Role of anti-inflammatory interventions in high-fat-diet-induced obesity

Lipotoxicity is defined as deposition of excess fat associated with an inflammatory response. Metabolomic analysis of fatty acids (FAs) can be a marker of silent inflammation. ω3-Enriched diet, celecoxib, and safranal may have a protective anti-inflammatory role. In this work, total FAs extracted from red blood cells and arachidonic acid-to-eicosapentaenoic acid (AA-to-EPA) ratios were assessed using GC–MS assay in single-ion monitoring mode. The study was conducted on 64 male rats divided into eight groups: I, controls; II, rats received high-fat diet (HFD), III, rats received ω-6-enriched HFD; IV, rats received ω-3-enriched HFD; V, rats received celecoxib with HFD; VI, rats received safranal with HFD; VII and VIII, rats received celecoxib and safranal with ω-3 HFD, respectively. GC–MS Gas chromatography Mass spectrometry was performed for analysis of fatty acid methyl ester. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to analyze serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) concentrations. A statistically significant decrease of AA-to-EPA ratio was observed in group VII when compared with the groups receiving HFDs. This group also showed the lowest serum IL-6 level and highest TGF-β1 level. In conclusion, ω3-enriched diet along with drugs (e.g. celecoxib) and herbal medications (e.g. safranal) may have an anti-inflammatory effect in lipotoxicity. GC–MS with single-ion monitoring is valid for the analysis of FAs.     

Cavity identification in linear elasticity and thermoelasticity

The aim of this paper is an analysis of geometric inverse problems in linear elasticity and thermoelasticity related to the identification of cavities in two and three spatial dimensions. The overdetermined boundary data used for the reconstruction are the displacement and temperature on a part of the boundary. We derive identifiability results and directional stability estimates, the latter using the concept of shape derivatives, whose form is known in elasticity and newly derived for thermoelasticity. For numerical reconstructions we use a least‐squares formulation and a geometric gradient descent based on the associated shape derivatives. The directional stability estimates guarantee the stability of the gradient descent approach, so that an iterative regularization is obtained. This iterative scheme is then regularized by a level set approach allowing the reconstruction of multiply connected shapes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and application studies of chitosan acryloylthiourea derivative for the separation of rare earth elements

The adsorption behaviors of lanthanum (III) from an aqueous chloride medium, using Chitosan acryloylthiourea (CATU) derivative, were studied using an equilibrium batch technique. Here, the chemical modification of chitosan is of interest because the modification would not change the fundamental skeleton of chitosan, would keep the original physicochemical and biochemical properties, and finally would bring new or improved properties. The optimum pH value was defined to be 5.0 at a temperature of 298?K. Kinetic and isotherm experiments were carried out at the optimum pH. It was enough to reach the adsorption equilibrium at 4 hours and the maximum uptake capacity was 2.1?mmol?g^?1 at 25°C. Complexion, ion exchange, and electrostatic interaction were all believed to play a role in lanthanum adsorption on CATU derivative. The equilibrium adsorption data were fitted to a second-order kinetic equation. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm models were used to describe the adsorption process. The proposed method was validated and successfully applied for the determination of lanthanum in certified reference samples and ore sample with satisfactory results. The elution experiment was carried out by 0.05?mol/L CaCl₂ as an eluent.     

Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Studies on the Interaction of Gatifloxacin,Moxifloxacin and Sparfloxacin with DNA and Their Analytical Applications

The electrochemical oxidation of the three fluoroquinolone drugs FQs: gatifloxacin GTF, moxifloxacin MXF and sparfloxacin SPF, at the bare and DNA‐modified glassy carbon electrodes has been studied by voltammetric techniques. The three FQs showed one irreversible oxidation peak at potential range 0.85–0.91 V vs. Ag‐AgCl, in phosphate buffer of pH 7.0. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and UV‐absorption spectroscopic techniques were employed to probe the interaction between the FQs and calf thymus double stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ds CT‐DNA). From electrochemical data, the binding constant between DNA and the gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin and sparfloxacin are calculated to be 3228, 2596 and 2857 M^?1 respectively. Based on electrochemical and spectroscopic results, the mode of binding of fluoroquinolone to DNA through combined effect of intercalation and electrostatic interaction was concluded. A detection scheme based on a preconcentration and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) determination at dsDNA modified glassy carbon electrode (DNA/GCE) was proposed for the trace determination of the studied analytes. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of the FQs in pharmaceutical formulations.     

