Oxidative stress is involved in oral lichen planus (OLP) pathogenesis; meanwhile anthocyanins are natural antioxidants present in grapes skin.
The aim of this research was to verify the utility of ...anthocyanins, extracted from grapes skin, for the local treatment of oral lichen planus and to compare it with clobetasol propionate- neomycin -nystatin cream (CP-NN).
Prospective, non-randomized study, with control group. Fifty-two patients with OLP were included. We divided patients into two categories: erosive oral lichen planus (EOLP) and non erosive oral lichen planus (NEOLP). 38 had EOLP (17 cases and 21 controls) and 14 presented NEOLP types (9 cases and 5 controls).Cases received local treatment with anthocyanins from grapes and controls, were treated with CP-NN. The clinical evolution of patients was followed up during six months.
The patients had a therapeutic response with anthocyanins. This was better than CP-NN treatment for patients with EOLP, in improving the involvement score of the oral mucosa and in the morphometric study of the affected areas. In EOLP there were no statistically significant differences in: therapeutic response time, the evolution of pain, or the relapse rate between the two groups. With respect to the treatment of NEOLP there was improved pain relief in the group treated with anthocyanins. This was not observed with CP-NN. The resting analized variables showed no significant difference with both treatments.
OLP has a favorable response to local treatment with anthocyanins from grapes. We found an equal to or better response than with CP-NN treatment. Many of our patients have systemic diseases, which may contraindicate the use of steroids. With regard to this particular group, the use of this natural antioxidant present in the diet is considered advantageous.
Background Components of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) and a prothrombotic state are predictors of cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients. A relationship between the RAAS ...and the coagulation/fibrinolytic systems has been demonstrated, but its clinical relevance in hypertension is unclear. We investigated the relationships of the RAAS and the hemostatic system with hypertensive organ damage. Methods Plasma components of the RAAS and parameters that directly assess the activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis were measured in 247 essential hypertensive patients in whom the extent of organ damage had been characterized at the cardiac, renal, and vascular level. Results Positive association with increasing plasma renin activity (PRA) was demonstrated for plasma fibrinogen, D-dimer, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels. PRA was directly correlated with plasma aldosterone, fibrinogen, d-dimer, and PAI-1. The relationship of PRA with fibrinogen and PAI-1 remained significant after correction for age, gender, duration of hypertension, and smoking status. Plasma aldosterone levels were directly correlated with fibrinogen, D-dimer, and PAI-1, whereas plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme was not related with any of the coagulation parameters. Elevated PRA, aldosterone, fibrinogen, D-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1+2, and PAI-1 levels were associated with clinical and/or instrumental evidence of hypertension-related cardiac and renal damage. Both fibrinogen and PAI-1 were independent predictors of the presence of organ damage and their inclusion in a multivariate model eliminated PRA and aldosterone as independent predictors. Conclusions A strong and independent association exists between renin, aldosterone, and markers of a prothrombotic state in essential hypertension. This relationship might contribute to the development of hypertensive organ damage.
Redox-Controllable Amphiphilic [2]Rotaxanes Tseng, Hsian-Rong; Vignon, Scott A.; Celestre, Paul C. ...
