Release of T-kinin and bradykinin in carrageenin induced inflammation in the rat

Plasma and inflammatory fluid kininogen levels, and blood and inflammatory fluid free kinin levels were determined in rats 24 h after the injection of carrageenin into an air pouch. Plasma T-kininogen levels increased 7-fold. In the inflammatory fluid levels reached 8 μg/ml. Blood levels of free kinin showed a 5-fold increase. The kinins were identified on HPLC as T-kinin (Ile-Ser-bradykinin) and bradykinin, 63 and 37%, respectively. These results indicate for the first time that free T-kinin as well as bradykinin is released during an inflammatory response in rat and confirms our previous finding that T-kininogen may be a major acutephase protein in inflammation.

T-kinin T-kininogen Bradykinin Inflammation Acute-phase protein Carrageenin     

Trichotoxin A40. Purification by counter-current distribution and sequencing of isolated fragments

The isolation of the membrane-modifying polypeptide antibiotics from the mycelium of Trichoderma viride 5242 was optimized via extraction with dichloromethane and chromatography on Sephadex LH-20. The components trichotoxin A40 and A50 were separated from each other and purified by multiplicative counter-current distribution. The sequence of proteinase-resistant trichotoxin A40 was determined by combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry of three isolated N-acetylated dodecapeptides and two N-prolylhexapeptides obtained after selective trifluoroacetolysis. Including amino acid exchanges due to natural microheterogeneity, the sequence is Ac-Aib-Gly(LAla)-Aib-LLeu-Aib-LGln-Aib-Aib-Aib(LAla )-LAla-Aib-Aib-LPro-LLeu -Aib-DIva(Aib)-LGlu-LValol. In contrast to the eicosapeptide alamethicin, trichotoxin A40 contains only 18 residues, with a higher proportion of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib), C-terminal L-valinol (Vol), one D-isovaline (Iva) and no proline at the N-terminal part.     

Tantalum Nitride Electron‐Selective Contact for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Minimizing carrier recombination at contact regions by using carrier‐selective contact materials, instead of heavily doping the silicon, has attracted considerable attention for high‐efficiency, low‐cost crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells. A novel electron‐selective, passivating contact for c‐Si solar cells is presented. Tantalum nitride (TaN _x ) thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition are demonstrated to provide excellent electron‐transporting and hole‐blocking properties to the silicon surface, due to their small conduction band offset and large valence band offset. Thin TaN_x interlayers provide moderate passivation of the silicon surfaces while simultaneously allowing a low contact resistivity to n‐type silicon. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 20% is demonstrated with c‐Si solar cells featuring a simple full‐area electron‐selective TaN_x contact, which significantly improves the fill factor and the open circuit voltage (V_oc) and hence provides the higher PCE. The work opens up the possibility of using metal nitrides, instead of metal oxides, as carrier‐selective contacts or electron transport layers for photovoltaic devices.     

Increased serum copper and decreased serum zinc levels in children with iron deficiency anemia

In order to evaluate serum copper and zinc status in children with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), 60 children with IDA aged 1–14 yr and 64 healthy children as controls aged 1–14 yr were included the study. Serum copper levels were higher in children with IDA (189 ± 49 (Μg/dL) than those of controls (163 ± 37 Μg/dL) (p = 0.001). Serum zinc levels were lower in the patient group (109 ± 59 Μg/dL) than those of control subjects (135 ± 56 Μg/dL) (p = 0.017). In addition, there were statistically significant negative correlations between hematological parameters and serum copper levels in the patient group, but not in controls. No correlation between hematological parameters and serum zinc levels were found in both patient and control groups, except positive correlation between mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and serum zinc level in patients. It was concluded that at the time of managing children with IDA, zinc deficiency must be borne in mind and if necessary treatment should be initiated with zinc.     

Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of boron compounds on leukemia cell line

In this study we investigated the effects of boric acid and sodium tetraborate on an acute leukemia cell line and healthy human lymphocytes. We evaluated the effects of boric acid and sodium tetraborate on the HL-60 cell line and healthy human lymphocytes by using the methods of MTT, Neutral Red, AO (flow cytometry) and transmission electron microscope. We found that there were dead cells at a concentration of 500 µM boric acid and sodium tetraborate (50 % and 40 %, respectively). An apoptotic effect was found at a concentration of 1,000 µM concentration in normal lymphocytes and HL-60 (acute leukemia cells) cells (2.5 % and 8.8 % respectively). We observed that boric acid at a concentration of 500 µM caused double nucleus and micronucleus formation in both HL-60 cells and lymphocytes. An expansion in mitochondrial dimension and deformation in cristas also appeared. Our findings suggest that boric acid is more effective than sodium tetraborate on the HL-60, and boric acid in particular showed a cytotoxic effect on HL-60 in comparison to healthy lymphocytes and it also affected the mitochondrial pathway.     

Resistance to macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin antibiotics in staphylococci isolated in Istanbul, Turkey

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genetic mechanisms of erythromycin resistance in staphylococci. A total of 102 erythromycin resistant non-duplicate clinical isolates of staphylococci [78 coagulase negative stapylococci (CNS), 24 Staphylococcus aureus] were collected between October 2003 and August 2004 in Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in Turkey. The majority of the isolates were from blood and urine specimens. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were determined by the agar dilution procedure and the resistance phenotypes by the double disk induction test. A multiplex PCR was performed, using primers specific for erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), and msrA genes. Among the 78 CNS isolates, 57.8% expressed the MLSB-constitutive, 20.6% the MLSB-inducible, and 21.6% the MSB phenotypes. By PCR, 78.2% of these isolates harbored the erm(C) gene, 8.9% erm(A), 6.4% erm(B), and 11.5% msrA genes. In S. aureus, the constitutive MLSB (58.3%) was more common than the inducible phenotype (20.8%). erm(A) was detected in 50% and erm(C) in 62.5% of the isolates, while 37.5% contained both erm(A) and erm(C). erm(C)-associated macrolide resistance was the most prevalent in CNS, while erm(C) and erm(A, C) was the most prevalent in S. aureus.