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

Age-dependent declining level of melatonin induces free radical load and thereby deteriorates immune function. However, reports are lacking about age-dependent melatonin membrane receptor (MT1 & MT2) expression, their role in regulation of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and eventually how they affect immunity of a tropical rodent F. pennanti . We checked MT1R, MT2R and iNOS expression in lymphoid organs of young middle and old aged squirrels. Nitrite and nitrate ion concentration (NOx) in lymphoid organs, testes and plasma, lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2 level was recorded. Age-dependent decrease in MT1 and MT2 receptor expression, lymphocyte proliferation, IL-2 level and increased RNS in lymphoid organs, testes and plasma was observed with decreased circulatory melatonin. Androgen and AR expression was increased in middleaged while declined in old-aged squirrels. Present study suggests that age associated immunosenescence is consequence of increased RNS which might have important relationship with melatonin membrane receptors in F. pennanti .

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Age dependent expression of melatonin membrane receptor (MT1, MT2) and its role in regulation of nitrosative stress in tropical rodent Funambulus pennanti

Seasonal modulation of immunity by melatonin and gonadal steroids in a short day breeder goat Capra hircus

The pineal gland transduces day length information into chemical signal of melatonin that ultimately translates photic stimulus into season-specific immune responses to promote survival of individual from incidence of opportunistic diseases. To date, the immune adjustments being a result of photoperiodic exposures for any nocturnal seasonally breeding rodent have not been systematically examined. Therefore, we evaluated the humoral and cell mediated immune responses of photoperiodically entrained male golden hamsters. Short day induced melatonin increased the immune parameters such as spleen mass, total leukocyte (TLC) and lymphocyte count (LC), proliferation of splenocytes, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) along with serum IL-2 and anti-Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) IgG production when compared with long day experienced hamsters. Short term melatonin treatment (for two weeks) to long day hamsters enhanced to some extent the proliferation of splenocytes, PBMC and TLC/LC. We also localized the melatonin membrane receptor MT1 in spleen and BMMNCs that strongly supported our western blot analysis for the expression of MT1 in spleen suggesting that different photoperiodically induced circulatory melatonin is responsible for the immunomodulation. Therefore, photoperiod can influence the peripheral melatonin level to improve immune responses of hamsters according to season for better survival.

Photoperiodic induced melatonin regulates immunity and expression pattern of melatonin receptor MT1 in spleen and bone marrow mononuclear cells of male golden hamster.

Objective: Despite the evidence for melatonin membrane receptors (MT1R and MT2R) on lymphoid tissues in a wide range of seasonal breeders, their specific potency has never been compared and correlated with cell-mediated immunity. Methods: We used luzindole, a nonselective MT2R antagonist, and 4-phenyl-2-propionamidotetralin (4P-PDOT), a selective MT2R antagonist, to assess the potency of the melatonin receptors MT1 and MT2 in melatonin-induced immunity under both in vivo as well as in vitro conditions. Results: Physiological doses (25 µg/100 g body weight in vivo and 100 and 500 pg/ml in vitro) of melatonin upregulated both MT1R and MT2R expression as well as splenocyte proliferation, while higher doses (100 and 500 µg/100 g body weight in vivo and 1 ng/ml in vitro) downregulated splenocyte proliferation and the expression of both receptors. Luzindole antagonized the expression of both MT1R and MT2R in a dose-dependent manner under in vivo as well as in vitro conditions, while 4P-PDOT blocked the expression of MT2R only during both experimental conditions. Splenocyte proliferation and IL-2 secretion (in vitro) followed the MT1R expression pattern, while the MT2R expression pattern showed no definite relation with either splenocyte proliferation or IL-2 secretion under in vivo and in vitro conditions. Conclusion: Immune function in tropical rodents is directly regulated by melatonin via its high-affinity membrane receptor MT1. MT1R plays a directive role in mediating splenocyte proliferation and IL-2 release, while the MT2R subtype appears not to be required for the immunoenhancing role of melatonin.

Melatonin membrane receptor type MT1 modulates cell-mediated immunity in the seasonally breeding tropical rodent Funambulus pennanti.

Some physiological parameters of pineal 5α-dihydrotestosterone receptor in the rat such as ontogeny, circadian rhythm pattern, and its modulation by various neuropeptides and neurotransmitters which h

Chandana Haldar

Papers

Age dependent expression of melatonin membrane receptor (MT1, MT2) and its role in regulation of nitrosative stress in tropical rodent Funambulus pennanti

Seasonal modulation of immunity by melatonin and gonadal steroids in a short day breeder goat Capra hircus

Photoperiodic induced melatonin regulates immunity and expression pattern of melatonin receptor MT1 in spleen and bone marrow mononuclear cells of male golden hamster.

Melatonin membrane receptor type MT1 modulates cell-mediated immunity in the seasonally breeding tropical rodent Funambulus pennanti.

Ontogeny, Circadian Rhythm Pattern, and Hormonal Modulation of 5α-Dihydrotestosterone Receptors in the Rat Pineal