Testis tissue is prone to oxidation because its plasma membrane contains many polyunsaturated fatty acids. Naringenin is a plant-derived natural flavonoid. We investigated the possible ameliorative role of naringenin on the hydrogen peroxide (H O )-induced testicular damage in Wistar rats. Animals received 12 mg/kg H O by intraperitoneal injection, and 50 mg/kg naringenin via orogastric gavage for 4 weeks. In the H O group, the testis malondialdehyde level increased, while the amount of reduced glutathione, glutathione transferase activities, and the testis weight decreased. There were severe testicular damages in the H O group otherwise their grade were less in the naringenin + H O group. However, the serum testosterone concentrations decreased in both the H O and the naringenin + H O groups. The testicular zinc and calcium levels reduced in the H O -treated rats. In conclusion, the administration of H O caused oxidative stress in the testes and naringenin supplementation decreased the H O -induced effects, except for changes in testosterone levels.

In this study, the effect of geraniol (50 mg/kg for 30 d), a natural antioxidant and repellent/antifeedant monoterpene, in a rat model of lead acetate-induced (500 ppm for 30 d) liver damage was evaluated. Hepatic malondialdehyde increased in the lead acetate group. Reduced glutathione unchanged, but glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase, as well as carboxylesterase activities decreased in geraniol, lead acetate and geraniol + lead acetate groups. 8-OhDG immunoreactivity, mononuclear cell infiltrations and hepatic lead concentration were lower in the geraniol + lead acetate group than the lead acetate group. Serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities increased in the Pb acetate group. In conclusion, lead acetate causes oxidative and toxic damage in the liver and this effect can reduce with geraniol treatment. However, we first observed that lead acetate, as well as geraniol, can affect liver carboxylesterase activity.

The production of L-asparaginase, an enzyme widely used in cancer chemotherapy, is mainly regulated by carbon catabolite repression and oxygen. This study was carried out to understand how different carbon sources and Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) affect the production of this enzyme in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its VHb-expressing recombinant strain (PaJC). Both strains grown with various carbon sources showed a distinct profile of the enzyme activity. Compared to no carbohydrate supplemented medium, glucose caused a slight repression of L-asparaginase in P. aeruginosa, while it stimulated it in the PaJC strain. Glucose, regarded as one of the inhibitory sugars for the production L-asparaginase by other bacteria, was determined to be the favorite carbon source compared to lactose, glycerol and mannitol. Furthermore, contrary to common knowledge of oxygen repression of L-asparaginase in other bacteria, oxygen uptake provided by VHb was determined to even stimulate the L-asparaginase synthesis by P. aeruginosa. This study, for the first time, shows that in P. aeruginosa utilizing a recombinant oxygen uptake system, VHb, L-asparaginase synthesis is stimulated by glucose and other carbohydrate sources compared to the host strain. It is concluded that carbon catabolite and oxygen repression of L-asparaginase in fermentative bacteria is not the case for a respiratory non-fermentative bacterium like P. aeruginosa.

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