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• Cord blood banking raises ethical and legal issues which highlight the need for careful regulatory approaches to the emerging bioeconomy. • Consent processes for both private and public banking should be inclusive and representative of the different familial interests in the cord blood. • Property law is a potentially useful way of understanding the mechanisms for donation to both public and private banks. • Increasing tensions between public and private models of banking may require the adoption of hybrid forms of banking.

A number of drugs, like sibutramine, which are used clinically in weight control, act on serotonergic metabolism. However, their relation with zinc and free radical (FR) production in central nervous system remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sibutramine and zinc on FR production. Female Wistar rats (about 250 g) were used in this study. The animals received 400 μg/kg of zinc and 10 mg/kg of sibutramine intraperitoneally every 36 hr for 15 days. At the end of the study, the rats were killed and their brains used for the measurement of lipid peroxidation thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH), hydrogen peroxide (H(2) O(2) ), calcium and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) levels, all by means of validated methods. Corporal weight and food consumption were found to be decreased in the zinc/sibutramine group. TBARS decreased in cortex, hemispheres and medulla oblongata. GSH decreased in cortex, hemispheres and cerebellum in the sibutramine group. Zinc given alone and in combination with sibutramine decreased H(2) O(2) concentration in cortex, hemispheres and cerebellum but increased calcium and 5-HIAA concentration in all brain regions. Our results suggest that sibutramine and zinc are associated with weight loss, an effect that was more pronounced in the group treated with both drugs. Reduction in oxidative stress may be involved in these effects., (© 2011 The Authors. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology © 2011 Nordic Pharmacological Society.)

The effect that osteltamivir has on the metabolism of catecholamines and oxidative damage in the brains of young patients remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of oseltamivir, in the presence of oligoelements, on biogenic amines and select oxidative biomarkers in the brains of uninfected, young rats under normal conditions. The study was conducted using male Wistar rats intraperitoneally treated for three days with either a control dose of 0.9 % NaCl, oseltamivir (50 mg/kg), oligoelements (50 μL/rat), or oseltamivir (50 mg/kg) and oligoelements (50 μL/rat). The brain tissue extracted from the treated rats was used to determine the concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine, as well as the levels of GSH, lipid peroxidation, and ATPase activity. An increase in the concentration of adrenaline and noradrenaline and in the level of GSH in the group treated with oligoelements (p < 0.001) was observed, while the group treated with oseltamivir and oligoelements, the levels of dopamine increased (p < 0.001), and in the groups treated with oligoelements alone or combination with oseltamivir a decrease in lipid peroxidation was observed (p < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that the consumption of oseltamivir and oligoelements induce biphasic changes in the metabolism of catecholamines; thereby, inducing a protective mechanism against oxidative damage in the brains of young rats.

The neuropeptide nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) has been suggested to play a facilitatory role in kainate seizure expression. Furthermore, mRNA levels for the N/OFQ precursor are increased following kainate seizures, while its receptor (NOP) density is decreased. These data suggest increased N/OFQ release. To obtain direct evidence that this is the case, we have developed a microdialysis technique, coupled with a sensitive radioimmunoassay, that allows measurement of N/OFQ release from the hippocampus and thalamus of awake, freely moving animals. In both these brain areas, the spontaneous N/OFQ efflux decreased by approximately 50% and 65% when Ca2+ was omitted and when tetrodotoxin was added to the perfusion medium, respectively. Perfusion of the dialysis probe with high K+ increased N/OFQ release (approximately threefold) in a Ca2+-dependent and tetrodotoxin-sensitive manner. Kainate seizures caused a twofold increase in N/OFQ release followed, within 3 h, by a return to baseline levels. Approximately 5 h after kainate, a late increase in N/OFQ release was observed. On the following day, when animals were having only low grade seizures, N/OFQ release was not significantly different from normal. These phenomena were observed with similar patterns in the hippocampus and in the thalamus. The present data indicate that acute limbic seizures are associated with increased N/OFQ release, which may prime the molecular changes described above, i.e. cause down-regulation of NOP receptors and activation of N/OFQ biosynthesis.