Three seeds of Turkish origin, flax, poppy and safflower were analyzed for their proximate, fatty acids, tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and total phenolic composition, and oxidative stability ...of their oil. The major fatty acid in the flax oil was α-linolenic acid, comprising 58.3% of total fatty acids, whereas poppy and safflower oils were rich in linoleic acid at 74.5% and 70.5% level, respectively. The amount of total tocols was 14.6
mg/100
g flax, 11.0
mg/100
g poppy and 12.1
mg/100
g safflower seed. Flax and poppy oil were rich in γ-tocopherol as 79.4
mg/100
g oil and 30.9
mg/100
g oil, respectively, while α-tocopherol (44.1
g/100
g oil) was dominant in safflower oil. Only α- and γ-tocotrienol were found in the oils. Oxidative stability of oils was measured at 110
°C at the rate of 20
L/h air flow rate, and poppy oil (5.56
h) was most stabile oil followed by safflower oil (2.87
h) and flax oil (1.57). There were no correlation between oxidative stability and unsaturation degree of fatty acids and tocol levels of the oils. All of the seeds investigated provide a healthy oil profile and may have potential as a source of specialty oils on a commercial scale.
Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of sumac extracts were investigated. Sumac was extracted in methanol and subjected to solvent–solvent partitioning to yield two fractions as ethyl acetate ...and aqueous. Methanol extract was further fractioned over Sephadex LH-20 column. Antioxidant activity of extracts and fractions were screened using ferric thiocyanate and DPPH radical scavenging methods. Phenolic composition of active fraction(s) was determined by HPLC–MS systems. Those fractions which exhibited strong antioxidant activity were rich in anthocyanins and hydrolysable tannins. While gallic acid was the main phenolic acid in the extracts, anthocyanin fraction contained cyanidin, peonidin, pelargonidin, petunidin, and delphinidin glucosides and coumarates. Pentagalloyl glucose was abundant in the hydrolysable tannin fraction. Effective scavenging concentration (EC
50) on DPPH radical was 0.70
μg/mL both in ethyl acetate and tannin fractions, and 5.33
μg/mL in anthocyanin rich fraction. Same extracts and fractions showed moderate lipid peroxidation inhibition effect compared with the synthetic antioxidants. The findings demonstrate that sumac can be used as a natural antioxidant.
Extraction of flaxseed oil was performed with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO2). To investigate the effects of pressure and temperature on the solubility of oil and oil yield, three isobaric (21, ...35, and 55 MPa) and two isothermal (50 and 70°C) extraction conditions were selected. Although the maximal solubility of flaxseed oil, 11.3 mg oil/g CO2, was obtained at 70°C/55 MPa, the oil yield obtained after 3 h of extraction at this condition was only 25% (g oil/g seed×100), which represented 66% of the total available oil of the flaxseed. Lipid composition and FFA and tocol (tocopherol and tocotrienol) contents of the oils obtained by both SC‐CO2 and petroleum ether extraction were determined. The α‐linolenic acid content of the SC‐CO2‐extracted oil was higher than that obtained by solvent extraction.
Extraction of poppy seed oil with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO2) was performed and the effect of extraction conditions on oil solubility and yield as well as oil composition was evaluated. ...Within the temperature (50 to 70 °C) and pressure (21 to 55 MPa) ranges studied, 55 MPa/70 °C gave the highest oil solubility (24.1 mg oil/g CO2) and oil yield (38.7 g oil/100g seed). Fatty acid composition of the oil obtained with SC‐CO2 at 55 MPa/70 °C was similar to that of petroleum ether‐extracted oil (p > 0.05) with linoleic acid making up 69.0 to 73.7% of fatty acids. Tocol content of the SC‐CO2‐extracted oils varied from 22.37 to 33.35 mg/100 g oil, which was higher than that of petroleum ether‐extracted oil (15.28 mg/100 g oil). Poppy seed oil may have potential in the rapidly growing specialty oil market.
Modification of the dissolution rate and, thus, the enhancement of the bioavailability of a dopaminergic drug, piribedil, which has a low aqueous solubility and short elimination half-life have been ...the aim in this study. Preparations of micron and submicron particles using solid lipid carriers have been performed for this purpose. For the avoidance of solvent residues resulting from the preparation technique, cold and hot homogenization methods have been used to prepare solid lipid particles. After obtaining an appropriate particle size, piribedil loading and preparation yield by the use of those two methods, various formulations have been prepared with different lipid, drug and surfactant materials. The factors mentioned were found to affect properties of the particles, and the release rate was found to be the fastest in acidic medium. Suspensions of pure piribedil and a formulation, selected according to the results obtained from in vitro dissolution and particle size experiments, were compared using tremor tests in mice. The same suspensions were applied perorally to rabbits and bioavailability of the solid lipid particle was found to be higher than the pure piribedil. After an in vitro-in vivo evaluation of piribedil solid lipid particles developed for Parkinson's disease therapy, it has been determined that release rate could be controlled and piribedil bioavailability could be improved.
To assess whether or not plasma homocysteine levels play a part in vascular involvement in Behçet's syndrome (BS).
74 consecutive BS patients fulfilling the criteria of the International Study Group ...for BS, 35 healthy control (HC) and 14 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on methotrexate (MTX) were studied. BS patients were then classified as those with and without vascular involvement. Fasting plasma homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B12 concentrations were measured by enzyme immunoassay and chemiluminescent immunoassay methods respectively.
