The post-coital test evaluates the penetration of spermatozoa into cervical mucus; it relies on subjective measurements and therefore lacks precision. Enzymatic liquefaction of cervical mucus allows sperm concentration to be measured in post-coital test samples, but the reliability of such measurements is not known. Donor cervical mucus was used as a model to test the accuracy and sensitivity o...

To elucidate the metabolic abnormality of musclar dystrophy, 27 kinds of enzyme activity in various organs of control and dystrophic mice were examined. The organs examined included muscle, bone, heart, testis, uterus, spleen, thymus, submaxillary gland, stomach, pancreas, liver, kidney, brain, and lung. The activities of 14 different aminopeptidases, 5 endopeptidases, 4 glycosidases, phosphata...

Trichosporon cutaneum is shown to utilize six disaccharides, cellobiose, maltose, lactose, sucrose, melibiose, and trehalose. T. cutaneum can thus be counted with the rather restricted group of yeasts (11 to 12% of all investigated) which can utilize lactose and melibiose. The half-saturation constants for uptake were 10 +/- 3 mM sucrose or lactose and 5 +/- 1 mM maltose, which is of the same o...

High-producing ruminants are fed high amounts of cereal grains, at the expense of dietary fiber, to meet their high energy demands. Grains consist mainly of starch, which is easily degraded in the rumen by microbial glycosidases, providing energy for rapid growth of rumen microbes and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) as the main energy source for the host. Yet, low dietary fiber contents and the ...

The amounts of the two lectins (ricin and Ricinus communis agglutinin) in tissues of castor bean seedlings were followed during germination and early growth. For measurement, lectins in extracts were separately eluted from Sepharose columns; an antibody to the agglutinin was also used to detect the lectins by immunodiffusion. The endosperm of the dry seed contains 3.5 mg total lectin (5.6% of t...

A series of mono-, di- and tri-valent iminosugars based on oligoethylene scaffolds and N-substituted deoxynojirymicin epitopes have been synthesized by "click chemistry" to study the effect of multivalency on glycosidase inhibition. Biological evaluation evidenced differences in the inhibition trends as a function of the enzyme nature. The results demonstrate that multivalency can be used in so...

Six glycosidases were determined in: (1) lenses of alloxan-diabetic rats; (2) rabbit lenses incubated in high-glucose media in vitro; and (3) human senile cataracts, diabetic senile cataracts, and autopsy lenses. In diabetic rat lenses, the activities of /3-glucosaminidase, fi-galactosidase, and P-fucosidase increased with cataract progression as compared to control lenses. Glycosidase activiti...

Coccidiosis is one of the most common parasitic diseases affecting many species of domestic animals. This disease has a major economic significance and the search for new compounds having anticoccidial activity is of great importance. In this article, different levels of protection from coccidian infection by Eimeria stiedae were developed in rabbits by treatment with compounds incorporating th...

Glycosidases are the enzymes involved in various biochemical processes related to metabolic disorders and diseases. Therefore, much effort has been focused on searching novel pharmacotherapy for the treatment of these ailments from medicinal plants due to higher safety margins. To pursue these efforts, the present study was performed to evaluate the α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of thirty...

glycosidases are the enzymes involved in various biochemical processes related to metabolic disorders and diseases. therefore, much effort has been focused on searching novel pharmacotherapy for the treatment of these ailments from medicinal plants due to higher safety margins. to pursue these efforts, the present study was performed to evaluate the α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of thirty...