3 research outputs found
A NOVEL LECTIN CONTAINING PROTEIN FRACTIONS FROM ARTEMISIA DRACUNCULUS AND MENTHA PULEGIUM, SOME ISOLATION PROPERTIES AND POTENTIAL IN MEDICINE
No full textLectins show antiviral activity as well. The growing resistance of microorganisms to convectional antimicrobial agents is a source of concern to clinical microbiologists all over the world. As a result, efforts are being made to develop antimicrobial agents from local sources for better chemotherapeutic effects. A novel lectin containing protein fractions (AD1 and MP1) are isolated from widespread commercially available edible plants Artemisia dracunculus and Mentha pulegium. The fractions had special agglutinating activity with rabbit trypsin-treated erythrocytes at minimum concentrations of 0.05 mg/ml and 0.017 mg/ml respectively. Furthermore, lectin activity of isolated fractions was confirmed by the inhibition of hemagglutination activities with carbohydrates D-galactose (in the case of Artemisia dracunculus) and Dtrehalose dehydrate (in the case of Mentha pulegium) at minimum concentrations of 0.78 mM and 25 mM respectively. Due to the carbohydrate specificity, lectin containing fraction from Mentha pulegium inhibits growth and development of Actinomyces griseus and Streptomyces albogriseolus subsp. Aragviensis. Many anti-inflammatory medications currently prescribed are of plant origin. So, the biggest challenge is to move from demonstrating the effectiveness of plant extracts to identifying molecules that have the desired effect. Soluble galactosespecific lectin fraction from Artemisia dracunculus has no effect on growth and development of Actinomicetes, while soluble lectin fraction with trehalose binding specificity inhibits growth and development of Actinomyces griseus, and Streptomyces albogriseolus subsp. Aragviensis, but no action was detected in the case of Nocardiopsis dessonvillei. Based on the data only Mentha pulegium soluble lectin influence on spore viability has been studied
Investigation of Brain Creatine Levels Under the Mental Stress Conditions
No full textAlterations in brain creatine levels are considered to be associated with various pathological conditions. However, there is still no exact evidence on character of this changes and clear link between disorders and upstream and downstream direction of creatine changes.
Chronic mental stress conditions are thought to be connected with upstream regulation of cellular oxidative pathways, thus oxidizing various structural and active compounds. Oxidative stress also takes part in increase of permeability of blood brain barrier (BBB) that, in turn, makes it possible for a number of molecules to cross the BBB in both directions.
Observations on long-term social isolation and circadian rhythm violation show a rising trend in brain creatine amount, while there was remarkable down-regulation in creatine synthesizing system, as the key-enzymes’ (AGAT and GAMT) activity was decreased.
Investigations of BBB permeability for creatine under the stress conditions by mass-spectrometric analyses revealed no changes in creatine transport in the stress group, compared to the control. However, the activity of mitochondrial CK was reduced for about 25% and Vmax had fallen down in the stressed group, the Km was not drastically changed.
To sum up, it could be supposed that the reason for the elevations of creatine levels in brain under the mental stress conditions could be stimulated by the activated oxidative stress that induces conformational changes in mitochondrial Creatine Kinase structure and decreasing the ability of enzyme to phosphorylate the creatine and as a result free creatine levels in brain are being arisen
