Association of vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in postmenopausal women

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in bone formation through its role in angiogenesis. VEGF is also known to promote the healing of fractures. Thus, we determined whether or not VEGF ?2578C>A, ?1154G>A, ?634G>C, and 936C>T polymorphisms and haplotypes are associated with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF) in postmenopausal Korean women. The study subjects consisted of 82 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures and 117 control postmenopausal Korean women. PCR-RFLP and real-time PCR were used to analyze the VEGF polymorphisms. Homocysteine levels were also measured to determine whether or not polymorphisms of the VEGFgene affect homocysteine/folate metabolism. The AA genotype of the ?2578C>A polymorphism was significantly different between the stroke and control groups; no significant differences in the ?1154G>A, ?634G>C, and 936C>T genotype frequencies existed. However, the A-G-G-C haplotype had a tendency to be associated with OVCF in postmenopausal Korean women. Associations between the VEGF ?2578C>A polymorphism and homocysteine levels were also noted. In summary, these results suggest that the VEGF ?2578C>A polymorphisms and VEGF haplotypes may play an important role in the etiology of OVCF in postmenopausal Korean women.     

Reduction of Adipose Tissue Mass by the Angiogenesis Inhibitor ALS-L1023 from Melissa officinalis

It has been suggested that angiogenesis modulates adipogenesis and obesity. This study was undertaken to determine whether ALS-L1023 (ALS) prepared by a two-step organic solvent fractionation from Melissa leaves, which exhibits antiangiogenic activity, can regulate adipose tissue growth. The effects of ALS on angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling were measured using in vitro assays. The effects of ALS on adipose tissue growth were investigated in high fat diet-induced obese mice. ALS inhibited VEGF- and bFGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and suppressed matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in vitro. Compared to obese control mice, administration of ALS to obese mice reduced body weight gain, adipose tissue mass and adipocyte size without affecting appetite. ALS treatment decreased blood vessel density and MMP activity in adipose tissues. ALS reduced the mRNA levels of angiogenic factors (VEGF-A and FGF-2) and MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9), whereas ALS increased the mRNA levels of angiogenic inhibitors (TSP-1, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2) in adipose tissues. The protein levels of VEGF, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were also decreased by ALS in adipose tissue. Metabolic changes in plasma lipids, liver triglycerides, and hepatic expression of fatty acid oxidation genes occurred during ALS-induced weight loss. These results suggest that ALS, which has antiangiogenic and MMP inhibitory activities, reduces adipose tissue mass in nutritionally obese mice, demonstrating that adipose tissue growth can be regulated by angiogenesis inhibitors.     

Anaerobic treatment of highly concentrated aniline wastewater using packed-bed biofilm reactor

The performance of packed-bed biofilm reactor (PBBR) with self-floating bio-carriers was investigated to treat highly concentrated organic nitrogenous aniline wastewater with a COD value as high as 24,000 mg/L. With 45 vol% of carrier charge inside the reactor, the aniline wastewater can be effectively treated with 94% of COD removal efficiency at a low organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.9 kg COD/(m³ d). The removal efficiency decreased gradually down to 75% when OLR increased to 12.27 kg COD/(m³ d) that corresponded to 1 day of HRT. Separate tests with biofilm alone showed that the conversion contribution of the biofilm was about half of the overall COD conversion by the biofilm plus sludge system at the same OLRs of 3–4 kg COD/(m³ d), and that the biofilm had higher activity than suspended sludge. Ammonium released from decomposed aniline was increased gradually from 500 to 1700 mg/L with the OLR increase from 0.9 to 12.27 kg COD/(m³ d), which resulted in inhibitory effect to the microorganism due to the toxicity of free ammonia. Batch anaerobic toxicity tests showed that the biofilm was less sensitive to toxic compounds than suspended sludge and could tolerate higher concentration of free ammonia.     

Effect of (1-->3)- and (1-->4)-linkages of fully sulfated polysaccharides on their anticoagulant activity

Chemically fully sulfated polysaccharides including xylan (-->4Xylbeta-(1-->4)Xylbeta1-->), amylose (-->4Glcalpha-(1-->4)Glcalpha1-->), cellulose (-->4Glcbeta-(1-->4)Glcbeta1-->), curdlan (-->3Glcbeta-(1-->3)Glcbeta1-->) and galactan (-->3Galbeta-(1-->3)Galbeta1-->), which have been isolated from Korean clam, were prepared, and their anticoagulant activity was investigated. The results strongly suggest that the activity might not be depending on anomeric configuration (alpha or beta) or monosaccharide species but on the glycosidic linkage, either (1-->3) or (1-->4). 1H NMR studies of these modified polysaccharides show that the neighboring sulfate groups at the C-2 and C-3 positions might have caused the conformational changes of each monosaccharide from 4C(1) to 1C(4). Furthermore, the effect of 6-sulfate residues on the anticoagulant activity was investigated using a specific desulfated reaction for the chemically fully sulfated polysaccharides. The 6-sulfate group is very important in determining anticoagulant activity of (1-->3)-linked polysaccharides, whereas the activity is not affected by presence or absence of the 6-sulfate group in (1-->4)-linked polysaccharides.     

Method of evaluating the synaptic input to a single mesencephalic neuron]

The mathematical model of the spike activity of a neuron with synaptic input from many other neurons [1], describes adequately the firing of 5 from 7 neurons in the tegmentum of mesencephalic cat and changes of their activity evoked by glutamate iontophoresis. For these 5 neurons the estimates of the PSPs' average frequency of the threshold depolarization and of the constant decay of the EPSP were received. For different neurons the values of these parameters are 4--100 KHz, 100--800 average unitary EPSPs and 4--30 msec correspondingly. The stationary value of the average membrane potential (SVAMP) in all 5 neurons was removed significantly from the resting potential toward the threshold potential. SWAMP could be changed by the glutamate iontophoresis in such a degree to overlap the threshold potential.     

Cultivation ofLactobacillus crispatus KLB46 isolated from human vagina

Bacterial vaginosis can be treated by restoring the normal vaginal flora using lactobacilli.Lactobacillus crispatus KLB46 that was isolated from the human vagina has a strong antimicrobial activity and was grown in a batch and in a continuous fermentor. During batch cultivation, the maximum specific growth rate ofL. crispatus KLB 46 was 0.63 h⁻¹ and the highest viable cell count (1.9×10⁹ CFU/mL) was obtained at pH 5.5.L. crispatus KLB 46 did not grow well at either pH 3.5 or 7.5. During continuous cultivation, the highest viable cell count (1.53×10⁹ CFU/mL) was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.32 h⁻¹. However, the maximum productivity of viable cells was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.52 h⁻¹, and was 7.33×10¹¹ CFU L⁻¹ h⁻¹, that is approximately 5 times higher than that obtained from batch culture.