Assay for lipid peroxides in animal tissues by thiobarbituric acid reaction

Although conventional chemotherapy has been successful to some extent, the main drawbacks of chemotherapy are its poor bioavailability, high-dose requirements, adverse side effects, low therapeutic indices, development of multiple drug resistance, and non-specific targeting. The main aim in the development of drug delivery vehicles is to successfully address these delivery-related problems and carry drugs to the desired sites of therapeutic action while reducing adverse side effects. In this review, we will discuss the different types of materials used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapeutic agents and their structural characteristics that improve the therapeutic efficacy of their drugs and will describe recent scientific advances in the area of chemotherapy, emphasizing challenges in cancer treatments.

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Controlled drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment and their performance.

Textbook of histology

Natural and synthetic polymers for wounds and burns dressing

Melatonin, the major hormone produced by the pineal gland, displays characteristic daily and seasonal patterns of secretion. These robust and predictable rhythms in circulating melatonin are strong synchronizers for the expression of numerous physiological processes in photoperiodic species. In mammals, the nighttime production of melatonin is mainly driven by the circadian clock, situated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, which controls the release of norepinephrine from the dense pineal sympathetic afferents. The pivotal role of norepinephrine in the nocturnal stimulation of melatonin synthesis has been extensively dissected at the cellular and molecular levels. Besides the noradrenergic input, the presence of numerous other transmitters originating from various sources has been reported in the pineal gland. Many of these are neuropeptides and appear to contribute to the regulation of melatonin synthesis by modulating the effects of norepinephrine on pineal biochemistry. The aim of this review is firstly to update our knowledge of the cellular and molecular events underlying the noradrenergic control of melatonin synthesis; and secondly to gather together early and recent data on the effects of the nonadrenergic transmitters on modulation of melatonin synthesis. This information reveals the variety of inputs that can be integrated by the pineal gland; what elements are crucial to deliver the very precise timing information to the organism. This also clarifies the role of these various inputs in the seasonal variation of melatonin synthesis and their subsequent physiological function.

Generation of the Melatonin Endocrine Message in Mammals: A Review of the Complex Regulation of Melatonin Synthesis by Norepinephrine, Peptides, and Other Pineal Transmitters

Paraquat (PQ) being a potent herbicide, causes toxic effect on growth, development and reproduction of plant as well as in animals. In this study we have mainly focused on the toxic effect of PQ on photoperception via different photoreceptors present in retina, pineal and hypothalamus and thereby its effect on hypothalamic – pituitary – gonadal (HPG) axis. PQ was administered i.p.10 mg/kg body weight daily for 1 week in poultry birds Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Our findings clearly indicated decrease in immunoreactivity of retinal and extra retinal photoreceptors (Iodopsin, rhodopsin and transducin) following PQ treatment in comparison to control group. Increased immunoreactivity of GnIH was observed in testis and epididymis of PQ treated group. Decreased mRNA expression of photoreceptors (rhodopsin and melanopsin), steroidogenic genes, androgen receptor, GnRH-I were found in PQ treated group while increased mRNA expression of melatonin receptors (Mel 1a R, Mel 1b R, Mel 1c R) and GnIH were found in PQ treated group. Thus, from the present results it may be concluded that PQ treatment alters the photoperception via altering the expression of photoreceptors and also modulates the HPG axis thereby alters the reproductive functions in Japanese quails.

Paraquat induced impaired reproductive function and modulation of retinal and extra-retinal photoreceptors in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Effects of gonadal steroids on pineal morphogenesis and cell differentiation of the embryonic quail studied under cell culture conditions.

Little is known about the developmental origin, determination and differentiation of different pineal immunoreactive cells in the avian group, and an experimental establishment is then required to explain the differentiation of cell types (ie photosensory, neural and secretory types) The present in vitro study suggests that the avian pineal organ is made up of multiple types of cells with different immunoreactivity at the ontogenic state (from embryonic day 9 to day 14), before it acquires the final photoendocrinal nature of the mature state The morphometric analysis suggests that the developmental changes in the morphology of the quail pinealocytes appear to represent a condensed expression of the phylogenic development in the ontogeny Several types of immunoreactive cells from a neuronal line were suppressed with maturation of developing pineal glands, while other cell types such as photoreceptive and endocrinal lines became more prominent The melatonin level in the culture medium presented a high value up to 72 hr of culture, followed by a decrease as well as dampening of the level at the end of the culture possibly because the cultures were maintained in dark The results of the present study, a combined analysis of morphometry and RIA, open a new line for research into the pineal development and cell differentiation

Morphometric analysis of photoreceptive, neuronal and endocrinal cell differentiation of avian pineal cells: an in vitro immunohistochemical study on the developmental transition from neuronal to photo-endocrinal property.

