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@#Aims: Nitrile compounds are cyanogenic intermediates, products, byproducts and waste products of agriculture, chemical and pharmaceutical industries and fossil fuels degradation. The enzymatic hydrolysis of nitriles to non-toxic carboxylic acids or amides plays an increasingly important role in environment remediation. This study aimed at exploring the potential of Aspergilli in the detoxification nitrile compounds at two selected dump sites in Lagos, Nigeria. Methodology and results: Decomposing solid waste leachate samples (SWL) were randomly collected at two selected dump sites namely Olusosun (Ojota) and Isolo (Oke-Afa). Samples per site were pooled, processed by selective enrichment and screened for the presence of Aspergilli by culture technique and intergenic spacer sequencing (ITS). Biomass generation and pH changes in the culture fluids were monitored at 4-days interval by dry weight measurements. Nitrilase production was determined spectrophotometrically. Two nitrilase producing Aspergillus strains: Aspergillus fumigatus strain WO2 with accession number MF78882 and Aspergillus niger strain WO7 with accession number MH542673 were identified. Growth investigation revealed biomass generations of 17.8 g and 23.8 g dry weight per one liter media for A. fumigatus strain WO2 and A. niger strain WO7 respectively. Progressive pH monitoring showed decline from 7.2 to 4.5 and 7.2 to 6.2 was obtained for strains WO2 and WO7 respectively, during nitrilase production at different yields of 0.0150 and 0.0161 mg/mL/min respectively. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: This study supports the studied dump sites as important sources of nitrilase-producing A. fumigatus and A niger strains with potentials as cost-effective environmental bioremediation agents in Nigeria.
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Objective To investigate the effect of letrozole in decreasing the early-stage ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) occurrence during the luteal phase for patients of OHSS high-risk after oocyte retrieval.Methods A total of 176 high-risk OHSS patients were randomly divided into two groups after oocyte retrieval.Patients in experiment group (n=86) received 5 mg letrozole per day from the retrieval day and last for 5 days.Others in control group (n=90) received placebo.The serum concentration of FSH,LH,estradiol (E2),progesterone (P) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from the day of hCG injection to days after injection (5 days,8 days,10 days) were measured.And the incidence of moderate and severe OHSS was observed.Results The concentration of E2 on the indicated days (5 days,8 days,10 days after hCG injection) in experiment group and control group were (5 727±2 089) versus (11 826±4 281) pmol/L,(1 613±879) versus (7 925±3 507) pmol/L,(193±90) versus (1 628±888) pmol/L; the concentration of VEGF on the indicated days in the two groups were (80± 14) versus (108± 19) ng/L,(66± 11) versus (126± 14) ng/L,(48±7) versus (148± 14) ng/L; the concentration of E2 and VEGF were lower than those in control group (all P＜0.01).The FSH concentration in experiment group were (2.1 ± 1.1) and (3.5± 1.3) U/L on the day of fifth and eighth day after hCG injection,which were significantly higher than (0.7±0.3) and (0.7±0.4) U/L in control group (P＜0.05); the LH concentration in experiment group were (0.26±0.19) and (0.72±0.60) U/L on the day of fifth and eighth day after hCG injection,which were significantly higher than (0.11 ±0.03) and (0.14±0.08) U/L in control group (P＜0.05).The incidence of moderate and severe OHSS was signicantly decreased after letrozole treatment compared with control group [2％ (2/86) versus 12％ (1 1/90),P＜0.05].Conclusion Administration of 5 mg/d letrozole for 5 days during the luteal phase can reduce the E2 and VEGF levels for the high-risk OHSS patients who needed cryopreserve all embryos,and also reduce the occurrence of early OHSS.
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O estudo fitoquímico do extrato etanólico das folhas de Moringa oleifera Lam., Moringaceae, resultou no isolamento dos derivados benzilnitrilas niazirina, niazirinina e 4-hidroxifenil-acetonitrila, enquanto que das cascas dos frutos somente o octacosano foi obtido. Os óleos essenciais das folhas, flores e frutos foram analisados por cromatografia gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massa. Os constituintes principais identificados foram: fitol (21,6 por cento) e timol (9,6 por cento) nas folhas, octadecano (27,4 por cento) e ácido hexadecanóico (18,4 por cento) nas flores e docosano (32,7 por cento) e tetracosano (24,0 por cento) nos frutos. As estruturas dos compostos isolados foram identificadas a partir de técnicas espectroscópicas (RMN, IV e EM). A 4-hidroxifenil-acetonitrila está sendo citada pela primeira vez para o gênero Moringa e os óleos essenciais das flores e frutos estão sendo citados pela primeira vez para a espécie M. oleifera.
Phytochemical analysis of the ethanol extract from leaves of Moringa oleifera Lam., Moringaceae, yield the benzylnitriles: niazirine, niazirinine and 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, while of fruit shells only octacosane was isolated. The essential oils from leaves, flowers and fruits were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major constituents identified were: phytol (21.6 percent) and thymol (9.6 percent) in the leaves oil, octadecane (27.4 percent) and hexadecanoic acid (18.4 percent) in the flowers oil, docosane (32.7 percent) and tetracosane (24.0 percent) in the fruits oil. The structures of all compounds were identified by spectroscopic analyses (NMR, IR and MS). 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile is reported for the first time to the Moringa genus and the essential oils of flowers and fruits are reported for the first time to the species M. oleifera.
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Objective To investigate the effect of U0126 on brain edema and the expression of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in rat brains after cerebral ischemic injury.Methods Totally 48 healthy male SD rats were divided randomly into ischemia group, treatment group and normal group.Rats in ischemia group and treatment group underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion by using an intraluminal thread method.Thirty minutes before operation, the rats in treatment group were injected into lateral cerebral ventricle with U0126, while rats in ischemia group accepted normal saline.24 hours after operation, the water content and Evans Blue in rat brains were determined as to exploring the degree of brain edema.Immunohistochemistry,Western blot and RT-PCR technique were applied to detect AQP4, p-ERK1/2 and p-ELK1.Results Compared with normal group, the water content and AQP4 expression in ischemia group were increased obviously.The water content and AQP4 expression in treatment group (protein:149.0?1.1,mRNA:0.328?0.010) were lower than those in ischemia group (protein:153.6?0.8,mRNA:0.400?0.015,P
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0 05).Conclusions Double phase 99 Tc m-MIBI imaging is a promising technique for localization of parathyroid adenomas. We consider that the patients should undergo the noninvasive imaging procedures before their initial neck exploration.
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Purpose:To sutdy the clinical value of 99m Tc MIBI scintimammography in the differential diagnosis between breast cancer and benign breast tumor and lymph node involvement. Methods:68 female patients with breast masses underwent 99m Tc MIBI breast scintigraphy. The images were acquired 10 min after injection of 740 MBq 99m Tc MIBI intravenously. The intravenous injection was performed into an antecubital vein in the arm on the side opposite to the breast mass. Results:38 of 68 patients were breast carcinoma, among them 34 were detected using 99m Tc MIBI scintimammography. Of 30 patients with benign lesions, 3 were positive. The sensitivity and specificity of 99m Tc MIBI scintimammography in detecting breast cancer was 89.5% and 90% respectively. 6 of 8 with pathologically proven metastatic lymph node involvement were detected. Conclusions: 99m Tc MIBI scintimammography is a highly sensitive method in the detection of breast cancer. This study also show the potential value of the procedure to detect lymph node mvolvement.