Prevotella intermedia is an oral bacterium implicated in a variety of oral diseases. Although internalization of this bacterium by nonphagocytic host cells is well established, the molecular players mediating the process are not well known. Here, the properties of a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain protein, designated AdpF, are described. This protein contains a leucine-rich region composed of ...

In vivo labeling experiments of Forsythia intermedia plant tissue with [8-14C]- and [9,9-2H2,OC2H3]coniferyl alcohols revealed that the lignans, (-)-secoisolariciresinol and (-)-matairesinol, were derived from two coniferyl alcohol molecules; no evidence for the formation of the corresponding (+)-enantiomers was found. Administration of (+-)-[Ar-3H]secoisolariciresinols to excised shoots of F. ...

INTRODUCTION Renal involvement is a rare complication of β-thalassemia. Both tubular and glomerular dysfunction might occur in these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare kidney function in the major, intermedia, and minor variants of β-thalassemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Renal tubular and glomerular function of 72 patients with β-thalassemia (25 major, 23 intermedia, and...

In a previous study, we demonstrated that the amount of interleukin (IL)-8 mRNA expressed by human gingival fibroblasts stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Prevotella intermedia ATCC 25611 is increased by pre-treatment with beta or gamma interferon (IFN-P or -y). In the present study, we identified the regulatory effects of these IFNs on IL-8 mRNA expression and IL-8 production by hum...

Primers were designed from 16S rRNA sequences of Prevotella intermedia sensu stricto and Prevotella nigrescens and were used to discriminate these two species by PCR. The results were compared with those from the PCR technique using primers designed from arbitrarily primed PCR products by Guillot and Mouton (E. Guillot and C. Mouton, J. Clin. Microbiol. 35:1876-1882, 1997). The specificities of...

Successive applications of insecticides to control Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) have resulted in the emergence of resistant populations of this insect. A novel control measure for this target insect could be the use of botanical insecticides derived from plant tissues. Hence, we experimentally tested aqueous extracts of Alibertia edulis (Rich.), Alibertia intermedia (Mart.)...