Determination of the relative and absolute stereochemistry of a potent and α1A-selective adrenoceptor antagonist

The binding affinities and selectivities of antagonists Figure 1 and Scheme 2 for the α_1A-adrenoceptor are dependent on the stereochemical orientation of the groups at the C-4 and C-5 positions of the oxazolidinone ring. The unambiguous assignment of the relative and absolute configurations of the diastereomers of SNAP 7915 (Figure 1 and Scheme 2) is reported.     

Gastrointestinal microflora,food components and colon cancer prevention

Evidence that the intestinal microbiota is intrinsically linked with overall health, including cancer risk, is emerging. Moreover, its composition is not fixed but can be influenced by several dietary components. Dietary modifiers, including the consumption of live bacteria (probiotics) and indigestible or limited digestible food constituents such as oligosaccharides (prebiotics) and polyphenols or both (synbiotics), are recognized modifiers of the numbers and types of microbes and have been reported to reduce colon cancer risk experimentally. Microorganisms also have the ability to generate bioactive compounds from food components. Examples include equol from isoflavones, enterodiol and enterolactone from lignans and urolithins from ellagic acid, which have also been demonstrated to retard experimentally induced cancers. The gastrointestinal microbiota can also influence both sides of the energy balance equation, namely, as a factor influencing energy utilization from the diet and as a factor that influences host genes that regulate energy expenditure and storage. Because of the link between obesity and cancer incidence and mortality, this complex complexion deserves greater attention. Overall, a dynamic interrelationship exists between the intestinal microbiota and colon cancer risk, which can be modified by dietary components and eating behaviors.     

EM chromosome mapping using surface-spread polytene chromosomes

Electron micrographs as well as light micrographs of individual surface-spread polytene (SSP) chromosomes indicate more detailed banding patterns than standard squash preparations do. For EM preparations of SSP chromosomes a simple technique is described, avoiding thin-sectioning of chromosomes.     

Do colonic bacteria contribute to cholesterol gall-stone formation? Effects of lactulose on bile.

Ten healthy middle-aged women volunteered for a study to test the effect of lactulose--a synthetic, non-absorbable disaccharide--on the colonic metabolism of bile acids and on bile lipid composition. Lactulose (60 g daily in eight cases, 39 g daily in two) was taken as a proprietary syrup for six weeks, and bile was collected by duodenal intubation before and immediately after six weeks. All subjects showed a fall in the percentage of the 7-alpha-dehydroxylated bile acid deoxycholic acid (mean 28.4 +/- SEM 3.7 to 15.6 +/- 2.4; p less than 0.002) and a rise in the percentage of the primary bile acid chenodeoxycholic acid (mean 33.2 +/- 42.9 +/- 2.9; p less than 0.001). The percentage of cholic acid rose in eight subjects but mean values did not differ significantly. Bile was initially super-saturated with cholesterol in most subjects and became less saturated with cholesterol in all but one (mean saturation index 1.40 +/- 0.11 to 1.19 +/- 0.07; p less these 0.005). These data support the theory colonic bacteria contribute to cholesterol gall-stone formation.