Bath immersion pharmacokinetics of florfenicol in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Drug administration by immersion can be a preferable method in certain conditions especially for treating small-sized, anorexic, or valuable fish. Pharmacokinetic information regarding bath treatment is considerably lacking in comparison to other common administration routes. The current study aimed to investigate if immersion can be an effective route to administer florfenicol (FF) for treatment in Nile tilapia. Nile tilapia reared at 28°C were immersed with FF solution at concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 500, and 500/200 (3 hr/117 hr) ppm for 120 hr and moved to drug-free freshwater for another 24 hr. The serum FF concentration in 100, 200, and 500/200 ppm groups reached steady-state at 12 hr with concentrations of 2.44, 3.04, and 5.26 µg/ml, respectively, which were about 2% of the bathing concentrations. The target therapeutic levels of 1–4 µg/ml were attained and maintained within 1–12 hr, depending on the immersion concentration and the target MIC. Serum FF reached the target with shorter time at higher bathing concentration. Following the 120-hr bath, the serum FF declined with the first-order half-life of approximately 10 hr. A minimum of 100 ppm FF is required for treatment purpose, and an initial high loading concentration followed by maintenance concentration is a plausible way to reach in vivo therapeutic level in short time. Greater than 99% of the residual FF in the bathing water could be removed within 15 min by 0.05% NaOCl. Our results indicated that bath immersion is a promising potential route for FF administration in Nile tilapia.     

Epigallocatechin-3 gallate inhibits invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and tumor growth in oral cancer cells

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is critical for the progression, invasion, and metastasis of epithelial tumorgenesis. Here, we provided molecular evidence associated with the antimetastatic effect of green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG) in an oral squamous cell culture system by showing a nearly complete inhibition on the invasion (P < 0.001) of squamous cell carcinoma-9 (SCC-9) cells via a reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (P < 0.001) and urokinasetype plasminogen activator (P < 0.001). EGCG exerted an inhibitory effect on cell migration (P < 0.001), motility (P < 0.001), spread, and adhesion (P < 0.001). We performed Western blot to find that EGCG inhibited p-focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK), p-Src, snail-1, and vimentin, indicating the anti-EMT effect of EGCG in oral squamous cell carcinoma. EGCG was also sufficient to inhibit phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-induced cell invasion and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression, as evidenced by its inhibition on the tumor growth of SCC-9 cells in vivo via cancer cell xenografted nude mice mode. These results suggested that EGCG could reduce the invasion and cell growth of tumor cells, and such a characteristic may be of great value in developing a potential cancer therapy.     

Lunasin–Aspirin Combination Against NIH/3T3 Cells Transformation Induced by Chemical Carcinogens

Carcinogenesis is a multistage process involving a number of molecular pathways sensitive to intervention. Chemoprevention is defined as the use of natural and/or synthetic substances to block, reverse, or retard the process of carcinogenesis. To achieve greater inhibitory effects on cancer cells, combination of two or more chemopreventive agents is commonly considered as a better preventive and/or therapeutic strategy. Lunasin is a promising cancer preventive peptide identified in soybean and other seeds. Its efficacy has been demonstrated by both in vitro and in vivo models. This peptide has been found to inhibit human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells proliferation, suppressing cell cycle progress and inducing cell apoptosis. Moreover, lunasin potentiates the effects on these cells of different synthetic and natural compounds, such as aspirin and anacardic acid. This study explored the role of lunasin, alone and in combination with aspirin and anacardic acid on cell proliferation and foci formation of transformed NIH/3T3 cells induced by chemical carcinogens 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene or 3-methylcholanthrene. The results revealed that lunasin, acting as a single agent, inhibits cell proliferation and foci formation. When combined with aspirin, these effects were significantly increased, indicating that this combination might be a promising strategy to prevent/treat cancer induced by chemical carcinogens.     

Kinetics of Fe(III) reduction by ascorbic acid in aqueous solutions

The reaction of Fe(III) and ascorbic acid (AA) in food products and digestive tracts affects the efficiency and uptake of these two nutrients. We investigated the kinetics of Fe(III) reduction by AA at pH 5 and 6 in a model system at 25 degrees C. The results indicate that the reduction of Fe(III) by AA is of zero order with respect to AA. The reaction order with respect to Fe(III) cannot be represented by a simple kinetic model at pH 5 or 6. The major stage of the reduction (about 80%, stoichiometrically), however, could be represented by a general equation of -d[Fe(III)]/dt = k[Fe(III)],(1. 811) where k is a rate constant and [Fe(III)] is the total ferric concentration. The rate constant decreased 1 order of magnitude as pH increased from 5 to 6. Aging of Fe(III) solution slows its reduction rate at pH 6 but not at pH 5.     

