α-Lipoic acid (LA; 5-(1,2-dithiolan-3-yl)pentanoic acid) was originally isolated from bovine liver by Reed et al. in 1951. LA was once considered a vitamin. Subsequently, it was found that LA is not a vitamin and is synthesized by plants and animals. LA is covalently bound to the ε-amino group of lysine residues and functions as a cofactor for mitochondrial enzymes by catalyzing the oxidative d...

Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease correlate with infiltration to adipose tissue of different immune cells, with uncertain influences on metabolism. Rats were fed a diet high in carbohydrates and saturated fats to develop diet-induced obesity over 16 weeks. This nutritional overload caused overexpression and secretion of phospholipase A(2) group IIA (pla2g2a) from immune cells...

Carbamyl phosphate synthetase from Escherichia coli, which is composed of a light and a heavy subunit, is inhibited with respect to its glutamine-dependent reactions by treatment with ~-2-amino-4-oxo-5-chloro[5-‘~C]pentanoic acid. This glutamine analog reacts with a glutamineor albizziinprotectable site on the light subunit to yield an enzyme covalently linked to a 4-oxo[W]norvaline moiety. The...

BACKGROUND C5-C8 medium-chain carboxylic acids are valuable chemicals as the precursors of various chemicals and transport fuels. However, only a few strict anaerobes have been discovered to produce them and their production is limited to low concentrations because of product toxicity. Therefore, a bacterial strain capable of producing high-titer C5-C8 carboxylic acids was strategically isolate...

Ascaris suum eggs were inactivated in distilled water and digested sludge by butanoic, pentanoic, and hexanoic acids. The fatty acids (short-chain fatty acids [SCFA]) were effective only when protonated and at sufficient concentrations. The conjugate bases were not effective at the concentrations evaluated. Predictions from an inhibition model (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)]) based on qu...

Loss of function in mitochondria, the key organelle responsible for cellular energy production, can result in the excess fatigue and other symptoms that are common complaints in almost every chronic disease. At the molecular level, a reduction in mitochondrial function occurs as a result of the following changes: (1) a loss of maintenance of the electrical and chemical transmembrane potential o...

Repeated application of capsaicin at a 1-min interstimulus interval (ISI) to the tongue induces a progressively increasing irritant sensation (sensitization), followed after a rest period by reduced sensitivity to further capsaicin (desensitization). Sequential reapplication of capsaicin induces irritation that eventually increases to initial levels: stimulus-induced recovery (SIR). In contrast...

This study explored the impacts of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatment on proteolytic development and volatile compounds Domiati cheese during storage. samples were kept for 75 days at refrigerator temperature, under aerobic (C1) or vacuum (C2). In parallel, other MAP, different levels CO2 N2, as follows: 10% CO2/90% N2 (D1), 15% CO2/85% (D2), 25% CO2/75% (D3), 100% (D4), (D5). The no...

Essential oils are considered as very complex natural mixtures containing numerous components at quite various concentrations. Lythrum salicaria has not been previously subjected to examination of its volatile oil. The present study was carried out to evaluate the essential oil composition of the flowering aerial parts of the plant by using c...