In this review, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on the different sexual systems and sex determining mechanisms in bivalves, with a focus on the various epigenetic and genetic factors that may be involved. The final section of the review provides recent discoveries on sex-specific mitochondrial genes in bivalves possessing the unconventional system of doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondria (which is found in several members of the orders Mytiloida, Unionoida, Veneroida and Nuculanoida). The genes involved in this developmental pathway could represent the first sex determination system in animals in which mitochondrially-encoded genes are directly involved.

Echinococcus granulosus is a harmful cestode parasite which could cause Cystic Echinococcosis in humans, various livestock species and wild animals. Calmodulin (CaM), a Ca²⁺ sensor protein, is widely expressed in eukaryotes and mediates a variety of cellular signaling activities. In our study, the CaM in Echinococcus granulosus (rEgCaM) was successfully cloned and the molecular and biochemical characterizations of rEgCaM were identified. The results showed that rEgCaM was a highly conserved calcium-binding protein, consisting of 149 amino acids. Immunoblot analysis revealed that rEgCaM could be identified using E. granulosus infected sheep serum. The usage of rEgCaM as antigen was evaluated by indirect ELISA which exhibited a high sensitivity of 90.3% but low specificity (47.1%). rEgCaM was mainly located in the tegument tissues and parenchymal region of protoscoleces, the tegument and inner body of adult worm and predominantly expressed in the germinal layer. The mRNA expression of rEgCaM in PSCs were gradually decreased with the increase death of PSCs. In electrophoretic mobility tests and ANS assays, rEgCaM showed a typical calcium-binding protein characteristics. This is the first report on CaM from E. granulosus and rEgCaM is considered to be involved in some important biological function of E. granulosus as a calcium-binding protein.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease and is clinically characterized by cognitive impairment, memory loss, and personality disorder. Oligomers of amyloid beta-peptides (Aβ) and enhanced oxidative stress in senile plaques are prevalent pathologic hallmarks of AD. In this study, we detected the behavioral performance of Lycium ruthenicum Murray anthocyanin (LRA) -treated rats using the Morris water maze test and then investigated the effect of LRA on oxidative damage, neuronal apoptosis, and inflammatory response induced by Aβ1–42. Our results showed that LRA treatment markedly ameliorated the behavioral performance of Aβ1–42-induced rats and reduced the level of malondialdehyde, formation of protein carbonyl, and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxygua-nosine. Furthermore, LRA also inhibited activated astrocytes and neuroinflammation via suppression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the hippocampus of Aβ1–42-treated rat brain. These data suggest that LRA could be a potential anti-oxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory agent for the treatment of AD.

The inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase is one of clinic strategies for remedy the type II diabetes. Herbal medicines are reported to alleviate hyperglycemia. However, the constituents from those sources whether are targeted to the alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase still unexplored. This study attempted to select the compounds for efficacy of hypoglycemia via cellular and mouse levels. The results illustrated that the cytotoxicity in all tested compounds at various concentrations except the concentration of 16-hydroxy-cleroda-3,13-dine-16,15-olide (HCD) at 30 µM were not significant difference (p > 0.05) when compared with the untreated control. Acarbose (reference drug), Antroquinonol, Catechin, Quercetin, Actinodaphnine, Curcumin, HCD, Docosanol, Tetracosanol, Berberine, and Rutin could effectively inhibit the alpha-glucosidase activity of Caco-2 cells when compared with the control (maltose). The compounds (Curcumin, HCD, Tetracosanol, Antroquinonol, Berberine, Catechin, Actinodaphnine, and Rutin) could reduce blood sugar level at 30 min in tested mice. The effects of tested compounds on area under curve (AUC) were significant (p < 0.05) among Acarbose, Tetracosanol, Antroquinonol, Catechin, Actinodaphnine, and Rutin along with Berberine and Quercetin. In in vitro (alpha-glucosidase) with in vivo (alpha-amylase) experiments suggest that bioactive compounds can be a potential inhibitor candidate of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase for the alleviation of type II diabetes.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a common cause of acute hepatitis worldwide, accounting for approximately 25% of deaths among pregnant women. We previously reported that pregnancy serum facilitates HEV replication in vitro. However, the differences in host cells with HEV infection induced by pregnancy serum and fetal bovine serum (FBS) are unclear. In this study, differentially expressed proteins were identified in HEV-infected hepatoma cells (HepG2) supplemented with different sera by using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation. Proteomic analysis indicated that HEV infection significantly induced 1014 differentially expressed proteins in HEV-infected HepG2 cells when supplemented with FBS compared with pregnancy serum. Further validation by Western blot confirmed that filamin A, heat-shock proteins 70 and 90, Cytochrome c, and Thioredoxin were associated with HEV infection. This comparative analysis provides an important basis to further investigate HEV pathogenesis in pregnant women and HEV replication.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to find out the incidence of anemia in pregnant women of Swat District; to analyze the iron variations and its dietary effects.Data were collected during the periods of January – September 2016. The study of samples comprised of 250 pregnant women in the different trimester. Blood sample from each woman was collected and full blood count (FBC) was conducted through Mindray BC-3000 plus hem analyzer for all pregnant individuals. Confirmed anemic cases were then examined for IDA with serum ferritin, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) through Randox kit and serum transferrin saturation was estimated by formula (serum ferritin saturation =serum iron ×100/TIBC). The total number of participants in the first trimester were 50, among them 26 women were suffer from iron deficiency anemia (IDA) with 52% weightage of prevalence rate, (mean Hb concentration 9.602 ± 0.87 g/dl). The rates of IDA were 63.3%; ( mean Hb concentration 8.48 ± 1.24 g/dl) and 54%; ( mean Hb concentration 9.18 ± 1.28 g/dl), among 150 and 50 participants in the second and third trimester, respectively. A significant correlation was found between serum ferritin and Hb, serum ferritin against MCV and serum ferritin against MCH. The high prevalence of anemia was found 78.2% in the age group from 26-30 followed by 78.2% in the age group 36-40 years compared to those of other age groups in the second trimester. In this study the prevalence of IDA in third trimester is lower compared to first and second trimester.

For broadcast spawning invertebrates such as the crown-of-thorns starfish, early life history stages (from spawning to settlement) may be exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions, and could have a major bearing on reproductive success and population replenishment. Arrested development in response to multiple environmental stressors at the earliest stages can be used to define lower and upper limits for normal development. Here, we compared sperm swimming speeds and proportion of motile sperm and rates of fertilization and early development under a range of environmental variables (temperature: 20-36°C, salinity: 20-34 psu, and pH: 7.6-8.2) to identify environmental tipping points and thresholds for reproductive success. We also tested the effects of water-soluble compounds derived from eggs on sperm activity. Our results demonstrate that gametes, fertilization, and early development are robust to a wide range of temperature, salinity, and pH levels that are outside the range found at the geographical limits of adult distribution and can tolerate environmental conditions that exceed expected anomalies as a result of climate change. Water-soluble compounds associated with eggs also enhance sperm activity, particularly in environmental conditions where sperm motility is initially limited. These findings suggest that fertilization and embryonic development of crown-of-thorns starfish are tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions, though environmental constraints on recruitment success may occur at later ontogenic stages.

Pardosa pseudoannulata is one of the most common wandering spiders in agricultural fields and a potentially good bioindicator for heavy metal contamination. However, little is known about the mechanism by which spiders respond to heavy metals at the molecular level. In this study, high-throughput transcriptome sequencing was employed to characterize the de novo transcriptome of the spiders and to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after cadmium exposure. We obtained 60,489 assembled unigenes, 18,773 of which were annotated in the public databases. Ultimately, 3450 cDNA simple sequence repeats were identified and validated as potential molecular markers in the unigenes. A total of 2939, 2491 and 3759 DEGs were detected among the three libraries of two Cd-treated groups and the control. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that metabolism processes and digestive system function were predominately enriched in response to Cd stress. At the cellular and molecular levels, significantly enriched pathways in lysosomes and phagosomes as well as replication, recombination and repair demonstrated that oxidative damage resulted from Cd exposure. Based on the selected DEGs, certain critical genes involved in defence and detoxification were analysed. These results may elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying spiders' responses to heavy metal stress.

The voltage-dependent calcium channels (Cav) are a family of multigene channel that plays an essential role in regulating a variety of cellular functions. These channels are categorized as type L-, N-, P / Q-, R- or T, based on their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties. Activation of these channels and Ca2 + entry is required in many physiological processes such as muscle contraction and release of hormones and neurotransmitters, and many others, for example in the contraction mechanism, and vascular relaxation.