Search results for "Digest"
showing 10 items of 3038 documents
Biochemical markers in Celiac disease.
2009
Celiac Disease is a worldwide spread condition affecting 1:100-1:200 individuals. It is a permanent food intolerance to ingested gluten in genetically predisposed subjects. In this review we analyze the biochemical markers of the disease going from laboratory findings to histology passing through genetics. Gluten intolerance is a unique model of autoimmune disease in which we can recognize the main environmental factor (gluten) and the more complex genetic background. In additional way, serological markers for monitoring the disease and a safe and effective therapy (gluten free diet) are also available. In deed the environmental factor such as gluten intake is necessary to trigger the disea…
Liquid-Crystalline Colloidal Particles
2004
Here we report about the synthesis of colloidal particles of nematic and smectic liquid-crystalline polymers. For this purpose mesogen-containing acrylate monomers were synthesized and polymerized in a special modification of a precipitation polymerization called dispection polymerization. By variation of the polymerization conditions colloidal particles of different size and polydispersity could be obtained including very narrowly distributed samples in optimized batches. On azobenzene-containing colloidal particles switching experiments with polarized light were performed. It could be observed that the nematic director of the mesogens within the colloidal particles can be rotated due to t…
Synthesis of Liquid-Crystalline Colloids in Nonpolar Media and their Manipulation in Electric Fields
2009
The first synthesis of anisotropic liquid-crystalline colloids in silicone oil by a direct (radical) polymerization of a monomer in THF/silicone oil mixtures with the help of siloxane containing stabilizers is described. The size of the colloids is in the lower μm range and can be adjusted by varying the mixture. The resulting colloids show a bipolar director configuration if they are small (<1.5 μm) and a radial configuration if they are larger. The colloids are sterically stabilized, and, due to the nonpolarity of the solvent, the disturbing effects of migrating ions are excluded and experiments in the electric field can be conducted. Both line formation in DC fields and a periodic switch…
Distribution of Pholeter gastrophilus (Digenea) within the stomach of four odontocete species: the role of the diet and digestive physiology of hosts
2005
We compared the distribution of the digenean Pholeter gastrophilus in the stomach of 27 harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, 27 striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba, 18 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, and 100 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas. The stomach of these species is composed of 4 chambers of different size, structure and function. In all species, P. gastrophilus was largely restricted to the glandular region of the stomach, but the parasite tended to favour the fundic chamber in bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises, the pyloric chamber in pilot whales, and none in striped dolphins. However, predictability at infrapopulation level was generally low, sugg…
Evaluation of the Fermentation Dynamics of Commercial Baker’s Yeast in Presence of Pistachio Powder to Produce Lysine-Enriched Breads
2019
The present work was carried out to evaluate the microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory characteristics of fortified pistachio breads. Pistachio powder (5% w/w) was added to flour or semolina and fermented by a commercial baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Pistachio powder did not influence the biological leavening of the doughs. The kinetics of pH and total titratable acidity (TTA) during dough fermentation showed that the leavening process occurred similarly for all trials. The concentration of yeasts increased during fermentation and reached levels of 108 CFU/g after 2 h. Pistachio powder decreased the height and softness of the final breads and increased cell density…
Efficacy of budesonide-loaded mesoporous silica microparticles capped with a bulky azo derivative in rats with TNBS-induced colitis.
2019
Abstract A colon targeted drug delivery system for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), consisting in budesonide loaded mesoporous silica microparticles functionalized with a selective azo-molecular gate (M-Bud), has been evaluated for in vivo efficacy. Experimental colitis in male Wistar rats was induced by rectal instillation of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). M-Bud was orally administered to the rats as a suspension in water. Colon/body weight ratio, clinical activity score, and histological evaluation were used as inflammatory indices to measure the performance of the microparticles. The formulation was compared with a suspension prepared from the commercial drug Entocord®. Sta…
Culture and Functional Characterization of Human Hepatoma HepG2 Cells
2014
Hepatoma cell lines are frequently used as in vitro alternatives to primary human hepatocytes. Cell lines are characterized by their unlimited life span, stable phenotype, high availability, and easy handling. However, their major limitation is the lower expression of some metabolic activities compared with hepatocytes. HepG2 is a human hepatoma that is most commonly used in drug metabolism and hepatotoxicity studies. HepG2 cells are nontumorigenic cells with high proliferation rates and an epithelial-like morphology that perform many differentiated hepatic functions. In this chapter, freezing, thawing, and subculturing procedures for HepG2 cells are described. We further provide protocols …
Targeted Therapies in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
2015
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the main causes of death in patients affected by chronic liver diseases. The awareness of the biomolecular mechanisms underlying the complex carcinogenic process led to the development of targeted molecules, which are able to block this process. Sorafenib is a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor, and currently, it is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of HCC. However, some studies have demonstrated the efficacy of single drug therapies or combination therapies. They showed an improvement with regard to overall survival, time to progression, and progression-free survival, although these therapies were not free …
Antioxidant Therapy and Drugs Interfering with Lipid Metabolism: Could They Be Effective in NAFLD Patients?
2013
This review is part of a special issue dealing with various aspects of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We will focus on promising treatments of NASH with antioxidants and drugs that interfere with lipid metabolism.The other therapies of interest, such as diet, behavioral changes, and insulin sensitizers are presented elsewhere. Oxidative stress is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of NASH and other liver diseases. Antioxidants aimed at improving chronic alcoholic or viral liver diseases have been an object of study for some time. However, only a few high quality, randomized, versus placebo-controlled, double-blinded trials hav…
Hepatitis E Virus Detection in Liver Tissue from Patients with Suspected Drug-Induced Liver Injury
2015
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is increasingly recognized as a cause of acute hepatitis in the industrialized world. We aimed to determine the frequency of acute Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in cases of suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI), mainly a diagnosis of exclusion. To this aim, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) liver tissues of all cases routinely processed in our institute during a 2 ½ years period in which DILI was amongst the differential diagnoses (157 liver biopsies, one liver explant) were subjected to semi-nested RT-PCR for the detection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA. Histopathology was re-evaluated on all cases tested positive. HEV RNA was detectable in…