We have previously shown that spermine, shortly after its ingestion, can induce the alteration of the morphology of the small intestine of suckling rats. It was proposed that this alteration is due to polyamine accumulation inside the epithelial cells. This could also be related to the fact that the intestine of the suckling rat is in an immature state. To shed light on this issue, disaccharida...

Phytate is the major storage form of phosphorus in seeds and so is a common dietary constituent. Excessive ingestion of undegraded phytates can cause mineral deficiencies in humans. In addition, phytic acid is antineoplastic in animal models of both colon and breast carcinoma. There have been no previous studies quantifying phytase activity in the human small intestine although it is present in...

Vegetative Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis cells (6 X 10(5)/ml) achieved 100% mortality of Aedes aegypti larvae within 24 h. This larvicidal potential was localized within the cells; the cell-free supernatants did not kill mosquito larvae. However, they did contain a heat-labile hemolysin which was immunologically distinct from the general cytolytic (hemolytic) factor released during ...

Potassium permanganate (KMnO4 ) is a powerful oxidising agent. In its raw form, it an odourless, sweet-tasting, dark-purple substance, available in ready-to-use solutions, pellets, tablets, crystals and powder form. clinical practice historically, has been used as antiseptic antifungal rural South African communities, however, KMnO4 many traditional uses, including use snake repellent, treatmen...

1. Aedes dorsalis larvae are one of the few organisms capable of inhabiting hypersaline NaHCO3-CO3 lakes. Under laboratory conditions larvae can survive and develop normally in saline media with pH values of 10-5, HCO3~ concentrations of 250 mM, or CO3 ~ concentrations of 100 mM. 2. Despite ingestion of alkaline media at a rate equal to 130% of larval body wt/day, these insects regulated haemol...

We report a case of accidental ingestion of model car fuel (Optifuel) resulting in an apparent elevation of serum creatinine of 274 µmol/L (3.1 mg/dL) as measured by the Jaffe (alkaline picrate) reaction, which resulted in an acute kidney injury (AKI) stage 3 alert being reported. Optifuel contains nitromethane, which has been reported to interfere in the Jaffe reaction causing falsely high cre...

The study was focused on the observation of alkaline and acidic phosphatase activity in the glandular cells of the uterine endometrium in puerperal moufflon ewes (Ovis musimon) after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls. Fifteen animals divided into 2 groups (experimental group – n=8; control group – n=7) were included in the experiment. The immunotoxic effect was evaluated by the test of the ...