Hepatic lipid composition analysis using 3.0-T MR spectroscopy in a steatotic rat model

Purpose

To investigate the feasibility of in vivo assessment of hepatic lipid composition using 3.0-T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in a steatotic rat model and compare it to histopathological and biochemical assessment.

Materials and Methods

Hepatic steatosis was induced by feeding rats with a methionine/choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 weeks (n=5 per group). At the end of the diet period, ¹H-MRS of the liver was performed, and rats were sacrificed for histopathological and biochemical assessment of the liver. Spectra were acquired in a single voxel (1.2 cc) using a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with TE/TR=35/2000 ms and 64 signal acquisitions. From the MR spectra, peak area ratios were calculated to estimate hepatic lipid composition.

Results

During MCD diet periods, hepatic steatosis significantly increased on histopathology (P<.001). The ¹H-MRS measurements of total hepatic fat content [1.3/(1.3+4.65) ppm] correlated strongly with histological macrovesicular hepatic steatosis (r=0.93, P<.001) and with the biochemical total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.94, P<.001). Total unsaturated fatty acids [TUFA, 5.4/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical unsaturated fatty acids (r=0.90, P<.001). Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA, 2.8/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with biochemical PUFA (r=0.91, P<.001). The proportion of total unsaturated fatty acids relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rTUFA, 5.4/1.3ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical amount of unsaturated relative to total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.81, P<.001). The proportion of PUFA relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rPUFA, 2.8/1.3 ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS correlated with the biochemical amount of PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.59, P=0.005,) and with the biochemical amount of omega-6 PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.73, P<.001).PUFA at ¹H-MRS correlated with the histopathologically assessed degree of lobular inflammation in the liver (r=0.57, P=.001).

Conclusion

3.0T ¹H-MRS is able to measure poly- and unsaturated hepatic fatty acids and this strongly correlates with biochemical assessment. This study provides evidence that 3.0-T ¹H-MRS is a noninvasive technique to assess hepatic lipid composition.     

Synthesis,spatial structure and spectral properties of pyrylo‐4 (thio) squaraines variously substituted in cyclobutene moiety

Synthetic routes have been developed to a number of (thio) squaraine dyes containing the residues of CH‐acids at the central cyclobutene ring. The electronic and spatial structure as well as the chemical conversions and optical behaviour of the compounds obtained have been studied both theoretically and by X‐ray diffraction analysis, ¹H NMR and electronic spectroscopy. As shown, the electronic nature and sterical characteristics of the central ring substituents give rise to some general conformational features and crystal packing regularities and also govern the spectral position of the first π–π^* absorption band. The structure–property relationships established in the study provide guidance for the purposeful design of deeply coloured (thio) squaraines. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

氨基酸原子电距矢量表达与核磁共振碳谱模拟

提出以原子电性距离矢量(VAED)描述20种天然氨基酸中不同等价碳原子的化学环境,结合γ效应校正与碳原子类型,建立核磁共振碳谱(¹³CNMR)化学位移(CS)的五参数线性模型.用于氨基酸分子中4类不同的等价碳原子化学位移的估计,复相关系数分别为R=0.9864,0.9513,0.9463,0.9567;均方根误差分别为RMS=0.5544,2.5232,11.3096,4.9098ppm经交互校验,模型稳定性较好.并综合几种处理方法,找到一种较好的建模方法,将它用于4个外部样本化学位移的定量预测,结果良好.     

高压微射流制备纳米中链脂肪酸脂质体的研究

以中链脂肪酸(MCFA)为模型材料,比较了高压微射流(HPM)、超声波和微孔过滤3种方法处理后的MCFA脂质体,着重研究了HPM的处理压力和处理次数对脂质体的平均粒度、包封率和稳定性的影响。结果表明:相比超声波和微孔过滤法,HPM处理后的MCFA脂质体的平均粒度最小、包封率最高、稳定性良好;在120 MPa压力条件下处理6次时,MCFA脂质体的平均粒度达到最小,为(73.9±10.2)nm,包封率为(52.20±9.57)%;在120 MPa压力条件下处理4次时,包封率和载药量达到最高,分别为(70.64±11.25)%和(9.42±0.83)%,稳定性系数最高,为0.9990±3.6951,平均粒度为(78.9±21.5)nm。     

