Food Composition and Nutrition Tables

The Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, or sodium pump, is the membrane-bound enzyme that maintains the Na(+) and K(+) gradients across the plasma membrane of animal cells. Because of its importance in many basic and specialized cellular functions, this enzyme must be able to adapt to changing cellular and physiological stimuli. This review presents an overview of the many mechanisms in place to regulate sodium pump activity in a tissue-specific manner. These mechanisms include regulation by substrates, membrane-associated components such as cytoskeletal elements and the gamma-subunit, and circulating endogenous inhibitors as well as a variety of hormones, including corticosteroids, peptide hormones, and catecholamines. In addition, the review considers the effects of a range of specific intracellular signaling pathways involved in the regulation of pump activity and subcellular distribution, with particular consideration given to the effects of protein kinases and phosphatases.

Mechanisms of sodium pump regulation

A ROLE for abnormal lipid metabolism in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis was suggested over a century ago, when Virchow proposed that transport of plasma lipids into the walls of blood vessels contributed to the development of atheromatous lesions. Lipid abnormalities are now firmly established as one factor leading to ischemic heart disease, although the mechanism by which they lead to coronary artery occlusion remains incompletely understood. More recently, abnormalities of lipid metabolism have been implicated in another quite different aspect of the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease. A large body of evidence now indicates that altered lipid metabolism can alter cardiac function by changing the properties of cardiac cell membranes, and that these functional changes may contribute to the decline in myocardial contractility, the arrhythmias, and the eventual cell death that follow coronary artery occlusion. This article will review some of these disorders in lipid metabolism and possible mechanisms by which they might modify membrane function in the ischemic heart. Disorders of Lipid Metabolism in the Ischemic Heart There are now at least three well-defined mechanisms by which lipid metabolism may be altered in the heart after coronary artery occlusion (Table 1). Each of these mechanisms has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the cardiac abnormalities seen in patients who sustain an acute myocardial infarction.

BRIEF REVIEWS Lipid-Membrane Interactions and the Pathogenesis of Ischemic Damage in the Myocardium

Lipid-membrane interactions and the pathogenesis of ischemic damage in the myocardium.

Cancer remains to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States and around the world. The advent of modern drug-targeted therapies has undeniably improved cancer patients' cares. However, advanced metastasized cancer remains untreatable. Hence, continued searching for a safer and more effective chemoprevention and treatment is clearly needed for the improvement of the efficiency and to lower the treatment cost for cancer care. Cancer chemoprevention with natural phytochemical compounds is an emerging strategy to prevent, impede, delay, or cure cancer. This review summarizes the latest research in cancer chemoprevention and treatment using the bioactive components from natural plants. Relevant molecular mechanisms involved in the pharmacological effects of these phytochemicals are discussed. Pharmaceutical developmental challenges and opportunities in bringing the phytochemicals into the market are also explored. The authors wish to expand this research area not only for their scientific soundness, but also for their potential druggability.

Plants vs. cancer: a review on natural phytochemicals in preventing and treating cancers and their druggability.

Natural products have afforded a rich source of compounds that have found many applications in cancer chemotherapy Furthermore, the vast structural spectrum of natural compounds can provide "lead compounds" for therapeutic improvement by molecular modification Over 70% of anticancer compounds are either natural products, or natural product-derived substances On the other hand conjugation of toxic natural products to monoclonal antibodies or polymeric carriers can lead to more efficacious targeted therapies Since less than 15% of higher plants have been systematically investigated, the natural products research towards chemotherapy requires further attention and multi-scientific collaboration An enforcing application to chemotherapy, using natural products, is also chemoprevention Apart from vegetables and fruit, more than 1,000 different phytochemicals are already proved to possess interesting chemopreventing activities Effectiveness of chemopreventing agents reflects their ability to counteract certain upstream signals that leads to genotoxic damage, redox imbalances and other forms of cellular stress Chemoprevention by edible phytochemicals is now considered to be an inexpensive, readily applicable, acceptable and accessible approach to cancer control and management The present short review deals with a number of recent biochemical and therapeutic routes, concerning current approaches towards natural anticancer agents in clinical practice, new candidate oncotherapy drugs from plants, marine and microorganisms, as well as promising chemopreventing agents from nature

Anticancer and chemopreventing natural products: some biochemical and therapeutic aspects.

The inhibition of Na+ and K+ stimulated ATPase activity of rabbit and dog heart sarcolemma by lysophosphatidyl choline

Crude extracts from 20 Panamanian plants used in traditional medicine have been screened for brine shrimp toxicity, tumor inhibition, DNA-intercalation and cytotoxicity tests in a clonogenic assay in V79 suspension culture gassed with air or nitrogen. Of the 20 plant extracts, 8 (40%) proved active in DNA intercalation. The most active were the methanol extracts of Bidens pilosa (root), Jatropha curcas (leaf), Pereskia bleo (whole plant), Isertia hypoleuca (leaf), Cyperus luzulae (root), Vernonia patens (leaf and stem), Alibertia edulis (stem) and Justicia graciliflora (aerial parts). Sixteen (80%) of the 20 methanol plant extracts were active in potato disc tumor inhibition assay; Cyperus luzulae (root), Justicia graciliflora (aerial parts), Pereskia bleo (whole plant) and Vernonia patens (leaf and stem) being the most active. Cytotoxicity in the clonogenic assay was observed only in three plant extracts: Cyperus luzulae, Piper auritum and Psychotria correae, whereas high brine shrimp toxicity (LC 50 &lt...

Screening of Panamanian Medicinal Plants for Brine Shrimp Toxicity, Crown Gall Tumor Inhibition, Cytotoxicity and DNA Intercalation

Objective To elucidate associations of age and sex with serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to provide for the first time percentile distribution data for pediatric lipids Participants and Methods A high sample of 7767 (3980 boys, 3787 girls) fasting schoolchildren, 6 to 14 years of age, were studied in Athens, Greece Results The mean cholesterol ranged from 157 to 174 mg/dL for boys and from 158 to 172 mg/dL for girls peaking at 9 years of age for both sexes Triglyceride levels also tended to increase gradually and to peak at 11 years of age for both sexes The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were highest at 9 years of age for both sexes and the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels also tended to peak at 9 years of age for boys and at 8 years of age for girls Atherogenic indices ranged from 154 to 168 for boys and 151 to 185 for girls Conclusion According to these findings, it could be suggested that diet changes in the Greek population, especially in children and adolescents, living in big cities is significantly influencing their total cholesterol profiles throughout the last 10 years

George A. Karikas

Papers

Anticancer and chemopreventing natural products: some biochemical and therapeutic aspects.

The inhibition of Na+ and K+ stimulated ATPase activity of rabbit and dog heart sarcolemma by lysophosphatidyl choline

Screening of Panamanian Medicinal Plants for Brine Shrimp Toxicity, Crown Gall Tumor Inhibition, Cytotoxicity and DNA Intercalation

Serum Cholesterol and Triglyceride Distribution in 7767 School-aged Greek Children

Valproic acid monotherapy induces DNA oxidative damage.