Chemistry : a European journal,
01/2004, Letnik:
10, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
With the fabrication of molecular electronic devices (MEDs) and the construction of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMSs) as incentives, two constitutionally isomeric, redox‐controllable 2rotaxanes ...have been synthesized and characterized in solution. Therein, they both behave as near‐perfect molecular switches, that is, to all intents and purposes, these two rotaxanes can be switched precisely by applying appropriate redox stimuli between two distinct chemomechanical states. Their dumbbell‐shaped components are composed of polyether chains interrupted along their lengths by i) two π‐electron rich recognition sites—a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit and a 1,5‐dioxynaphthalene (DNP) moiety—with ii) a rigid terphenylene spacer placed between the two recognition sites, and then terminated by iii) a hydrophobic tetraarylmethane stopper at one end and a hydrophilic dendritic stopper at the other end of the dumbbells, thus conferring amphiphilicity upon these molecules. A template‐directed protocol produces a means to introduce the tetracationic cyclophane, cyclobis(paraquat‐p‐phenylene) (CBPQT4+), which contains two π‐electron accepting bipyridinium units, mechanically interlocked around the dumbbell‐shaped components. Both the TTF unit and the DNP moiety are potential stations for CBPQT4+, since they can establish charge‐transfer and hydrogen bonding interactions with the bipyridinium units of the cyclophane, thereby introducing bistability into the 2rotaxanes. In both constitutional isomers, 1H NMR and absorption spectroscopies, together with electrochemical investigations, reveal that the CBPQT4+ ring is predominantly located on the TTF unit, leading to the existence of a single translational isomer (co‐conformation) in both cases. In addition, a model 2rotaxane, incorporating hydrophobic tetraarylmethane stoppers at both ends of its dumbbell‐shaped component, has also been synthesized as a point of reference. Molecular synthetic approaches were used to construct convergently the dumbbell‐shaped compounds by assembling progressively smaller building blocks in the shape of the rigid spacer, the TTF unit and the DNP moiety, and the hydrophobic and hydrophilic stoppers. The two amphiphilic bistable 2rotaxanes are constitutional isomers in the sense that, in one constitution, the TTF unit is adjacent to the hydrophobic stopper, whereas in the other, it is next to the hydrophilic stopper. All three bistable 2rotaxanes have been isolated as green solids. Electrospray and fast atom bombardment mass spectra support the gross structural assignments given to all three of these mechanically interlocked compounds. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties have been investigated in acetonitrile. The results obtained from these investigations confirm that, in all three 2rotaxanes, i) the CBPQT4+ cyclophane encircles the TTF unit, ii) the CBPQT4+ cyclophane shuttles between the TTF and DNP stations upon electrochemical or chemical oxidation/reduction of the TTF unit, and iii) folded conformations are present in which the CBPQT4+ cyclophane, while encircling the TTF unit, interacts through its π‐accepting bipyridinium exteriors with other π‐donating components of the dumbbells, especially those located within the stoppers.
“Clean” switching of three rotaxanes has been demonstrated in solution where the rotaxanes exist, to varying degrees, in folded conformations. They unfold under the influence of electrochemical stimuli (see scheme). The synthesis and characterization using photophysical, electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques are described for the bistable, redox‐controllable, 2rotaxane‐based molecular switches.
This paper reports the results of a study of the morphology and development of glandular trichomes in leaves of Calceolaria adscendens Lidl. using light and electron microscopy. Secretory trichomes ...started as outgrowths of epidermal cells; subsequent divisions gave rise to trichomes made up of a basal epidermal cell, a stalk cell and a twocelled secretory head. Ultrastructural characteristics of trichome cells were typical of terpene-producing structures. Previous phytochemical studies had revealed that C. adscendens produces diterpenes. Comparison with C. volckmanni, which produces triterpenes, and has trichomes with eight-celled secretory heads, suggests that there could be a relationship between the type of glandular trichome and the class of terpene produced. Further work is needed to test the hypothesis and to develop trichome characters as taxonomic tools.
The aim of the study under discussion was to evaluate the effectiveness of Savickas' (2010) Career Construction Interview in a group of Italian university students. The study was conducted according ...to Rehfuss' (2009) Future Career Autobiography and from the perspective of Life Designing for the 21st century. It included an experimental group, which received a Career Construction Interview intervention, and a control group. A comparison of the initial Future Career Autobiographies (FCAs) with the subsequent FCAs indicated that the members of the experimental group had more specific life and occupational goals after the intervention thus underlining the effectiveness of the Career Construction Interview.
Little is known of the involvement of endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors in skeletal muscle cell differentiation. We report that, due to changes in the expression of genes involved in its ...metabolism, the levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are decreased both during myotube formation in vitro from murine C...C... myoblasts and during mouse muscle growth in vivo. The endocannabinoid, as well as the CB1 agonist arachidonoyl-2-chloroethylamide, prevent myotube formation in a manner antagonized by CB1 knockdown and by CB1 antagonists, which, per se, instead stimulate differentiation. Importantly, 2-AG also inhibits differentiation of primary human satellite cells. Muscle fascicles from CB1 knockout embryos contain more muscle fibers, and postnatal mice show muscle fibers of an increased diameter relative to wild-type littermates. Inhibition of K...7.4 channel activity, which plays a permissive role in myogenesis and depends on phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), underlies the effects of 2-AG. We find that CB1 stimulation reduces both total and K...7.4-bound PIP2 levels in C...C... cells and inhibits K...7.4 currents in transfected CHO cells. We suggest that 2-AG is an endogenous repressor of myoblast differentiation via CB1-mediated inhibition of K...7.4 channels. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
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