The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the antimicrobial properties of the mucus extract of snakehead fish, Channa striatus against selected human and fish pathogenic microbes.
1. Fatty acid profiles in the external mucus extract and roe of Channa striatus were determined using gas chromatography (GC). 2. The mucus samples were collected by inducing hypothermic stress (-20 degrees C) for about 1 hr, and the roe were collected from gravid females at night soon after they liberated their eggs in a spawning program. 3. All mucus and roe samples were freeze-dried, except a part of roe which was not. 4. The mucus extract contained unsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid, C18:1 and linoleic acid, C18:2) as a major component, 21.25% and 22.47% of total lipid. 5. For the freeze- and nonfreeze-dried roe, the major components of fatty acid were somewhat similar to the mucus but with higher percentages: 58.56%, 26.08% and 45.76%, 20.94%. Interestingly, the nonfreeze-dried roe contained a large proportion of arachidic acid, C20:0 (22.16%), which was totally absent in the freeze-dried roe samples. 6. This profiling of the fatty acid mucus extract and roe is useful in strengthening the earlier claims that haruan possesses a potential remedy for wound healing (Mat Jais et al., 1994). Therefore, we are discussing the possibility of getting an optimum amount of the essential fatty acid for wound healing from various other parts of the fish without sacrificing the fish.
Oral lichen planus (OLP) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) are chronic inflammatory conditions often characterised by erosive and/or painful oral lesions that have a considerable impact on quality of life. Current treatment often necessitates the use of steroids in the form of mouthwashes, creams or ointments, but these are often ineffective due to inadequate drug contact times with the lesion. Here we evaluate the performance of novel mucoadhesive patches for targeted drug delivery. Electrospun polymeric mucoadhesive patches were produced and characterised for their physical properties and cytotoxicity before evaluation of residence time and acceptability in a human feasibility study. Clobetasol-17-propionate incorporated into the patches was released in a sustained manner in both tissue-engineered oral mucosa and ex vivo porcine mucosa. Clobetasol-17 propionate-loaded patches were further evaluated for residence time and drug release in an in vivo animal model and demonstrated prolonged adhesion and drug release at therapeutic-relevant doses and time points. These data show that electrospun patches are adherent to mucosal tissue without causing tissue damage, and can be successfully loaded with and release clinically active drugs. These patches hold great promise for the treatment of oral conditions such as OLP and RAS, and potentially many other oral lesions.
The discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciata) is a cichlid demonstrating advanced mode of parental care towards fry. Both male and female fish utilized epidermal mucus secreted from specialized epidermal cells to feed developing fry. We utilized proteomics to compare protein profile from parental and nonparental fish. Gel analysis revealed a total of 35 spots that were up-regulated in parental mucus. In tandem, another 18 spots were uniquely expressed in parental mucus. MS analysis of these spots identified proteins such as fructose biphosphate aldolase, nucleoside diphosphate kinase, and heat shock proteins, which are essential to support energy provision, cell repair and proliferation, stress mediation, and defense mechanism in parental fish during parental-care period. Concurrently, the detection of several antioxidant-related proteins such as thioredoxin peroxidase and hemopexin suggests a need to overcome oxidative stress during hypermucosal production in parental-care behavior. A C-type lectin was also found to be uniquely expressed in parental mucus and could have important role in providing antimicrobial defense to both parental fish and fry. In summary, our study shows that discus mucus proteome undergoes changes in protein expression during parental-care period.