Ethyl lactate as a potential green solvent to extract hydrophilic (polar) and lipophilic (non-polar) phytonutrients simultaneously from fruit and vegetable by-products

Phytonutrients extracted from natural resources are receiving much attention among researchers due to their highly antioxidative characteristics which prevent several degenerative diseases including cardiovascular diseases and cancers. These nutraceutical compounds can be used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products as natural antioxidants, preservatives, colourants and functional foods. Huge volume of food wastes are generated from the processing industry and these low-value food residues are rich in various phytonutrients worth recovering. This approach of valorisation reduces the generation of food wastes and is cost-effective considering the cheap feedstock, reduced waste management expenses and high market value of extracted compounds. In light of the health and safety risks posed by commonly used organic extraction solvents derived from the petrochemical industry, there is a need to recover the phytonutrients using green, sustainable and efficient solvents that are safe for human consumption. This work discusses ethyl lactate as a safe, green, efficient and potentially cheap solvent to recover phytonutrients from fruit and vegetable by-products. Ethyl lactate is compared with other organic solvents commonly used from the aspects of safety, environmental impacts and efficiency. Current challenges when employing ethyl lactate are also discussed.     

Role of Der p 1–specific B cells in immune tolerance during 2 years of house dust mite–specific immunotherapy

1. Download high-res image (383KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Three-year durability of dual-nucleoside versus triple-nucleoside therapy in a Thai population with HIV infection

We compared the long-term immunologic and virologic efficacy of the dual- and triple-nucleoside therapy for HIV infection. This was a retrospective analysis of 2 randomized clinical trials in antiretroviral-naive patients. In the dual-nucleoside group, 15 started with didanosine (ddI) monotherapy and then added stavudine (d4T) after 24 weeks, 63 started with various doses of d4T and ddI, and 53 started with zidovudine (ZDV) and lamivudine (3TC). In the triple-nucleoside group, 53 started with ZDV, 3TC, and ddI. After 48 weeks, patients who were not failing were randomized to immediate (before treatment failure) versus delayed (at the time of virologic failure) switching from ddI and d4T to ZDV and 3TC or vice versa and from ZDV, 3TC, and ddI to d4T, 3TC, and abacavir (ABC). Failure was defined as a plasma HIV-1 RNA level>or=1 log10 above nadir or >or=10,000 copies/mL when nadir was <500 copies/mL. Patients failing therapy before week 48 received the new treatment as in the immediate switching group. Hydroxyurea was added to the last treatment regimen if patients failed after week 96. CD4 count and plasma HIV-1 RNA level (branched DNA assay with a cutoff point of 50 copies/mL) at week 144 were analyzed by intention to treat. Compared with the dual-nucleoside group, the triple-nucleoside group had a higher proportion of patients with <50 copies/mL at 144 weeks (60% vs. 18%; P<0.001), higher median CD4 count (388 cells/microL vs. 346 cells/microL; P=0.018), and longer duration of response, defined as the time from onset of viral suppression (<500 copies/mL) to the time of treatment failure (the first of 2 consecutive HIV-1 RNA measurements >500 copies/mL never followed by 2 consecutive visits showing suppressible viremia to <500 copies/mL) or discontinuation from the study (144 weeks vs. 104 weeks; P=0.002). Multivariate regression analyses showed that significant predictors for treatment success, defined as a plasma viral load <50 copies/mL at week 144, were asymptomatic clinical status at enrollment, a baseline plasma viral load 相似文献   

Significant differences between plasma HIV-1 RNA assays in HIV-1 subtype E infected patients treated with antiretroviral therapy

A total of 72 HIV-1 infected Thai patients treated with didanosine (ddI) or stavudine (d4T) plus ddI at the time of interim analysis were analyzed. Sixty patients (83%) carried subtype E documented by HIV-1 V3 serotyping. HIV-1 RNA levels were measured using three commercial viral load assays. At baseline (n = 57), Quantiplex 2.0 and NucliSens 2.0 showed mean log10 HIV-1 RNA of 0.7 log10 or 5 fold lower than Amplicor 1.5 (mean 4.29 versus 5.0 log10, respectively, p < 0.001). At week 20 of treatment (n = 29), HIV-1 RNA levels were detected in 55.2%, 31%, and 33.5% of subjects tested by Amplicor 1.5, Quantiplex 2.0, and NucliSens 2.0, respectively. In conclusion: plasma HIV-1 RNA analyses showed comparable values with Quantiplex 2.0 and NucliSens 2.0 assays. In contrast, Amplicor 1.5 resulted in approximately 5 folds higher HIV-1 RNA levels and a 25% higher rate of detection of plasma HIV-1 RNA as compared to the other two assays. As the current goal of therapy is to suppress plasma viral load below the detection limit of the assays, the significant differences between the assays may influence antiretroviral efficacy evaluation and management.     

