Influences of simulated gastrointestinal environment on physicochemical properties of gold nanoparticles and their implications on intestinal epithelial permeability

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) hold great promise in food, industrial and biomedical applications due to their unique physicochemical properties. However, influences of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), a likely route for Au NPs administration, on the physicochemical properties of Au NPs has been rarely evaluated. Here, we investigated the influence of GIT fluids on the physicochemical properties of Au NPs (5, 50, and 100?nm) and their implications on intestinal epithelial permeability in vitro. Au NPs aggregated in fasted gastric fluids and generated hydroxyl radicals in the presence of H₂O₂. Cell studies showed that GIT fluids incubation of Au NPs affected the cellular uptake of Au NPs but did not induce cytotoxicity or disturb the intestinal epithelial permeability.     

Marmoset cytochrome P450 2B6, a propofol hydroxylase expressed in liver

1. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a useful experimental animal to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of drug candidates. Cytochrome P450 (P450) 2B enzyme in marmoset livers has been identified; however, only limited information on the enzymatic properties and distribution has been available.

2. Marmoset P450 2B6 amino acids showed high sequence identities (>86%) with those of primates including humans and cynomolgus monkeys. Phylogenetic analysis using amino acid sequences indicated that marmoset P450 2B6 was closer to human and cynomolgus monkey P450 2B6 than to P450 2B orthologs of other species, including pigs, dogs, rabbits and rodents.

3. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis using specific primers showed P450 2B6 mRNA predominantly expressed in livers among the five marmoset tissues, similar to those of humans and cynomolgus monkeys.

4. Marmoset P450 2B6 heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli membranes oxidized 7-ethoxycoumarin, pentoxyresorufin, propofol and testosterone, at roughly similar rates to those of humans and/or cynomolgus monkeys. A high capacity of marmoset P450 2B6 with propofol 4-hydroxylation (at low ionic strength conditions) with a low K_m value was relatively comparable to that for marmoset livers.

5. These results collectively indicated a high propofol 4-hydroxylation activity of P450 2B6 expressed in marmoset livers.

     

胃癌组织端粒酶活性与催化亚基hTERT表达的关系

研究胃癌、胃黏膜肠化生及正常黏膜组织端粒酶活性与人端粒酶催化亚基(hTERT)表达的相关性及端粒酶激活在胃癌发生中的作用.方法:通过端粒重复序列扩增(TRAP)和逆转录聚合酶链反应(RT -PCR)方法测定3种胃癌细胞株、26例胃癌、10例胃黏膜肠化生和36例正常胃黏膜组织标本端粒酶活性和hTERT表达.结果:3种胃癌细胞株、24例胃癌组织有端粒酶活性;4例肠化生端粒酶活性较弱;36例正常胃黏膜标本未测到端粒酶活性.hTERT在26例胃癌组织、5例肠化胃黏膜中表达;正常胃黏膜无表达.端粒酶活性、hTERT表达与肿瘤的分期和病理分级无关.结论:hTERT在肿瘤形成的早期阶段表达,端粒酶的激活是胃癌形成的关键步骤.     

两种石油加工残油对制备可纺丝中间相沥青的影响

用常压液相炭化法制备中间相沥青，并用熔融法检验中间相沥青的可纺性，研究了汽油裂解残油和催化裂化重柴油参混比的不同对中间相沥青的制备速率，产率，中间相含量，显微结构以及可纺性的影响，指出最佳配比。     

A reaction route graph analysis of the electrochemical hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions

The reaction route (RR) graph approach recently developed by us for complex, non-linear kinetic mechanisms is applied to the hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions. A corresponding RR graph is constructed and translated into an equivalent electrical circuit network by associating each elementary step with a characteristic resistance for the steady-state case and considering the overall reaction as a power source. It is further shown that the steady-state kinetics of the reaction can be investigated employing the conventional methods of the electrical network theory. Using a set of rate constants for the hydrogen evolution reaction (her) in alkaline solutions from the literature, the dominant RRs are identified and simplified mechanisms and kinetics derived.     

