Nodulation is the temporally and quantitatively most important cellular defense response to bacterial, fungal and some viral infections in insects. We tested the hypothesis that prostaglandins and other eicosanoids are responsible for mediating nodulation reactions to bacterial infection in larvae of the blowfly Chrysomya megacephala. Third-instar larvae treated with Ureaplasma urealyticum form...

Curcumin [1, 7-bis (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1, 6 heptadiene-3, 5-dione] is an orange-yellow component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a spice often found in curry powder. It is known to have a variety of biologic and pharmacologic activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anticarcinogenic potential. It is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 with capacity to simultaneously ind...

Shikonin is a quinone-containing natural product that induces the apoptotic death of some cancer cell lines in culture through increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Quinone-based drugs have shown potential in the clinic, making shikonin an interesting compound to study. Our previous study found that shikonin induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma by induction of ROS, but its mecha...

Arthritis, an inflammation of the joints, is usually a chronic disease that results from dysregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. tumour necrosis factor and interleukin-1beta) and pro-inflammatory enzymes that mediate the production of prostaglandins (e.g. cyclooxygenase-2) and leukotrienes (e.g. lipooxygenase), together with the expression of adhesion molecules and matrix metalloprote...

The spontaneous emission of chemiluminescence appears to reflect changes in the intracellular steady-state concentration of oxygen radicals. Stimulation of arachidonic acid metabolism in human platelets also induces chemiluminescence, which indicates the formation of highly reactive species by cyclooxygenase andlor lipooxygenase [1,2]. It was observed that arachidonic acid, linoleic acid and li...

Recent evidence suggests that hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is mediated by hypoxia-induced closure of voltage-gated potassium channels in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells. It is also claimed that various vasoconstrictor mediators such as thromboxane A2 (TXA2), platelet activating factor (PAF), cysteinyl leukotrienes (cys-LTs) or endothelin-1 (ET-1) contribute to HPV. Their role...