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The possibilities of using fluorescence-based analytical methods and their advantages for visualization and identification of the type of programmed cell death in human tumor cells exposed to flavonoids have been analyzed in experiments in vitro. HeLa cervical cancer cells and A498 kidney carcinoma cells were used as the objects of the study, and exposure to the flavonoid-containing extract of common hedgehyssop (Gratiola officinalis L.) was tested as the experimental treatment. The following fluorescence-based techniques were used: the "live and dead" test with double staining by propidium iodide and acridine orange and double staining with annexin and propidium iodide. Autophagy induction was confirmed by fluorescence-based tests implemented in a Muse cell analyzer with a Muse Autophagy LC3-Antibody Based Kit. The use of double staining with acridine orange and propidium iodide fluorescent dyes in the "live and dead" test and comparison with phase contrast microscopy enables the visualization of apoptotic body and autophagosome formation processes in the cells and can, therefore, be used as a method of screening assessment of the efficiency of various chemotherapy drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined use of an immersion agent with low-intensity laser irradiation for optical clearing of skin before plasmon photothermal therapy (PPTT) procedure is offered. Pilot study results of influence of the immersion agents on optical parameters of skin, subdermal connective tissue and model tumor of rats in vivo at hyperthermia during PPTT are presented. Model of alveolar liver cancer—cholangiocarcinoma, transplanted under the skin, was used as a model tumor. For PPTT the gold nanorods with absorption band in the area of diode laser radiation (808 nm) were introduced. Monitoring of light attenuation coefficient change in skin at optical clearing was performed using optical coherent tomography. Measurements of optical parameters of the complete tumor and its layers were performed using spectrometers in a wave length range of 350‒2200 nm. Reduction of skin thermal damage during PPTT with preliminary optical clearing using immersion agent (mixture of 70% glycerol water solution and 10% DMSO) and low-intensity laser irradiation at wave length of 808 nm is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of a new bioactive extract from immortelle sandy ( Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench.) was investigated. Naringin, its soluble aggregate, prunin, quercetin, apigenin, naringenin, apigenin 5- O-glucoside, and isosalipurposide were found among the flavonoids. The tested immortelle sandy extract was shown to contain known dimers, trimers, or more complex aggregates. The compounds had similar spectral but substantially different chromatographic characteristics, which can be used for their identification based on the corresponding data on flavonoids glycosylated at different positions and/or carbohydrates of various complexities, which are also characterized by similar absorption spectra and different retention times. It was found by molecular absorption spectroscopy that the immortelle extract contained 73.48 mg of flavonoids relative to rutin or 17.94 mg relative to quercetin per 1 g of dry extract weight, which corresponded to 20.99 and 5.13%, respectively. The immortelle extract obtained by the method proposed displayed antitumor activity against the transplanted sarcoma 45 and had a beneficial effect on animals in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lymphatic system not only plays an important role as a drainage eliminating metabolic wastes and toxins from tissues, but also represents an arena for the unfolding of immune response scenarios aimed at protecting the organism from bacteria and viruses. In the central nervous system (CNS), drainage processes proceed with the same intensity as in peripheral tissues. The brain actively exchanges nutrients with the blood and excretes metabolic waste products through the drainage routes closely related to the peripheral lymphatic system. The same routes allow the traffic of immune cells and antibodies to the CNS, thus providing a communication between the peripheral and central immune systems. Over the bicentennial history of brain drainage studies, a lot of facts have been accumulated to suggest indirectly the presence of lymphatic vessels in the CNS. However, even with the advent of high-tech imaging of brain structures and a rediscovery of the meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs), which was a watershed in neuroscience, scientists have not advanced beyond confirming the already existing dogma that the lymphatic network is present exclusively in the brain meninges, but not in brain tissues. In fact, however, the rediscovery of MLVs by American scientists was not a "true revelation", as they were first described by the Italian anatomist Mascagni two centuries earlier, and his results were confirmed later on in many other studies performed on the meninges in humans, macaques, rodents, dogs, rabbits and zebrafish. As a result, the scientific community did not recognize the "forgotten" MLVs as a new discovery. This review highlights the turning points that occurred in neuroscience when a new player has entered the game and orchestrated innumerable efforts of scientists to explain how unnecessary molecules and toxins are removed from the brain, as well as how drainage and immunity are implemented in the CNS. This is an important informational and creative platform both for new fundamental knowledge about the lymphatic system in the brain, as well as for the development of innovative neurorehabilitation technologies based on the management of lymphatic drainage processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of antitumor efficacy and apoptosis induction in A498 human renal cell carcinoma observed when applying extracts of cruciferous herbal material (indole-3-carbinol), Chinese mushroom (cordycepin), and French red wine (resveratrol) at low concentrations after 24 and 48 h were compared in vitro in this study. Fluorescence methods were used for imaging apoptosis and necrosis in human tumor cells in vitro. Propidium iodide and acridine orange were chosen as dyes in the "live/dead" assay, which made it possible to identify the number of dead cells and cells with apoptosis initiated. It was found that indole-3-carbinol at low concentrations (0.0288 and 0.1152 mg/mL) displayed a pronounced cytotoxic and cytostatic activity against human kidney cancer cells, significantly exceeding that of resveratrol at the same concentrations. Meanwhile, cordycepin showed no cytotoxic or cytostatic activity at these concentrations. Indole-3-carbinol demonstrated the most pronounced apoptotic activity at concentrations of 0.0144–0.1152 mg/ml; in 48 h, the number of kidney cancer cells in apoptosis increased 6.8–10 times compared to the control group. It is concluded that indole-3-carbinol is a promising