Metabolic profiling of normal and hypertensive rat kidney tissues by hrMAS-NMR spectroscopy

Intact kidney tissue samples of normal and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were analyzed by hrMAS-NMR spectroscopy and principal component analysis (PCA). Radial components (cortex, outer stripe of the outer medulla, inner stripe of the outer medulla, and papilla) were sampled from various regions across the kidney from multiple animals in order to establish inter- and intra-animal variability. The effects of temperature were also measured. Papilla was differentiated from the other tissue types, and this variation by tissue type was greater than the effect of temperature on the samples (spectra were compared from samples at 2 and 30 °C). This study also revealed long term stability issues of tissue storage at -80 °C. The PCA showed that the greatest differentiation between normal rats and SHRs was found in the cortex and the regions in the NMR spectra that were correlated with this variation were identified.Abbreviations hrMAS High-resolution magic angle spinning - NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance - PCA Principal component analysis - CSA Chemical shift anisotropy - DD Dipolar coupling - SHR Spontaneously hypertensive rat     

Speciation analysis of platinum antitumoral drugs in impacted tissues

Chemical compounds containing platinum have been employed since 1978 as drugs to beat certain type of tumours. Nevertheless, besides of their exceptional antitumoral properties, these drugs also have important deleterious side effects, such as, nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity.A study of Pt accumulation and a speciation analysis has been performed by ICP-MS in samples from kidney and inner ear in a controlled population of Wistar rats treated with, either, cisplatin, carboplatin or oxaliplatin. The results on Pt accumulation point out to drug structure and not only to Pt content as the responsible for the alteration of organ functionality.Speciation studies in the samples from kidney and inner ear were performed coupling two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) to ICP-MS. Size exclusion (SEC) and anion exchange fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) was employed for 2D orthogonal separation. After these separations, free drug peaks were not observed in any of the samples.The binding of Pt to biomolecules was demonstrated by SEC and, independently of the drug used, Pt eluted as two main bands with molecular weights of 12 kDa and 25-65 kDa for inner ear samples, and as two different bands with 20 kDa and 50-60 kDa in the samples from kidney. However, the relative band intensity presented important differences for the three drugs. Using the same chromatographic conditions, it was shown that a metallothionein (MT) standard eluted in the same position as some of the cytosolic Pt-biomolecules.High Pt-containing fractions eluting from the SEC column were analysed by anion exchange FPLC after a preconcentration step. Among the different preconcentration methods tested, sample focusing on the head of the FPLC column shows main advantages. In this way, the separation by 2D chromatography of the high molecular Pt-species has been considerably improved.     

High-resolution laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry imaging of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxic side effects

Two-dimensional elemental mapping (bioimaging) via laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was performed on 5 μm thick formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded kidney tissue sections from Cynomolgus monkeys administered with increasing pharmacological doses of cisplatin. Laterally resolved pixels of 1 μm were achieved, enabling elemental analysis on a (sub-)cellular level. Zones of high Pt response were observed in the renal cortex, where proximal tubules are present, the epithelium of which is responsible for partial reabsorption of cisplatin. Histopathological evaluation, of hematoxylin and eosin-stained serial sections, adjacent to the sections probed via LA-ICP-MS, revealed minimal to mild cisplatin-related lesions (<100 μm) in the renal cortex. Necrotic proximal tubules with sloughed epithelial cells in their lumen could be linked directly to the areas with the highest accumulation of cisplatin, indicating a direct link between cellular concentration and toxicity, thereby providing more insight into the mechanisms through which renal damage occurs.     

Model-based equipment-design for plant-based extraction processes – considering botanic and thermodynamic aspects

The growing demand for plant-based products in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry leads to the need for a systematic process and equipment-design for the potentially applicable extraction techniques. Therefore, in this article, the classification of plant-based raw materials according to their characteristics is discussed. Furthermore, physicochemical modelling via distributed plug flow approach is applied and its possible fields of application are examined. Here, especially the extraction of water from the plant-based raw material as well as the entailed effects on the equilibrium and the mass transport kinetics are concerned. In addition to that, an evaluation method for the examined and generally available equipment through spider diagram is proposed. The relation to the initially argued botanic systems is discussed in particular. The extraction of vanillin from vanilla beans serves as exemplary system for this.     

