Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) hold great promise for the treatment of patients with many neurodegenerative diseases particularly those arising from cell loss or neural dysfunction including spinal cord injury. This study evaluates the therapeutic effects of transplanted hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitors (OPC) and/or motoneuron progenitors (MP) on axonal remyelination and functional recovery of adult rats after complete spinal cord transection. OPC and/or MP were grafted into the site of injury in the acute phase. Based on Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scores recovery of locomotor function was significantly enhanced in rats treated with OPC and/or MP when compared with control animals. When transplanted into the spinal cord immediately after complete transection, OPC and MP survived, migrated, and differentiated into mature oligodendrocytes and neurons showing in vivo electrophysiological activity. Taken together, these results indicate that OPC and MP derived from hESC could be a useful therapeutic strategy to repair injured spinal cord. Stem Cells 2010; 28:1541–1549.

A five new complexes of palladium(II) ion (C1–C5) general formula [PdL2)]Cl2 with some 2-aminothiazoles (L1-L5) where L1 = 2-amino-4-(3,4 difluorophenyl) thiazole, L2 = 2-amino-5-methyl-4-phenylthiazole, L3 = 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole, L4 = 2-amino-4-(4-chlorophenyl)...

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The antioxidant, antibacterial and antiproliferative activities, total phenolic content and concentrations of flavonoids of A. flavum extracts were determined. The total phenolic content was determined with Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and it ranged between 42.29 to 80.92 mg GA/g. The concentration of flavonoids in various extracts of A. flavum was determined using spectrophotometric method with aluminum chloride and obtained results varied from 64.07 to 95.71 mg RU/g. The antioxidant activity was monitored spectrophotometrically and expressed in terms of IC50 (μg/ml), and its values ranged from 64.34 to 243.34 μg/ml. The highest phenolic content and capacity to neutralize DPPH radicals were found in acetone extract. Antibacterial efficacy was defined by determining minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations using microdilution method. Significant antibacterial activity, especially for ethyl acetate extract, was observed. The best activity was showed against G+ bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Bacillus subtilis, while Escherichia coli was one of the least sensitive bacteria. Antiproliferative activity of the methanolic extract on HCT- 116 cell line was determined by MTT assay. Results showed that A. flavum has good antiproliferative activity with IC50 values of 28.29 for 24 h and 35.09 for 72 h. Based on these results, A. flavum is a potential source of phenols as natural antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer substance of high value. Phenolic content of extracts depend on the solvents used for extraction.

Allium ursinum L. (A. ursinum, family Amaryllidaceae), better known under the name of wild garlic, ramson or bearís garlic is a perennial herbaceous plant. It naturally grows in fens and marshes of Europe and Asia (1-3). Increasingly, popular in European kitchen A. ursinum can be used as a salad, spice or vegetable since all parts of the plant are edible. Throughout history leaves, bulbs and the aerial part of this plant species have been used in traditional medicine as therapeutic and prophylactic agents (4-6). Numerous biologically active compounds enable this plant species to be implemented in the healing of various conditions for years. The most common are sulfur compounds which are considered to largely contribute to the pharmacological activity and from which originates a characteristic smell and taste (7). In addition to a significant presence of phenols, flavonoids, there are in a lesser extent other steroidal glycosides, amino acids, fatty acids, lecithin, essential oil (4, 8, 9). The aforementioned bioactive compounds can be exploited and used in the form of various extracts. Experimental investigations indicate the efficiency of the application A. ursinum in prevention and treatment of many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, diabetes, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, elevated cholesterol level, as well as the inflammatory diseases (10-14). Itís been known that the applied extraction method and extraction solvent may substantially affect the quality and concentration of targeted com