Preferential campesterol incorporation into various tissues in apolipoprotein E*3-Leiden mice consuming plant sterols or stanols

Intestinal absorption of plant sterols and stanols is much lower as compared with that of cholesterol; and therefore, serum concentrations are low. Circulating plant sterols and stanols are incorporated into tissues. However, hardly any data are available about tissue distributions of individual plant sterols and stanols, particularly in...

Fluid loss does not explain coagulation activation during air travel

The mechanism of air travel-related venous thrombosis is unclear. Although immobility plays a pivotal role, other factors such as fluid loss may contribute. We investigated whether fluid loss occurred more in individuals with coagulation activation after air travel than in subjects without. As a secondary aim, we investigated whether fluid loss...

Allergen Ara h 1 occurs in peanuts as a large oligomer rather than as a trimer

Ara h 1, a major peanut allergen, is known as a stable trimeric protein. Nevertheless, upon purification of native Ara h 1 from peanuts using only size exclusion chromatography, the allergen appeared to exist in an oligomeric structure, rather than as a trimeric structure. The oligomeric structure was independent of the salt concentration...

Endotoxin-induced liver damage in rats is minimized by β2- adrenoceptor stimulation

Objective and Design: To investigate the effects of β2- adrenoceptor (β2-AR) stimulation on endotoxin-induced liver damage and systemic cytokine levels in rats. Subjects: Standard male Wistar rats. Treatment: A disease-model of lipolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute systemic inflammation was used. The β2-selective AR agonist clenbuterol was...

Electrostatic interactions in protein adsorption probed by comparing lysozyme and succinylated lysozyme

The influence of electrostatic interactions on protein adsorption was studied by comparing the adsorption of lysozyme and succinylated lysozyme at silica surfaces. The succinylation affects the charge of the protein, but also the stability. Although changes in stability can have an influence on adsorption, our data show that the primary effect...

Effects of non-covalent interactions with 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid) on the heat denaturation and solubility of globular proteins

The non-covalent interactions between the monomeric phenolic compound chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme, and α-lactalbumin were characterized, and their effect on protein properties was examined. 5-CQA had a low affinity for all three proteins, and these interactions seemed to show a negative cooperativity. 5-CQA...

Influence of pH and ionic strength on heat-induced formation and rheological properties of soy protein gels in relation to denaturation and their protein compositions

The influence of pH and ionic strength on gel formation and gel properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) in relation to denaturation and protein aggregation/precipitation was studied. Denaturation proved to be a prerequisite for gel formation under all conditions of pH and ionic strength studied. Gels exhibited a low stiffness at pH >6 and a high...

C-reactive protein in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia: No effect of simvastatin therapy

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are especially at risk for premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent studies revealed C-reactive protein (CRP) as a strong predictor of future first or recurrent CVD events, suggesting that CRP plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to...

Heat denaturation of soy glycinin: Influence of pH and ionic strength on molecular structure

The 7S/11S glycinin equilibrium as found in Lakemond et al. (J. Agric. Food Chem. 2000, 48, xxxxxxxx) at ambient temperatures influences heat denaturation. It is found that the 7S form of glycinin denatures at a lower temperature than the 11S form, as demonstrated by a combination of calorimetric (DSC) and circular dichroism (CD) experiments. At...

Soy glycinin Influence of pH and ionic strength on solubility and molecular structure at ambient temperatures

This study describes the relationship between the solubility of glycinin, a major soy protein, and its structural properties at a quaternary, tertiary, and secondary folding level under conditions representative for food products. When the ionic strength is lowered from 0.5 to 0.2 or 0.03, the basic polypeptides shift more to the exterior of the...

Anion channels in Chara corallina tonoplast membrane: Calcium dependence and rectification

Tonoplast K+ channels of Chara corallina are well characterized but only a few reports mention anion channels, which are likely to play an important role in the tonoplast action potential and osmoregulation of this plant. For experiments internodal cells were isolated. Cytoplasmic droplets were formed in an iso-osmotic bath solution according to...

The adsorption-induced secondary structure of β-casein and of distinct parts of its sequence in relation to foam and emulsion properties

Changes in the secondary structure upon adsorption of β-casein (βCN) and of distinct parts of its sequence were investigated by far-ultraviolet circular dichroism in order to find suggested relationships with foam and emulsion-forming and -stabilising properties of the same protein/peptides. A teflon/water interface was used as a model system...

The isolated blood-perfused pig ear: An inexpensive and animal-saving model for skin penetration studies

To overcome most of the disadvantages of current models to investigate percutaneous penetration of drugs or toxic substances, a model is proposed here based on the isolated pig ear, which is obtained at the slaughterhouse, and perfused with oxygenated blood from the same pig. To determine the viability of the preparations, we measured glucose...

Composition and susceptibility to thrombolysis of human arterial thrombi and the influence of their age

Each of three distinct, concentric layers of human arterial thrombi, was analysed immunochemically for the plasminogen and fibrin content, and for the ex vivo susceptibility to thrombolysis by various thrombolytic agents in a saline or plasma milieu. The age of the thrombus layer determined: (a) the plasminogen content; (b) the fibrin content,...

The aetiology of caecal enlargement in the rat

The effect of hydroxypropyl starches (degree of substitution (DS) 0.025-0.106), lactose, raw potato starch, polyethylene glycol 1000 or magnesium sulphate on caecal size and some constituents of the caecal contents was studied in male rats of ages varying from 4 wk to 3 mth in experiments lasting from 10 days to 3 mth. All the test compounds...