Reminiscence of 40-year research on nitrogen metabolism

This article summarizes my research over 40 years. The main theme of my work is nitrogen metabolism of amino acids, though later I focused on protein turnover in the cell. In the first years of my research work, I was busy dissecting the pathways involved in the metabolism of certain amino acids and their related enzymes. Then I became interested in the physiology and regulation of matabolism of these amino acids. For that, I used primary cultured hepatocytes, which contain many liver-specific enzymes. However, this play field was very rough around 1970 and hence I had to smooth them (differentiated) first. We discovered a specific growth factor (hepatocyte growth factor, HGF) in rat platelets. Exceptionally, I also worked on branched chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine). These amino acids are not efficiently metabolized in the liver, so I had to consider the physiology of extrahepatic tissues as well. Finally, I came across a huge protease complex, the proteasome. Whether these players, small amino acid metabolizing enzymes and the huge protease complex, danced well in harmony on my playground or not, I still do not know.     

化学发光分析法测定绿原酸

本文基于碱性介质中绿原酸对鲁米诺-铁氰化钾化学发光体系的抑制作用,首次建立了绿原酸的化学发光分析法,并探讨了其作用机理。方便简便、迅速、重复性好、灵敏度高。采用该法可测定1.0×10-8g/ml～1.0×10-5g/ml范围内的绿原酸,其检出限达到5.2×10-9g/ml,回收率为104%.     

氨基酸与四氰代苯醌二甲叉的荷移反应的研究

本文用分光光度法研究了 6种氨基酸与四氰代苯醌二甲叉 (简称TCNQ)之间的荷移反应。测定了配合物的不稳定常数 ,讨论了配合物的组成。考察了形成配合物的影响因素 ,确立了最佳反应条件 ,并测定了味精中谷氨酸钠的含量 ,结果令人满意     

Kinetics of protein-release by an aptamer-based DNA nanodevice

A recently introduced DNA nanodevice can be used to selectively bind or release the protein thrombin triggered by DNA effector strands. The release process is not well described by simple first or second order reaction kinetics. Here, fluorescence resonance energy transfer and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy experiments are used to explore the kinetics of the release process in detail. To this end the influence of concentration variations and also of temperature is determined. The relevant kinetic parameters are extracted from these experiments and the kinetic behavior of the system is simulated numerically using a set of rate equations. The hydrodynamic radii of the aptamer device alone and bound to thrombin are determined as well as the dissociation constant for the aptamer device-thrombin complex. The results from the experiments and a numerical simulation support the view that the DNA effector strand first binds to the aptamer device followed by the displacement of the protein.     

Ultrasound assisted enzyme catalyzed hydrolysis of waste cooking oil under solvent free condition

The present work demonstrates the hydrolysis of waste cooking oil (WCO) under solvent free condition using commercial available immobilized lipase (Novozyme 435) under the influence of ultrasound irradiation. The process parameters were optimized using a sequence of experimental protocol to evaluate the effects of temperature, molar ratios of substrates, enzyme loading, duty cycle and ultrasound intensity. It has been observed that ultrasound-assisted lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of WCO would be a promising alternative for conventional methods. A maximum conversion of 75.19% was obtained at mild operating parameters: molar ratio of oil to water (buffer pH 7) 3:1, catalyst loading of 1.25% (w/w), lower ultrasound power 100 W (ultrasound intensity – 7356.68 W m⁻²), duty cycle 50% and temperature (50 °C) in a relatively short reaction time (2 h). The activation energy and thermodynamic study shows that the hydrolysis reaction is more feasible when ultrasound is combined with mechanical agitation as compared with the ultrasound alone and simple conventional stirring technique. Application of ultrasound considerably reduced the reaction time as compared to conventional reaction. The successive use of the catalyst for repetitive cycles under the optimum experimental conditions resulted in a loss of enzymatic activity and also minimized the product conversion.