Effect of Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) and Acacia (Acacia seyal) Gums on the Pasting,Thermal, Textural,and Rheological Properties of Corn,Sweet Potato,and Turkish Bean Starches

This study was planned to explore the locally available natural sources of gum hydrocolloids as a natural modifier of different starch properties. Corn (CS), sweet potato (SPS), and Turkish bean (TBS) starches were mixed with locally extracted native or acetylated cactus (CG) and acacia (AG) gums at 2 and 5% replacement levels. The binary mixtures (starch–gums) were prepared in water, freeze dried, ground to powder, and stored airtight. A rapid viscoanalyzer (RVA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), texture analyzer, and dynamic rheometer were used to explore their pasting, thermal, textural, and rheological properties. The presence of acetylated AG or CG increased the final viscosity (FV) in all three starches when compared to starch pastes containing native gums. Plain SPS dispersion had a higher pasting temperature (PT) than CS and TBS. The addition of AG or CG increased the PT of CS, SPS, and TBS. The thermograms revealed the overall enthalpy change of the starch and gum blends: TBS > SPS > CS. The peak temperature (T_p) of starches increased with increasing gum concentration from 2 to 5% for both AG and CG native and modified gums. When compared to the control gels, the addition of 2% CG, either native or modified, reduced the syneresis of starch gels. However, further addition (5% CG) increased the gels’ syneresis. Furthermore, the syneresis for the first cycle on the fourth day was higher than the second cycle on the eighth day for all starches. The addition of native and acetylated CG reduced the hardness of starch gels at all concentrations tested. All of the starch dispersions had higher G′ than G″ values, indicating that they were more elastic and less viscous with or without the gums. The apparent viscosity of all starch gels decreased as shear was increased, with profiles indicating time-dependent thixotropic behavior. All of the starch gels, with or without gums, showed a non-Newtonian shear thinning trend in the shear stress vs. shear rate graphs. The addition of acetylated CG gum to CS resulted in a higher activation energy (Ea) than the native counterparts and the control. More specifically, starch gels with a higher gum concentration (5%) provided greater Ea than their native counterparts.     

超高效液相色谱-串联四极杆静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱法测定豆类中的硒代蛋氨酸

该研究利用超高效液相色谱-串联四极杆静电场轨道阱高分辨质谱(UHPLC/ESI-Q-Orbitrap)技术,对硒代蛋氨酸(SeMet)的色谱信息、分子离子质荷比和碎裂片段的质荷比进行采集,并对特征离子碎裂途径进行解析,建立了豆类中硒代蛋氨酸的检测方法。样品用三羟甲基氨基甲烷-盐酸(Tris-HCl)缓冲溶液溶解后,涡旋混匀,超声提取,在恒温水浴条件下酶解,离心后取上清液过0.22μm滤膜后上机检测。采用Hypersil GOLD HILIC(50 mm×2.1 mm,1.9μm)色谱柱进行分离,以0.2%(体积分数,下同)甲酸6 mmol/L甲酸铵水溶液和0.2%甲酸6 mmol/L甲酸铵乙腈溶液为流动相梯度洗脱,采用电喷雾正离子模式电离,在全扫描/数据依赖扫描模式(Full MS/dd-MS2)下进行检测,基质匹配标准校正法定量。结果表明,硒代蛋氨酸的基质效应为15.75%,在0.05~0.5 mg/L范围内线性关系良好,相关系数(r²)为0.9976,方法检出限(LOD)为0.015 mg/kg,定量下限(LOQ)为0.05 mg/kg;空白样品在0.1、0.2、0.4 mg/kg 3个加标水平下的平均回收率为77.6%~83.2%,日内相对标准偏差(RSDr)为2.8%~4.8%,日间相对标准偏差(RSD_R)为4.1%~6.5%。将方法应用于实际样品的检测,得富硒黑豆、富硒红豆、富硒绿豆中硒代蛋氨酸的含量分别为0.252、0.163、0.184 mg/kg。该方法具有前处理操作简单、结果准确、重复性好等优点,适用于豆类中硒代蛋氨酸的检测。     

