Methotrexate (Mtx) is a teratogen that causes severe abnormalities on developing fetuses. Mtx is also used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and leukemia. Folic acid (FA), a B vitamin that is present in prenatal vitamins, and Mtx use the same cellular pathway to cause their effects on organisms. It is of great interest to determine whether FA can overcome the effects of Mtx on a developing embryo. Since Mtx is a competitive inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase, the enzyme used to make FA; it is hypothesized that an increase in FA will overcome the inhibitory effects of Mtx. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were treated with Mtx and/or FA and then analyzed for developmental irregularities. These data demonstrate that FA cannot rescue the embryos from the teratogenicity of Mtx. Combined treatment enhanced the developmental abnormalities seen, indicating that exogenous FA cannot be used as a mechanism to overcome the teratogenic effects of Mtx.

Although cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in the developed world have significantly declined over the past 30 years, it is still the second leading cause of death in women aged 19-39 years. Novel developments of chemotherapeutic agents for cervical cancer are important in reducing patient mortality rates. Recent chemotherapeutic developments have begun to manipulate the apoptotic pathway. L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is generally considered an antioxidant at normal physiological levels (60–80 μM), but considered a pro-oxidant at much higher concentrations (> 1 mM). Due to its pro-oxidant effects, in the 1970s L-ascorbic acid underwent clinical trials as an anticancer treatment at high intravenous concentrations (1-2 mM), and presented ambiguous results. In the last 5 years, L-ascorbic acid has been re-investigated in in vitro cancerous cell lines, and has exhibited a selective toxicity in cancerous cells. This investigation aimed to characterize the mechanism of cell death induced by L-ascorbic acid in the human cervical cancer cell line HeLa. We evaluated cell viability over time and caspase-3, −8 and −9 activity after the induction of HeLa cells with L-ascorbic acid (5-10 mM). We hypothesized that high concentrations (5–10 mM) of L-ascorbic acid would induce cell death via an intrinsic apoptotic pathway. The results indicate that 7 mM and 10 mM of L-ascorbic acid induce cell death via an extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Implications of the generation of hydrogen peroxide via L-ascorbic acid are discussed. The findings suggest that L-ascorbic acid could be a potential therapeutic agent for cervical cancer when administered intravenously at high concentrations (7-10 mM).

Anting is a curious behavior that has been recorded in over 200 species of songbirds. While anting, a bird will wipe several ants throughout its plumage. It has been proposed that birds select ants for their ability to spray formic acid, a chemical that is known to have antibacterial properties at high enough concentrations that may help to limit the growth of feather bacteria. To test this hypothesis, two blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) were provided with daily rations of either ants capable of ejecting formic acid (black carpenter ants, Camponotus pennsylvanicus) or ants incapable of ejecting formic acid (Western harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis). After 26 daily sessions, it was found that a significantly higher percentage of black carpenter ants were used for anting when compared to the percentage of Western harvester ants. In the second part of the study, feathers inoculated with the common feather bacterium Bacillus licheniformis were treated with black carpenter ants to determine if the formic acid contained within these ants was at a high enough concentration to inhibit bacterial growth. A comparison between the mean number of B. licheniformis colonies on treated feathers with the mean number of B. licheniformis colonies on untreated feathers did not indicate that the formic acid sprayed by the ants had a significant impact on the growth of the bacteria. In conclusion, it appeared that formic acid is the trigger for the anting behavior but formic acid sprayed by ants does not have a significant antimicrobial effect against B. licheniformis. This suggests that there must be another function for the anting activity.