Studies on Ancient Rice—Where Botanists, Agronomists, Archeologists, Linguists, and Ethnologists Meet

Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples are thought to be related to ancestral Austronesian-speaking peoples. Currently, Taiwan has 14 officially acknowledged aboriginal tribes. The major crops currently farmed in aboriginal areas are rice (Oryza sativa) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica). Archeologists recently excavated the remains of several early cultures in Taiwan. The most plentiful plant remains were carbonated rice and foxtail millet grains. The earliest ¹⁴C date of these excavation sites is ～5,000 bp. These settlements may be those of the earliest ancestral Austronesian speakers in Taiwan. Rice domestication is a complex story. In this study, we identified the functional nucleotide polymorphisms of 16 domestication-related genes using 60 landraces collected from aboriginal Taiwanese villages about 100 years ago. We also screened the phenotypes of these landraces. By integrating pheno- and genotypic data, together with data from archeologists and linguists, we may be able to better understand the history of rice cultivation in Taiwan and nearby areas.     

Effect of pH on the Analysis of 2-MIB and Geosmin in Water

2-Methylisoborneol (2-MIB) and trans-1,10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol (geosmin) are two commonly observed taste and odor compounds present in drinking water sources. The effects of pH on the analysis of the two chemicals are investigated using a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometric detector (GC/MSD) coupled with three pre-concentration methods, namely solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME), purge-and-trap concentration (PTC), and liquid–liquid extraction (LLE). At neutral and alkaline pH conditions, the concentrations detected for both compounds remain constant. However, a substantial reduction of concentration for both chemicals is observed when the water solution pH is less than 5. Under acidic conditions (pH ≅ 2.5), the 2-MIB concentrations detected by GC/MSD coupled with SPME, PTC, and LLE are 87%, 16%, and 37% lower than those measured at pH 6–7, respectively. For geosmin, a decrease in concentration is only observed when using GC/MSD-SPME, presumably due to the higher extraction temperature compared to the other two techniques. The pH-dependent behavior was attributed to dehydration of the tertiary alcohols of 2-MIB and geosmin under acidic conditions. The dehydration for 2-MIB and geosmin is reversible, and the analysis can be mitigated by adjusting the water solution pH back to a neutral condition.     

In vivo screening of zebrafish microRNA responses to bacterial infection and their possible roles in regulating immune response genes after lipopolysaccharide stimulation

Micro (mi)RNAs are abundant small noncoding RNAs found in plants and animals, the regulatory functions of which are not fully understood in fish. To identify potential miRNAs, we screened an miRNA microarray with total RNA from zebrafish infected with Vibrio harveyi and another from uninfected zebrafish. Six miRNAs were obtained from the microarray screening. We studied miRNA expression patterns of 2 miRNAs (miR-122 and miR-194) after bacterial infection of transgenic zebrafish (containing tilapia hepcidin (TH)2-3) and non-transgenic zebrafish from which the 2 miRNAs were obtained from the microarray experiment. The results indicated that miR-122 and miR-194 were higher in PBS-injected zebrafish compared with TH2-3 zebrafish or wild-type (WT) zebrafish after V. harveyi infection. Overexpression of miRNAs (miR-122, miR-192, and miR-194a) was seen in zebrafish liver (ZFL) cells after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment and in untreated fish. Our results showed that after 24?h of doxycycline treatment without LPS stimulation, interleukin (IL)-22, lysozyme, toll-like receptor (TLR)1, TLR3, TLR4a, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α gene expressions were, respectively, upregulated by ~14-, 22-, 2.2-, 13-, 200-, and 38-fold in miR-122-transfected compared with non-transfected (WT) ZFL cells. In cells transfected with miR-192 and treated with LPS after 8-12?h, IL-22, lysozyme, TLR1, TLR3, TLR4a, and TNF-α expressions significantly differed between WT and miR-192-overexpressing ZFL cells. However, we observed significantly higher IL-22 expression levels after 12?h of LPS treatment in miR-192-transfected ZFL cells compared with non-transfected cells. In contrast, IL-22, lysozyme, and TNF-α were markedly upregulated (>100-fold) after miR-194a transfection and overexpression in ZFL cells and treatment with LPS. Our cloning and expression analyses indicated that miR-122, miR-192, and miR-194a play important roles in zebrafish immunology.     

Complex dynamics may limit prediction in marine fisheries

Complex nonlinear dynamics in marine fisheries create challenges for prediction and management, yet the extent to which they occur in fisheries is not well known. Using nonlinear forecasting models, we analysed over 200 time series of survey abundance and landings from two distinct ecosystems for patterns of dynamic complexity (dimensionality and nonlinear dynamics) and predictability. Differences in system dimensionality and nonlinear dynamics were associated with time series that reflected human intervention via fishing effort, implying the coupling between human and natural systems generated dynamics distinct from those detected in the natural resource subsystem alone. Estimated dimensionality was highest for landings and higher in abundance indices of unfished species than fished species. Fished species were more likely to display nonlinear dynamics than unfished species, and landings were significantly less predictable than abundance indices. Results were robust to variation in life history characteristics. Dynamics were predictable over a 1‐year time horizon in seventy percent of time series, but predictability declined exponentially over a 5‐year horizon. The ability to make predictions in fisheries systems is therefore extremely limited. To our knowledge, this is the first cross‐system comparative study, and the first at the scale of individual species, to analyse empirically the dynamic complexity observed in fisheries data and to quantify predictability broadly. We outline one application of short‐term forecasts to a precautionary approach to fisheries management that could improve how uncertainty and forecast error are incorporated into assessment through catch limit buffers.