Nova Biologica Reperta

Abstract It has been found that the second isoform of COX enzyme known as COX-2 plays an important role in inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Thus, designing COX-2 inhibitors to treat inflammation is among the most important goals of researchers. In this study, the inhibitory effect of 3 new imidazole derivatives on COX-2 was evaluated by in silico approach. Molecular docking was done using Autodock Vina and the best binding mode of inhibitors was used as input of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. MD was performed using Gromacs software for 120 ns. Then, structural and thermodynamic analyzes (ΔG_binding) and prediction of physicochemical properties were performed. RMSD data showed the compounds reached a good equilibrium and had favorable stability during simulation. Also, the RMSF showed that due to binding of inhibitors, the fluctuations of complexes decreased and the active site residues had the lowest amount. Rg, SASA and DSSP analysis showed that the protein structure did not change significantly. It was also found that Ser530 and Tyr355 residues play a more effective role in hydrogen bond formation. Physicochemical parameters determined the good drug-likeness properties for all compounds. Structural and thermodynamic analyzes (MM-PBSA) and IC₅₀ data indicate the favorable inhibitory effect of compound 5b.

Abstract Cisplatin (CP) is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic drugs, however, its clinical use is limited due to possesing nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and hemotoxicity side effects. α-lipoic acid (ALA) is known as a powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ALA on cisplatin-induced hemotoxicity. In this experimental study, 35 NMRI mice were divided into five groups (7 mice/group) of Group 1 (Control), group 2 (CP), group3 (CP+ALA low dose), group 4 (CP+ALA high dose) and group 5 (ALA). ALA was administrated orally for 7 consecutive days and CP was injected intraperitoneally. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected and blood parameters were analyzed. Spleens belong to different groups were evaluated histologically. The data were revealed that erythrocyte count, White blood cells count and hemoglobin level were increased significantly in group2 in comparison with other groups. However, ALA administration improved CP induced changes in blood parameters. CP treatment induced histological changes such as increase in megakaryocytes count and accumulation of hemosiderin and collagen in red palp of spleen. ALA treatment improved CP induced histological alteration in groups 3 and 4. Results of the present study showed that ALA exerts protective effects on CP-induced hemotoxicity and histological alteration of spleen.

Abstract Barnacles are bottom-dwelling crustaceans that live on a variety of substrates, including rocks, mollusk shells, corals, sponges, mangrove roots and leaves, and the body surface of turtles and whales. The present study deals with the species Microeuraphia permitini on the shores of Bandar Abbas in two stations of mangrove forest and rocky beach in a period of two months, and has investigated the morphometrics of the specimens, while considering the effect of the lunar cycle on reproduction, temperature and wind speed of the environment. Five longitudinal parameters (height, basal length and width, opercular length and width) were recorded. The results showed that 90% and 70% of the samples of both stations had eggs in the second day (new moon) and eighth days of lunar months, respectively, and in the twelfth day of the lunar month (full moon) all samples contained eggs. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the height and base length of the barnacle, but the difference between the opercular length, opercular width and base width is not significant. In addition, in both of mangrove and rocky stations, there was the highest correlation coefficient between opercular length and width (r=0.84 and r=0.78, respectively). The lowest correlation coefficient in mangrove station was between base length and opercular width (r=0.5) and in rocky station between height and base width (r=0.2). The wind pattern was variable during this period and the approximate decrease of the north wind was seen during the sampling period. Air temperature changes were seen between minimum 30 °C and maximum 39 °C. In addition to the tidal cycle, wind and temperature can affect the spawning of the species as an environmental stress factor.

Abstract Biological cementation is a new process in which urea hydrolysis bacteria or free urease enzyme decompose urea and increases the pH of the environment and chemical interactions in the presence of calcium ions to form calcite. Nowadays, nano-calcite is widely used in engineering, such as increasing the strength of soil and concrete, as well as in medicine, such as drug delivery and cancer treatment. This study aimed to investigate the laboratory conditions for producing nano-calcite particles with appropriate quality, size and purity by Sporosarcina pasteurii enzyme extract for use in medical and engineering studies. This investigation aimed to make calcite by S. pasteurii enzyme extract and optimize influential factors in calcite production. For this purpose, the bacterium S. pasteurii was cultured in nutrient broth containing urea and nickel, and upon reaching the appropriate time, the cells were separated and washed. Then, their enzyme extract was prepared by sonication, and calcite precipitation was studied in different amounts of urea, calcium chloride, enzyme and temperature. The quality of produced calcite crystals and their ratio compared to other crystals were investigated by XRD and SEM analyses. According to the results of XRD analysis, it was found that in 0.5 M urea and 0.25 M calcium chloride, the highest amount of calcite is produced with 96%, and the least side products are produced. Examining the particle size histogram in the sample containing 0.5 M urea and 0.25 M calcium chloride revealed that the range of particles were between 50 and 100 nm. The nature and type of crystals were studied by electron microscopy, and EDX analysis showed the presence of calcium, oxygen, and carbon. According to the results, it was found that by the increase of the concentrations of urea and calcium, the range of particle size became larger. Also, the percentage of calcite produced in low urea and calcium chloride concentrations is higher than those in high concentrations.

Abstract

Rana Valizadeh Kamran¹, Lamia Vojodi Mehrabani², Ali Aryan¹ & Alireza Tarinejad^1
1
Corresponding author: Rana Valizadeh Kamran, rana.valizadeh@gmail.com

Abstract. Bioremediation is a promising strategy to reduce the concentration of heavy metals that their increase in the soil was the result of the development of industries and factories in the area, threatening the environment and human health. To investigate the effect of the heavy metal chromium and the reduction of its toxic effects by bacteria (at two levels of the absence of bacteria and the presence of bacteria in Hoagland's solution), a factorial experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with three replications and the morphological, physiological traits and plant elements were measured in the applied treatments. The results showed that the experimental treatments did not affect plant yield traits, fresh weight, stem length, and leaf length. Leaf width, chlorophyll a, b, and plant phosphorus content decreased under chromium stress and increased with bacterial treatment. Hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, proline, solid soluble substances, phenol, flavonoid, and anthocyanin, as well as the content of plant elements such as chromium, nitrogen, and potassium, increased due to the chromium treatment. Using bacteria in the culture medium containing chromium, significantly decreased the hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde, indicating a reduction in the oxidative stress. The non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants of plats in the bacterial treatments increased, indicating bacteria's role in strengthening the plant's antioxidant system. The chromium content of the plant decreased after the use of bacteria. The results showed the positive effect of using chromium-purifying bacteria in the environment of plant cultivation in reducing the harmful effects of chromium heavy metal stress.

Abstract The new species Onosma nuristanica is described and illustrated here on the basis of specimens collected from Parun in Nuristan and Chapa Dareh in Kunar, one of the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. An extensive review of the literature and a comparative study with specimens from several herbaria led to the determine of this new species. Our results represent significant divergence between studied specimens in terms of the most important morphological features, i.e., flower color, pedicel length, bract length filaments length, cauline shape and form. In this article, a detailed description of the new species and a diagnostic key for Onosma species thriving in Afghanistan are provided and the new species is compared morphologically with its closely related species. In addition, a distribution map is provided for the new species and its close relatives in the area.