Pre-clinical studies from the recent past have indicated that senescent cells can negatively affect health and contribute to premature aging. Targeted eradication of these cells has been shown to improve the health of aged experimental animals, leading to a clinical interest in finding compounds that selectively eliminate senescent cells while sparing non-senescent ones. In our study, we identified a senolytic capacity of statins, which are lipid-lowering drugs prescribed to patients at high risk of cardiovascular events. Using two different models of senescence in human vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs), we found that statins preferentially eliminated senescent cells, while leaving non-senescent cells unharmed. We observed that the senolytic effect of statins could be negated with the co-administration of mevalonic acid and that statins induced cell detachment leading to anoikis-like apoptosis, as evidenced by real-time visualization of caspase-3/7 activation. Our findings suggest that statins possess a senolytic property, possibly also contributing to their described beneficial cardiovascular effects. Further studies are needed to explore the potential of short-term, high-dose statin treatment as a candidate senolytic therapy.

Prescription of antimalarial drugs in the absence of malarial disease is a common practice in countries where malaria is endemic. However, unwarranted use of such drugs can cause side effects in some people and is a financial drain on local economies. In this study, we surveyed the prevalence of malaria parasites in humans, and the prevalence of the malaria transmitting mosquito vectors in the study area. We also investigated the use of antimalarial drugs in the local people. We focused on randomly selected rural areas of eastern Pakistan where no malaria cases had been reported since May 2004.

Pregnant mice (10 in 4 groups each) were exposed to diazinon (DZN) at 10 and 20 mg/kg on gestation day 6 (GD 6), 9 and 12. A group of 10 pregnant animals was maintained as untreated control. The ovaries were exteriorized on GD 18 by euthanizing the animals. The tissues were processed for histopathological and micrometric analysis. Oocytic nuclear derangements in terms of size increase followed by leakage of nuclear contents with increased duration of exposure were seen. Follicular and luteal cells also showed necrosis. The morphometric data showed significant increase in oocyte and para-follicular size (P_0.0001) along with similar increase in nuclear sizes (P_0.001). These findings indicate that DZN is toxic to bring about histopathological and micrometric derangements in the ovaries of the treated pregnant females. Key words: Pesticides, diazinon, toxic, gestation, ovaries, micro-anatomical, micrometric, derangements.