Drug Delivery Applications of Coaxial Electrospun Nanofibres in Cancer Therapy

Cancer is one of the most serious health problems and the second leading cause of death worldwide, and with an ageing and growing population, problems related to cancer will continue. In the battle against cancer, many therapies and anticancer drugs have been developed. Chemotherapy and relevant drugs are widely used in clinical practice; however, their applications are always accompanied by severe side effects. In recent years, the drug delivery system has been improved by nanotechnology to reduce the adverse effects of the delivered drugs. Among the different candidates, core–sheath nanofibres prepared by coaxial electrospinning are outstanding due to their unique properties, including their large surface area, high encapsulation efficiency, good mechanical property, multidrug loading capacity, and ability to govern drug release kinetics. Therefore, encapsulating drugs in coaxial electrospun nanofibres is a desirable method for controlled and sustained drug release. This review summarises the drug delivery applications of coaxial electrospun nanofibres with different structures and drugs for various cancer treatments.     

Natural Alkaloid Compounds as Inhibitors for Alpha-Synuclein Seeded Fibril Formation and Toxicity

The accumulation and aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) is the main pathologic event in Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. α-Syn-seeded fibril formation and its induced toxicity occupy a major role in PD pathogenesis. Thus, assessing compounds that inhibit this seeding process is considered a key towards the therapeutics of synucleinopathies. Using biophysical and biochemical techniques and seeding-dependent cell viability assays, we screened a total of nine natural compounds of alkaloid origin extracted from Chinese medicinal herbs. Of these compounds, synephrine, trigonelline, cytisine, harmine, koumine, peimisine, and hupehenine exhibited in vitro inhibition of α-syn-seeded fibril formation. Furthermore, using cell viability assays, six of these compounds inhibited α-syn-seeding-dependent toxicity. These six potent inhibitors of amyloid fibril formation and toxicity caused by the seeding process represent a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PD and other synucleinopathies.     

Crystal structure and quantum chemical calculations of (E)1-benzyl-3-((4-methoxyphenyl)imino)-5-methylindolin-2-one

The known Schiff base compound, (E)1-benzyl-3-((4-methoxyphenyl)imino)-5-methylindolin-2-one, was prepared as before by reacting 1-benzyl-5-methylindoline-2,3-dione with 4-methoxyaniline. The product was unambiguously characterized using elemental analysis, ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, and its new single-crystal X-ray structural analysis. Molecular orbital calculations were conducted in order to investigate the structures and relative stabilities of the (E) and (Z) isomers of 1-benzyl-3-([4 methoxyphenyl]-imino)-5-methylindolin-2-one. Specific attention was paid to the (E) isomer. The available crystallographic experimental data for the latter ensured also validation of the model structures computationally derived at the theoretical B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level.     

Synthesis,design, and antimicrobial activity of pyrido[2,3-d][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidinones based on quinoline derivatives

The pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine moieties are one of the most biologically widespread heterocyclic compounds as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitubercular, antiviral and anti-inflammatory. Hence, we synthesized an efficient new series of 2-thioxo-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidinone, 2-hydrazinyl-(quinolin-2-yl)pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidinone,N′-(quinolin-2-yl)-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-(formo/aceto)-hydrazide and substituted-(quinolin-2-yl)pyrido[2,3-d][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidinone derivatives. The characterization of new compounds was corresponded by using spectroscopic techniques, IR, NMR and Mass spectra. In vitro, all compounds were evaluated as antimicrobial activity compared with cefotaxime sodium and nystatin as the standard drug. This work deals with the exploration of the new heterocyclic compounds and medicinal diversity of quinoline-pyrido[2,3-d][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrimidine derivatives that might pave the way for long in the discovery of therapeutic medicine for future drug design.     

Effect of the weak interaction on the in situ radii of condensate boson atoms in one or two-dimensional deep optical lattices

In this letter we suggest a theoretical model to investigate the weak interaction dependence of the in situ radii of condensate boson atoms in a combined harmonic with one or two-dimensional deep optical lattice. The semiclassical approximation is employed to calculate the above mentioned parameters. The calculated results showed that the in situ radii depends crucially on the interatomic interaction. Our results can be extended to investigate the moment of inertia of condensate boson atoms in combined harmonic-optical potential as well as superfluidity nature of synthetically charged boson atoms in combined potential.