BACKGROUND One night of sleep deprivation induces a brief remission in about half of depressed patients. Subclinical hypothyroidism may be associated with depression, and changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid function may affect the mood response to sleep deprivation. We wished to define precisely the status of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis of depressed patients during sleep depri...

Human milk contains biologically important amounts of transforming growth factor-β2 isoform (TGF-β2), which is presumed to protect against inflammatory gut mucosal injury in the neonate. In preclinical models, enterally administered TGF-β2 can protect against experimental necrotizing enterocolitis, an inflammatory bowel necrosis of premature infants. In this study, we investigated whether TGF-β...

We previously reported that cervicovaginal lavages (CVL) contain a factor that enhances the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by increasing virus transcription in T cells and monocytoid cells. This factor was named the HIV-inducing factor (HIF). To determine the molecular mass of HIF, we adapted a blot technique that involves nonreducing SDS-PAGE of CVL samples and electrophoret...

The bioactivity and the corrosion protection for a novel nano-grained Ti-20Nb-13Zr at % alloy were examined in a simulated body fluid (SBF). The effect of the SPS's temperature on the corrosion performance was investigated. The phases and microstructural details of the developed alloy were analyzed by XRD (X-ray Diffraction), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and TEM (Transmission Electron Mi...

Bioactivity assessment of endophytic fungi associated with Centella asiatica and Murraya koengii Archana Nath, Jyoti Pathak SR Joshi

Bioactivity assessment of endophytic fungi associated with Centella asiatica and Murraya koengii Archana Nath, Jyoti Pathak SR Joshi

In this work, we report the effect of biopolymers (starch and gelatin) on in vitro biocompatibility property of nano hydroxyapatite (nHAp) composites. Cell culture and MTT assays were performed for in vitro biocompatibility. They show that nHAp can affect the proliferation of cells and the nHAp-starch and nHAP-gelatin biocomposites have no negative effect on the cell morphology, viability and p...

BACKGROUND Previous work on the possible public health impact of electricity utilization has mostly considered low frequency electromagnetic fields, particularly those associated with high voltage overhead powerlines, but no generally accepted biological mechanism has been proposed. The present study seeks to expand the area of debate to include airborne electroactivity. FINDINGS From a liter...

The bioactivity of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) is an important component of vascular homeostasis that is sensitive to intracellular redox status. Because glutathione (GSH) is a major determinant of intracellular redox state, we sought to define its role in modulating endothelial NO bioactivity. In porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs), we depleted intracellular GSH (>70%) using 1) ...

A sensitive and specific bioassay for the measurement of cholecystokinin (CCK) in human plasma was developed to determine the molecular forms of CCK in circulation, CCK responses to feeding, and the physiologic role of CCK in gallbladder contraction. First, plasma was quantitatively extracted and concentrated with octadecylsilylsilica, and the extracts were then assayed for their ability to sti...