In vitro techniques have been used to investigate the nature of microsomal cytochrome P450 involved in the metabolism of oleic acid, a physiological monounsaturated fatty acid. Like lauric acid, which is currently used as a model substrate of fatty acid metabolism, the alkyl chain of oleic acid is hydroxylated on its v and ( v –1) carbons. The identity of these hydroxylated metabolites was asce...

Blood specimens from 146 suspected gamma.hydroxybutyrate (GHB) overdose cases, presenting to an emergency department in Washington State over a 12-month period, were analyzed for GHB and other drugs. Of these 146 patients, GHB was confirmed in approximately one-third of the patients (N = 54), sometimes in potentially toxic concentrations. These patients were aged between 17 and 59 years (median...

17-Ethynylestradiol (17EE) inactivated purified, reconstituted rat hepatic cytochrome P450 (P450) 2B1 and human P450 2B6 in a mechanism-based manner. Little or no inactivation was observed when P450s 2B2 or 2B4 were incubated with 17EE. The inactivation of P450s 2B1 and 2B6 was entirely dependent on both NADPH and 17EE and followed pseudo-first order kinetics. The maximal rate constants for the...

A method to quantify b -sitosterol (BSS) and b -sitosteryl glucoside (BSSG) in dietary supplements containing added BSS and BSSG was developed and also validated for the analysis of naturally occurring free and esterified sterols and steryl glucosides in foods. Steryl glucosides were extracted with hexane-diethyl ether (1 : 1, v/v) after the alkaline saponification of a powdered supplement or o...

The neotropical flatbug species Dysodius lunatus and Dysodius magnus show a fascinating camouflage principle. Its appearance renders the animal hardly visible on the bark of trees. However, when getting wet due to rain, bark changes its colour and gets darker. In order to keep the camouflage effect, it seems as if some Dysodius species benefit from their ability to hold a water film on their cu...