Protective effects of electroacupuncture on acetylsalicylic acid-induced acute gastritis in rats

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-induced ulceration in rats. METHODS: We randomly divided 72 rats into three groups including control (administered with distilled water), ASA group (administered 100 mg/kg ASA) and EA group (administered EA + 100 mg/kg ASA). Each rat was fasted for 18 to 24 h before experimentation, and lesion scores, gastric acidity, cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and -2 mRNA levels, and total nitric oxide (NO) concentration were measured. RESULTS: The lesion scores of the EA group were significantly lower than those of the ASA group. Gastric acidity of the ASA and EA groups was reduced compared to the control group. COX-1 and -2 mRNA levels were significantly increased in the EA group as compared to the control and ASA groups, and NO levels were also significantly increased in the EA group as compared to the ASA group. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that EA-mediated protection against ASA-induced ulceration in rats may occur via gastric defense components.

Effects of ocean acidifi cation driven by elevated CO_2 on larval shell growth and abnormal rates of the venerid clam, Mactra veneriformis

A bstract The venerid clam(M actra veneriformis Reeve 1854) is one of the main cultured bivalve species in intertidal and shallow subtidal ecosystems along the west coast of Korea. To understand the effects of ocean acidifi cation on the early life stages of Korean clams, we investigated shell growth and abnormality rates and types in the D-shaped, umbonate veliger, and pediveliger stages of the venerid clam M. veneriformis during exposure to elevated seawater pCO_2. In particular, we examined abnormal types of larval shell morphology categorized as shell deformations, shell distortions, and shell fi ssures. Specimens were incubated in seawater equilibrated with bubbled CO_2-enriched air at(400±25)×10^(-6)(ambient control),(800±25)×10^(-6)(high pCO_2), or(1 200±28)×10^(-6)(extremely high pCO_2), the atmospheric CO_2 concentrations predicted for the years 2014, 2084, and 2154(70-year intervals; two human generations), respectively, in the Representative Concentration Pathway(RCP) 8.5 scenario. The mean shell lengths of larvae were signifi cantly decreased in the high and extremely high pCO_2 groups compared with the ambient control groups. Furthermore, under high and extremely high pCO_2 conditions, the cultures exhibited signifi cantly increased abundances of abnormal larvae and increased severity of abnormalities compared with the ambient control. In the umbonate veliger stage of the experimental larvae, the most common abnormalities were shell deformations, distortions, and fi ssures; on the other hand, convex hinges and mantle protuberances were absent. These results suggest that elevated CO_2 exerts an additional burden on the health of M. veneriformis larvae by impairing early development.

Planktonic microbial eukaryotes in polar surface waters: recent advances in high-throughput sequencing

Marine microbial eukaryotes are important primary producers and play critical roles in key biogeochemical cycles.Recent advances in sequencing technology have focused attention on the extent of microbial biodiversity,revealing a huge,previously underestimated phylogenetic diversity with many new lineages.This technology has now become the most important tool to understand the ecological signifcance of this huge and novel diversity in polar oceans.In particular,high-throughput sequencing technologies have been successfully applied to enumerate and compare marine microbial diversity in polar environments.Here,a brief overview of polar microbial eukaryote diversity,as revealed by in-situ surveys of the high-throughput sequencing on 18S rRNA gene,is presented.Using these‘omic’approaches,further attention still needs to be focused on diferences between specifc locations and/or entire polar oceans and on bipolar comparisons of diversity and distribution.