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Eriodictyol, a flavonoid present in citrus fruits, has been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the protective effects of eriodictyol on cisplatin (CP)-induced kidney injury were detected. CP-induced kidney injury model was established by administration of CP (20 mg/kg). The results showed that treatment of eriodictyol inhibited the production of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, MDA, TBARS, reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as the production of TNF-α, and IL-1β in kidney tissues induced by CP. Eriodictyol also up-regulated the activities of SOD, CAT, and GSH-PX decreased by CP. Furthermore, eriodictyol was found to up-regulate the expression of Nrf2/HO-1 and inhibited CP-induced NF-κB activation in kidney tissues. In conclusion, eriodictyol protected against CP-induced kidney injury through activating Nrf2 and inhibiting NF-κB activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to examine in vitro antigenotoxic effects of the peptides derived from the hydrolysates of silk fibroin in mouse embryo 3T3 cells. The hydrolysates were prepared by acid or enzymic hydrolysis of fibroin, and antigenotoxicities were determined by measuring the reduced levels of DNA damage using the Comet assay. The fibroin preparation isolated from cocoons was efficiently digested by hydrolytic reactions with acid or Alcalase, an industrial protease. The acid- and Alcalase hydrolysates showed higher antigenotoxic activities than peptic- and tryptic hydrolysates. Active peptide fractions were separated from acid- and Alcalase hydrolysate by gel filtration chromatography. It was deduced from the chromatograms and amino acid analyses that the size (3–7 amino acids) and the glycine plus alanine content of peptides might be important factors for their activities. In addition, it was found that the antigenotoxic effect of peptides was due both to the protective interactions between cells and peptide molecules and to the direct inactivation of the mutagen, MNNG by peptides. Considering the availability and safety of silk fibroin and the superior antigenotoxic effects of produced peptides, the results of this study showed the possibility of utilizing fibroin as a source for chemopreventive functional peptides. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule involved in many physiological processes in plants. Nitric oxide generation and flavonoid accumulation are two early reactions of plants to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation. However, the source of UV-B-triggered NO generation and the role of NO in UV-B-induced flavonoid accumulation are not fully understood. In order to evaluate the origin of UV-B-triggered NO generation, we examined the responses of nitrate reductase (NR) activity and the expression levels of NIA1 and NIA2 genes in leaves of Betula pendula Roth (silver birch) seedlings to UV-B irradiation. The data show that UV-B irradiation stimulates NR activity and induces up-regulation of NIA1 but does not affect NIA2 expression during UV-B-triggered NO generation. Pretreatment of the leaves with NR inhibitors tungstate (TUN) and glutamine (Gln) abolishes not only UV-B-triggered NR activities but also UV-B-induced NO generation. Furthermore, application of TUN and Gln suppresses UV-B-induced flavonoid production in the leaves and the suppression of NR inhibitors on UV-B-induced flavonoid production can be reversed by NO via its donor sodium nitroprusside. Together, the data indicate that NIA1 in the leaves of silver birch seedlings is sensitive to UV-B and the UV-B-induced up-regulation of NIA1 may lead to enhancement of NR activity. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that NR is involved in UV-B-triggered NO generation and NR-mediated NO generation is essential for UV-B-induced flavonoid accumulation in silver birch leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Using dynamic method and the laser monitoring observation technique, the solubility of cefodizime disodium in water+(ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol) was measured as a function of temperature from 278.15K to 318.15K under atmospheric pressure. The experimental data were correlated with a simple model of molecular thermodynamics for solubility of solid in liquid. The model parameters were fitted, and the solution enthalpies Δ sol H and solution entropies Δ sol S were estimated. Δ sol H and Δ sol S are all positive. The endothermic effect of solution process may be due to the fact that the newly bond energy between cefodizime disodium and solvent molecules is not powerful enough to compensate the energy needed to break the original association bond in various solvents, and the system needs to absorb heat from surroundings and manifests as Δ sol H >0. The reason for the entropy increase during the dissolution process is that the solutes disrupt the alignment of solvent molecules and therefore reduced the degree of order of the system while they were dissolved in various solvents. The positive Δ sol H and Δ sol S revealed that the dissolution process of cefodizime disodium was an entropy-driven process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]