Essential oils from the Australian Aboriginal medicinal plant 'Eremophila longifolia' (emu bush) were characterised using GC/MS and NMR, and antimicrobial capacity investigated using disc diffusion and broth dilution. Leaves were collected from various locations within New South Wales (NSW, Australia) and hydro-distilled for volatile leaf oils. Overall yield and oil constitution differed markedly according to the geographical region from which the plants were collected. 'E. longifolia' demonstrated a variety of chemotypes not yet recognised. Four further chemotypes are now recognised within NSW, in addition to the two previously characterised from other regions of Australia; the Northern Territory (NT) and the Murchison district in Western Australia (WA). Characterisation of NSW chemotypes revealed that here 'E. longifolia' does not produce the carcinogenic volatile compound, safrole, as previously described in the leaf oil from Murchison specimens (WA). Two separate chemotypes within NSW yielded oil as high as 7% w/w and 3.5% w/w consisting mostly of iso-menthone (70-90%) and karahanaenone (≈80%) respectively; marking these as the most abundant natural sources of these compounds so far described [3,4,5]. The two remaining chemotypes had a much lower yield, 0.2 and 0.7%, and were more similar to the chemotype found in the NT; leaf oils consisting of limonene (≈20%) and borneol (20-30%) respectively. Antimicrobial assays of volatile oils from the four chemotypes revealed a moderate to high antimicrobial capacity, varying with species and chemotype. Traditional (location specific) indigenous applications of the oils are consistent with these results. The essential oil from 'E. longifolia' may thus be a likely candidate for further investigation into cosmeceutical use addressing a similar market niche to that already successfully occupied by the essential oil of 'Melaleuca alternifolia' (tea tree oil) and more recently 'Backhousia citriodora' (lemon myrtle oil). Further investigations (wound healing, anti-inflammatory and cultivar chemotype requirements) are in progress.

'Eremophila longifolia' is a woody shrub, endemic to arid and semi-arid regions of Australia, where it is employed in traditional indigenous medicine to treat a wide variety of conditions. An early report examining 'E. longifolia' leaf essential oil composition had indicated high levels of the hepatotoxic and carcinogenic phenylpropanoid safrole, and as a result, authors have urged caution in the use of traditional preparations derived from this species. The present study was initiated after noting significant variations in morphology and odor profiles of wild 'E. longifolia' specimens in the state of New South Wales, (NSW) Australia. Leaves from several specimens were collected across a range of biogeographic regions in NSW. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed using GCMS and NMR spectroscopy. Thirty-five compounds were identified with comparison of retention data and mass spectra with that of published values. Considerable variation was found among specimens in essential oil yield and composition, resulting in identification of three distinct types (here designated A, B and C). Type A specimens produced oils at relatively high yields (3.1% - 5.7 %) with major constituents isomenthone (61.1% - 86.7%), menthone (8.8% - 22.6%) and α-terpineol (8.4% - 11.0%). Type B specimens produced oils of relatively moderate yield (0.5% - 1.9% g/g) with major constituents karahanaenone (81.0% - 82.2%) and α -terpineol (4.1% - 11.7%). One specimen (designated type C) produced essential oil at relatively low yield (0.4% g/g fresh leaves) with major constituents identified as borneol (31.7%), fenchol (19.7%) and limonene (9.9%). No phenylpropanoids, including safrole, were detected in any of the specimens examined here. The relatively uncommon monoterpenoid karahanaenone is valued as a precursor in the fragrance industry and to the best of our knowledge the leaves of type B specimens described here represent the richest known natural source of this compound.

The current studies revealed that leukocyte hsp70 expression, serum leptin, cortisol and prolactin were differentially modulated by gender, menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use indicating alterations in immune response and stress response pathways. This is the first report of changes in leukocyte hsp70 expression in response to gender, menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use. These results have important implications for the design and interpretation of human clinical studies investigating leukocyte hsp70 expression in females or mixed gender cohorts. These results have highlighted the gender-based differences in hsp expression, however, individual differences should not be discounted when planning clinical trials. The use of each participant as their own 'control' is, therefore, strongly recommended. Whether estrogen has direct effects on leukocyte hsp70 expression remains to be determined. The results of the current small-scale, pilot study, investigating the effects of gender, menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on hsp expression did not find a direct association between serum estradiol and leukocyte hsp70 expression. Although a number of researchers have reported effects of estrogen on hsp70 expression, these effects appear to be localized to particular tissues and cell types, suggesting that estrogen may modulate hsp70 expression via differential mechanisms. Given the intricate links between the endocrine system, the HPA axis, the cardiovascular system, immune function and stress activated pathways, the results of the current studies indicated that further studies should be conducted to investigate the connections among these systems and the mechanisms by which leukocyte hsp70 expression is modulated.

The objective of this study was to modify and optimize a vitrification protocol (open pulled straw) that was originally designed for human oocytes and embryos, to make it suitable for the cryopreservation of camel hatched blastocysts. The original open pulled straw protocol was a complex process with 15-minute exposure of oocytes/embryos in 7.5% ethylene glycol (EG) and 7.5% dimethyl sulfoxide (Me₂SO) for equilibration, and cooling in 16% EG + 16% Me₂SO + 1 M sucrose. Recognizing a need to better control the cryoprotectant (CPA) concentrations, while avoiding toxicity to the embryos, the effects on the survival rate and developmental potential of camel embryos in vitro were investigated using two different methods of loading the CPAs into the embryos (stepwise and semicontinuous increase in concentration), two different loading temperature/time (room temperature ~°C/15 min and body 37°C/3 min), and the replacement of Me₂SO with EG alone or in combination with glycerol (Gly). A total of 145 in vivo-derived embryos were subjected to these processes, and after warming their morphological quality and integrity, and reexpansion was assessed after 0, 2, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of culture. Exposure of embryos in a stepwise method was more beneficial to the survival of embryos than was the semicontinuous process, and loading of CPAs at 37°C with a short exposure time (3 minutes) resulted in an outcome comparable to the original processing at room temperature with a longer exposure time (15 minutes). The replacement of the Me₂SO + EG mixture with EG only or a combination of EG + Gly in the vitrification medium significantly improved the outcome of all these evaluation criteria (P < 0.05). The modified protocol of loading EG at 37°C for 3 minutes has increased the embryo survival of the original protocol from 67% to 91% and the developmental rate from 57% to 83% at 5-day culture. These results were comparable to or better than those reported in human or other species, indicating that this optimized method is well suited to any commercial embryo transfer program in the dromedary camel.