antitumor agent to use in the complex therapy of patients with kidney cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music plays a more important role in our life than just being an entertainment. For example, it can be used as an anti-anxiety therapy of human and animals. However, the unsafe listening of loud music triggers hearing loss in millions of young people and professional musicians (rock, jazz and symphony orchestra) owing to exposure to damaging sound levels using personal audio devices or at noisy entertainment venues including nightclubs, discotheques, bars and concerts. Therefore, it is important to understand how loud music affects us. In this pioneering study on healthy mice, we discover that loud rock music below the safety threshold causes opening of the blood-brain barrier (OBBB), which plays a vital role in protecting the brain from viruses, bacteria and toxins. We clearly demonstrate that listening to loud music during 2 h in an intermittent adaptive regime is accompanied by delayed (1 h after music exposure) and short-lasting to (during 1–4 h) OBBB to low and high molecular weight compounds without cochlear and brain impairments. We present the systemic and molecular mechanisms responsible for music-induced OBBB. Finally, a revision of our traditional knowledge about the BBB nature and the novel strategies in optimizing of sound-mediated methods for brain drug delivery are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using fluorescence methods for visualization of human tumor cell apoptosis and necrosis in vitro, the antitumor effects of flavonoid-containing Gratiola officinalis L. and green tea extracts at ultralow concentrations on A498 human kidney carcinoma cells after 24 and 48 h were compared. Fluorescent dyes (propidium iodide and acridine orange) were used in the "living and dead" test, which made it possible to identify the total number of cells that died by necrosis and apoptosis, as well as cells in which apoptosis has started and apoptotic bodies or pycnosis of the nucleus were detected. Gratiola officinalis L. extract had the most pronounced cytostatic activity 48 h after exposure; the number of cells per field of view decreased by a factor of 1.5 compared with the control. Green tea extract at a concentration of 0.0288 mg/mL had the most pronounced cytotoxic activity; its manifestation was growing 48 h after exposure. Gratiola officinalis L. extract exhibited cytotoxic activity at lower concentrations (0.0036 mg/mL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors of plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPT) efficiency in rats with transplanted liver cancer on the basis of assessment of the degree of tumor vascularization. Before any exposure, rats with transplanted liver cancer PC-1 were subjected to Doppler ultrasonography to assess the degree of vascularization of transplanted tumors. Half of the animals with the transplanted tumors were withdrawn from the experiment after Doppler ultrasonography to determine the content of vascular factors in blood serum by enzyme immunoassay and in tumor tissue by immunohistochemical method. After three intravenous injections of polyethylene glycol-coated gold nanorods (GNRs) at a dose of 0.4 mq/mL, the transplanted tumors were irradiated percutaneously with infrared laser radiation at a wavelength of 808 nm, followed by thermography of local tumor heating. The animals were withdrawn from the experiment 24 h later, and tumor tissue samples were taken for histological examination. It is found that the accumulation of gold in the tumor tissue and the PPT efficiency at repeated intravenous GNR injections are determined by the presence of formed vasculature in the tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quercetin content in aqueous EtOH extracts of covering leaves of anthocyanin Purple Saratov diploid variety of Zea mays L. grown under dry conditions reached 39.36 ± 0.41 mg/100 g of dry extract and significantly exceeded the value (26.03 ± 0.36 mg/100 g of dry extract) for maize grown under normal wetting conditions. The large amounts of polyphenolic compounds in anthocyanin Purple Saratov diploid variety showed good prospects for using it as a source of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the 0.05–1.0 THz frequency range was used to study the blood serum of rats in the dynamics of experimental liver cancer. It was shown that the THz transmission spectra of samples from healthy animals and 14 and 28 days after tumor cells implantation are similar in shape, but differ in amplitude. There is a change in the biochemical composition of the blood, including a decrease in the protein content, by the 28th day of the experiment. The observed changes in the THz response are explained by a decrease in the number of protein molecules and bound water and correlate with changes in the refractive index in the visible and near-IR ranges from 480 to 1550 nm, measured using a multiwave refractometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of long-term peroral injection of gold nanoparticles with various sizes on the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes of adult laboratory rats and their progeny was studied. The morphometric analysis was conducted using a µVizo-103 medical digital microviser. The conglomerated gold nanoparticles were detected in tissues via the dark-field microscopy. Gold nanoparticles with sizes of 2 and 50 nm were found to cause the mostly pronounced morphological alterations in organs that testifies to their size-dependent impact. The liver in a group receiving 50-nm gold particles exhibit noticeable dystrophy of hepatocytes and activation of a monocyte macrophage system. The spleen and lymph nodes reveal the activation of proliferation and differentiation of immunocompetent cells and macrophages. Peroral injection of gold particles during gestation of females led to an increase in a number of hepatocytes with necrobiotic changes as well as to elevated amount of non-parenchymatic elements in the liver of the progeny, especially in groups containing the 2- and 50-nm gold nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antitumor efficiency of gold nanorod plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) was evaluated experimentally. The rat cholangiocarcinoma line PC-1 was used as a tumor model. Exposure of tumors to 808-nm laser radiation was performed, and the noninvasive temperature monitoring of the tumor tissue was carried out using infrared imager. The growth rate kinetics and morphological alterations of transplanted liver tumors, as well as indicators of lipid peroxidation activity and autointoxication in rat serum, were studied. The activation of lipid peroxidation and the development of autointoxication were detected after PPTT. The results not only demonstrate the antitumor efficacy of the proposed therapeutic technology but also reveal the side effects in the presence of peroxidation products in systemic circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]