Pollen morphological investigations of family Cactaceae and its taxonomic implication by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

The family Cactaceae is the diversified group of angiosperm plants whose pollen statistics has been used for taxonomic identification. In this article, we present the pollen morphology of eight species belong to seven taxonomically complex genera of Cactaceae including Astrophytum, Cylindropuntia, Echinocereus, Echinopsis, Mammillaria, Opuntia, and Thelocactus using light and scanning electron microscopy. The pollen grains were acetolyzed, measured, described, and electron photomicrographs were taken. Cactaceae can be characterized by presenting different palynomorphological features including pollen type, sculpturing, polar and equatorial diameter, aperture orientation, exine thickness, P/E ratio, and echini features. Four types of pollen shapes, that is, prolate spheroidal (three species), subprolate (two species), prolate (two species), and oblate spheroidal in Echinocereus reichenbachii were observed. The polar and equatorial diameter observed maximum in O. ficus indica 116.95 and 112.27 μm while minimum in M. compressa 38.42 and 21.05 μm. Pollen of two types, tricolpate in members of subfamily Cactioideae and pantoporate in the Opuntioideae were examined. The fertility percentage has been observed maximum in Opuntia macrocentra (83.84%) and minimum in Opuntia ficus‐indica (57.89%). Exine sculpturing showing great variations such as granulate, reticulate, granulate perforate and micro‐echinate foveolate ornamentation was examined only in Echinopsis eyriesii. A key to species, based on pollen micromorphological attributes, has been constructed for correct identification of complex cactus species.     

Ultrastructural changes in articular cartilage in rheumatoid arthritis

Electron microscope studies of the articular cartilages removed in the course of the operation on 6 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were carried out. The processes of destruction of chondrocytes and the cartilaginous matrix in different regions of the articular cartilage were traced. In the surface areas of the drastically changed cartilage there were observed leucocytes of the synovial fluid, and in deeper areas--disintegration of chondrocytes and extracellular disposition of lysosomes and altered organellas, destroyed cartilaginous cells. In these areas destruction of collagenous fibres was particularly intensive. In areas of the tissue remote from the destuction hypertrophy of chondrocytes due to hyperplasia of various organellas and the Golgi complex in particular were noted. In the Golgi zone granules of glycogen were detected. No mitoses were observed. Apparently, the enzymatic destruction of the cartilaginous matrix in rheumatoid arthritis could proceed at the expense of the activazation of the synovial fluid lysosomes and lysosomes of chondrocytes themselves. A reparative regeneration of the disintegrating matrix was realized mainly because of hypertrophy of the functionally preserved chondrocytes.     

Palyno-anatomical characters and their systematic significance in the family Apiaceae from Chitral,eastern Hindu Kush,Pakistan

The present study was performed to provide a detailed explanation of leaf epidermal anatomy and pollen micromorphological features of selected species of family Apiaceae from Chitral, eastern Hindu Kush region as the basis of forthcoming studies. In the present article pollen morphology of eight species and foliar epidermal of seven species of family Apiaceae have been examined through microscopic techniques. In results two types of pollen prolate (five species) and perprolate (three species) with three colpi have been recorded. The exine ornamentation was found to be regulate, striate, and cerebroid. Largest pollen was found in Heracleum leucocarpum with the polar diameter of 43.25 μm and equatorial diameter of 21.6 μm. Smallest pollen was observed in Elaeosticta chitralica with the polar diameter of 18.4 μm. The P/E ratio varied from 1.59 to 2.16. Regarding to foliar epidermal anatomy, three types of epidermal cells including rectangular, irregular, and polygonal with variation in anticlinal wall pattern were determined. In the selected species three kinds of stomata comprising anisocytic, anomocytic, and paracytic type were reported in the current research. The size of epidermal cells ranged from 106 × 42.50 μm in Bupleurum falcatum subsp. cernuum and 77.25 × 26.35 μm in Prangos pabularia in adaxial surface. Largest stomatal complex was found in Prangos pabularia both in adaxial 33.55 × 20.05 μm and abaxial 50.25 × 39.40 μm. All the observed quantitative and qualitative features of the species were proved to be useful in the delimitation of species at generic and species level.     

