Cell and Tissue Journal

Abstract Aim: Turmeric contains a high amount of curcumin (Cur), which exhibits strong antioxidant activity. Cur binds to antioxidant response elements for gene, thus suppressing reactive oxygen species (ROS). Reactive oxygen species are short-lived, highly electrophilic molecules. When intracellular antioxidants are reduced or ROS accumulate excessively, it brings about the imbalance in the redox state which leading to oxidative stress. DEHP consists of a pair of eight-carbon esters linked to a benzene-dicarboxylic acid ring with chemical formula of C24H38O4. DEHP is used as a plasticizer in many polyvinyl chloride products, especially in medical devices such as intravenous bags and tubing, umbilical artery catheters, blood bags, infusion tubing, enteral nutrition feeding bags, nasogastric tubes and dialysis bags. Due to non-covalent binding to the plastic products, DEHP leaches into biological fluids during medical treatment causing contamination. There is ample evidence that DEHP induces oxidative stress and causes apoptosis in cells. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the effects of Cur on DEHP-induced oxidative stress in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), as DEHP has been found to induce oxidative stress in BMSCs.
 Materialand Methods: Rat BMSCs was extracted and after the 3rd passage, their cell viability and proliferation were examined in the presence of various concentrations (0.05,0.1, 0.25, 1, 2.5 and 5 μM) of Cur for a period of 4 days. Subsequently, a concentration of 0.1 μM Cur was chosen for further assessment of viability and proliferation abilities (measured by population doubling number (PDN)), total protein, malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity as well as the expression of NFkB and Nrf2 both individually and in conjunction with 100 or 500 μM of DEHP (chosen based on previous study) for durations of 4 and8 days. The data underwent statistical analysis with P<.05 considered as the minimum level of significance.
 Results: Concentrations of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.25 μM of Cur were found to have no effect on the viability (P<0.05) of the BMSCs but significantly increased proliferation ability (P<0.0001). Conversely, concentrations of 1, 2.5, and 5 μM of Cur significantly reduced viability (P<0.0001). The concentration of 0.1 μM was chosen for further analysis based on viability tests and PDN analysis. This selected concentration notably increased BMSCs proliferation after 4 days, while higher concentrations (1, 2.5, and 5 μM) reduced both viability and proliferation. Furthermore, this concentration counteracted the effects of DEHP at both day 4 and day 8 by reducing MDA levels and increasing TAC levels as well as catalase and SOD activity - particularly at day 8 compared to the DEHP-treated groups. Additionally, Cur was found to reduce NFkB expression while increasing Nrf2 expression in BMSCs.
Conclusion: Curcumin mitigated oxidative stress induced by DEHP through the Nrf/NFkB pathway. Moreover, it enhanced the cell viability and proliferation capacity of BMSCs in the presence of DEHP. Therefore, patients undergoing hemodialysis and blood transfusion, who may be exposed to DEHP from medical devices like tubes and other plastic products, should consider consuming turmeric to counteract the oxidative impact of this chemical.

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the interaction effect of salinity stress and superabsorbent polymers on physiological traits of basil.
Material and methods: A pot experiment was conducted as factorial based on a completely randomized design with four levels of salinity (0, 40, 80 and 120 mM NaCl in irrigation water) and four levels of superabsorbent polymers included (control, Ackoasorb, Stockosorb and Terracottem). The measured traits were soluble protein, antioxidant enzyme activities, malondialdehyde content and essential oil production.
Results: Antioxidant enzyme activities of catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase at first harvesting and high salinity (120 mM) under Ackoasorb, Terracottem, Terracottem and Ackoasorb usage decreased 52.68, 73.1, 68.07 and 75.35%, respectively, and also at second harvest at highest salinity level (80 mM) the activity of these enzymes under Ackoasorb, Terracottem, Ackoasorb, Terracottem and Terracottem decreased 37.6, 62.5, 46.38 43.06 and 38.47%, respectively.  With increasing salinity the essential oil production decreased and Tracheotem superabsorbent increase it. At first harvesting, a significant positive correlation was observed between malondialdehyde with guaiacol peroxidase (r = 0.751) and at second harvesting ascorbate peroxidase with protein (r = - 0.753) had a significant negative correlations, moreover, significant positive correlations were found between superoxide dismutase with guaiacol peroxidase (r = 0.848), malondialdehyde with guaiacol peroxidase (r = 0.789) and malondialdehyde with ascorbate peroxidase (r = 0.743).
Conclusion: The results showed that application of superabsorbents under salinity stress conditions could decrease the severity of this stress and thereby cause to decrease the antioxidant enzyme activities and malondialdehyde amount significantly, but increased the soluble protein and essential oil content.