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AIMS:To assess protective efficacy of genetically modified Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) on metabolic effects induced by chronic consumption of dietary fructose. MATERIALS AND METHODS:EcN was genetically modified with fructose dehydrogenase (fdh) gene for conversion of fructose to 5-keto-D-fructose and mannitol-2-dehydrogenase (mtlK) gene for conversion to mannitol, a prebiotic. Charles foster rats weighing 150-200 g were fed with 20% fructose in drinking water for two months. Probiotic treatment of EcN (pqq), EcN (pqq-glf-mtlK), EcN (pqq-fdh) was given once per week 109 cells for two months. Furthermore, blood and liver parameters for oxidative stress, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia were estimated. Fecal samples were collected to determine the production of short chain fatty acids and pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) production. RESULTS:EcN (pqq-glf-mtlK), EcN (pqq-fdh) transformants were confirmed by restriction digestion and functionality was checked by PQQ estimation and HPLC analysis. There was significant increase in body weight, serum glucose, liver injury markers, lipid profile in serum and liver, and decrease in antioxidant enzyme activity in high-fructose-fed rats. However the rats treated with EcN (pqq-glf-mtlK) and EcN (pqq-fdh) showed significant reduction in lipid peroxidation along with increase in serum and hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities. Restoration of liver injury marker enzymes was also seen. Increase in short chain fatty acids (SCFA) demonstrated the prebiotic effects of mannitol and gluconic acid. CONCLUSIONS:Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of probiotic EcN producing PQQ and fructose metabolizing enzymes against the fructose induced hepatic steatosis suggesting that its potential for use in treating fructose induced metabolic syndrome.

This paper reports the use of naturally available raw material as sugarcane bagasse (SB) to prepare cost-effective activated carbon. Activated carbon preparation from SB by using ZnCl 2 was carried out by chemical activation method. The raw bagasse, its char and activated carbon were characterized on the basis of iodine number, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area to check their effectiveness. During activated carbon synthesis, the impregnation ratio of SB and ZnCl 2 was maintained at 1:1-1:3 and activation temperature was in the range of 600-900 °C for 1 h. From the characterization study, the highest iodine adsorption of activated carbon was found to be 1140.69 mg/g with a 1:2 ratio at 900 °C whereas char gives an iodine number of 529.63 mg/g at the same temperature. The BET surface area of raw bagasse, its char and activated carbon (SB-Zn 2 -900) obtained was 4.30, 514.27 and 1386.58 m 2 /g, respectively, which shows charrification and chemical activation improves surface area. The optimum ratio of impregnation and activation temperature was found to be 1:2 at 900 °C. In this work, activated carbon was successfully prepared and obtained product has better characteristics than previously reported studies.

During electrophysiology testing, cessation of atrial pacing resulted in a tachycardia with 2:1, that changed to 1:1 atrioventricular conduction after a premature ventricular contraction. The mechanism and the location to ablate are discussed., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest for the published content., (Copyright: © 2017 Innovations in Cardiac Rhythm Management.)

Introduction: Mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA are essential to sperm motility and fertility. It controls growth, development and differentiation through oxidation energy supply. Mitochondrial (mtDNA) deletions or mutation are frequently attributed to defects of sperm motility and finally these deletions lead to sperm dysfunction and causes infertility in male., Aim: To investigate the correlation between large scale 7436-bp deletions in sperm mtDNA and non-motility of sperm in asthenozoospermia and Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) infertile men., Materials and Methods: The present prospective study was carried out in Human Genetic Division, Department of Anatomy, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram from June 2014 to July 2016. We have studied 110 asthenozoospermia and OAT infertile men whose semen profile indicated abnormal motility and 50 normal fertile controls. Of 110 infertile men, 70 had asthenozoospermia and 40 had OAT. Fractionations of spermatozoa were done in each semen sample on the basis of their motility by percoll gradients discontinuous technique. Long-range PCR was used for detection of 7436-bp deletions in sperm mtDNA and was confirmed by primer shift technique., Results: Overall eight subjects (8/110; 7.2%) of which six (6/70; 8.57%) asthenozoospermia and two (2/40; 5%) OAT had shown deletions of 7436-bp. In 40% percoll fraction had more non-motile spermatozoa than 80% percoll fraction. The non-motile spermatozoa in 40% percoll fractions showed more mtDNA deletions (7.2%) than the motile spermatozoa in 80% percoll fraction (2.7%). The sequencing of flanking regions of deleted mtDNA confirmed 7436-bp deletions. Interestingly, no deletions were found in control subjects., Conclusion: Though, the frequency of 7436-bp deletions in sperm mtDNA was low in infertile cases but meaningful indications were there when results were compared with controls. It is indicated that large scale deletions 7436-bp of mtDNA is associated with abnormal sperm motility. The 7436-bp deletions of mtDNA in spermatozoa may be one of the important causes of dysfunction and non-motile sperm.

Introduction: The role of zinc is critical to reproduction potential. Seminal zinc is thought to be derived almost exclusively from prostatic secretions. Sperm motility is significantly influenced by zinc. Zinc deficiency has been linked with male sterility and subfertility., Aim: To assess the influence of seminal plasma zinc on seminogram characteristics and whether endogenous testosterone affects the seminal levels of zinc., Materials and Methods: The semen samples were obtained from 150 male partners of infertile couples who attended the Reproductive Biology Unit of the Department of Physiology, within the age 21-50 years and semen samples were analysed for the routine seminogram parameters. All the subjects were classified into two main groups, A- the subjects with normal ejaculates (n=62) and B- the subjects with abnormal ejaculates, who were further sub divided into the following groups: i) Asthenoteratozoospermics (n=43); ii) Oligoasthenoteratozoospermics (n=24); and iii) Azoospermics (n=21). The seminal plasma zinc was measured spectrophotometrically. The sample for serum free testosterone was sent to Thyrocare laboratory., Results: The seminal plasma zinc was found to be significantly lower in the abnormal ejaculates than in the normal ejaculates. A statistically significant positive correlation was observed between the seminal plasma zinc and serum free testosterone (p<0.05, r=0.449). Statistically significant correlation was also found between seminal plasma zinc and all the seminogram parameters such as the sperm concentration, sperm motility and sperm morphology (p<0.05, r= 0.86, 0.87 and 0.86 respectively)., Conclusion: Low seminal plasma zinc might be a significant causative factor in impairing sperm functions and its dependence on endogenous free testosterone, is observed from a positive correlation between the two.