Plasma homocysteine levels were found to be higher in the BS patients than in the healthy control (16.08 +/- 7.5 vs. 12.9 +/- 6.3 micromol/L, p < 0.03). The homocysteine levels in the RA group on MTX were higher compared with both the BS and HC groups (28.7 +/- 9.9; p < 0.0001). No remarkable difference pertaining to homocysteine levels was found between BS patients with or without thrombosis (p < 0.86). Hyperhomocysteinemia was also detected in 11 out of 22 (50%) of the patients with vascular involvement, which proved to be of no significant difference in comparison with those without vascular involvement (20/52, 38%; chi2 = 0.26, p > 0.05). Active BS smokers exhibited a higher concentration of homocysteine in contrast to non-smoker BS sufferers (20 +/- 8.4 vs 14.1 +/- 6.1 micromol/l; p < 0.004). Smoking was determined to have a positive correlation with vascular involvement (r = 0.26, p < 0.046), as well as with homocysteine levels (r = 0.31, p < 0.012) in BS. Upon logistic regression analysis, smoking was found to have a significant relationship with vascular involvement (odds ratio 3.12 95% CI 2.02-4.22 p = 0.04). There was no significant difference between the study groups with respect to their B12 vitamin and folate levels. We were unable to make any correlation between homocysteine and vitamin B12 or folate in any of the groups (p > 0.05).
No association was found between homocysteine levels and vascular involvement in our BS patients. We determined that smoking seems to pose a risk for vascular involvement in BS patients.
An improved HPLC procedure for quantitative determination of the alkannin derivative naphthaquinones, β,β-dimethylacrylalkannin (I), teracrylalkannin (II) and isovalerylalkannin (
III)+
α-methyl-
...n-butylalkannin (IV), contained in
Arnebia densiflora roots and extracts was introduced. This procedure, as the mainstay of the study, enabled separation of the compounds within only 12 min on a reversed-phase column.
Objectives: An increasing amount of experimental and epidemiological evidence implicates the involvement of oxygen derived radicals in the pathogenesis of cancer development. Oxygen derived radicals ...are able to cause damage to membranes, mitochondria, and macromolecules including proteins, lipids and DNA. Accumulation of DNA damages has been suggested to contribute to carcinogenesis. It would, therefore, be advantageous to pinpoint the effects of oxygen derived radicals in cancer development.
Design and methods: In the present study, we investigated the relationship between oxidative stress and breast cancer development in tissue level. Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease in Western women. Twenty-one breast cancer patients, who underwent radical mastectomy and diagnosed with infiltrative ductal carcinoma, were used in the study. We determined coenzyme Q10 (Q) concentrations, antioxidant enzyme activities (mitochondrial and total superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in tumor and surrounding tumor-free tissues.
Results: Q concentrations in tumor tissues significantly decreased as compared to the surrounding normal tissues (p < 0.001). Higher MDA levels were observed in tumor tissues than noncancerous tissues (
p < 0.001). The activities of MnSOD, total SOD, GSH-Px and catalase in tumor tissues significantly increased (
p < 0.001) compared to the controls.
Conclusions: These findings may support that reactive oxygen species increased in malignant cells, and may cause overexpression of antioxidant enzymes and the consumption of coenzyme Q10. Increased antioxidant enzyme activities may be related with the susceptibility of cells to carcinogenic agents and the response of tumor cells to the chemotherapeutic agents. Administration of coenzyme Q10 by nutrition may induce the protective effect of coenzyme Q10 on breast tissue.
Effects of an ethanolic extract prepared from
G. lutea ssp.
symphyandra roots on the bile production and liver in rats were investigated. Bile flows of rats which were treated by a single i.p. dose ...of CCl
4 24 h prior to experiments were measured after the cannulation of bile duct under urethane anaesthesia. After an equilibration period of 1 h, the lyophilized extract were administered intraduodenally (500 mg/kg i.p.), while control animals received physiological saline only. To monitor the effect of multiple dose therapy, rats received the same dose of
G. lutea ssp.
symphyandra extract for 3 days (2 days prior to CCl
4 administration) and their bile flows were measured after the cannulation. In all groups, bile samples were collected for 3 h with 15 min intervals. After the completion of bile flow experiment, rat livers were removed and put in neutral formaldehyde solution (10%) for the histological examination. According to results obtained, multiple dose treatment of rats with the plant extract normalized the decreased bile flow due CCl
4, whereas single dose therapy was ineffective on the impaired bile flow. These data indicate that the extract prepared from
Gentiana lutea ssp.
symphyandra roots has a hepatoprotective activity.
Extraction of poppy seed oil with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO
2
) was performed and the effect of extraction conditions on oil solubility and yield as well as oil composition was evaluated. ...Within the temperature (50 to 70 °C) and pressure (21 to 55 MPa) ranges studied, 55 MPa/70 °C gave the highest oil solubility (24.1 mg oil/g CO
2
) and oil yield (38.7 g oil/100g seed). Fatty acid composition of the oil obtained with SC‐CO
2
at 55 MPa/70 °C was similar to that of petroleum ether‐extracted oil (
p
> 0.05) with linoleic acid making up 69.0 to 73.7% of fatty acids. Tocol content of the SC‐CO
2
‐extracted oils varied from 22.37 to 33.35 mg/100 g oil, which was higher than that of petroleum ether‐extracted oil (15.28 mg/100 g oil). Poppy seed oil may have potential in the rapidly growing specialty oil market.