免疫荧光检测人乳头状瘤病毒新技术

利用过氧化氢的氧化作用参与抗原抗体反应,使细胞的膜通透性增强,利于荧光标记抗体染液渗入,从而更快速、广泛地接触抗原,更有效的抗原抗体的嵌合交联。新技术的应用,增强了染色效果,缩短了实验时间,简化了操作,提高了阳性检出率,使实验准确性提高,为临床确诊、疗效观察及预后提供了可靠依据。     

ALTERED HEPATIC METABOLISM OF FATTY ACIDS IN RATS FED A HYPOLIPIDAEMIC DRUG, FENOFIBRATE

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of dietary fenofibrate (0.05% in the diet) on ketone body production and lipid secretion in isolated perfused rat liver. Feeding with fenofibrate for 7–9 days caused an increased liver weight. Ketone body production was significantly greater in the livers perfused with oleic acid than in those perfused without fatty acid, with the elevation of the ratio ofβ-hydroxybutyrate:acetoacetate indicating an increased redox potential in mitochondrial compartments by exogenous fatty acid. On the other hand, fenofibrate feeding caused a further stimulation of ketone body production from both endogenous and exogenous fatty acid substrates, respectively, with a decreased ratio ofβ-hydroxybutyrate:acetoacetate as compared to respective control livers, indicating a decreased redox potential. Hepatic secretion of triglyceride, but not of cholesterol, was decreased markedly in the fenofibrate-fed rats, especially when oleate was provided, suggesting an inverse relationship between rates of ketogenesis and triglyceride secretion. These results suggest that the altered hepatic metabolism of long-chain fatty acids between oxidation and esterification caused by fenofibrate may thus be a factor responsible for the decreased secretion of triglyceride, hence leading to hypotriglyceridaemiain vivo.     

Exercise metabolism during 1 hour of treadmill walking while taking high and low doses of propranolol,metoprolol, or placebo

Aerobic exercise and beta-blocking drugs are regularly prescribed as treatment for hypertension and as a prophylactic for patients at risk from coronary heart disease and for those recovering from an infarct. Some beta blockers, particularly non-beta₁-selective drugs, may make exercise more difficult, possibly by interfering with substrate metabolism during exercise. This study examined the effects of low and high doses of a beta₁-selective blocker, metoprolol, and a nonselective beta blocker, propranolol, on exercise metabolism. The study involved 20 healthy subjects (10 men, 10 women) who walked on a treadmill at 50% of their maximal oxygen uptake for 1 h on five occasions, separated by 7 days. On each of the five occasions they received one of the following treatments, given in random order: placebo, metoprolol 50 mg, metoprolol 100 mg, propranolol 40 mg, or propranolol 80 mg, all taken twice daily. Fat oxidation, expressed as a percentage of total energy expenditure, was significantly lower than with placebo for all of the active treatments except metoprolol 50 mg (placebo: 42.7 ± 11.6%; metoprolol 50 mg: 38.7 ± 14.1%, p = NS; metoprolol 100 mg: 36.3 ± 13.7%, p = 0.05; propranolol 40 mg: 31.2 ± 9.3%, p = 0.01; propranolol 80 mg: 29.5 ± 10.9%, p = 0.01); and significantly lower with propranolol than with metoprolol (propranolol 40 mg: p = 0.0036; propranolol 80 mg: p = 0.01). Plasma ammonia concentration was significantly higher than with placebo with propranolol 40 mg, propranolol 80 mg, and metoprolol 100 mg (p = 0.01 for all); with metoprolol 50 mg, there was no difference from placebo (p = NS). Both beta blockers in this study reduced fat metabolism and increased perceived exertion to some degree. Additional inhibition of fat oxidation occurred with the nonselective drug, probably in intramuscular rather than adipose lipolysis, and was probably beta₂ mediated. The results of this study suggest that a selective beta blocker has less of an adverse effect on substrate metabolism than does a nonselective beta blocker. Beta₁-selective drugs may offer advantages in patients who undertake regular aerobic exercise.     

Influence of Chemical Oxygen Demand Concentrations on Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation by Granular Sludge From EGSB Reactor

INTRODUCTION The phenomenon of anaerobic ammonium oxidation was originally discovered in a denitrifying fluidized-bed reactor treating effluent from a methanogenic reactor in the 1990s[1]. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) process is a strictly anaerobic denitrification process, in which ANAMMOX autotrophic bacteria directly oxidize ammonium to dinitrogen gas using nitrite as electron acceptor. In recent years, the anammox process has received great attention and lots of researc…