Rest and treadmill exercise first-pass radionuclide ventriculography: Validation of left ventricular ejection fraction measurements

Background

To assess the accuracy of rest and treadmill exercise first-pass radionuclide ventriculographic measurements of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), 40 patients underwent treadmill exercise first-pass and bicycle exercise equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography. To determine the frequency of technically adequate treadmill exercise first-pass studies, an additional 128 consecutive patients undergoing treadmill exercise first-pass procedures during stress^99mTc-labeled sestamibi myocardial perfusion studies were assessed.

Methods and Results

The treadmill exercise first-pass procedure used a multicrystal camera and an²⁴¹Am point source to allow for correction of patient motion. Excellent correlations were observed between resting first-pass and resting equilibrium LVEF (r=0.91; standard error of the estimate=5.6). A high correlation was also observed between treadmill exercise first-pass and bicycle equilibrium exercise LVEF measurements (r=0.85, standard error of the estimate=7.6). Treadmill first-pass LVEF systematically underestimated the bicycle equilibrium LVEF. Intraobserver agreement for rest and exercise first-pass LVEF was high (r values of 0.98 and 0.94, respectively). Of the 168 consecutive treadmill exercise first-pass studies evaluated for technical adequacy, 21 (12.5%) were deemed technically inadequate, with most of the sources of error being avoidable. The frequency of technically adequate studies was as high (87%) in high levels of exercise (Bruce stages 3 and 4) as in lower levels (88%). The findings of this study validate the first-pass treadmill exercise LVEF measurement.

Conclusion

This procedure now provides the option for combining the information of peak treadmill exercise LVEF with measurements of exercise myocardial perfusion from the same injection of radioactivity.     

WARFARIN EMBRYOPATHY

A 34 year-old gravida 2 para 1 (1001) mother was on prophylactic anticoagulation therapy because of pulmonary emboli postabdominal surgery. The pregnancy was terminated at 25 weeks' gestation after ultrasound examination showed a mild hydrocephalus and a cardiac structural defect. Congenital abnormalities of the delivered fetus included nasal hypoplasia, earfold atresia, bilobled lungs, coarctation of the aorta, ventriculuar septal defect, gastroschisis, and radiographic skeletal stippling. The radiological and physical findings were consistent with warfarin embryopathy.     

Surgical anatomy of the radial nerve branches to triceps muscle

The objectives of the study are to demonstrate the innervation patterns of the triceps muscles and the most suitable branch of the radial nerve for nerve transfer to restore the motor function of the deltoid muscle in patients with complete C5–C6 root injury. Seventy‐nine arms (40 left arms and 39 right arms) from 46 embalmed cadavers (24 male and 22 female) were included in the study. The nerves to the triceps were dissected from the triceps muscles (long head, lateral head, and medial head). The lengths of the branches were measured from the main trunk. The distance from the inferior margin of the teres major muscle to the origin of the nerve to the long head, lateral head, and medial head of the triceps were recorded as well. The first branch was the nerve to the long head of the triceps in 79 arms (100%). The second branch was the nerve to the upper medial head in 30 arms (38%), nerve to the medial head in 8 arms (10.1%), nerve to the upper lateral head in 35 arms (44.3%) and nerve to the lateral head in 6 arms (7.6%). The patterns of branches to the triceps were classified according to our dissections. The nerve to the long head of the triceps was constant as the first branch of the nerve to the triceps branch of the radial nerve in the vicinity of the inferior margin of the teres major muscle. Clin. Anat. 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Angiopoietin-like 4 Stimulates STAT3-mediated iNOS Expression and Enhances Angiogenesis to Accelerate Wound Healing in Diabetic Mice

Impaired wound healing is a major source of morbidity in diabetic patients. Poor outcome has, in part, been related to increased inflammation, poor angiogenesis, and deficiencies in extracellular matrix components. Despite the enormous impact of these chronic wounds, effective therapies are lacking. Here, we showed that the topical application of recombinant matricellular protein angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) accelerated wound reepithelialization in diabetic mice, in part, by improving angiogenesis. ANGPTL4 expression is markedly elevated upon normal wound injury. In contrast, ANGPTL4 expression remains low throughout the healing period in diabetic wounds. Exogenous ANGPTL4 modulated several regulatory networks involved in cell migration, angiogenesis, and inflammation, as evidenced by an altered gene expression signature. ANGPTL4 influenced the expression profile of endothelial-specific CD31 in diabetic wounds, returning its profile to that observed in wild-type wounds. We showed ANGPTL4-induced nitric oxide production through an integrin/JAK/STAT3-mediated upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in wound epithelia, thus revealing a hitherto unknown mechanism by which ANGPTL4 regulated angiogenesis via keratinocyte-to-endothelial-cell communication. These data show that the replacement of ANGPTL4 may be an effective adjunctive or new therapeutic avenue for treating poor healing wounds. The present finding also confirms that therapeutic angiogenesis remains an attractive treatment modality for diabetic wound healing.