Search results for "analytical"

Prenatal Ambient Air Pollution, Placental Mitochondrial DNA Content, and Birth Weight in the INMA (Spain) and ENVIRONAGE (Belgium) Birth Cohorts

2016

The research leading to these results was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS-PI11/00610, FIS-PI041436, FIS-PI081151, FIS-PI042018, and FIS-PI09/02311), the European Union (EU) (FP7-ENV-2011 cod 282957 and HEALTH.2010.2.4.5-1), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red INMA G03/176, CB06/02/0041, FIS-FEDER 03/1615, 04/1509, 04/1112, 04/1931, 05/1079, 05/1052, 06/1213, 07/0314, 09/02647, 11/01007, 11/02591, CP11/00178, FIS-PI06/0867, and FIS-PS09/00090), the Conselleria de Sanitat Generalitat Valenciana, the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT (1999SGR 00241), the Obre Social Cajastur, the Universidad de Oviedo, the Department of Health of the Basque Government (2005111093 and 2009111069),…

Devices containing allyl isothiocyanate against the growth of spoilage and mycotoxigenic fungi in mozzarella cheese

2018

Filter paper and stickers containing allyl isothiocyanate (AIT), as well as pouches containing mustard meal and water for intrinsic production of AIT, were tested against aflatoxigenic strains of Penicillium digitatum CECT 2954 and Aspergillus parasiticus CECT 2681 in sliced mozzarella. Slices were inoculated with either fungus, packaged in plastic bags or plastic trays with one antimicrobial device (2–16 µL/L of AIT). Control groups presented visual growth of P. digitatum after 19.0 ± 1.5 d in bags and 26.1 ± 2.1 d in trays. A. parasiticus was visually detectable after 41.4 ± 1.7 d and 28.4 ± 1.5 d in trays and bags, respectively. AIT‐treated samples did not present visual fungal growth fo…

Pharmacogenomics of Scopoletin in Tumor Cells

2016

Drug resistance and the severe side effects of chemotherapy necessitate the development of novel anticancer drugs. Natural products are a valuable source for drug development. Scopoletin is a coumarin compound, which can be found in several Artemisia species and other plant genera. Microarray-based RNA expression profiling of the NCI cell line panel showed that cellular response of scopoletin did not correlate to the expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters as classical drug resistance mechanisms (ABCB1, ABCB5, ABCC1, ABCG2). This was also true for the expression of the oncogene EGFR and the mutational status of the tumor suppressor gene, TP53. However, mutations in the RAS onc…

Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Leukemia Cells by Novel Artemisinin-, Egonol-, and Thymoquinone-Derived Hybrid Compounds

2018

Two major obstacles for successful cancer treatment are the toxicity of cytostatics and the development of drug resistance in cancer cells during chemotherapy. Acquired or intrinsic drug resistance is responsible for almost 90% of treatment failure. For this reason, there is an urgent need for new anticancer drugs with improved efficacy against cancer cells, and with less toxicity on normal cells. There are impressive examples demonstrating the success of natural plant compounds to fight cancer, such as Vinca alkaloids, taxanes, and anthracyclines. Artesunic acid (ARTA), a drug for malaria treatment, also exerts cytotoxic activity towards cancer cells. Multidrug resistance often results fro…

Estrogen Receptor Signaling and the PI3K/Akt Pathway Are Involved in Betulinic Acid-Induced eNOS Activation

2016

Betulinic acid (BA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid with anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anti-cancer properties. Beneficial cardiovascular effects such as increased nitric oxide (NO) production through enhancement of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) activity and upregulation of eNOS expression have been demonstrated for this compound. In the present study, immortalized human EA.hy 926 endothelial cells were incubated for up to 1 h with 1–100 µM BA and with the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors LY294002 and wortmannin, or the estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ICI 182,780. Phosphorylation status of eNOS and total eNOS protein were analyzed by Western blotting us…

Chemical Composition of Herbal Macerates and Corresponding Commercial Essential Oils and Their Effect on Bacteria Escherichia coli

2017

This study addresses the chemical composition of some commercial essential oils (clove, juniper, oregano, and marjoram oils), as well as appropriate herbal extracts obtained in the process of cold maceration and their biological activity against selected Escherichia coli strains: E. coli ATTC 25922, E. coli ATTC 10536, and E. coli 127 isolated from poultry waste. On the basis of the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis, it was found that the commercial essential oils revealed considerable differences in terms of the composition and diversity of terpenes, terpenoids and sesquiterpenes as compared with the extracts obtained from plant material. The commercial clove, oregano, a…

Chrysophanol- and nepodin-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside from Rumex acetosella, the cytotoxicity towards drug sensitive and multi- drug resistant T leukaemi…

2016

Application of chemometrics to assess the influence of ultrasound frequency, Lactobacillus sakei culture and drying on beef jerky manufacture: Impact…

2017

The effects of ultrasound (US) frequency, addition of Lactobacillus sakei culture and drying time on key nutritional (protein, amino acids, and organic acids) and physicochemical properties (texture and colour) of cultured and uncultured beef jerky were evaluated. Cultured and uncultured jerky samples were subjected to US frequencies of 25 kHz, 33 kHz and 45 kHz for 30 min prior to marination and drying. Principal component analysis demonstrated a significant effect of beef jerky processing conditions on physicochemical properties. Taurine content of jerky samples was found to increase with an increase in ultrasonic frequencies for cultured samples. No significant changes in colour values w…

Direct identification of microorganisms from thioglycolate broth by MALDI-TOF MS.

2017

We developed an easy MALDI-TOF MS-based assay to identify microorganisms directly from thioglycolate broth. A total of 101 positive thioglycolate broths inoculated with 15 different kinds of samples were evaluated. In 91 samples (90.1%), direct MALDI-TOF MS identifications were the same as those obtained after conventional laboratory procedures including subcultures. In 10 samples misidentified by direct processing, yeasts or mixed cultures grew in the thioglycolate subcultures, or high cellular debris hampered a correct analysis. This rapid method can provide a fast, clinically- relevant species-level identification without disturbing the daily workflow in clinical microbiology laboratorie…

Determination of melatonin in Acyrthosiphon pisum aphids by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

2015

Melatonin is a hormone mainly involved in the regulation of circadian and seasonal rhythms in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Despite the identification of melatonin in many insects, its involvement in the insect seasonal response remains unclear. A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed for melatonin analysis in aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) for the first time. After comparing two different procedures and five extraction solvents, a sample preparation procedure with a mixture of methanol/water (50:50) was selected for melatonin extraction. The method was validated by analyzing melatonin recovery at three spiked concentrations (5, 50 and 100 p…