Efficient synthesis and characterization of ergosterol laurate in a solvent-free system.

Ergosterol and its derivatives have attracted much attention for a variety of health benefits, such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. However, ergosterol esters are advantageous because this compound has better solubility than the free ergosterol. In this work, ergosterol laurate was efficiently synthesized for the first time by direct esterification in a solvent-free system. The desired product was purified, characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance, and finally confirmed to be ergosterol laurate. Meanwhile, the effect of various catalysts, catalyst dose, reaction temperature, substrate molar ratio, and reaction time were studied. Both the conversion of ergosterol and the selectivity of the desired product can reach above 89% under the selected conditions: sodium dodecyl sulfate + hydrochloric acid as the catalyst, 2:1 molar ratio of lauric acid/ergosterol, catalyst dose of 4% (w/w), 120 °C, and 2 h. The oil solubility of ergosterol and its laurate was also compared. The results showed that the solubility of ergosterol in oil was significantly improved by direct esterification with lauric acid, thus greatly facilitating the incorporation into a variety of oil-based systems.

[Analysis on the risk factors of maternal weight for fetal macrosomia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between maternal weight gain and the increasing speed of weight in different pregnant terms and macrosomia. In order to reasonably manage pregnancy and decrease the morbidity of macrosomia. METHODS: 106 newborns whose birth weights were equal to or greater than 4000 g were specified as macrosomia, while 106 newborn with birth weights lying in 2500 - 3999 g were under the control group. A case-control study was conducted to compare the corresponding factors such as maternal BMI, weight before pregnancy and the change of weight during pregnancy respectively. RESULTS: Indicated by both simple and multiple unconditional logistic regression analysis, the cause of fetal macrosomia was mainly associated with the factors including the maternal weight before pregnancy (OR = 2.204, 95%CI: 1.377 - 3.529), maternal weight gain in 12-pregnant weeks (kg per week) (OR = 1.961, 95%CI: 1.204 - 3.194), maternal weight gain in 20-gestation weeks (kg per week) (OR = 1.811, 95%CI: 1.078 - 3.041), maternal weight gain in 30-pregnant weeks (kg per week) (OR = 1.858, 95%CI: 1.095 - 3.153) and virile newborn (OR = 2.630, 95%CI: 1.420 - 4.850. When in 30-pregnant weeks, the pregnant women with 0.5 - 1.0 kg weight gain per week had 1.13 fold risks comparing to those whose weight gains were less than 0.5 kg per week. CONCLUSION: Maternal weight before pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy and fetal sex appeared a closer relation to macrosomia. It is necessary to monitor the change of maternal weight during different pregnancy periods, especially for the 30th-pregnant weeks.