Multivariable analysis of serum 3,5,3'-L-triiodothyronine concentration in patients of diabetes mellitus by blood glucose level and body weight

Serum thyroid hormone concentrations, 1-thyroxine (T4), free T4 and 3,5,3'-l-triiodothyronine (T3) were measured in 213 patients of diabetes and analyzed their correlation with metabolic parameters, hyperglycemia and body weight. Haemoglobin A1 (HbA1) was used as an index of hyperglycemia. Body weight was expressed by relative body weight (body weight/standard weight). Among the thyroid hormones, only T3 had significant correlation with HbA1 and body weight (r = -0.476, P less than 0.01 and r = 0.369, P less than 0.01, respectively). Multivariable analysis of serum T3 by HbA1 and relative body weight gave the following regression equation. Serum T3 (ng/dl) = 108 + 0.362 x relative body weight (%) - 3.88 x HbA 1 (%). Though relative body weight had inverse correlation with HbA1, the contribution of the two metabolic parameters to the serum T3 was independent from each other. Our results confirm the previous reports that low T3 in diabetes correlates with severity of hyperglycemia and we report for the first time that serum T3 of diabetic patients has positive correlation with body weight, probably due to still available carbohydrate in spite of disturbances in the metabolism.     

Effect of malting and roasting on reduction of aflatoxin in contaminated soybeans

The effect of malting and roasting on the reduction of aflatoxin in contaminated soybeans was studied. Through the observation of the malting process of contaminated and noncontaminated beans it was found that aflatoxin brought about 50% reduction on germination percentage and radicle length of malts. Malting appeared to have a minimal effect in lowering the aflatoxin content of the soybean and aflatoxin G-1 was more affected than B-1 by the treatment. The contaminated samples of nonmalted, steeped and malted soybeans were roasted at 150 ° C and 180 ° C. Roasting at 180 ° C reduced the levels of aflatoxin by 40 to 73 percent depending on the sample nature. Roasting of both steeped and malted beans was much less effective in the reduction of the toxin levels than that of nonmalted beans and in all cases aflatoxin B-1 was more heat resistant than aflatoxin G-1.Present address: North Dakota State University, Cereal Chem. & Techn., Fargo, ND 58105, USA     

Elevated polyamine levels in erythrocytes of SLC:ICR mice inoculated with ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells

Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (4×10⁵ cells/mouse) were inoculated intraperitoneally in 7-week-old SLC:ICR mice, and polyamine levels in peripheral erythrocytes and in ascites cells were determined periodically. Polyamine levels in peripheral erythrocytes increased linearly until 10 days after cell inoculation, while ascites cells showed exponential growth.The effect of carbazilquinone on cellular growth and polyamine levels in erythrocytes was also studied. When 1 or 2mg/kg of carbazilquinone was injected intraperitoneally on day 4 or on day 7, cellular growth was suppressed and the survival time of the mice was lengthened. The polyamine levels in erythrocytes were also markedly decreased 3 days after the carbazilquinone injection.These results suggest that the polyamine levels in peripheral erythrocytes are closely related to the cellular growth of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells.     

Chemical composition of Streptococcus mutans cell walls and their susceptibility to Flavobacterium L-11 enzyme

The susceptibility to a cell wall lytic L-11 enzyme from Flavobacterium sp. and the quantitative and/or qualitative composition of the cell walls of some strains of cariogenic Streptococcus mutans and a non-cariogenic strain of Streptococcus mitis were determined. The purified cell walls of S. mutans strains HS-1 (serotype a), BHT (b), NCTC10449 (c), C67-1 (c), C67-25 (c), OMZ 176 (d), MT703 (e), MT557 (f), OMZ65 (g), and AHT (g), and S. mitis CHT contained glutamic acid, alanine, and lysine as well as muramic acid and glucosamine as a peptidoglycan component. Besides these amino acids, significant amounts of threonine were detected in strains HS-1, OMZ65, and AHT cell walls, and considerable amounts of aspartic acid and/or threonine as well as several other amino acids in OMZ176, OMZ65, and CHT cell walls. Rhamnose was a common special component of the cell walls of S. mutans strains BHT, NCTC10449, MT703, B2 (e), MT557, and AHT, and S. mitis CHT. An additional sugar component, glucose, was detected in the cell walls of all of these strains except BHT, and galactose was found in BHT, AHT, and CHT cell walls. Galactosamine was present in S. mitis CHT cell walls. Varying amounts of phosphorus were detected in the cell walls of all the strains examined. The cell walls of all these streptococcal strains except MT703, 6715, and AHT were susceptible to the lytic action of the L-11 enzyme to various extents. No consistent relationship was observed between the amino acid and sugar composition of these cell walls and their susceptibility to the L-11 enzyme. The chemical composition of these cell walls is discussed in terms of the serological classification of S. mutans.     

Fluorimetric assay of sialic acids.

A fluorimetric assay has been developed for sialic acids in which sialic acids react with pyridoxamine to give fluorescent compounds in the presence of zinc ion and pyridine. This assay method is specific for unbound sialic acids and is a simple and sensitive procedure compared with the thiobarbituric acid assay of sialic acids.     

Axial chirality in biaryl N,N-dialkylaminopyridine derivatives bearing an internal carboxy group

Axial chirality in N,N-dimethylaminopyridines as well as N,N-dipropylaminopyridines bearing an internal carboxy group were evaluated based on their racemization barriers and circular dichroism spectra. The half-life of racemization of N,N-dipropylaminopyridine derivative 2 was estimated to be 19.7 days at 20°C. Its enantiomers isolated as optically active forms showed positive-negative and negative-positive Cotton effects for (+)- 2 and (−)- 2 , respectively, from 310 to 210 nm. Furthermore, (−)- 2 was applied as a chiral nucleophilic catalyst and exhibited asymmetric induction in acylative kinetic resolution of 1-(1-naphthyl)ethane-1-ol.     

Species diversity and phylogeography of Cornus kousa (Asian dogwood) captured by genomic and genic microsatellites

Cornus kousa (Asian dogwood), an East Asia native tree, is the most economically important species of the dogwood genus, owing to its desirable horticultural traits and ability to hybridize with North America‐native dogwoods. To assess the species genetic diversity and to better inform the ongoing and future breeding efforts, we assembled an herbarium and arboretum collection of 131 noncultivated C. kousa specimens. Genotyping and capillary electrophoresis analyses of our C. kousa collection with the newly developed genic and published nuclear genomic microsatellites permitted assessment of genetic diversity and evolutionary history of the species. Regardless of the microsatellite type used, the study yielded generally similar insights into the C. kousa diversity with subtle differences deriving from and underlining the marker used. The accrued evidence pointed to the species distinct genetic pools related to the plant country of origin. This can be helpful in the development of the commercial cultivars for this important ornamental crop with increased pyramided utility traits. Analyses of the C. kousa evolutionary history using the accrued genotyping datasets pointed to an unsampled ancestor population, possibly now extinct, as per the phylogeography of the region. To our knowledge, there are few studies utilizing the same gDNA collection to compare performance of genomic and genic microsatellites. This is the first detailed report on C. kousa species diversity and evolutionary history inference.