We studied the effects of four indolamines (melatonin, 5-methoxytryptamine, 5-methoxytryptophol, and 5-methoxytryptophan) on ovarian activity in a tropical rodent, the Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus pennati), during the sexually active phase. Injection of the four 5-methoxyindoles at a dose of 20 μg/0.1 mL per animal every evening for 30 days reduced ovarian mass in both intact and pinealectomized animals. Intact animals treated with 5-methoxyindoles had a lower uterine mass than the intact controls. On the other hand, the uterine mass of pinealectomized animals treated with 5-methoxyindoles did not differ from that of their respective controls. Plasma estradiol levels showed a similar pattern to ovarian masses. We conclude that the effect of 5-methoxyindoles in the female palm squirrel is independent of the pineal gland and that 5-methoxytraptophol and 5-methoxytryptophan are more potent than melatonin.

Modulation of ovarian function by various indolamines during the sexually active phase in the Indian palm squirrel, Funambulus pennanti

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements SECTION I: Experimental Endocrinology 1. Melatonin: New Aspects of its Protective Actions and Novel Metabolites R. Hardeland and B. Poeggeler 2. Gastrointestinal Melatonin - 30 Years of Research G.A. Bubenik 3. Studies on the Sympathetic Nervous Regulation of Innate Immunity Georges J.M. Maestroni 4. Regulation and Synthesis of Maturation Inducing Hormone in Fishes R.M. Inbaraj and Hanna Rosenfeld 5. Melatonin Inhibition of Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone-induced Calcium Signaling and Hormone Secretion in Neonatal Pituitary Gonadotrophs Hana Zemkova, Ales Balik and Petr Mazna SECTION II: Reproductive Biology and Clinical Endocrinology 1. Roles of Melatonin in Photoperiodic Gonadal Response of Birds Tomoko Yoshikawa, Masayuki Iigo, Toshiyuki Okano and Yoshitaka Fukada 2. The Role of Prenatal Androgen Excess on the Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Agathocles Tsatsoulis and Nectaria Xita 3. Effects of Antidiabetic Drugs on Reproductive System, Life Span and Tumor Development Vladimir N. Anisimov 4. Obesity and Male Infertility Ahmad Hammoud and Douglas T. Carrel 5. Melatonin and Induction and/or Growth of Experimental Tumors Michal Karasek SECTION III: Developmental Endocrinology 1. Melatonin and its Role in Avian Embryogenesis Skwarlo-Sonta Krystyna, Oblap Ruslan, Majewski Pawel, Stepinska Urszula, Baranska Anna and Olszanska Bozenna 2. Early Avian Development: Molecular Aspects Boz enna Olszan_ska 3. Melatonin in Anuran Development and Metamorphosis M.L. Wright, T.A. Shea, R.F. Visconti, B.L. Ramah, L.L. Francisco, J.L. Scott and A.L. Wickett 4. Development and Regeneration of the Vertebrate Retina: Role of Tissue Interaction and Signaling Molecules on the Retinal Fate Determination and RPE Transdifferentiation Masasuke Araki SECTION IV: Endocrine Physiology 1. Comparative Aspects of the Mammalian Pineal Gland Ultrastructure Michal Karasek and Anna Zielinska 2. The Ultimobranchial Gland in Poikilotherms: Morphological and Functional Aspects Ajai Kumar Srivastav, Seema Yadav, Sunil Kumar Srivastav and Nobuo Suzuki 3. Melatonin and Immunomodulation: Involvement of the Neuro-endocrine Network C. Haldar, S.S. Singh, S. Rai, K. Skwarlo-Sonta, J. Pawlak and M. Singaravel Index Color Plate Section

Chandana Haldar

Papers

Paraquat induced impaired reproductive function and modulation of retinal and extra-retinal photoreceptors in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Effects of gonadal steroids on pineal morphogenesis and cell differentiation of the embryonic quail studied under cell culture conditions.

Morphometric analysis of photoreceptive, neuronal and endocrinal cell differentiation of avian pineal cells: an in vitro immunohistochemical study on the developmental transition from neuronal to photo-endocrinal property.

Modulation of ovarian function by various indolamines during the sexually active phase in the Indian palm squirrel, Funambulus pennanti

Experimental endocrinology and reproductive biology