代谢组学法研究三聚氰胺对儿童尿液代谢的影响

运用代谢组学方法研究了三聚氰胺对儿童尿液代谢的影响.通过超高效液相色谱-飞行时间质谱(UPLC/TOF-MS)法分析儿童尿样的代谢指纹图谱,质谱数据采用MarkerLynx软件处理,然后使用主成分分析和偏最小二乘判别分析法分析病例组和正常对照组之间的代谢物谱差异,并通过变量重要性投影(VIP)选取潜在的生物标志物,结合质谱同位素分析和数据库检索对潜在的生物标志物进行鉴定.结果表明,三聚氰胺通过肾结石导致的物理性损伤干扰了柠檬酸代谢.代谢组学法能够应用于三聚氰胺导致的代谢异常的研究及三聚氰胺导致肾损伤的无创检测.     

Laser induced fluorescence coupled to capillary electrophoresis for the determination of fluoroquinolones in foods of animal origin using molecularly imprinted polymers

A method for the simultaneous determination of four fluoroquinolones of veterinary use (ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin and sarafloxacin) in two complex matrixes, such as bovine raw milk and pig kidney, has been established and validated. The method is based on the use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with a very sensitive detection mode, such as laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection, due to the fact the all the compounds selected show native fluorescence. In order to achieve high selectivity in the sample treatment procedure, a commercially available molecularly imprinted polymer has been used for the solid phase extraction of the analytes. Once the retention and elution processes were optimized, the final extract was analyzed by CE-LIF using a 325 nm He–Cd laser. Optimum separation was obtained in a 70 cm × 75 μm capillary using a 125 mM phosphoric acid solution at pH 2.8 with 36% methanol as background electrolyte. The method provided very low detection limits, ranging from 0.17 to 0.98 μg/kg for milk and 1.10 to 10.5 μg/kg for kidney, with acceptable precision and satisfactory recoveries.     

Determination of Protein Levels in Nigerian Grains Using 14 MeV Neutron Activation Analysis

Fast (14 MeV) neutrons have been successfully used in investigating the protein content of different food grains (Soya Beans, Sorghum, Maize and Beans) locally grown and consumed in Nigeria. Protein was estimated via nitrogen using the ¹⁴N(n, 2n)¹³N reaction. Quantification of nitrogen was achieved through a γ-γ coincidence counting of 511 keV positron emissions from the decaying ¹³N. The implication of the use of the emitted annihilation positrons, the interference introduced in the analytical energy spectra from other activated target nuclides present in the sample, as well as possible proton “knock on” reactions anticipated from cellulose in grain matrix were assessed, and their contributions to the 511 keV gamma energy resolved. For comparative purposes, replicates of samples analyzed through Fast Neutron Activation Analysis (FNAA) were investigated using the Kjeldahl method. The samples were carried through the Kjeldahl process of pre-digestion (with appropriate catalysts), digestion and titration. The results obtained through the Kjeldahl process were found to be in good agreement with those obtained using FNAA although slightly lower. Protein content (%) of Nigerian grains analyzed varied from a low 8.75 ± 2.96 for sorghum to 35.93 ± 0.31 for soya beans.     

Viscoelastic properties of pig kidney in shear, experimental results and modelling

 In this paper, the results from a series of rheological tests of fresh pig kidney have been reported. Using a standard strain-controlled rheometer, the oscillation strain sweep experiment showed a linear viscoelastic strain limit of the order of 0.2% strain. To determine the components of dynamic moduli in terms of frequency, shear oscillation tests were done at strain 0.2% using a stress-controlled rheometer. Shear stress relaxation tests were carried out with a fixed strain of 0.2% and 0.02 s rise time. The model we have developed uses a multi-mode upper convected Maxwell (UCM) model with variable viscosities and time constants, to which we have added a Mooney hyper-elastic response, both multiplied by a damping function. Different forms of damping functions that control the non-linearity of strain-stress profile have been tested. The model was fitted to our experimental data, and matched the entire test data reasonably well with a single set of parameters. Received: 5 May 2000 Accepted: 16 March 2001