significant reduction in salivary flow rate but no change in the levels of salivary free IGF-1 and IL-10.