Evolution of peptides that modulate the spectral qualities of bound, small-molecule fluorophores

BACKGROUND: Fluorophore dyes are used extensively in biomedical research to sensitively assay cellular constituents and physiology. We have created, as proof of principle, fluorophore dye binding peptides that could have applications in fluorescent dye-based approaches in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: A panel of Texas red, Rhodamine red, Oregon green 514 and fluorescein binding peptides, termed here 'fluorettes', was selected via biopanning of a combinatorial library of 12-mer peptides fused to a minor coat pIII protein of the filamentous bacteriophage M13. The 'best' fluorette sequences from each of the groups were subjected to further mutagenesis, followed by a second biopanning to select a new generation of improved fluorettes. Phage were selected that had higher avidity for each fluorophore except Rhodamine red. Of these, peptides were characterized that could specifically and with high affinity bind at least one dye, Texas red, in solution. In addition, the binding of certain peptides to Texas red shifted the peak excitation and/or the emission spectra of the bound dye. CONCLUSIONS: Peptides in the context of phage display could readily be selected that could bind to small-molecule fluorophores. The affinities of selected mutant fluorettes could be increased by mutation and further selection. Only a subset of the free peptides could bind free dyes in solution, suggesting that phage context contributed to the selection and ability of certain peptidic regions to independently bind the dyes. Future screens might lead to the creation of other dye-binding peptides with novel characteristics or Texas red derivatives with cross-linking substituents might be designed to increase the utility of the system.     

Correlation between in vitro and in vivo parameters of commercial paracetamol tablets

Three leading and competitive commercial products of paracetamol tablets coded as brands A, B and C (A, being the innovator product) in the country were evaluated for their in vitro properties and in vivo comparative bioavailability. The studies included chemical equivalence, hardness, disintegration time, dissolution rate and systemic availability among eight healthy volunteers. The disintegration times were 2.1 min for brand A, 5.7 min for brand B and 36.2 min for brand C. The dissolution rate (T70) were 33.0 min, 74.5 min and 56.5 min for brands A, B and C, respectively. While brand A passed all the in vitro tests as specified in the official monograph, brand B failed only the dissolution rate test and brand C failed both the disintegration and dissolution tests. These significant differences observed among the products after in vitro tests were not reflected in the in vivo availability. While the absorption rate (indicated by tmax) of brand C was significantly faster (i.e. shorter) than those of Brands A and B, the extent of absorption (indicated by AUC) was comparable among the three brands. The relative bioavailabilities (with respect to brand A) were 92 and 91% for brands B and C, respectively indicating that the products were bioequivalent. Comparison of the in vitro and in vivo data suggest that the systemic absorption of paracetamol may not be dissolution--rate limited and that using in vitro dissolution rate studies alone to establish bioequivalency of paracetamol tablets should be done with caution.     

Efflux pump-mediated quinolone resistance in Staphylococcus aureus strains wild type for gyrA, gyrB, grlA, and norA

Fluoroquinolone efflux was studied in 47 Staphylococcus aureus clinical strains with MICs of ciprofloxacin (CFX) of < or = 2 micrograms/ml. Forty-three strains were wild type for gyrA, gyrB, and grlA quinolone resistance-determining regions and for norA and its promoter region. Forty of these strains (MICs of CFX, 0.1 to 0.2 microgram/ml) did not show efflux of fluoroquinolones. Three strains (MICs of CFX, 1 to 2 micrograms/ml) showed efflux. These results suggest that efflux can appear in S. aureus clinical strains in the absence of mutations in norA and its promoter.     

Lidocaine-loaded biodegradable nanospheres. I. Optimization Of the drug incorporation into the polymer matrix

Spherical nanoparticulate drug carriers made of poly(d,l-lactic acid) with controlled size were designed. A local anesthetic, lidocaine, a small hydrophobic molecule, was incorporated in the core with loadings varying from about 7 to 32% (w/w) and increasing with the particle size. Particles with sizes from about 250 to 820 nm and low polydispersity were prepared with good reproducibility; the polymer concentration (at constant surfactant concentration) governed the particle size. The large particles with a high loading ( approximately 30%) showed under in vitro conditions a slow release over 24-30 h, the medium sized carriers (loading of approximately 13%) released the drug over about 15 h, whereas the small particles with small loading ( approximately 7%) exhibited a rapid release over a couple of hours. It seems that the drug release rate is related to the state (crystallized or dispersed) of the drug incorporated in the polymer matrix.