The potential of synthetic thiourea compound to reduce the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of paraquat in Hordeum vulgare and cultured human lymphocytes

Ferulic acid grafted into β-cyclodextrin nanosponges ameliorates Paraquat-induced human MRC-5 fibroblast injury

Paraquat (PQ) is a commercially important and effective herbicide in the world. Nevertheless, it has higher toxicity causing acute organ damage and different complications, mainly in the lungs and kidneys. Ferulic acid (FA), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid imposes multiple pharmacological impacts. No protective effect of FA on PQ poisoning-caused human embryonic lung fibroblast damage has not been reported. Despite their many beneficial effects, FA is characterized by poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and phytochemical instability. To solve the problem, β-cyclodextrin nanosponge (β-CD NSs) was utilized to increase the solubility of FA so that it was grafted into β-CD NSs to establish β-CD@FA NSs. The purpose of this work was to examine for the first time the protective effect of β-CD@FA NS on MRC-5 human lung cells damages induced by PQ poisoning. MTS assay was performed to investigate the viability of MRC-5 cells at different concentrations of FA/β-CD@FA NSs when cells were co-cultured with 0.2 μg/mL PQ. The flow cytometry study was carried out to determine apoptosis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) levels were detected using appropriate biochemistry kits. Compared with the PQ group, the cell activity, CAT, and SOD levels were significantly increased in the FA and chiefly in β-CD@FA NSs intervention groups, whereas apoptosis and MDA levels were markedly decreased. The inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interleukin 22 (IL-22) were detected. The results demonstrate that β-CD@FA NSs can inhibit PQ-induced cell damage by enhancing antioxidant stress capacity and regulation of inflammatory responses.

Lilium compounds kaempferol and jatropham can modulate cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of radiomimetic zeocin in plants and human lymphocytes In vitro

Organisms are constantly exposed to the detrimental effect of environmental DNA-damaging agents. The harmful effects of environmental genotoxins could be decreased in a viable way by antimutagenesis. One of the modern approaches to reduce the mutagenic burden is based on exogenous natural and synthetic compounds that possess protective and antimutagenic potential against genotoxins. The natural compounds kaempferol and jatropham isolated from Lilium candidum were tested with respect to their potential to protect cells against the radiomimetic zeocin, as well as to their cytotoxic and genotoxic activities in two types of experimental eukaryotic test systems: Hordeum vulgare and human lymphocytes in vitro. Mitotic index (MI) was used as an endpoint for cytotoxicity; the frequency of chromosome aberrations (MwA) and the number of induced micronuclei (MN), as endpoints for genotoxicity/clastogenicity. Formation of aberration "hot spots" was also used as an indicator for genotoxicity in H. vulgare. Both kaempferol and jatropham were shown to possess a potential to modulate and decrease the cytotoxic and genotoxic/clastogenic effect of zeocin depending on the experimental design and the test system. Our data could be useful for health research programs, particularly in clarifying the pharmacological potential and activity of natural plant compounds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 751-764, 2016.

Thiourea orchestrates regulation of redox state and antioxidant responses to reduce the NaCl-induced oxidative damage in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.)

Thiourea (TU) has been found to enhance the stress tolerance of plants in our earlier field trials. In the present study, the TU mediated effect on the redox and antioxidant responses were studied in response to salinity (NaCl) stress in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) seedlings. Biochemical analyses of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation revealed that TU supplementation to NaCl brought down their levels to near control values as compared to that of NaCl stress. These positive effects could be correlated to the significant increases in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity, in the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and GSH/GSSG (reduced/oxidized glutathione) ratio and in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.1.5.1.1) and glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.6.4.2) in NaCl+TU treatment as compared to that of NaCl treatment. Further, TU supplementation allowed plants to avoid an over-accumulation of pyridine nucleotides, to stimulate alternative pathways (through higher glycolate oxidase activity; EC 1.1.3.15) for channeling reducing equivalents and thus, to maintain the redox state to near control levels. These positive responses were also linked to an increased energy utilization (analyzed in terms of ATP/ADP ratio) and presumably to an early signaling of the stress through stimulated activity of ascorbate oxidase (EC 1.10.3.3), an important component of stress signaling. A significant reduction observed in the level of sodium ion (Na(+)) accumulation indicated that TU mediated tolerance is attributable to salt avoidance. Thus, the present study suggested that TU treatment regulated redox and antioxidant machinery to reduce the NaCl-induced oxidative stress.