Purpose This study was designed to investigate the effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and developmental competence of cultured pre-antral follicles derived from mouse ovarian tissue. Methods Pre-antral follicles were isolated from immature mouse ovaries and were cultured in α-minimal essential medium supplemented with different concentrations (0, 50, 100, 250 and 500 uM) of ALA. Follicular growth, oocyte maturation and embryo development were evaluated. Separately, ROS and TAC were measured after 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of culture with spectrofluorometery and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, respectively. Results In the presence of 100 uM ALA, developmental rates of follicles, oocytes and embryos were significantly higher than other groups (p<0.05). At 96 h after culture, a decrease in ROS and an increase in TAC were observed in ALA group compared to control group (p<0.05). Conclusion ALA (100 uM) improves the in vitro development of follicles. This effect may be mediated by decreasing ROS concentration and increasing follicular TAC level during the culture period.

Naturally-derived drugs have drawn much attention in recent decades. Efficiency, lower toxicity, and economic reasons are some of their advantages that justify this broad range of administration for different diseases, including cancer. If we can find a specific combination that boosts the effects of their single therapy, leading to synergism effect, increased efficiency, and decreased toxicity, they can act even better. Quercetin and fisetin, two well-known flavonoids, have been used to fight against various cancers. In this study, we investigated their possible synergism quercetin and fisetin on MCF7, MDA-MB-231, BT549, T47D, and 4T1 breast cancer cell lines. Then the optimum combined dose was used to study their impacts on wound healing abilities and clonogenic properties. The real-time qPCR was used to study the expression of their validated downstream effectors in predicted pathways.A significant synergism effect (p < .01, combination index: <1) was observed for all cell lines. Combination therapy was significantly more effective in colony formation (p < .0001) and wound healing assays (p < .001) compared to single therapies. The expression level of potential effectors was also showed a greater change. In vivo study confirmed the in vitro results and showed how significantly (p < .001) their synergism promotes their singular function in inhibiting cancer progression. The breast cancer mouse models receiving combined therapy lived longer with higher average body weight and smaller tumor sizes. These results exhibit that quercetin and fisetin inhibit cancer cell proliferation, migration and colony formation synergistically, and matrix metalloproteinase signaling and apoptotic pathways are relatively responsible for inhibitory activities.

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significant difference of time spent in the target quadrant between groups during probe trial at 4 and 8 weeks' postlesion. Cell and RE groups spent a significantly longer period in the target quadrant and had lower latency as compared with lesion. Treated groups have a significantly higher neuronal density in hippocampus compared to water, α-MEM and lesion groups. BrdU positive cells were presented in lesioned sites. The GFAP (Glial fibrillary acidic protein) positive cells were reduced in treated and sham groups compared to the water, α-MEM and lesion groups. Oral administration of RE (Rosemary extract) or ADSCs injection could improve memory deficit in the Parkinsonian rat by neuroprotection.