Ultraviolet irradiation induced oxidative stress and response of antioxidant system in an intertidal macroalgae Corallina officinalis L.

The response of the antioxidant defense system of an intertidal macroalgae Corallina officinalis L.to different dosages of UV-B irradiation was investigated.Results showed that superoxide dimutase （SOD） and peroxidase （POX） increased and then maintained at a relatively stable level when subjected to UV-B irradiation.Catalase （CAT） activity under medium dosage of UV-B irradiation （Muv） and high dosage of UV-B irradiation （Huv） treatments were significantly decreased.Ascorbate peroxidase （APX） activity first remained unaltered and then increased in Huv treatment.In addition,the assay on isozymes was carried out using non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （PAGE）.The activities of some SOD isoforms were altered by UV-B.Two new bands （POX V and POX VII） appeared upon exposure to all three UV-B dosages.CAT III activity was increased by low dosage of UV-B irradiation （Luv）,whereas CAT III and CAT IV disappeared when the alga was exposed to Muv and Huv.Two bands of APX （APX VI and APX VII） were increased and a new band （APX X） was observed under Huv exposure.H 2 O 2 and thiobarbituric acid reacting substance （TBARS） increased under Muv and Huv treatments.Overall,UV-B protection mechanisms are partly inducible and to a certain extent sufficient to prevent the accumulation of damage in C.officinalis.

Effect of SP-A/B in lipoic acid on acute paraquat poisoning

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to observe the concentration of SP-A/B and the pulmonary surfactant in the lung tissue of rats with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by paraquat poisoning after the treatment of metabolic antioxidant-lipoic acid and whether its influence was related to TNF-α.METHODS: Sixty-six male Sprage-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group(NS group), 6 rats; paraquat poisoning group(PQ group), 30 rats; and paraquat+lipoic acid treatment group(LA group), 30 rats. The rats in the PQ and LA groups were subdivided into 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-hour subgroups, with 6 rats in each group. After the rats were sacrificed, lung tissue from the same part was taken from the rats. After HE staining, histological changes were observed in the tissue under a light microscope. Lung tissue was also taken to test the levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA). Whole blood(0.8 mL) without anticoagulant was drawn from the tail vein of rats for the determination of the TNF-α level. The total RNA of the lung tissue was collected, and the Rt-PCR method was used to measure the levels of SP-A and SP-B mRNA.RESULTS: HE staining showed that histopathological changes were milder in the LA group than in the PQ group. There were significant differences in MDA and SOD levels between different intervals both in intergroups and intragroups except the 3-hour subgroup(P<0.01). Likewise, the significant differences in the levels of TNF-α were also present between the three groups and between different intervals(P<0.01). The significant differences in SP-A mRNA and SP-B mRNA amplification ratio were seen between the three groups at the same intervals(P<0.01), but the differences between different intervals in the PQ group were statistically significant(P<0.05). The differences between different intervals in the LA group were statistically significant(P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Lipoic acid in acute paraquat poisoning could diminish lung tissue damage by regulating directly tumor necrosis factor and indirectly the content of pulmonary surfactant so as to reduce pulmonary edema, improve lung compliance, and finally protect lung tissues.